Written questions by Duncan-Jordan.

What steps her Department are taking to reduce phone-line waits for those making an application for Pension Credit.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) plans resourcing according to forecasted telephony demand in an effort to keep wait times down. Wait time performance and forecasted demand is frequently reviewed and we are continually working to improve our telephony service. In response to significantly increased demand, we have increased the resource in Pension Credit claims by over 500 additional staff through a combination of internal redeployments, use of external providers and external recruitment. We are investing in a new technology that aims to better route customers to the right service at the right time. Once deployed, this technology will reduce the time callers spend listening to a menu of choices and instead invite claimants to say why they are calling, at the start of the call.

Whether she has considered renaming the Attendance Allowance.

There are no plans to change the name of Attendance Allowance in England and Wales. Attendance Allowance is a devolved matter in Scotland. The Scottish Government is currently replacing it with Pension Age Disability Payment.

If she will make an estimate of the amount of eligible Pension Credit that has been unclaimed as of 28 February 2025.

The Department does not have data for the period up to February 2025. The latest available Pension Credit take-up statistics cover the financial year 2022 to 2023 and are available at: Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up: financial year ending 2023 - GOV.UK. In the financial year ending 2023, the estimated amount of unclaimed Pension Credit was £1.33 billion.

How many agricultural workers are claiming Universal Credit.

The requested information is not held. We do not systematically collect data on the employment sector background of Universal Credit (UC) claimants because this does not affect entitlement to UC.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of increasing child related benefits annually in line with trends in level of (a) inflation and (b) wages.

The Child Poverty Taskforce is exploring how we can use every available lever across Government to reduce child poverty before publishing a strategy which will deliver lasting change.

If she will publish a breakdown by (a) disability and (b) long-term illness of eligibility for (a) Universal Credit, (b) Employment and Support Allowance, (c) Disability Living Allowance and (d) Personal Independence Payment in the last 12 months.

Statistics by primary disabling condition are already published for Employment and Support Allowance, Disability Living Allowance, and Personal Independence Payment at https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/. Claimants may often have multiple disabling conditions upon which the decision is based but only the primary condition is shown in these statistics. Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/index.html. An account is not required to use Stat- Xplore, the ‘Guest Login’ feature gives instant access to the main functions.Statistics on the outcomes of Universal Credit work capability assessments (UC WCA) are available by high-level medical condition for the period from January 2022 to August 2024 in Table 7 of the latest UC WCA data tables. For UC, it is not possible to provide the statistics for the primary medical condition, due to how the information on medical conditions is recorded and compiled. See section 3 of the Universal Credit Work Capability Assessment statistics: methodology and Note 9 of the UC WCA data tables for further information.

What steps she is taking to review the assessment process for disability and long term sickness benefits.

We are working to develop proposals to reform the system of health and disability benefits and will set these out in due course.This Government is committed to putting the views and voices of disabled people at the heart of all that we do. We are committed to reforming the system of health and disability benefits so that it promotes and enables employment among as many people as possible. The system must also work to support disabled people to live independently. It is also vital to ensure that the system is financially sustainable in the long term. The Health Transformation Programme is modernising health and disability benefit services to improve efficiency and customer experience. It will introduce a new option to apply online, improve how we gather health information, and tailor the process to the customer’s needs and circumstances.

What criteria her Department plans to use when reforming the system of disability and ill health benefits.

We are working to develop proposals to reform the system of health and disability benefits and will set these out in due course.This Government is committed to putting the views and voices of disabled people at the heart of all that we do. We are committed to reforming the system of health and disability benefits so that it promotes and enables employment among as many people as possible. The system must also work to support disabled people to live independently. It is also vital to ensure that the system is financially sustainable in the long term. The Health Transformation Programme is modernising health and disability benefit services to improve efficiency and customer experience. It will introduce a new option to apply online, improve how we gather health information, and tailor the process to the customer’s needs and circumstances.

What steps she is taking to review the organisations that carry out the assessment process for disability and long term sickness benefits.

The new Functional Assessment Services (FAS) contracts went live on 9 September 2024. The FAS suppliers are focused on embedding strong performance following the transition from the previous contractual arrangements. Based on strict assessment criteria and specific requirements regarding delivery and performance, the department awarded contracts to the bidders who indicated that they would provide the best service and the best value for money for the taxpayer. Each supplier is held accountable to the same service delivery performance standards set by DWP. The department will robustly manage and monitor the performance of the contracted FAS suppliers in order to obtain optimal performance. Contractual remedies and financial redress are available to the department should performance criteria not be met.

If she will make an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the potential causes of the (a) disabilities and (b) long-term illnesses that have contributed to the trends in the number of working age people who are claiming sickness and disability benefits.

The number of working age people reporting long-term health conditions and disabilities had been growing steadily since at least the late 1990s, before accelerating since the COVID-19 pandemic. These increases are likely to be caused by a combination of changes in health and awareness, and have been reflected in higher numbers of people receiving incapacity and disability benefits. A number of health-related factors may have contributed to these increases, including: higher prevalence and recognition of health conditions, particularly mental health and neurodiverse conditions; the direct health impacts of the COVID-19 virus; indirect impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns on physical health (through reduced activity) and mental health (through reduced social interaction and increased anxiety); impacts of subsequent labour market changes and cost of living pressures on health; and increases in NHS waiting times. In addition, a number of behavioural factors are also likely to have contributed to higher numbers claiming incapacity and disability benefits, including: cost of living pressures; greater awareness of disability benefits (in part due to cost of living); longer waits for NHS treatment; economically inactive people being more likely to report long-term illness or disability as their main reason for inactivity; and incentives in the benefit system that can encourage people to claim health-related benefits. In addition, further factors affecting incapacity benefits have been analysed in the publication Growth in numbers of Employment and Support Allowance Support Group or Universal Credit Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity - GOV.UK

What estimate she has made of the number of appeals that are subsequently successful related to claims for disability and long term sickness benefits.

Appeals are the responsibility of His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service who publish information on tribunal outcomes by benefit type here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics. In particular please refer to Main Tables ODS file and tables SSCS_1 to SSCS_3.

What estimate she has made of the number of people of working age currently claiming sickness and disability benefits that would be unable to find gainful employment as a result of their disability or long-term sickness.

No estimate has been made of the number of people of working age currently claiming sickness and disability benefits that would be unable to find gainful employment as a result of their disability or long-term sickness

What estimate she has made of the number of appeals related to claims for disability and long term sickness benefits.

Appeals are the responsibility of His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service who publish information on tribunal outcomes by benefit type here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics. In particular please refer to Main Tables ODS file and tables SSCS_1 to SSCS_3.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of returning the assessment process for disability and long term sickness benefits in-house.

Delivery of functional assessments to support health and disability benefit processing has been outsourced by DWP since 1998. New five-year contracts for these services commenced in September 2024. In advance of the procurement of these contracts, a delivery model assessment was carried out in line with commercial best practice, which determined that outsourced delivery remained the best way of achieving value for money and service stability. A further delivery model assessment will be carried out in due course to inform decisions on future service delivery, beyond the current contracts.

Whether the pension review will consider adequacy.

This government is committed to enabling tomorrow’s pensioners to have security in retirement– which is why we announced the landmark Pensions Review days after coming into office in July.The first phase is focussed on boosting investment and economic growth and we are committed to a second phase that will include retirement adequacy within its considerations. We will provide further detail on the full scope and timetable for the second phase in due course.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of requiring a at least 25% of all new pension contributions to be invested in social and green infrastructure projects.

Investing in the right assets to deliver good saver returns, support growth and meet our environmental aims is key to the Government’s pensions initiatives. Proposals put forward by the November 2024 Interim Report of the Pensions Investment Review, aim to deliver a major consolidation of the defined contribution workplace market, and require 86 Administering Authorities of the Local Government Pension Scheme (of England and Wales) to delegate management of their investments to pools. Our objective is to enable schemes to invest in a wide range of assets including infrastructure, meeting social and green aims. The Government expects to publish its Final Report in Spring 2025.

How many people with a frozen overseas state pension live in (a) Canada and (b) Australia.

Data on State Pension caseloads that are not uprated overseas are published and this can be found on Stat-Xplore. Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest user and, if needed, can access guidance on how to extract the information required. As of ...

What estimate she has made of the potential savings to the public purse of means testing the winter fuel payment.

It is estimated that the changes to Winter Fuel Payments in England and Wales will save around £1.3 billion in 2024/25, rising to £1.5 billion by 2029/30. This figure has been published in the Office of Budget Responsibility’s Economic and Fiscal Outlook ...

If she will make an estimate of the number of additional Pension Credit claims received since the announcement on changing the eligibility of the Winter Fuel Payment; and what proportion of these claims

We are unable to advise how many claims for Pension Credit have been made and then awarded since 29 July 2024. This is because the Department currently reports clearance times by the week the claim was cleared, rather than the week the claim was made. As ...

What the average time is for a successful Pension Credit claimant to start receiving winter fuel payments.

The department does not hold data on the average time taken for a successful Pension Credit claimant to receive their winter fuel payment. However, where the customer is eligible for a Winter Fuel Payment, the department aims to make this payment within 2...