Written questions by Anderson.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of Universal Credit expenditure on the sustainability of the overall welfare budget.

This Government is committed to a social security system which raises employment and living standards by supporting and incentivising people into work and to work more, reduces poverty by supporting people at times of higher cost and dependency, and promotes fairness and controls overall spending to ensure the long-term sustainability of the system for future generations. The Government’s welfare cap rule also helps ensure the long-term sustainability of the welfare system. A new welfare cap covering the current parliament was introduced at Autumn Budget 2024. The financial sustainability of the benefit system is considered in the round as part of the forecasts for annually managed expenditure which are produced twice yearly as part of the Office for Budget Responsibility forecast process. At Spring Statement 2025 the OBR forecast that expenditure on Universal Credit is forecast to increase from £75.8billion in 2025/26 to £88.9billion in 2029/30 – with Universal Credit expenditure representing a similar share of GDP in 2029/30 as in 2025/26. The number of households on Universal Credit is forecast to increase from 6.3million in 2025/26 to 6.8million over that time period. The OBR will provide a further update as part of the Autumn Budget.

What recent assessment she has made of the long term financial sustainability of the number of people on Universal Credit.

This Government is committed to a social security system which raises employment and living standards by supporting and incentivising people into work and to work more, reduces poverty by supporting people at times of higher cost and dependency, and promotes fairness and controls overall spending to ensure the long-term sustainability of the system for future generations. The Government’s welfare cap rule also helps ensure the long-term sustainability of the welfare system. A new welfare cap covering the current parliament was introduced at Autumn Budget 2024. The financial sustainability of the benefit system is considered in the round as part of the forecasts for annually managed expenditure which are produced twice yearly as part of the Office for Budget Responsibility forecast process. At Spring Statement 2025 the OBR forecast that expenditure on Universal Credit is forecast to increase from £75.8billion in 2025/26 to £88.9billion in 2029/30 – with Universal Credit expenditure representing a similar share of GDP in 2029/30 as in 2025/26. The number of households on Universal Credit is forecast to increase from 6.3million in 2025/26 to 6.8million over that time period. The OBR will provide a further update as part of the Autumn Budget.

What proportion of foreign nationals receiving Universal Credit arrived in the UK in the last five years.

The Department does not hold this information for all claimants over the last five years.

What information they hold on the number of workdays that were completed remotely in their Department in (a) 2024 and (b) 2025 to date.

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

What recent estimate her Department has made of the proportion of Universal Credit claims made by foreign nationals (a) since July 2024 and (b) in each of the last three years.

The Department publishes Universal Credit (UC) immigration status and nationality statistics as part of the Universal Credit statistics publication. The latest release of these statistics is included in the latest Universal Credit statistical bulletin

What estimate she has made of the cost of employment (a) services and (b) training for foreign nationals in each of the last five years.

The Department considers migration trends when planning resources for delivering support including employment services and training to ensure that all claimants, regardless of their nationality or immigration status, can access this support if they are entitled to it. The Department does not collect information on or hold a record of the nationality or immigration status of claimants at the point of referral to specific employment services and training.

What estimate her Department has made of the cost to the public purse of Universal Credit claims made by foreign nationals in each of the last five years.

Universal Credit awards are paid to households, which may include both British and foreign nationals who are eligible. Therefore, the information requested is not readily available at the required quality and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

What assessment she has made of the long term financial sustainability of the (a) eligibility criteria for foreign nationals claiming Universal Credit and (b) the number of foreign nationals claiming Universal Credit.

The Department takes into account migration trends and benefit entitlement conditions when producing twice-yearly benefit expenditure and caseload forecasts as part of the fiscal event process, but these forecasts do not break down expenditure by nationality. These were last updated in 23 April 2025. https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/benefit-expenditure-tables

What steps her Department is taking to evaluate demographic trends by nationality of Universal Credit claimants.

The Department regularly monitors demographic trends including publishing statistics on Universal Credit claims by Immigration Status and Nationality. https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/universal-credit-statistics

What recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of foreign nationals claiming Universal Credit on levels of public funds.

The Department takes into account migration trends and benefit entitlement conditions when producing twice-yearly benefit expenditure and caseload forecasts as part of the fiscal event process, but these forecasts do not break down expenditure by nationality. These were last updated in 23 April 2025. https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/benefit-expenditure-tables

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of trends in the number of foreign nationals claiming Universal Credit on future (a) public spending and (b) taxation.

The Department takes into account migration trends and benefit entitlement conditions when producing twice-yearly benefit expenditure and caseload forecasts as part of the fiscal event process, but these forecasts do not break down expenditure by nationality. These were last updated in 23 April 2025. https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/benefit-expenditure-tables

If she will publish the number of foreign nationals in receipt of each benefit across working age welfare spending.

There are no plans to start consistently collecting nationality data across all working age benefits. This is because DWP policy responsibility lies in establishing a customer’s eligibility to claim benefits. An individual’s specific nationality does not play a role in this. The Department checks immigration status when assessing eligibility for benefits, but this information is not collated centrally across all benefit lines and hence is not readily available. The Department publishes Universal Credit (UC) immigration status and nationality statistics as part of the Universal Credit statistics publication. The latest release of these statistics is included in the latest Universal Credit statistical bulletin. ‘Table 2’ in the latest Universal Credit immigration status and nationality data tables provides information on the number of people on Universal Credit by immigration status, nationality group and employment status, for each month from April 2022 to June 2025.

What recent discussions she has had with (a) the Secretary of State for the Home Department and (b) the Chancellor of the Exchequer on removing the current eligibility criteria for foreign nationals to claim Universal Credit.

The Department is playing an active role in work across Government connected to the Home Office’s recent White Paper ‘Restoring Control Over the Immigration System’. This includes membership in the Labour Market Advisory Group alongside the Migration Advisory Committee, Industrial Strategy Advisory Council and Skills England and devolved equivalents. The White Paper sets out ambitious changes including plans to increase the standard qualifying period for settlement and access to public funds benefits from five to ten years.

What recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of trends in the number of foreign national Universal Credit claimants on the (a) delivery and (b) availability of employment support services.

The Department considers migration trends when planning resources for delivering support including employment services and training to ensure that all claimants, regardless of their nationality or immigration status, can access this support if they are entitled to it. The Department does not collect information on or hold a record of the nationality or immigration status of claimants at the point of referral to specific employment services and training.

What recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of (a) prevention and (b) detection measures used to identify fraudulent claims for Universal Credit by foreign nationals.

This government takes all cases of fraud seriously and has introduced the biggest package of measures in recent history to reduce welfare fraud, error and debt, which includes new legislation, the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill. This contains new powers to modernise our defences and is currently progressing through Parliament. In 2024-25, we saved an estimated £25bn from our up-front controls and detect activity, with the latter delivering £2bn savings and thereby significantly exceeding our Annually Managed Expenditure savings target. The Department always checks a person’s identity and immigration status before paying them benefits if they are a foreign national. We verify this information with the Home Office, including through automatic system-to-system checks.

What recent assessment she has made of the financial sustainability of the number of asylum seekers in receipt of Universal Credit.

People who are in the UK with no immigration status who are applying for asylum are not permitted access to public funds and therefore cannot claim Universal Credit.

What data her Department holds on the proportion of foreign nationals claiming Universal Credit who are exempt from the habitual residence test.

This information is not readily available and to identify, collate and provide it would incur disproportionate cost. British and foreign nationals who are fleeing persecution and humanitarian crises overseas are exempt from the normal requirement to be habitually resident so that they can access support quickly on arrival. Those who stay in the UK are likely to meet the requirement one to three months later, without the aid of an exemption. People covered by the exemptions at the time they claim must still meet all the other eligibility criteria before they can receive Universal Credit, including being in Great Britain and, if they are a foreign national, having an immigration status that permits access to public funds.

How much their Department has spent on translating documents into languages other than (a) English and (b) other native UK languages in each year since 2023; and what these languages were.

Spend: YearTotal2023£ 707,777.122024£ 882,118.002025£ 546,323.38 Languages: AlbanianHebrewCroatianAmharicTamilSomaliArabicUrduItalianBahasa IndonesiaNepaliCatalanBengaliFarsi (Persian)SwedishBSL (British Sign Language)SomaliPortuguese (Brazilian)BulgarianRomanianLithuanianCroatianJapaneseSerbianCzechNorwegianUkrainianDanishUkrainianNorwegianDariWelshEstonianDutchBulgarianFrenchEstonianTraditional ChineseThaiFarsi (Persian)BengaliFarsi (Persian)FinnishLatvian (Lettish)HungarianFrenchFrenchRomanianGermanGermanGermanGreekSwedishTurkishGujaratiPashtuBahasa IndonesiaHebrewDariDariHindiVietnameseVietnameseHungarianHungarianRussianIcelandicCatalanHebrewIndian PunjabiIcelandicGujaratiItalianItalianUrduJapaneseEstonianIndian PunjabiKoreanHindiWelshKurdish / Kurdish SoraniSinhaleseKoreanKurdish KurmanjiSlovenianGeorgianLatvian (Lettish)TurkishDanishLithuanianPortuguesePortugueseMacedonianBosnianOromo ( Afan)Malay (Malaysian)Kurdish / Kurdish SoraniAlbanianMalteseAmharicKazakhNorwegianDutchCzechOromo ( Afan)Bahasa IndonesiaKinyarwandaPakistani PunjabiIndian PunjabiPakistani PunjabiPashtuGujaratiMalay (Malaysian)PolishPolishPolishPortugueseLithuanianBulgarianPortuguese (Brazilian)Braille (Unified English)MacedonianRomanianDanishGreekRussianPortuguese (Brazilian)Traditional ChineseSerbianCastilianNepaliSimplified ChineseSimplified ChineseBosnianSinhaleseCroatianKurdish / Kurdish SoraniSlovakSlovakSlovakSomaliPakistani PunjabiPashtuSpanishSpanishSpanishSwedishGreekLatvian (Lettish)TamilBSL (British Sign Language)Simplified ChineseThaiRussianJapaneseTigrinyaEnglish (Easy Read)SlovenianTraditional ChineseThaiBengaliTurkishFinnishFinnishUkrainianArabicArabicUrduCzechDutchVietnameseSerbianSinhaleseWelshAlbanianBSL (British Sign Language) FlemishTagalog (Filipino) GalicianTamil KoreanTanzanian Swahili MacedonianUzbek Malay (Malaysian) Sindhi Spanish (LatAm) Tagalog (Filipino) Tanzanian Swahili Tigrinya

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of proposed changes to (a) Universal Credit and (b) Personal Independence Payment on veterans.

No assessment has been made. Information on previous occupations is not systematically recorded on DWP IT systems and is not readily available for analysis. Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper has been published here: Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill publications - Parliamentary Bills - UK Parliament. 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 not to be awarded the daily living component of PIP in future. Our intention is that changes will start to come into effect from November 2026, subject to parliamentary approval. After that date, people already in receipt of PIP will continue to be treated under the current rules, with only new claimants having the new criterion applied. As a result of behavioural responses to the change, we expect that a higher proportion of new claimants will score 4 points against at least one activity than happens currently. 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 am leading. 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. We will be making changes so no one currently on PIP will lose PIP as a result of the four-point change. The four point eligibility requirement will be implemented from November 2026 for new claims only, subject to Parliamentary approval. We take our commitments under the Armed Forces Covenant very seriously. My department has taken steps to ensure that veterans with injuries or conditions arising from their service are appropriately supported when accessing statutory support, this includes the establishment of the Armed Forces Independence Payment and ensuring that those receiving War Disablement Pensions and guaranteed income payments made under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme do not have their Universal Credit (UC) reduced to take account of this income. We have welcomed veterans and representative organisations to respond to our Green Paper consultation to share their views on how wounded, injured and sick veterans can best be supported. To promote further engagement, we recently held a specific consultation event for Armed Forces and veterans’ organisations on 25 June to hear their experiences and thoughts directly.

How many veterans will be impacted by proposed changes to (a) Universal Credit and (b) Personal Independence Payment.

No such assessment has been made. However, as we develop proposals further, we are carefully considering the potential impacts, including on veterans and their families, as part of our broader response to the Green Paper consultation. We would encourage organisations supporting and representing veterans, such as the Royal British Legion, the Soldiers', Sailors', and Airmen's Families Association (SSAFA), and many others, to contribute their views on how best to support wounded, injured, and sick veterans.