Written questions by Sollom.

What recent discussions he has had with small businesses on the apprenticeship system.

Small businesses are a vital part of our economy and apprenticeship system. They provide valuable opportunities in priority sectors for young people and apprentices from disadvantaged areas. The government engages with small employers regularly to promote apprenticeships. During National Apprenticeship Week 2025, we held a round table with small and medium employers and other key partners to better understand the challenges they are facing in recruiting apprentices. This insight allows us to better target engagement activities with small businesses. The government pays the full training costs for young apprentices under 22 and eligible apprentices aged 22-24 undertaking apprenticeships with non-levy paying employers, also paying £1,000 to both employers and providers for apprentices aged 16-18, and for eligible apprentices aged 19-24.

What recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of fully funding apprenticeships for under-22s in SMEs on apprenticeship starts.

Small businesses are a vital part of our economy and apprenticeship system. They provide valuable opportunities in priority sectors for young people and apprentices from disadvantaged areas. The government engages with small employers regularly to promote apprenticeships. During National Apprenticeship Week 2025, we held a round table with small and medium employers and other key partners to better understand the challenges they are facing in recruiting apprentices. This insight allows us to better target engagement activities with small businesses. The government pays the full training costs for young apprentices under 22 and eligible apprentices aged 22-24 undertaking apprenticeships with non-levy paying employers, also paying £1,000 to both employers and providers for apprentices aged 16-18, and for eligible apprentices aged 19-24.

What recent assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of its targeted support to help SMEs offer apprenticeships.

Small businesses are a vital part of our economy and apprenticeship system. They provide valuable opportunities in priority sectors for young people and apprentices from disadvantaged areas. The government engages with small employers regularly to promote apprenticeships. During National Apprenticeship Week 2025, we held a round table with small and medium employers and other key partners to better understand the challenges they are facing in recruiting apprentices. This insight allows us to better target engagement activities with small businesses. The government pays the full training costs for young apprentices under 22 and eligible apprentices aged 22-24 undertaking apprenticeships with non-levy paying employers, also paying £1,000 to both employers and providers for apprentices aged 16-18, and for eligible apprentices aged 19-24.

What steps he has taken to help increase awareness amongst employers of the incentives available to hire apprentices, including National Insurance relief when hiring apprentices under 25.

The government offers a range of financial support to help employers to take on apprentices. In addition to the National Insurance exemptions for apprentices under 25, the government pays £1,000 to employers that take on apprentices under 19 or eligible 19 to 24-year-olds.An incentive payment of up to £2,000 has also been introduced to employers who take on foundation apprenticeships, on the seven apprenticeships that launched in August 2025. Apprenticeships and the financial support available for employers are promoted through multiple channels, including social media and email and telephone marketing campaigns. In addition, the government facilitates and funds the Apprenticeship Ambassador Network (AAN) which comprises 2,500 employers and apprentices who volunteer to promote the benefits of apprenticeships.

How many (a) people and (b) groups have been consulted during summer 2025 as part of the PIP review.

To date, I have met with representatives from more than 50 organisations including representatives of disabled people’s organisations, disability, welfare and carers’ charities, think tanks, co-production experts and more. I am grateful to all of those who I have engaged with to discuss and listen to how we should approach co-production of the Timms Review. As the Review progresses, I am committed to ensuring it offers a broad spectrum of opportunities for engagement and involvement and hears from a diverse range of perspectives.

Which groups he has consulted during summer 2025 as part of the PIP review.

To date, I have met with representatives from more than 50 organisations including representatives of disabled people’s organisations, disability, welfare and carers’ charities, think tanks, co-production experts and more. I am grateful to all of those who I have engaged with to discuss and listen to how we should approach co-production of the Timms Review. As the Review progresses, I am committed to ensuring it offers a broad spectrum of opportunities for engagement and involvement and hears from a diverse range of perspectives.

When he plans to publish details on (a) the process for the work of the PIP review and (b) how (i) individuals and (ii) groups can participate in that review.

To ensure lived experience is at the heart of its work, the Timms Review will be co-produced with disabled people, the organisations that represent them, clinicians, carers, experts, MPs and others. We have also confirmed that a majority of the Review’s leadership group will be disabled.This group will not work alone: it will shape a programme of participation and engagement that brings together the full range of views and voices.Over the summer, I met with disabled people, disabled people’s organisations, disability, welfare and carers’ charities, think tanks and other experts to discuss and listen to how we should approach co-production in the Timms Review.We are working through this feedback and will provide an update shortly.

What progress he has made on the design of the PIP review.

The Timms Review will be co-produced with disabled people, the organisations that represent them, carers, clinicians, experts, MPs and other stakeholders, to ensure that expertise from a wide range of perspectives is drawn upon. On 30 October, I announced that the Review will be co-chaired by myself alongside Sharon Brennan and Dr Clenton Farquharson CBE. We will oversee a steering group responsible for leading the co-production process, setting the Review’s strategic direction, priorities and workplan. The group will be made up of a majority of disabled people or representatives of disabled people’s organisations and will be recruited through an open and transparent Expression of Interest (EOI) process. The EOI is now live and will run until 30 November.

What guidance his Department has issued to work coaches on (a) tailoring (i) work and (ii) work search requirements for a (A) single parent and (B) lead carer down from a maximum of 30 hours a week to reflect their circumstances and (b) temporarily removing the requirement to (1) work and (2) search for work because of (a) bereavement, (b) fleeing domestic abuse and (c) other circumstances; and if he will publish that guidance.

Work coaches have access to up-to-date guidance which includes information on tailoring work and work search categories for single parents and lead carers in a way that takes account of their circumstances. In certain circumstances the requirement to undertake work and work search activities can be eased, these include bereavement, fleeing domestic abuse and other circumstances as listed in the guidance below. Universal Credit guidance is deposited in the House of Commons Library twice yearly. https://depositedpapers.parliament.uk/depositedpaper/2287171/files

What discussions her Department has had with the Department for Education on the potential impact of changes to the level of funding for the Adult Skills Fund on the number of people entering employment.

Adult Skills Funding (ASF) supports people with access to local skills training and provision, helping remove skills barriers to work, which in turn both secures and helps people progress in work. Work Coaches are able to help people access a broad range of local skills provision funded via the Adult Skills funding including; Skills Bootcamps, vocational and essential English, maths, digital skills training, ESOL, as well as Sector-based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs). Jobcentres also work closely with local stakeholders.The Department for Work and Pensions works closely with the Department for Education given our collective ambition to better align delivery of skills and employment support with both individual need and national and local labour market demand.As the majority of ASF is devolved to strategic authorities they are responsible for the provision of ASF-funded adult education for their residents and allocation of the ASF to learning providers.

Pursuant to the Answer of 3 December 2024 to Question 15843 on Child Maintenance Service: Courts, how many liability orders have been (a) applied for by the Child Maintenance Service and (b) granted by the courts in each of the last three years.

In response to question (a) the Child Maintenance Service applied for approximately;17,800 liability orders between October 2023 and September 2024,15,100 liability orders between October 2022 and September 2023, and11,300 liability orders between October 2021 and September 2022.In response to question (b) the courts granted;15,300 liability orders between October 2023 and September 2024,13,600 liability orders between October 2022 and September 2023, and10,000 liability orders between October 2021 and September 2022.(Please note that the figures exclude Scotland).The Department publishes quarterly statistics for the Child Maintenance Service Child Maintenance Service statistics: data to September 2024 - GOV.UK. Please see Tables no. 6.1, Rows 21 and 22 for more information on liability orders. national-tables-child-maintenance-service-to-september-2024.ods

Whether she is taking steps to improve staffing levels in the Child Maintenance Service.

As more customers apply to the Child Maintenance Service (CMS), demand for the service increases. To allow us to meet this demand and provide an efficient service we continuously look at the resources we have and where we should focus our efforts to get the greatest value for money and deliver the best service to our customers. We review our overall resource supply twice yearly and take the appropriate steps to ensure that the CMS staffing levels meets the current demand. CMS has an ongoing recruitment campaign; this will continue into 2025. This will ensure that CMS is resourced to meet current and future forecasted demand. Additionally, through extensive modernisation to both telephony and digital channels, and by promoting self-service online, we are ensuring customers use the most appropriate and efficient contact method to quickly resolve their queries and reduce demand on our services. Furthermore, we have taken timely action to further train, support and redeploy resources within CMS to where it is needed most. Every change and improvement made to our processes, systems, and resourcing are all part of modernising our service. This will be an ongoing process of regular review and improvement to ensure CMS has the capability to deliver a service which is accessible to all parents.

If her Department will publish an evaluation of the pilot scheme on the use of single-named caseworkers by the Child Maintenance Service.

The Child Maintenance Service takes the support of survivors of domestic abuse very seriously. In response to recommendation 4 of Dr Callan’s independent review, the Single Caseworker Team pilot was set up on 23rd January 2024 to deal with complex domestic abuse cases. After the successful completion of the pilot, the team has become a permanent part of the operational structure since 18 November 2024.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of having officials from her Department work at the St Neots Citizen Hub (a) on a permanent basis and (b) one day a week, in the context of helping to improve her Department's services in the local area.

Our Service Leader for East Anglia is very happy to explore the potential to deliver job club/job search sessions at St Neots Citizen Hub. Our Partnership Manager for Cambridge, Huntingdon, Ely and Haverhill has already established a relationship with the Citizens Hub in St Neots having attended an event on 21st November. There is an additional meeting planned in December to investigate how the Jobcentre and Citizens Hub can work closely together, including having Jobcentre colleagues within the Hub.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of backlogs in court cases on the ability of the Child Maintenance Service to ensure parents receive child maintenance payments on time.

The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) takes the impact of backlogs very seriously and regularly makes assessments in order to ensure payments are received on time. The Department and HM Courts and Tribunals Service maintain a vitally close working relationship with an aim to ensure Courts have sufficient capacity for referrals made from the CMS and prevent backlogs. For context, the CMS has a wide range of strong enforcement powers designed to get money flowing quickly, prevent the build-up of arrears and get children the financial support they deserve. Where parents consistently fail to pay their maintenance, the CMS may pursue unpaid maintenance through liability orders and sanctions granted by the courts. These include using Enforcement Agents (previously known as bailiffs) to take control of goods, forcing the sale of property, disqualification from driving or commitment to prison. We are committed to making the most effective use of these strong enforcement powers and have made several improvements to our enforcement processes to make it quicker and more efficient.

What steps her Department is taking to increase the percentage of applications cleared by the Child Maintenance Service within six weeks.

In the year to June 2024 there were 138,000 new applications to the Child Maintenance Service, an increase of 10% since June 2023. The Department’s most recently published statistics show that 76% of applications received were cleared within 6 weeks (up to the quarter ending March 2024). The Department publishes quarterly statistics for the Child Maintenance Service. Please see tables 1 and 2 of the national tables for more information on applications. Additional resources have been deployed to process new applications in order to meet increased customer demand. Service Modernisation improvements have been made to processes and systems to increase automation and allow both receiving and paying parents to manage their application online. This allows us to serve them faster as well as freeing up resources to help customers who need greater support.

What data her Department holds on the number of parents who did not receive their child maintenance payments on time in the last 12 months.

The Child Maintenance Service does not hold data on the timeliness of payments; however, we do hold data on the number of Child Maintenance arrangements on the statutory scheme and the collection of maintenance. The Department publishes the quarterly statistics for the Child Maintenance Service. Please refer to tables 4 and 5 of the National Tables for data on child maintenance arrangements and collection: national-tables-child-maintenance-service-to-june-2024.ods The Department is dedicated to ensuring parents meet their financial obligations to children and the Child Maintenance Service will do everything within its powers to make sure parents comply.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of making the Child Maintenance Service more accessible to parents.

The aim of the Child Maintenance Service is to create a modern accessible service through our digital transformation and Service Modernisation programmes, to allow our customers to have greater choice of how and when they contact us. Through our digital transformation programme, almost all applications are now made online, and we have more than doubled My Child Maintenance Case (MCMC) registrations. 1.46 million customers now have access to our service 24/7 through their online accounts, with over 1.12 million logins in September 2024. Every change and improvement made to our processes, systems, and service are all part of modernising our service. This will be an ongoing process of continuous improvement to make Child Maintenance Service more accessible to all parents. As part of the Government’s reforms to the Child Support Collection (Domestic Abuse) Act receiving Royal Assent on 29 June 2023, the Child Maintenance Service removed the £20 application to ensure families on the lowest incomes do not face a barrier to accessing the service. The Government consultation on remaining reforms has concluded. We are in the process of finalising the details of the consultation and aim to publish it as soon as possible on gov.uk.

What steps she is taking to ensure that all parents receive the correct amount of child maintenance payment on time.

A principle of child maintenance is to increase levels of cooperation between separated parents and encourage parents to meet their responsibilities to provide their children with financial support. Where a family-based child maintenance arrangement is not suitable the Child Maintenance Service offers a statutory scheme, Direct Pay and Collect and Pay, for those parents who need it. To ensure Child Maintenance calculations are accurate the department uses proportionate and cost-effective controls, such as:use of verified income from HMRC and benefit systems as outlined in legislation and a principal part of service design.use of child benefit systems to verify qualifying child(ren)procedures and policy to request additional verificationa dedicated Financial Investigation Unit who addresses allegations of misrepresentation and frauda robust mandatory reconsideration (MR) and appeals processa robust 3 Tier Quality Framework. The Government is dedicated to ensuring parents meet their financial obligations to children and the Child Maintenance Service will do everything within its powers to make sure parents comply. Where parents fail to pay their child maintenance, the Service will not hesitate to use its enforcement powers, including deductions from earnings orders, removal of driving licences, disqualification from holding a passport, and committal to prison. The Service is committed to using these powers fairly and in the best interests of children and separated families. The Department publishes quarterly statistics for the Child Maintenance Service. Please refer to tables 4, 5, 6.1 and 6.2 of the National Tables for data on child maintenance arrangements and collection. national-tables-child-maintenance-service-to-june-2024.ods

Whether she has made an assessment of the adequacy of the performance of the Child Maintenance Service since the reforms announced in February 2024.

On the 26 February 2024, regulations came into place to remove the £20 Child Maintenance Service application fee as part of the Government’s response to help with the cost-of-living increase.This has resulted in an increase in applications in the quarter to March and June 2024. In the quarter ending June 2024 there were 39,000 new applications, an increase of 6,400 applications compared with the quarter to June 2023.The Department publishes quarterly statistics for the Child Maintenance Service. Please refer to table 1 and 2 of the national tables for data on applications and intake national-tables-child-maintenance-service-to-june-2024.ods Additionally, the DWP was given the legal power to write off low level debt under £7.00 (£6.99 and less), where a Direct Pay and Collect and Pay case has closed, there is no ongoing liability, and no payment has been received in the previous 90 days.Since the reform was introduced, the DWP has written off low level debt which was not cost effective for the service to chase. Therefore, this has protected the cost to the public.The DWP is still committed to gathering debt and has recently consulted on new measures to improve enforcement. The results of this consultation will be published in due course.