Every parliamentary written question tabled by Neil O'Brien this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 21–40 of 106 · Department for Work and Pensions
With reference to the Answer of 1 May 2025 to Question 47466, how many Personal Independence Payment claimants there are, broken down by (a) disability category and (b) health condition; and of those cl
The information requested is provided in the attached workbook. Figures for claimants with the most common disabling conditions in receipt of the PIP Daily Living component including those scoring fewer than 12 points on the Daily Living activities are pr...
If he will publish a breakdown of the number of mobility points scored by Personal Independence Payment claimants by primary health condition of the claimant.
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Pursuant to the Answer of 1 May 2025 to Question 47466, how many Personal Independence Payment claimants there are, broken down by (a) disability category and (b) health condition; and of those claimants, how many score fewer than 12 points across all daily living activities.
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
How many Universal Credit households in the most recent quarter for which data is available are undergoing a third party deduction for the purpose of paying a court fine.
Around 250,000 Universal Credit households had at least one third party deduction for court fines in the quarter ending in November 2025. Notes:1. Figures have been calculated by identifying Universal Credit households with at least one thirdparty deduction for court fines during any month within the quarter. Households with a court fines deduction in more than one month of the quarter have been counted once only, to reflect the number of unique households affected during the period.2. Data up to November 2025 has been provided in line with the latest available Universal Credit Deductions Statistics.3. Figures have been provided for Universal Credit households in Great Britain.4. Figures are provisional and are subject to retrospective change as later data becomes available.5. Numbers are rounded to the nearest 10,000.
Of the households exempt from the Benefit Cap due to receipt of the Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity (LCWRA) element of Universal Credit, how many contain a second working age adult who is not in receipt of LCWRA.
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
How much was spent on the housing element of UC in each region and local authority in 2025.
Information about the amount of Universal Credit Housing Element expenditure is available by country and financial year here: Benefit expenditure and caseload tables 2025 - GOV.UK (see the ‘Housing_Benefits’ tab). However, information about Universal Credit Housing Element expenditure by region and local authority for 2025 is not available and to produce this would incur disproportionate cost.
What was the average number of Working Days Lost per staff year was in each jobcentre in the most recent year.
Please see link to published Average Working Days Lost figures: Civil Service sickness absence, 2025: report - GOV.UK.
What number and proportion of those claiming a) housing benefit and b) the UC housing element live in the social rented sector.
Monthly statistics for the number of households on Housing Benefit (HB) and the number of Households on Universal Credit (UC) are published quarterly on Stat-Xplore, with data currently available to November 2025. The statistics are available by Tenure Type for HB, and by Housing Entitlement - Tenure for UC. Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access guidance and the Universal Credit Official Statistics: Stat-Xplore user guide.
What number and proportion of those living in i) all tenures and ii) the social rented sector have their rent a) partly and b) fully paid by either housing benefit or the housing element of UC.
Information on the number and proportion of households in the private rented sector in receipt of Housing Benefit (HB), and if it covers rent, is available on Stat-Xplore via the Housing Benefit Official Statistics (https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/). The information can be found in the Housing Benefit – Data from April 2018 dataset and is currently available to November 2025. Universal Credit (UC) is a single integrated benefit made up of different elements, such as Housing. Households receive one combined monthly payment, and any deductions apply to the total award, not individual elements. As a result, it is not possible to isolate and compare the Universal Credit Housing Element (UCHE) to rents. However, the number and proportion of private rented sector households where rent is higher than Local Housing Allowance rate is available on Stat-Xplore and can be found in the Universal Credit – Households on Universal Credit dataset and is currently available to November 2025. For households receiving housing support in the social rented sector, the Department provides support that covers eligible rents in full, unless reduced by the Removal of Spare Room Subsidy or if they have income or savings, contributions from non-dependants, or limited by the benefit cap. Data on the number of households in social rented sector, how many households are subject to Removal of Spare Room Subsidy and how many households are subject to Benefit Cap can be found on Stat-Xplore. Providing the rest of the information requested would incur disproportionate cost. Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest, and if needed, can access guidance on how to extract the information required. There is also a Universal Credit Official Statistics: Stat-Xplore user guide.
With reference to SOPS 1.1. in the Department's 2024-25 Annual Report, if she will publish a breakdown of the £6,156,284,000 spent on Programme Resource Outturn in A: Core Department in 2024-25.
Please see the breakdown attached at Annex 1.
With reference to SOPS 1.1 in the Department's 2024-25 Annual Report, if she will publish a breakdown of the £1,030,869,000 in gross spend on Programme Resource Outturn in H: Other Benefits in 2024-25; and for what reasons that figure has increased from £343,956,000 in the equivalent SOPS 1.1 table in the 2020-21 Annual Report of the Department.
Please see attached Annex. We can confirm that the increase in recent years compared to 2020-21 is primarily due to the Household Support Fund. The Household Support Fund came in October of 2021 so is not included in the 2020-21 ARA.
With reference to SOPS 1.1. in the Department's 2020-21 Annual Report, if she will publish a breakdown of the £2,402,602 in gross spend on Programme Resource Outturn in A: Operational Delivery in 2020-21.
Please see attached.
Whether the operation of the household benefit cap relies on manual administration; and how many people in his Department work on its administration.
The benefit cap is calculated automatically as part of the UC calculation on the UC administrative system and no manual processing is involved. A small number of households (340, as of August 2025) are capped via Housing Benefit (HB). The calculations relating to these capping decisions are completed by 1.6 FTE staff in post (SIP) within the department.
How many people are claiming (a) housing benefit and (b) the housing element of universal credit in each broad rental market area (BRMA) and what was the average amount claimed in each BRMA in 2025.
Information on the number of households receiving the UC Housing Element in the Private Rented Sector by Broad Rental Market Area is available on Stat-Xplore (https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/). Providing the rest of the information requested would incur disproportionate cost. Information on HB caseload and average award is available on Stat-Xplore (https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/) disaggregated by Local Authority, but not BRMA. Breakdowns of the UC Housing Element and Housing Benefit are available at national level in the Benefit Caseload and Expenditure Tables (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/benefit-expenditure-and-caseload-tables-2025).
How many households are claiming housing benefits, either housing benefit or the housing element of Universal credit, in each Broad Market Rental Area (a) in total, (b) in the private rented sector and (c) in the social rented sector.
Information on the number of households receiving the Universal Credit (UC) Housing Element in the Private Rented Sector by Broad Rental Market Area (BRMA) is available on Stat-Xplore (https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/). Information on Housing Benefit (HB) caseload is available on Stat-Xplore disaggregated by Local Authority, but not by BRMA. Housing support for social rented sector households claiming either Housing Benefit or the housing element of Universal Credit is not determined within BRMAs. BRMAs only apply to housing support in the private rented sector.
What was the a) mean and b) median amount of housing support claimed by people in each local authority who were on i) Housing Benefit ii) the Housing Element of UC and iii) either Housing Benefit or the Housing Element of UC.
I) The information requested for Housing Benefit (HB) mean amounts are available on Stat-Xplore (link below). II) Universal Credit (UC) is a single integrated benefit made up of different elements, such as Housing. Benefit units receive one combined monthly payment, and any deductions apply to the total award, not individual elements. Breakdowns of the UC Housing Element are available at national level in the Benefit Expenditure Tables (link below). However, the underlying data is not sufficient to produce these breakdowns at a sub-national level, such as local authorities. As a result, it is not possible to robustly estimate mean or median element of UC at a local authority level. III) Due to data quality limitations that prevent calculation of (ii), it is not possible to estimate the population receiving either HB or the housing element of UC.Stat-XploreBenefit Expenditure and Caseload Tables: Benefit expenditure and caseload tables 2025 - GOV.UK
With reference to Question 100498, how many households on Housing Benefit and Universal Credit who have flowed off the benefit cap are in the Other outcome category by reason of receiving an exempting benefit during the quarter to (a) August 2025, (b) May 2025, (c) February 2025 and (d) November 2024.
The Department publishes Official Statistics on the number of households in Great Britain on Housing Benefit (HB) or Universal Credit (UC) that have flowed off the benefit cap, including outcome at off-flow, in the HB Cumulative Caseload dataset and the UC Cumulative Caseload dataset, which are published quarterly on Stat-Xplore, with monthly off-flows data currently available to July 2025. The HB statistics do have an Outcome at off-flow category for ‘Household receiving other exempt benefit (Employment Support Allowance support group / Disability Living Allowance / Industrial Injuries / Personal Independent Payment).’ However, statistics on the number of exempting benefit outcomes for UC are included in the Outcome at off-flow category of ‘Other outcome’, and to produce a further breakdown of this group would incur disproportionate cost. Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access general guidance on how to extract the information required.
What funding has been allocated to programmes relating to the UKs relationship with Europe in the (a) 2026-7, (b) 2028-9 and (c) 2029-30 financial years.
The Department is currently undertaking its internal business planning process, through which it will set programme budgets ahead of the new financial year. Details on DWP budgets are to be published in the explanatory memo for the 2026/27 Main Estimate.
How many households received benefit payments above the level of the household benefit cap in each of the last 12 months.
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
How many households have been assessed as qualifying for each exemption from the household benefit cap in each of the last 12 months.
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.