Written questions by Lewell.

What recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the Local Housing Allowance in helping low-income tenants meet their housing costs.

The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions reviewed Local Housing Allowance rates and confirmed in his written statement on 26 November 2025 (HCWS1101) that rates would be maintained at their current levels for 2026/27. Renters facing a shortfall in meeting their housing costs can apply for discretionary support through the Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF) Housing Payments from local authorities in England. In Wales and Scotland Discretionary Housing Payments apply.

How much the Government has spent on litigations with the Women Against State Pension Inequality campaign group in each year since 2015.

We do not hold yearly breakdowns. Based on the information held, since 2015, the recorded legal costs on litigations with WASPI including disbursements and VAT are £82,700.84.

Whether the Health and Safety Executive plans to update its Standard Occupational Classification asbestos mortality statistics to include (a) deaths over 75 and (b) non-occupational exposures.

The Health and Safety Executive does not currently plan to change the basis for its mesothelioma and asbestosis mortality statistics by last occupation of the deceased. These statistics use routinely collected data from the Office for National Statistics (for deaths in England and Wales) and National Records of Scotland (for deaths in Scotland) which currently only includes coded information on last occupation up to age 74 for deaths in England and Wales. The accuracy of occupational information is known to decline at older ages. The purpose of these statistics is to examine the relative frequency of recording of different occupations across this standard age range as evidence about the occupations most likely to be substantial sources of past asbestos exposure. These kinds of analyses cannot directly address the question of non-occupational exposure or provide a definitive assessment of past sources of occupational risk. They do however, together with other research evidence, help to identify the kinds of work associated with the highest risks historically.

What recent progress his Department has made on establishing an asbestos census.

Asbestos in non-domestic buildings is a key ministerial priority. As part of its work, I have asked HSE to explore how it can develop our understanding of the legacy of asbestos in Great Britian, by building a more objective and reliable evidence base of the extent of asbestos in the built environment through a census, to inform longer-term strategy for continuing its safe removal over time. HSE is taking a phased approach to the development of this work, focussing initially on the government estate. HSE provides regular updates and assurance to ministers about its approach to asbestos management.

What steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to (a) identify and (b) remove deteriorating asbestos in (i) schools and (ii) hospitals.

The safety of those using and working in buildings including schools and hospitals is extremely important. The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 (CAR) require all duty holders to assess whether asbestos is present, what condition it is in and whether it gives rise to a risk of exposure. They must then draw up a plan to manage the risk associated with asbestos, which must include removal if it cannot be safely managed where it is located. Asbestos must also be removed before any major refurbishment work and before demolition. Responsibility for keeping schools and hospitals safe and well-maintained lies with the respective duty holders and they are expected to have robust plans in place to manage asbestos effectively, in line with their legal duties. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) continues to work with other Government and Devolved Administrations to ensure that public sector duty holders are aware of and comply with their responsibilities for asbestos management, taking enforcement action where necessary.

How much her Department spent on Budgeting Loans (a) overall and (b) in each category in the 2023-24 financial year.

The total spent on Budgeting Loan awards in the 2023/24 financial year was £260.6 million. A category breakdown for budgeting loans will be published in due course in the 2023/24 Social Fund annual report. This will include the breakdowns by regions, claimant group, family composition and reason for refusal by application group. Please see for more information the 2023/24 Social Fund Annual Accounts- Social Fund Account 2023 to 2024 - GOV.UK And previous Social Fund Annual reports- Social Fund accounts and reports - GOV.UK

What the average Pension Credit processing time is (a) per month in the latest three-month period for which data is available and (b) in each region.

Average actual clearance times are shown in the table below from 3 June 2024. Please note, the information is not available monthly. The table below shows the average (in working days) for each week.SourceRS PBi App / PC Claims AACT03/06/244510/06/244417/06/244324/06/244401/07/244408/07/244515/07/244822/07/244429/07/244505/08/244012/08/243919/08/243626/08/243102/09/242909/09/243016/09/242823/09/242630/09/243407/10/2439 Please note, the data shown is unpublished management information, collected and intended for internal departmental use and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. The information requested is not collected at regional level and to calculate it would incur disproportionate cost.

How many Pension Credit applications her Department received in each region in each of the last three months for which data is available.

We confirm that we do not hold the information you have requested as our systems do not breakdown Pension Credit applications by region.

How many and what proportion of claimants for Pension Credit were (a) initially turned down and (b) successful on appeal in each region in the latest period for which data is available.

The information requested on the proportion of Pension Credit claims which are initially turned down but are subsequently overturned at Tribunal is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost. Information on appeals in the First-tier Tribunal, including Pension Credit appeals, is published at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics Specifically, information on the number of appeal receipts, disposals and outcomes of Pension Credit appeals can be found in the Social Security and Child Support (SSCS) tables: SSCS_1, SSCS_2 and SSCS_3 of the Main Tables.

When she plans to launch her Department's review of Universal Credit.

We are committed to reviewing Universal Credit, to make sure it is doing the job we want it to. We will set out the details of this in due course.

Whether her Department's review of Universal Credit will include the income threshold used to determine eligibility for (a) free school meals and (b) the NHS Healthy Start scheme.

Eligibility criteria, including earnings thresholds for passported benefits including Free School Meals and Healthy Start payments are owned by Department of Education and the Department of Health and Social care respectively.

How many referrals were made by Jobcentre Plus to employment support programmes that are (a) centrally contracted and (b) not centrally contracted by her Department to (i) voluntary and community sector providers, (ii) private sector providers, (iii) regional/local government providers and (iv) other in the last year.

The referral statistics for the centrally contacted employment support programmes are available on GOV.UK. Restart Scheme statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) Work and Health Programme statistics to May 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) Statistics on Intensive Personalised Employment Support are planned for future publication and will be formally released, adhering to the Official Statistics guidance. The information requested for employment support programmes not centrally contracted is not collated and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

How many and what proportion of incapacity benefit claimants receiving (a) Universal Credit Limited Capability for Work-Related Activity element and (b) Employment and Support Allowance are parents of dependent children.

a) For UC, the Limited Capability for Work-Related Activity (LCWRA) and Disabled Child Entitlement breakdowns are currently temporarily unavailable on Stat-Xplore as part of the Households on Universal Credit dataset. Work is being carried out to resolve the issues and both affected measures are expected to be available in the next scheduled statistical release on 12 November 2024. Once re-instated it should be possible to produce the number of households receiving the LCWRA element by Family Type. Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access guidance on how to extract the information required. A user guide to the Universal Credit Official Statistics on Stat-Xplore is also available. b) The table below shows the latest available number of claimants with Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) in payment who receive Child Benefit. The data is from February 2023. ESA ClaimantsPercentage of total ESA CaseloadReceives Child Benefit158,0289.7 To note: This will underestimate the number of dependent children as Child Benefit is not paid in respect of every child, for example due to them not being in full-time non-advanced education, or non-claiming due to high income.