Written questions by Glindon.

Whether his Department has considered the potential merits of introducing routine audio recording of Work Capability Assessments.

Awaiting answer.

If he will make an estimate of the proportion of claimants who have migrated from Employment and Support Allowance to Universal Credit under managed migration who have had the calculations on their claim overturned upon challenge or appeal.

Awaiting answer.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the Autumn Budget 2025 on further education provision for people aged between 16 and 24 in Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend constituency.

The Autumn Budget 2025 made available more than £1.5 billion over the Spending Review period for investment in employment and skills support through the Youth Guarantee and the Growth and Skills Levy. This includes fully funding SME apprenticeships for eligible people under 25, alongside changes to make the apprenticeship system simpler and more efficient. £725 million of this total package will deliver the next phase of the Growth and Skills offer, invested through expanding foundation apprenticeships, launching a pilot to better connect young people to local apprenticeship opportunities, and fully fund SME apprenticeships for eligible 16–24-year-olds from the next academic year. This investment will support people of all ages across the country, including in Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the Autumn Budget 2025 on further education provision for people over the age of 24 in Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend constituency.

The Autumn Budget 2025 made available more than £1.5 billion over the Spending Review period for investment in employment and skills support through the Youth Guarantee and the Growth and Skills Levy. This includes fully funding SME apprenticeships for eligible people under 25, alongside changes to make the apprenticeship system simpler and more efficient. £725 million of this total package will deliver the next phase of the Growth and Skills offer, invested through expanding foundation apprenticeships, launching a pilot to better connect young people to local apprenticeship opportunities, and fully fund SME apprenticeships for eligible 16–24-year-olds from the next academic year. This investment will support people of all ages across the country, including in Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend.

If he will make an estimate of the number of people with Parkinson's in the Employment and Support Allowance Support Group.

As of May 2025, there were 2,000 claimants in the Employment and Support Allowance Support Group with the main disabling condition 'Parkinson’s disease or syndrome’. In the same month, there were 300 claimants in the Employment and Support Allowance Support Group with the main disabling condition ‘Parkinsonism’. Data is based on primary medical condition as recorded on the ESA computer systems. Claimants may have multiple disabling conditions on which their entitlement is based but only the primary condition is available for statistical purposes and shown in these statistics.

What assessment he has made of the potential merits of having Jobcentre staff in supported housing sites to support young people into employment.

It remains our priority to ensure that those who can work are supported to enter and sustain employment. We are working with eight Youth Guarantee Trailblazers, led by Mayoral Strategic Authorities across England which are testing innovative approaches to identify and deliver localised support to young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) or at risk of becoming NEET. This includes strengthening local coordination, through local leadership, and outreach to better connect young people with opportunities. One of the Trailblazers in Central London is delivering targeted support to care leavers included those in supported accommodation to help them access suitable employment opportunities. As part of our Youth Offer, we also have Youth Hubs which deliver a core offer of skills, training and employment-focused support. Alongside this, partner organisations deliver a range of services, based upon the needs of the local area that they service. This can include connecting young people to a wider range of services such as health, housing and wellbeing support, depending on local needs and partnerships. To drive up quality in supported accommodation (including for young people), DWP is working alongside MHCLG to implement measures in the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act in England, which include a proposed locally led licensing regime and new National Supported Housing Standards for providers. The proposed standards make it clear that residents should receive person-centred support including where appropriate being supported, encouraged, and enabled to take up learning, volunteering, training, and employment opportunities.

Whether there has been a change in guidance for decision makers looking at Attendance Allowance applications in the last 12 months.

Attendance Allowance guidance is regularly reviewed and updated to ensure it reflects current policy and operational processes.

What training on employment law do Access to Work case managers receive in order to determine whether a requested adjustment is reasonable.

Access to Work case managers do not receive training in employment law. Instead, they are trained to apply the Principles of Access to Work, which are designed to ensure that support provided:Goes above and beyond what is considered a reasonable adjustment under the Equality Act 2010; andComplements but does not replace or subsidise an employer’s legal duty to make reasonable adjustments.Access to Work support is therefore not intended to determine legal obligations, but to provide additional assistance where appropriate, once an employer’s responsibilities have been met.

What the minimum British Sign Language level required is for communication support workers in his Department.

The minimum BSL sign levels required for DWP communication support workers are: RSLI (Registered Sign Language Interpreter) has Level 6 BSL and an Interpreting qualification (NVQ or Degree). TSLI (Trainee Registered Sign Language) has level 6 BSL and is enrolled and working through Interpreting qualification (NVQ or degree). All interpreters are registered with NRCPD (National Registers of Communication Professionals working with Deaf and Deaf/blind People).

With reference to the Department's publication entitled Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, published in March 2025, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of the reforms on the service capacity of (a) voluntary and (b) community sector organisations.

No estimate has been made.I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 30 April 2025 to question number 47657. The answer can be found here: Written questions and answers - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament

What recent estimate she has made of the proportion of Employment and Support Allowance claimants who have not moved to Universal Credit after the deadline day set out in their migration notice in (a) Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend, (b) the North East and (c) England.

Monthly statistics for the number of People and Households sent a Migration Notice for Move to Universal Credit in Great Britain by geography including by Westminster Parliamentary Constituency and by legacy benefit type are published quarterly on Stat-Xplore - Log in People invited to Move to Universal Credit statistics are currently available from July 2022 to December 2024 in the People invited to Move to Universal Credit dataset. Households invited to Move to Universal Credit statistics are also available in the Households invited to Move to Universal Credit dataset. In addition there are a number of ready-made tables by various breakdowns available in the Move to Universal Credit tables. Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access Introduction to the Stat-Xplore User Guide on how to extract the information required. There is also a Universal Credit Official Statistics: Stat-Xplore user guide - GOV.UK

With reference to her Department's publication entitled Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, published in March 2025, what role the (a) voluntary and (b) community sector will have in implementing those reforms.

We strongly value the input of disabled people and people with health conditions, in addition to representative organisations that support them, and that is why we have brought forward this Green Paper and the consultation.The consultation welcomes the views of voluntary organisations, and we hope many will respond before the consultation closes on the 30 June 2025. Our programme of accessible public events will further facilitate input, including in-person and online, and will help us hear from disabled people and representative organisations directly.We are also exploring other ways to facilitate the involvement of stakeholders in our reforms. In addition to the consultation, we will establish ‘collaboration committees’ that bring groups of people together for specific policy development areas and our wider review of the PIP assessment will bring together a range of experts, stakeholders and people with lived experience.As we develop proposals further, we will consider how to best to involve voluntary and community organisations in the planning and implementation of reforms, including in our employment support package.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of using the Universal Credit system to automatically register eligible households for (a) free school meals and (b) the NHS Healthy Start scheme.

No such assessment has been made. The Universal Credit system permits Department of Health and Social Care to check a citizen’s entitlement to Healthy Start vouchers, and Department for Education to check eligibility for Free School Meals.

What her planned timeline is for the implementation of recorded assessments as standard for Personal Independence Payments.

We announced our intention to record assessments as standard in the Pathways to Work Green Paper as a valuable tool to improve people’s trust in the health assessment process. We are developing our plans to implement this measure and will set out further details in a White Paper later this year.

Whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential implications for her policies of (a) the report by the Law Commission entitled Fiduciary Duties of Investment Intermediaries, published on 30 June 2014, and (b) its evaluation that there is no impediment to pension trustees taking account of environmental factors where (i) they are and (ii) may be financially material.

Trustees have a range of duties set out in governing provisions of the scheme, common law and relevant statutory provisions. These include duties to make investment decisions in the best interests of members of the pension scheme. The Law Commission concluded in 2014, that there was no impediment to trustees taking account of Environmental, Social and Governance factors, where they are or may be financially material, and that trustees should take into account financially material factors. The Financial Markets Law Committee’s (FMLC) report in 2024 revisited the Law Commission’s findings and argued that there is a strong case for trustees to consider climate change and other environmental factors as ‘financial factors’ in investment decision-making. The government welcomes the opinion the FMLC reached.The Law Commission’s 2014 report also stated that trustees may take such factors, which are not strictly and directly financial, into account. This should be to the extent that they would not involve a risk of significant financial detriment to the trust’s funds and where they have good reason to think scheme members would support the decision. The FMLC’s report concludes that financial factors are broad and many factors that may appear at first to be ‘non-financial’ are in fact ‘financial’. Findings from both reports reflect the permissive nature of trustee fiduciary duty, and why the government is not currently considering any change to the law.

If she will take steps to ensure that fiduciary duty explicitly places a duty on pension fund trustees to consider system risks.

Trustees have a range of duties set out in governing provisions of the scheme, common law and relevant statutory provisions. These include duties to make investment decisions in the best interests of members of the pension scheme. The Law Commission concluded in 2014, that there was no impediment to trustees taking account of Environmental, Social and Governance factors, where they are or may be financially material, and that trustees should take into account financially material factors. The Financial Markets Law Committee’s (FMLC) report in 2024 revisited the Law Commission’s findings and argued that there is a strong case for trustees to consider climate change and other environmental factors as ‘financial factors’ in investment decision-making. The government welcomes the opinion the FMLC reached.The Law Commission’s 2014 report also stated that trustees may take such factors, which are not strictly and directly financial, into account. This should be to the extent that they would not involve a risk of significant financial detriment to the trust’s funds and where they have good reason to think scheme members would support the decision. The FMLC’s report concludes that financial factors are broad and many factors that may appear at first to be ‘non-financial’ are in fact ‘financial’. Findings from both reports reflect the permissive nature of trustee fiduciary duty, and why the government is not currently considering any change to the law.

If she has made an assessment of the potential merits of ensuring that newly appointed pension fund trustees are aware of the responsibility to consider climate risks in investments.

There are a range of governance and reporting requirements that trustees, including new trustees, must meet. For trustees in scope, this includes disclosing Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) policies in the Statement of Investment Principles (SIP) and explaining how and the extent to which those policies have been followed over the scheme year. Guidance is available from the Pensions Regulator (TPR) to help trustees understand these requirements and the 2024 Market Oversight Review provides further insight into TPR’s expectations around ESG duties.The Occupational Pension Schemes (Climate Change Governance and Reporting) Regulations 2021 place requirements on trustees in our largest occupational pension schemes to demonstrate how they are managing climate-related risks and opportunities in an annual Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) report. TPR’s Guidance includes a step-by-step example to help trustees develop their understanding of the requirements and upskill newer trustees. In a 2024 review of TCFD reports, TPR reported confidence in trustees maintaining up-to-date knowledge and understanding of climate risk.As set out in their Climate Adaptation Report (2025), TPR is proactively focused on raising trustee awareness of climate-related systemic risks. TPR also continues to support new trustees through specific guidance and the Trustee toolkit, a free online learning programme that helps trustees gain the relevant skills, knowledge and understanding needed to fulfil their role.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries and the University of Exeter report entitled Planetary Solvency, published on 16 January 2025; and whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of providing guidance on how pension funds can gain more realistic assessments of climate risk.

Trustees of pension schemes in scope of the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) are required to undertake scenario analysis to assess the resilience of their investment strategy against climate-related risks and opportunities. Trustees must have regard to the DWP’s statutory guidance when complying with these requirements. The Pensions Regulator has also issued guidance to trustees, which references free online resources such as the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) climate risk map. This resource can help trustees form an initial view of the types of risks and opportunities that might be relevant and help guide their discussions with advisers.Climate scenario analysis tools and the information and data behind them are evolving rapidly, so trustees should keep developments under review. It is sensible for trustees to update their scenario analysis if modelling techniques and capabilities change.The government will continue to work in collaboration with regulators and welcomes progress within the industry to ensure that climate risk models support effective decision-making under the existing legislative requirements.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to (a) Personal Independence Payment, (b) Universal Credit and (c) Carers’ Allowance on (i) adult social service capacity and (ii) housing demand.

DWP is working across Government, including with DHSC and MHCLG, to consider the impact of the reforms to the welfare system. We will also consider the impacts on benefits for unpaid carers as part of our wider consideration of responses to the consultation as we develop our detailed proposals for change. Through the Green Paper we are consulting on the support needed for those who may lose any entitlements as a result of receiving PIP daily living and what this support could look like. We will also work closely with the DHSC and others on how the health and eligible care needs of those who would lose entitlement to PIP could be met outside the benefits system.

What assessment she has made for the potential implications for her Department's policies of the report entitled Move to Universal Credit Non-claimants (formerly tax credits customers) Research, published on 17 December 2024.

Our research with former tax credit customers who did not claim UC found that the majority of respondents did not intend to claim UC in the future and customers were generally making an informed decision. The report did identify potential barriers for some groups claiming UC. DWP sets out the range of support available for making a claim to Universal Credit within the Migration Notice, including independent support through Help to Claim. This support is also available online and has been highlighted through our extensive media campaign. Our published official statistics show that those receiving a DWP legacy benefit or Housing Benefit are claiming at a higher percentage, in line with Discovery claim rates.