Written questions by Hayes.

How much the National Employment Savings Trust has spent on equipment to enable staff to work from home in each of the last three years.

Nest is a Public Corporation which operates independently of Government. This includes necessary expenditure surrounding supporting its staff to work from home. However, it has provided the following information: Nest technology for staff is such that most equipment is used across home and office locations. Therefore, spending on equipment to enable working from home relates to specific items needed to adjust to working in a home environment (e.g. display screens and workstation accessories). Nest Corporation working from home expenditure: Year2022/232023/242024/25Total expenses£8,914£6,945£5,137 *Nest accounts, including expenses recognised, are audited by the NAO. However, this information is based on more detailed management information which is not specifically audited.

What assessment she has made of the disability employment gap in Lincolnshire.

The disability employment gap is monitored and published in the official statistics release The employment of disabled people 2024 - GOV.UK in data tables LMS008, LMS009 and LMS010. This includes statistics on the local authority areas Lincolnshire. The disability employment gap for 2023/24 was 24.7 percentage points in Lincolnshire. This compares to the UK wide disability employment gap of 27.2 percentage points for 2023/24. This is the latest period for which reliable data is available. Estimates below national level are based on smaller sample sizes and should therefore be used with caution.

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

The Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) has contributed the following for homeworking equipment in each of the last three years: £59,658 in 2022/23, £103,604 in 2023/24, and £61,087 in 2024/25.

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

Over the period from 22/23 to 24/25, PPF spend on equipment to enable staff to work from home has been minimal (less than £1.5k over the period).

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

The Pensions Ombudsman operates a hybrid working model. Therefore, the provision of equipment for staff to use when working at home is made in line with Health and Safety legislation and workplace adjustment requirements. Over the last three years, the following has been contributed to support staff on the days they are not working in the office: £6,868 in in 2022/23, £6,289 in 2023/24 and £2,243 in 2024/25.

What machine learning models her Department has used to help tackle fraud in the last three years.

DWP uses Machine Learning as an analytical tool in the prevention and detection of fraud and error. There is currently one fraud and error machine learning model in full deployment and others at various stages of development, testing and implementation, focused on the highest areas of loss.

How much the Health and Safety Executive has spent on equipment to enable staff to work from home in each of the last three years.

HSE spend on equipment to enable staff to work from home in each of the last three years is shown in the table below. 2022/232023/242024/25HSE Equipment Spend (inclusive of VAT)£329,011£308,537£317,551 Note – the cost mainly relates to provision of equipment for new starters and HSE has increased its staff numbers in this period mainly due to becoming the Building Safety Regulator.

What the average time is to process a Personal Independence Payment appeal in South Holland and the Deepings constituency.

The average time to process a Personal Independence Payment (PIP) appeal for all PIP appeals in the South Holland and The Deepings constituency, since PIP was introduced, can be found in table 1 below. Table 1: The mean and median time to process an appeal from time of registration to the time of appeal clearance in weeksMean appeal processing time (weeks)Median appeal processing time (weeks)2319 Source: PIP Administrative data Notes:The appeal processing time is calculated as the time between the date of appeal registration and date of appeal clearance.Figures include appeals related to initial decisions (including new claims and DLA reassessments), award reviews and changes of circumstance.Figures include time taken by His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) to clear the case.Cases are counted if the claimant is resident in the constituency at the point of registering their claim.

What recent steps she has taken to promote timebanking in job centres.

Our Get Britain Working plan aims to reduce economic inactivity levels and take the first steps to delivering our long-term ambition to achieve an 80% employment rate. We want to ensure that everyone has the opportunities they need to achieve and thrive, to succeed and flourish. Support includes identifying skills gaps and referral to skills training, careers advice, job search support, and volunteering opportunities. Work Coaches will work with customer to identify transferable skills relevant to the opportunities available. Our Employer and Partnership Teams work with employers and partners to bring vacancies and provisions closer to our customers.

How much her Department has spent on equipment for civil servants to work from home in each of the last three years.

We are unable to provide this information without incurring disproportionate costs.

What steps her Department is taking to ensure that employers provide the support disabled people need to stay in work in (a) Lincolnshire and (b) other rural areas.

We are delivering the biggest investment in employment support for disabled people and people with health conditions in at least a generation. We announced in the recent Pathways to Work Green Paper that we would establish a new guarantee of support for all disabled people and people with health conditions claiming out of work benefits who want help to get into or return to work. As announced in the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions’ statement on Welfare Reform, on 30 June, we are investing an additional £300m over the next 3 years. This means, our ‘Pathways to Work Guarantee’ is now backed by an investment of £2.2 billion by 2030. This brings our total investment in employment support for disabled people and those with health conditions to £3.8 billion over this Parliament. Backed by £240m investment, the Get Britain Working White Paper launched in November 2024, will drive forward approaches to tackling economic inactivity and work toward the long-term ambition of an 80% employment rate. In recognition of the key role employers play a key role in increasing employment opportunities and supporting disabled people and people with health conditions, the Secretaries of State for Work and Pensions and Business and Trade asked Sir Charlie Mayfield to lead an independent review, considering how best to support and enable employers to recruit and retain more people with health conditions and disabilities, promote healthy workplaces, and support more people to stay in or return to work from periods of sickness absence. Sir Charlie will deliver his final report in the autumn. Employers are crucial in enhancing employment opportunities and supporting disabled people and those with health conditions to thrive in the workforce. Our support to employers includes increasing access to Occupational Health, a digital information service for employers and the Disability Confident scheme.In Lincolnshire, our Jobcentre Employer and Partnership Teams work with a range of employers and partners to enhance the skills and employment support available locally. An example of this includes working closely with South and East Lincolnshire Council on the commissioning of skills and employment support programmes using Shared Prosperity Funding.

If she will make an estimate of the number of people qualifying for (a) blue badges, (b) housing benefit and (c) Carer's Allowance in Lincolnshire impacted by her Department's proposed changes to the eligibility for PIP.

Changes to the daily living component of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) will not have an impact on Blue Badge holders as no changes are being made to the mobility component of PIP. The assessment by the Office for Budget Responsibility of the impact of the proposed changes on carers was only made for England and Wales as a whole. The impacts can be found in table A4 here: Spring Statement 2025 health and disability benefit reforms – Impacts. There will be no immediate changes to PIP eligibility. Our intention is that changes will start to come into effect from November 2026, subject to parliamentary approval. After that date, no one will lose PIP without first being reassessed by a trained assessor or healthcare professional, who assesses individual needs and circumstance. Reassessments happen on average every 3 years. The number of people currently on PIP who did not score 4 points in one category in their last assessment should not be equated with the number who are likely to lose PIP in future. It’s important to make a clear distinction between the two, not least because we don’t want constituents to be unnecessarily fearful about their situation, when we understand many are already anxious. Someone who did not score 4 points in an activity in a previous assessment may well score 4 points in a future assessment as conditions change over time. After taking account of behavioural changes, the OBR predicts that 9 in 10 of those on PIP daily living at the point any changes come in will still be receiving PIP by the end of the decade. We are consulting on how best to support those who are affected by the new eligibility changes, including ensuring health and care needs are met. We have also announced a wider review of the PIP assessment to make it fair and fit for purpose, which I will lead. We are bringing together a range of experts, stakeholders and people with lived experience to consider how best to do this. We will provide further details as plans progress. Even with these reforms, the overall number of people on PIP and DLA is expected to rise by 750,000 by the end of this parliament and spending will rise from £23bn in 24/25 to £31bn in 29/30. A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.

How many people living in South Holland and the Deepings constituency are claiming PIP and not in work.

In the South Holland and The Deepings constituency, 3,750 Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claimants are not in work. The figure has been rounded to the nearest 10. This only includes claimants with normal rules and who are working-age adults. Data is for March 2024 which is the latest employment data available.

What steps she is taking to increase the number of apprenticeship starts in her Department.

We remain committed to supporting the use of apprenticeships across all government departments to break down barriers to opportunity. A new cross-Government Level 3 apprenticeship programme in Business Administration, the ‘Civil Service Career Launch Apprenticeship’ (CLA), will see new apprentices kickstart their careers, across various departments, starting from January 2026. The Department for Work and Pensions has been supporting Cabinet Office with the development of this new scheme, sharing learning from our own school leaver Social Mobility Apprenticeship pilot, which has run successfully for the last two years, with our first cohort of school leavers all securing permanent employment within the Department. In addition, in the Department for Work and Pensions we are developing an internal apprenticeship strategy, which will utilise the flexibility provided by the new Growth and Skills Levy to develop skills and support the future needs of the Department. Expansion of opportunities to recruit new apprentices are being explored, including continued use of our Social Mobility Apprenticeship schemes and direct recruitment of apprentices into entry level roles. We have recently run a campaign for 50 new Level 3 apprentices in Counter Fraud and Compliance, with a further 40 roles due to go live next month. We are committed to Getting Britain Working, driving growth through employment. Our plan includes a new Youth Guarantee for all young people aged 18-21 in England to ensure that they can access quality training opportunities, an apprenticeship or help to find work. The Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Education are working closely with the eight Mayoral Strategic Authorities in England who have commenced phased delivery of the Youth Guarantee Trailblazers announced in the Get Britain Working white paper from May 2025. The Department is committed to offering high quality apprenticeships for all and working with professions to identify opportunities to fulfil business needs.

How many people working in the armed forces have claimed Personal Independence Payment in each year since 2020.

The Department does not hold data on whether Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claimants are in the armed forces.

How many UK nationals resident in Macedonia have claimed unemployment benefits in each year since 2020.

The UK does not pay a UK Unemployment Benefit to people resident in the Balkan region, and the UK has no information about UK nationals resident in those countries receiving benefits administered by those countries.

How many UK nationals resident in Montenegro have claimed unemployment benefits in each year since 2020.

The UK does not pay a UK Unemployment Benefit to people resident in the Balkan region, and the UK has no information about UK nationals resident in those countries receiving benefits administered by those countries.

How many UK nationals resident in Serbia have claimed unemployment benefits in each year since 2020.

The UK does not pay a UK Unemployment Benefit to people resident in the Balkan region, and the UK has no information about UK nationals resident in those countries receiving benefits administered by those countries.

How many UK nationals resident in New Zealand have claimed unemployment benefits in each year since 2020.

The UK does not pay a UK Unemployment Benefit to people resident in New Zealand, and the UK has no information about UK nationals resident in New Zealand receiving benefits administered by that country.

How many UK nationals resident in Bosnia and Herzegovina have claimed unemployment benefits in each year since 2020.

The UK does not pay a UK Unemployment Benefit to people resident in the Balkan region, and the UK has no information about UK nationals resident in those countries receiving benefits administered by those countries.