Written questions by Whately.

Whether her Department’s policy on assessing Personal Independence Payments claims remotely has changed since 7 July 2024.

Since July 2024, there has been no change in policy regarding assessing Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claims remotely. With effect from September 2024 assessment suppliers deliver the ‘Health Assessment Advisory Service’ on behalf of the department through the Functional Assessment Services (FAS) contracts. These contracts bring together all functional health assessment services within a geographic area (Lot). Individuals now have the same supplier for their separate PIP and Work Capability Assessments (WCA). As part of the FAS process, the feasibility of a paper-based assessment will always be considered in the first instance, for all cases. Where a paper-based review is not possible the claimant will be invited to an assessment. Before an invitation to an assessment is sent, consideration will be given to claimants who need a specific assessment channel due to their health condition or circumstances. Other claimants who can undertake any assessment type will be allocated to the next available appointment; however, this can be changed if the claimant informs us that a reasonable adjustment is appropriate in their circumstances. The department audits FAS suppliers to ensure that the correct channel type has been selected for the claimant. This provides assurance that claimants are routed to the most appropriate assessment type. The FAS suppliers are also increasing their capacity to deliver more face-to-face assessments, and the department expects the reported percentage of face-to-face assessments to increase towards Autumn 2025. We remain committed to enabling a multi-channel assessment approach. Any future decisions will be evidence-based and to ensure this we will draw on existing evidence, as well as continuing to build our understanding via research and analysis.

Whether she is taking steps to increase the number of Personal Independence Payments assessments that are conducted face-to-face.

Since July 2024, there has been no change in policy regarding assessing Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claims remotely. With effect from September 2024 assessment suppliers deliver the ‘Health Assessment Advisory Service’ on behalf of the department through the Functional Assessment Services (FAS) contracts. These contracts bring together all functional health assessment services within a geographic area (Lot). Individuals now have the same supplier for their separate PIP and Work Capability Assessments (WCA). As part of the FAS process, the feasibility of a paper-based assessment will always be considered in the first instance, for all cases. Where a paper-based review is not possible the claimant will be invited to an assessment. Before an invitation to an assessment is sent, consideration will be given to claimants who need a specific assessment channel due to their health condition or circumstances. Other claimants who can undertake any assessment type will be allocated to the next available appointment; however, this can be changed if the claimant informs us that a reasonable adjustment is appropriate in their circumstances. The department audits FAS suppliers to ensure that the correct channel type has been selected for the claimant. This provides assurance that claimants are routed to the most appropriate assessment type. The FAS suppliers are also increasing their capacity to deliver more face-to-face assessments, and the department expects the reported percentage of face-to-face assessments to increase towards Autumn 2025. We remain committed to enabling a multi-channel assessment approach. Any future decisions will be evidence-based and to ensure this we will draw on existing evidence, as well as continuing to build our understanding via research and analysis.

What assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the white mail artificial intelligence programme used by her Department.

Whitemail scanning complements existing systems. The AI tool flags correspondence for review by operational agents to determine customer vulnerability and appropriate actions. During solution development, digital teams collaborated closely with operational areas to identify vulnerable customers. This approach ensured that communications received by post were prioritised for those most in need. The solution was rolled out using a test and learn method, incorporating feedback from specialist support teams, and was widely adopted due to its positive impact on customer experience.

Whether she has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on the recommendations of the independent report entitled Our Future Homes: Housing that promotes wellbeing and community for an ageing population, published on 26 November 2024.

DWP works closely with the Ministry of Housing, Community and Local Government to ensure housing needs of those on low incomes, including pensioners, are considered as part of the Government’s Strategy. The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has not met with her counterparts in the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Department for Health and Social Care to discuss the report specifically. There are cross-government ministerial meetings to shape the strategy which will set out a long-term vision for a housing market that works for communities. The Government aims to build 1.5m high-quality homes, delivering the biggest increase in affordable housing for a generation. The strategy will also include the actions we will take to provide long-term certainty for the market.

Whether she has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the recommendations of the independent report entitled Our Future Homes: Housing that promotes wellbeing and community for an ageing population, published on 26 November 2024.

DWP works closely with the Ministry of Housing, Community and Local Government to ensure housing needs of those on low incomes, including pensioners, are considered as part of the Government’s Strategy. The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has not met with her counterparts in the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Department for Health and Social Care to discuss the report specifically. There are cross-government ministerial meetings to shape the strategy which will set out a long-term vision for a housing market that works for communities. The Government aims to build 1.5m high-quality homes, delivering the biggest increase in affordable housing for a generation. The strategy will also include the actions we will take to provide long-term certainty for the market.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of pilot schemes for third party data sharing powers as set out in the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill.

The Third Party Data sharing powers were a proposal under the previous government, separate to the measures proposed in this Bill.The Eligibility Verification Measure (EVM) is significantly different to the previously proposed Third Party Data power. EVM will be limited to information from banks and financial institutions only and will be used only for the purpose of helping to verify eligibility for benefits. The State Pension will be explicitly excluded, and it will be focussed initially on three benefits only: Universal Credit, Pension Credit and Employment and Support Allowance. A statutory Code of Practice will also be introduced and consulted on. There will be independent oversight reporting annually on the effectiveness of the measure and the legislation tightly defines what data can be gathered and for what purpose providing strong safeguards.To demonstrate the feasibility and potential of using data from banks to help verify eligibility for benefits, DWP has already conducted two Proof of Concepts which consisted of establishing data-sharing collaborations with two high-street banks. These exercises showed promising results, for example in the first exercise around half of the matches generated for DWP to review led to a positive outcome for the department. Further information about these Proof of Concepts can be found in the published impact assessment for the Bill - Impact Assessment The government is committed to rolling out the measure carefully through a test and learn approach to ensure it is workable and as effective as possible.

What discussions she has had with financial services sector stakeholders on the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill.

DWP continues to seek feedback on the bill through regular engagement with key stakeholders, including the financial services sector, at both official and ministerial level.Where there are particular areas of interest and expertise, detailed working group discussions are being held to ensure the measures are designed to be effective and take into consideration wider feedback from the sector.

Whether she plans to publish a summary of findings from the call for evidence on fit note reform.

The call for evidence was launched under the previous government to seek views on how the current fit note process works and the support required to facilitate meaningful work and health conversations. It closed on the 8 July 2024 and received around 1,900 responses. Insights and responses gathered will play an important role in shaping ongoing policy development.

Pursuant to the Answer of 6 January 2025 to Question 20687 on Employment, when she expects the Labour Market Advisory Board to finish their work.

The Labour Market Advisory Board, announced on the 23 July 2024, ensures that we listen and engage with a wide range of external views to design and deliver reforms to help drive the Government’s growth mission. The Board, chaired by Paul Gregg (former Director of the Centre for Analysis of Social Policy at the University of Bath), has expertise across the labour market and are working with officials on key priority areas. The role of the Board, set out in the Terms of Reference (Labour Market Advisory Board: Terms of Reference), is to provide ongoing insight, support and challenge to the Department across a range of priorities, including inactivity, youth employment, employer engagement and progression. As set out the Department will undertake a review of the membership and remit of the board after 12 months.

How many more people she expects to be in employment as a result of proposals in the Get Britain Working White Paper.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 11th December to question number PQ 17573.

Whether her Department is collecting data about use of the Household Support Fund to support pensioners who are no longer in receipt of the winter fuel payment.

The Department for Work and Pensions publishes management information on the Household Support Fund, including details of the proportion of funding spent on households with pensioners, as well as the proportion spent on energy and water. The latest management information, covering the scheme running from April 2023 to March 2024, is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/household-support-fund-4-management-information-for-1-april-2023-to-31-march-2024. Local Authorities have the discretion to design their own local schemes within the parameters of the guidance and grant determination that the Department for Work and Pensions have set out for the fund.

When the next Pension Credit applications and awards dataset will be published.

The next publication of Pension Credit application statistics is due around the end of February 2025 and will cover the data up to week commencing 10 February 2025.

Pursuant to the Answer of 3 December 2024 to Question 16391 on Department for Work and Pensions: Fraud and Maladministration, what progress she has made on the (a) recruitment and (b) training of additional staff in fraud and error.

Funding for 3,000 new roles within the department’s Counter Fraud, Compliance and Debt (CFCD) division, allocated in the Government’s Spending Review, will take effect from April 2025. CFCD has also secured an uplift in staffing costs for Q4 of the financial year and will recruit an additional 300 FTE to build momentum heading into Q1. This is in addition to CFCD reaching its upper headcount limit of 9,923 Full Time Equivalent for 2024/25. Training resources and learning journeys for all new starters are robust and clearly defined. Most of our new starters will also align and be assured against Government Counter Fraud Profession (GCFP) cross-gov counter-fraud standards.

What the timeframe is for the 80 per cent employment rate target.

The trend of economic inactivity is a long-term challenge; the UK is the only country in the G7 with an inactivity rate higher than before the pandemic. We want to raise productivity and improve the quality of work to help more people get into and on in work. Achieving an 80% employment rate would mean over two million more people in work across the UK and would place the UK among the highest performing countries in the world. The Get Britain Working White Paper set out that the Labour Market Advisory Board will support our work on the exact definition and measurement of our ambitions on employment and labour force participation. The timeframe for this long-term ambition will be determined following this work.

What measure her Department will use to determine whether devolved authorities have been successful in delivering employment support.

Within our Get Britain Working reforms, we committed to offering new responsibilities and funding to mayors and local areas in England because local leaders know their communities best. This includes supporting areas in England to produce Get Britain Working Plans that join up work, health and skills provision, as well as delivering Connect to Work and sixteen Youth and Inactivity Trailblazers, which will all be fully evaluated. As part of the production of Get Britain Working plans the Department is working with local and combined authorities in England to capture meaningful evidence on local labour markets and progress made. For the first time, we have also recently published statistical information on the movement of people into work, which can be found as part of the analytical information accompanying the Get Britain Working white paper: Get Britain Working White Paper: Analytical Annex - GOV.UK. We will also publish further metrics in due course. Connect to Work funding will be included in the integrated settlement from 2025/26, which applies to Greater Manchester and West Midlands Combined Authorities. The integrated settlement will be monitored and governed using a single accountability framework and a single outcomes framework negotiated between authorities and the Government. Further guidance on Connect to Work can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/connect-to-work, https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/integrated-settlements-for-mayoral-combined-authorities.

How many people have made a (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful application for Pension Credit in each Parliamentary constituency since 1 April 2024; and how many people are awaiting a decision on their claim in each constituency.

Statistics on Pension Credit application volumes were published on 28 November 2024. This includes numbers of applications that were awarded and not awarded, up to 17 November 2024. Pension Credit applications and awards: November 2024 - GOV.UKWe do not currently hold this information at constituency level.

What the differences are between the (a) Connect to Work and (b) Universal support schemes.

Connect to Work will use the funding that was initially reserved for the Universal Support Programme. There are aspects of Connect to Work that have similarities with that previously announced programme, such as it being an evidence-based Supported Employment programme targeted at economically inactive disabled people, those with health conditions and those with complex barriers to employment. This is to help ensure that we keep the positive impacts that the Office for Budget Responsibility scored for Universal Support. Connect to Work, however, has been co-designed with Local Authorities and has flexibility to meet local needs at its core.

If she will make an estimate of the potential impact of the £240 million funding allocated to her Department in the Autumn Budget 2024 for trialling new ways of getting people back into work on savings to the public purse in each of the next five years.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to Question 17010 on 5th December 2024, for the details of how we have allocated the £240 million funding across the White Paper measures.We are working with trailblazers to create their local plans and we are developing an evaluation strategy to measure impacts, including savings to ensure we make the most effective interventions to get Britain working.

Whether she has had discussions with the Office for Budget Responsibility on the timing of the implementation of changes to the Work Capability Assessment on their projections.

The Work Capability Assessment is not working and needs to be reformed or replaced. This needs to come alongside a proper plan to support disabled people into work. We will continue to deliver the savings set out by the previous government but will set out our approach and timescale in the coming months. If changes to this policy - or any other policy - are made in future, this will be accounted for at a subsequent fiscal event. The department does not routinely engage the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) on policy details such as this outside of fiscal events. It is also the case that this engagement would be carried out by officials on behalf of the department, not the ministerial team. Therefore, there have not been discussions between the Secretary of State and the OBR.

For what reason the Connect to Work programme will be implemented in 2025, in the context of its predecessor programme being planned for 2024; and if she will make an estimate of the potential impact of the timing of this rollout on the number of people who will be supported into work by the end of 2025.

As announced in the Get Britain Working White Paper published 26 November 2024 Get Britain Working White Paper - GOV.UK, the new voluntary, locally led, supported employment programme Connect to Work will be the first programme under the Government’s new Get Britain Working Strategy. Whilst Connect to Work will use the funding that was initially reserved for the Universal Support Programme, Connect to Work has been co-designed with Local Authorities and has flexibility to meet local needs at its core. The Connect to Work grant guidance, also published on Gov.uk on 26 November Connect to Work - GOV.UK, invites areas to develop a delivery plan which sets out the design of their own local Connect to Work programmes, working within the national guidance. We do not know what volumes will be delivered by local areas until Delivery Plans are received. With a phased rollout led by Local Authorities’ own timetables. When the General Election was called, there were no plans in place to support delivery in 2024. We have extended the funding for Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care to sustain delivery of this locally led programme while areas develop their Connect to Work plans.