Every parliamentary written question tabled by Helen Whately this session, with the full answer and department. Back to the MP page.
Showing 81–100 of 252 · Department for Work and Pensions
How many households returned to the benefit cap because of the loss of PIP during (a) the quarter to August 2025, b) the quarter to May 2025, (c) the quarter to February 2025 and (d) the quarter to November 2024.
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
How many households on Universal Credit have a combined income between £831 and £861 a month after tax and national insurance contributions, broken down by those who are (a) employed and (b) self-employed.
Of the 6.9 million households on Universal Credit in the most recent month for which official statistics are available (August 2025), around 40,000 households had an income of between £831 and £861 from employment and/or self-employment. Around 7,000 of these households had at least one claimant who was self-employed and around 33,000 did not have a claimant who was self-employed.
How many households have (a) one, (b) two and (c) three or more individuals in receipt of Carer’s Allowance.
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost. Published information on the number of people in receipt of Carer’s Allowance using DWP administrative data, and information on benefit receipt on a household and benefit unit basis is available through the Family Resources Survey (FRS), is available on Stat-Xplore. You can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest user and, if needed, you can accessguidance on how to extract the information required. There is also Family Resources Survey data on Stat-Xplore: user guide available.
How many households include (a) one, (b) two and (c) three or more people in receipt of Carer’s Element in the latest period for which data is available.
There is a maximum of two claimants on a Universal Credit (UC) claim therefore there cannot be 3 or more claimants on the UC claim being attributed with the carer’s element.a) In August 2025, 1,045,000 UC households had the UC carer's element of £201.68 for one claimant.b) In August 2025, 37,000 UC households had the UC carer's element of two lots of £201.68 – one attributed to each claimant on a joint claim.Notes:Figures are for GB.Figures relate to UC claims with an assessment period covering the 2nd Thursday of the month.Figures are rounded to nearest 1,000.Nil award claims are not included. However, some UC claims will have been reduced for adjusting factors such as capital, earnings and other income.Household in this definition is a single person or couple living together, and any child dependants. This may also be known as a benefit unit.
What estimate he has made of the level of change in the number of households exempt from the benefit cap following the Autumn Budget 2025.
The department does publish quarterly benefit cap statistics about the number of households that have been capped but this does not provide a breakdown of exemptions nor go into an individual exemption breakdown level. These were last published on 16 December with data until August 2025 and can be found here: Benefit cap: number of households capped to August 2025 - GOV.UK
Pursuant to the answer of 8 December 2025 to UIN 96251, whether his Department plans to make an estimate of the level of change in the number of households exempt from the benefit cap following the Autumn Budget 2025.
The department does publish quarterly benefit cap statistics about the number of households that have been capped but this does not provide a breakdown of exemptions nor go into an individual exemption breakdown level. These were last published on 16 December with data until August 2025 and can be found here: Benefit cap: number of households capped to August 2025 - GOV.UK
What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of (a) removing the two-child limit of UC child benefit and (b) adding that benefit to the exemptions for the household benefit cap on the (i) cost to the public purse and (ii) number of households exempt from that cap.
Information related to removing the two child limit policy is published in ‘Table 3.2: Costing of the removal of the two-child limit’ (page 66-67) and is available at EFOs - Office for Budget Responsibility.
How many households who flowed off the household benefit cap because of an exempting benefit had the off-flow outcome due to receiving (a) Employment Support Allowance support group, (b) Disability Living Allowance, (c) Industrial Injuries and (d) Personal Independence Payment in the quarter to May 2025.
The Department publishes Official Statistics on the number of households in Great Britain on Housing Benefit or Universal Credit that have flowed off the benefit cap, including outcome at off-flow, which are published quarterly on Stat-Xplore and are currently available up to the quarter to May 2025. Statistics on the exempting benefit outcomes above are grouped in the ‘Other outcome’ category above. The Department does not produce statistics breaking down this category into individual exempting benefits and to do so would incur disproportionate cost. Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access general guidance on how to extract the information required.
What is the average payment per customer for each primary medical condition, as defined in the Access to Work statistics released by the Department for Work and Pensions.
The requested information across all Access to Work provision can be found in tables AVG03a (nominal terms expenditure) and AVG03a-R (real terms expenditure) in the published official statistics. Tables AVG03b through AVG03d-R provide further average expenditure breakdowns by any element, any assessment and non-contracted provision. Access to Work statistics: April 2007 to March 2025 - GOV.UK
Of the households who flowed off the household benefit cap in the quarter to May 2025, how many had the off-flow outcome due to the (a) household’s benefit income being reduced to under the cap levels, (b) the household being in receipt of an exempting benefit, and (c) household no longer claiming Universal Credit.
The Department publishes Official Statistics on the number of households in Great Britain on Housing Benefit or Universal Credit that have flowed off the benefit cap, including outcome at off-flow, which are published quarterly on Stat-Xplore and are currently available up to the quarter to May 2025. Statistics on the exempting benefit outcomes above are grouped in the ‘Other outcome’ category above. The Department does not produce statistics breaking down this category into individual exempting benefits and to do so would incur disproportionate cost. Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access general guidance on how to extract the information required.
What data his Department holds on the number of people who have newly claimed Universal Credit in each of the last five years by (a) health-related reasons for claiming and (b) the searching-for-work conditionality group.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 25 November 2025 to PQ UIN 92813.
Pursuant to the Answer of 24 June 2025 to Question 62284, whether his Department holds further information on the primary medical conditions of the PIP claimants with an active contract for the Motability Scheme whose primary medical condition is stated as (a) missing claim, (b) no illness or impairment claimed or identified and (c) main disability not recorded.
The information requested cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.
How many complex case coaches (a) are currently employed and (b) have been for each month since June 2024.
There is no specific Work Coach role defined as Complex Case Coach.
What analysis his Department has done on the increase in households that off-flowed from the benefits cap as a result of the increase in unemployment over the past 13 months, in the context of the 9-month grace period exemption for newly unemployed.
No such analysis has been undertaken.
How many families in receipt of the child benefit of UC are exempt from the household benefit cap because they (a) receive limited capability for work and work-related activity, (b) are in a grace period and (c) earn £846 or more a month.
The information requested not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
How many Personal Independence Payment claimants are in a contract with the Motability Scheme to receive a vehicle by primary medical condition.
The information requested will be published in due course.
How many individuals are waiting for their Access to Work application to be processed, and how does this compare to each month since June 2024.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 22 October 2025 to Question UIN 80759. The number of Access to Work applications increased from approximately 5,340 in April 2021 to 42,403 in June 2024. We are committed to reducing waiting times for new applications and have increased the number of staff processing Access to Work claims. Applications from customers who are about to start a job or who are renewing are prioritised. In March 2025, the Department published the Pathways to Work Green Paper, launching a consultation on the future of Access to Work and how the scheme can better support disabled people in employment. We are reviewing all aspects of Access to Work as we develop plans for reform following the conclusion of the consultation. Please note that the data supplied is derived from unpublished management information, which was collected for internal Departmental use only, and have not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard.
How many people received the following payment per customer under the Access to Work scheme – a) £0 - £9,999 b) £10,000 - £19,999 c) £20,000 – £29,999 d) £30,000 – £39,999 e) £40,000 - £49,999 f) £50,000 - £59,999 g) £60,000 - £69,999 h) above £70,000.
The table below shows the number of people who received total payment values within each specified band during the 2022/23 to 2024/25 financial years. The figures refer to individuals who received any Access to Work provision. The figures do not sum to the total due to rounding. Number of Customers in each Payment Band2022/232023/242024/25£0 - £9,99949,38060,24066,300£10,000 - £19,9992,5203,5404,180£20,000 - £29,9991,0201,5001,670£30,000 - £39,999570820870£40,000 - £49,999310470550£50,000 - £59,999240330370£60,000 - £69,999140250210£70,000 +409050Total54,21067,24074,190
Pursuant to the answer of 22 October 2025 to UIN 77348, how many additional assessors have been recruited; and in what locations.
While this information is not currently published by the department, we will be sharing this data in a future statistical release.
What estimate the Department has made of the level of change in the number of households exempt from the benefit cap following the Autumn Budget 2025.
No assessment has been made.