Written questions by Hayes.

What steps he is taking to promote apprenticeships in the construction industry.

This Government is transforming the apprenticeships levy into a new growth and skills levy, backed by an additional £725 million investment, which will deliver greater flexibility to employers and more opportunities for young people. It will align with the industrial strategy, creating routes into good, skilled jobs in growing industries, such as construction. Construction is one of the key sectors that will benefit from new foundation apprenticeships with three standards, including onsite trades, launched in August 2025. These foundation apprenticeships will support more young people to begin their careers in the construction industry and allow them to then progress and specialise in advanced apprenticeships. Employers will be provided with up to £2,000 for every foundation apprentice they take on and retain in the construction industry. The industry will also benefit from around 5,000 more construction apprenticeship places being made available per financial year by 2027-28 thanks to a £140 million industry investment and the creation of 32 pioneering new homebuilding skills hubs. In addition, the government is investing £625 million in construction skills over this Parliament, with the aim of delivering up to 60,000 additional skilled workers and supporting employers to invest in training. This funding is designed to expand apprenticeship opportunities, improve access to training, and ensure the workforce is equipped to meet the demands of a modern, safe, and productive construction sector. The industry-led Construction Skills Mission Board is also working to create construction job opportunities to meet the government’s announced infrastructure and built environment commitments.

How many full-time equivalent staff in his Department have been employed for the purpose of making social media content in each of the last three years.

Due to the difficulty of disaggregating the number of staff who are employed to produce social media content from staff who are employed to work on broader digital communications, it is not possible to report exact figures in response to this question.

How many and what proportion of civil servants in his Department are (a) on temporary contract and (b) consultants.

Information on the number of civil servants employed on temporary contracts is published quarterly by the Office for National Statistics as part of the quarterly Public Sector Employment statistics. Information can be accessed for September 2025 at the following web address: https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/publicsectorpersonnel/bulletins/publicsectoremployment/september2025 Departmental expenditure on consultancy is published within the Annual Report and Accounts. The latest report for FY 2024/25 can be found at the following web address: DWP annual report and accounts 2024 to 2025 - GOV.UK

What steps his Department is taking to support older people experiencing financial hardship in (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire.

The State Pension remains the foundation of our support for pensioners, and our commitment to maintain the Triple Lock throughout this Parliament will ensure its value continues to rise over time. Subject to Parliamentary approval, the basic and new State Pensions will, increase by 4.8% in April 2026, benefitting over 12 million pensioners by up to £575. It also means The new State Pension is set to rise by over £2,000 over this Parliament.Pension Credit continues to provide vital financial support for pensioners who, for whatever reason, find themselves on a low income. It does this by guaranteeing a minimum level of income – called the Standard Minimum Guarantee – which will also, subject to Parliamentary approval, increase by 4.8%, protecting the most vulnerable pensioners.Crucially, receipt of Pension Credit also opens the door to other financial support, including Housing Benefit, Council Tax support and help with NHS costs as well as help with fuel bills and a free TV licence for those over 75. Maximising the take-up of Pension Credit remains a key priority. That is why we have been running the biggest ever Pension Credit take-up campaign, promoting Pension Credit to eligible pensioners and their family and friends. The latest campaign burst started in September and activity is planned until the end of the financial year.Our campaign features adverts on television and ‘video on demand’, radio (including Greatest Hits radio, Hits Radio Lincolnshire, Classic FM and Smooth), social media, digital screens in GP surgeries and Post Offices (13 locations in Lincolnshire), as well as press activity (including advertorials in the Lincolnshire Echo, Grantham Journal, Lincolnshire Free Press, Spalding Guardian and the Stamford Mercury). For households facing financial hardship, the Household Support Fund remains available, with funding extended to March 2026.

How many people use the Motability scheme in (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire.

At the end of July 2025 (latest available data), 1,240 Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claimants had active contracts with the Motability Scheme in South Holland and The Deepings constituency, and 9,510 PIP claimants had active contracts with the Motability Scheme in Lincolnshire. Data about Motability receipt based on other benefits such as Disability Living Allowance is not available centrally for analysis. Notes:- Values have been rounded to the nearest 10.- Figures provided include both Normal Rules and Special Rules for End of Life claimants.

How many (a) single sex and (b) gender neutral bathroom facilities his Department provides in its Whitehall premises.

The DWP’s main Whitehall building, Caxton House has 84 single sex cubicles, 34 urinals and 0 non-gendered universal toilets (individual self-contained lockable toilet rooms which contain a toilet, washbasin and hand-drying facilities). This is in addition to 26 wheelchair accessible toilets.Caxton House does not have any gender neutral toilets (i.e. toilets where users, of any gender, share a single space containing toilet cubicles, urinal facilities and shared hand washing facilities).

If he will list the titles of all the events organised by Civil Service networks in his Department since 2017.

The information requested is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

How much funding her Department has provided for the provision of English for Speakers of Other Language courses in each of the last five years.

The information is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of reducing levels of funding for level 7 apprenticeships on the number of nurses in training.

I refer the hon. Member for South Holland and The Deepings to the answer to Question 83834.

How many full time equivalent employees in his Department are working on tackling (a) benefit fraud and (b) error.

As civil servants, it is our duty to ensure that public funds are spent appropriately and deliver public services that represent value for the taxpayer. Fraud against the welfare system negatively impacts public services and taxpayers as it draws funds away from those who need them most. Within DWP, tackling fraud and error is everybody’s business, from Work Coaches in our Jobcentres through to Service Centre colleagues and as such, separating out the resource and costs spent on preventing and detecting fraud amongst these varying job roles is not feasible.

What provisions his Department has in place to run critical services in the event of a major internet outage.

The DWP maintains measures to ensure access to essential services remains available during disruptions to internet connectivity. The Department has contingency plans designed to manage such situations. These plans provide for continuity of service and offer support through alternative methods if digital platforms are temporarily inaccessible. The DWP regularly reviews and updates its business continuity procedures to reduce disruption and maintain claimant and service user access, regardless of technical issues.

What recent steps his Department has taken to support jobseekers in South Holland and the Deepings constituency.

Spalding JCP have arrangements in place with Boston College to come into their site on a fortnightly basis to provide Information, Advice & Guidance & links for customers to their Adult Skills Courses. Lincolnshire Voluntary Services are also monthly visitors to Spalding JCP who come in to relay their current local volunteering offers to a wide range of customers, particularly those with health conditions, from which they can gain work experience & increase their confidence in progression towards the labour market. Spalding JCP have also commissioned delivery of digital support to their 50+ customers aimed at increasing their confidence in using digital platforms for work search & training & also obtaining best value products to assist with cost of living rises. The latest cohort ran from 26th Sept & ended 10th October, with a new cohort due to start in November. Finally, planning is already ongoing for an upcoming event run in partnership with Lincolnshire County Council Adult Skills Team called ‘Grow Your Skills’ whereby the skills providers funded by LCC in the local area are given an opportunity to showcase their offers to adults in the area. JCP connect their customers & their network of partners to those events to facilitate their connection to Skills, Opportunities, Jobs & Support.

Pursuant to the Answer of 3 September 2025 to Question 74705 on Social media, how much his Department has spent on promotion through social media influencers by influencer since July 2024.

The Department for Work and Pensions has spent a total of £120,023 on influencer marketing since July 2024. Please note this figure is inclusive of whole costs, including agency fees. It is not possible to release individual spend per influencer, as commercial sensitivities exist around aspects of this spend which could prejudice commercial interests. All spend in these areas are subject to the standard value for money assessments.

What estimate he has made of the number of people claiming housing benefit in South Holland and the Deepings constituency in each of the last five years.

Monthly statistics for the number of Housing Benefit claimants in Great Britain are published quarterly on Stat-Xplore. The statistics are available for various geographies, including local authority and parliamentary constituency, and are currently available to May 2025. Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest, and if needed, can access guidance on how to extract the information required.

What assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of support available to people with Parkinson's disease in South Holland and the Deepings constituency.

I refer the Rt.Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 5 September 2025 to Question UIN 72849.

What recent estimate he has made of the levels of (a) fraud and (b) error in the welfare system in Lincolnshire.

Estimates of the levels of fraud and error in the benefit system for the financial year 2024-25 can be found at: Fraud and error in the benefit system: financial year 2024 to 2025 estimates - GOV.UKWe do not provide sub-national estimates of fraud and error as we are unable to break the statistics down to this level.

How many days the Union Flag was flown on her Department's main sites in (a) 2024 and (b) 2025 to date.

In response to the question raised by Sir John Hayes Conservative South Holland and the Deepings and the ask of the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions as to how many days the Union Flag has been flown on her Department’s main sites: I can confirm in response that the Department’s main sites where a flagpole is in situ and that fly the Union Flag, this is flown continuously unless we are instructed otherwise by DCMS, in line with procedures, to lower: Quarry House, Leeds-ContinuouslyCaxton House, London-ContinuouslyPeel Park, Blackpool-Continuously until end of December 2024 when the flag was damaged.Treforest, Wales-ContinuouslyTyneview Park, Newcastle-Continuously

How many and what proportion of benefit claimants have been subject to sanctions in Lincolnshire in the last 12 months.

The Department regularly publishes monthly Universal Credit sanction rate statistics for Great Britain as part of the benefit sanction statistics. The latest statistics to May 2025 are available in table 2.1 of the latest benefit sanction statistics tables. Users can use the UC Sanction Rates dataset on Stat-Xplore to produce the same information for lower-level geographical breakdowns. After selecting the required geographies, firstly produce a table containing the monthly statistics for the total number of UC claimants in conditionality regimes where sanctions can be applied, i.e. "searching for work", "planning for work" and "preparing for work", and include those people with unknown conditionality regime too. Then produce a separate table containing the monthly statistics for the number of Universal Credit (UC) claimants with a payment that has been reduced due to a sanction using the sanction indicator. Note, the second table should be produced for all people, regardless of conditionality regime. After retrieving these separate tables from Stat-Xplore, calculate the sanction rate, which is the number of people on UC with a sanction, as a proportion of all people on UC in conditionality regimes where sanctions can be applied, both counted at the same point in time. Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access guidance on how to extract the information required.

Whether her Department has spent money on promotion through social media influencers since July 2024.

The Department for Work and Pensions has spent money on social media influencers since July 2024. Influencers can be effective in reaching audiences that the Government and traditional marketing channels find hard to reach.

How much the Pensions Regulator has spent on equipment to enable staff to work from home in each of the last three years.

The Pensions Regulator spent £16,109 in 2022/23, £7,711 in 2023/24 and £6,056 in 2024/25 on equipment including desktop monitor, keyboard, laptop riser and mouse to enable those of its staff who required it to work from home.