Written questions by Gill.

Whether complaints to the Child Maintenance Service that are time-sensitive to payment deadlines are prioritised.

The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) complaint data information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.The CMS complies with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) complaints service standard, to aim to resolve complaints or set a resolution plan within 15 working days. Where a complaint is complex and requires more time, the CMS will inform the complainant within this period of the next steps and when a response can be expected. The CMS regularly reviews complaint data, including insights from the Independent Case Examiner, to identify key themes and trends, which they use to drive improvements to the complaint handling process. Furthermore, lessons learned are regularly presented to operational teams, supporting them to deliver effective interventions at the initial stage of the complaint and thereby improve the overall customer experience. The CMS remains focussed on taking pro-active steps to improve the customer experience, developing its customer service strategy to focus on improving current and future service throughout the customer journey.

How many complaints to the Child Maintenance Service were resolved (a) within 15 working days, (b) between 15-20 working days, (c) between 20-30 working days and (d) after 30 working days in each year since 2021.

The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) complaint data information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.The CMS complies with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) complaints service standard, to aim to resolve complaints or set a resolution plan within 15 working days. Where a complaint is complex and requires more time, the CMS will inform the complainant within this period of the next steps and when a response can be expected. The CMS regularly reviews complaint data, including insights from the Independent Case Examiner, to identify key themes and trends, which they use to drive improvements to the complaint handling process. Furthermore, lessons learned are regularly presented to operational teams, supporting them to deliver effective interventions at the initial stage of the complaint and thereby improve the overall customer experience. The CMS remains focussed on taking pro-active steps to improve the customer experience, developing its customer service strategy to focus on improving current and future service throughout the customer journey.

For complaints investigations in the Child Maintenance Service that lasted longer than 15 working days, what percentage of complainants received written confirmation of this delay in the last year.

The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) complaint data information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.The CMS complies with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) complaints service standard, to aim to resolve complaints or set a resolution plan within 15 working days. Where a complaint is complex and requires more time, the CMS will inform the complainant within this period of the next steps and when a response can be expected. The CMS regularly reviews complaint data, including insights from the Independent Case Examiner, to identify key themes and trends, which they use to drive improvements to the complaint handling process. Furthermore, lessons learned are regularly presented to operational teams, supporting them to deliver effective interventions at the initial stage of the complaint and thereby improve the overall customer experience. The CMS remains focussed on taking pro-active steps to improve the customer experience, developing its customer service strategy to focus on improving current and future service throughout the customer journey.

What steps he is taking to help improve complaint response times from the Child Maintenance Service.

The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) complaint data information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.The CMS complies with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) complaints service standard, to aim to resolve complaints or set a resolution plan within 15 working days. Where a complaint is complex and requires more time, the CMS will inform the complainant within this period of the next steps and when a response can be expected. The CMS regularly reviews complaint data, including insights from the Independent Case Examiner, to identify key themes and trends, which they use to drive improvements to the complaint handling process. Furthermore, lessons learned are regularly presented to operational teams, supporting them to deliver effective interventions at the initial stage of the complaint and thereby improve the overall customer experience. The CMS remains focussed on taking pro-active steps to improve the customer experience, developing its customer service strategy to focus on improving current and future service throughout the customer journey.

What evidence his Department submitted to the Office for National Statistics' review of the ethnicity harmonised standard, including in relation to the recording of Sikhs and Jewish people as ethnic groups.

I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 10 March 2026 to Question UIN 117831.

Whether his Department was invited by the Office for National Statistics to provide evidence or input into its review of the ethnicity harmonised standard.

A review of the harmonised standard for ethnicity data collection is underway by the Government Statistical Service Harmonisation team. A public consultation between October 2025 and February 2026 sought views from a wide range of users, including Government Departments and public bodies, to understand user needs for ethnic group data. This was supplemented by a programme of engagement activity, including with representatives of all government departments. ONS have committed to providing an initial response to the public consultation in April, and a full report on the consultation in late summer 2026 will include more detailed information on the departments that responded to the consultation.

How many fraud and error reviews under the Housing Benefit Award Accuracy Initiative were carried out during 2024-25 for supported exempt accommodation housing benefit claims in Birmingham; and what proportion of all claims in Birmingham were these reviews.

14,000 supported exempt Housing Benefit claims in Birmingham were subject to an Housing Benefit Award Accuracy 'full case review' in 2024/25. This represents 15% of all Housing Benefit claims in Birmingham over the period.

How many supported exempt accommodation housing benefit claims in Birmingham during 2024-25 were referred to the Single Fraud Investigation Service; how many of these claims led to an investigation; how many of these investigations found evidence of fraudulent activity by providers of supported exempt accommodation in receipt of direct payment of housing benefit; what actions were taken against providers found guilty of fraudulent activity; how many of these investigations found evidence of fraudulent activity by tenants of supported exempt accommodation; and what actions were taken against tenants found guilty of fraudulent activity.

Referrals of suspected fraud received by the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) are recorded under generalised categories for data reporting purposes, and it is not possible to specifically isolate the volume of referrals relating to supported exempt accommodation. Where the DWP feels there is sufficient evidence of benefit fraud in any case, the DWP will refer the case to the Crown Prosecution Service (Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service for Scotland) to consider prosecution. We cannot comment on any on-going investigations, however the DWP will continue to work closely with other Government agencies and Local Authorities to tackle abuse of the Housing Benefit system.

How many people in Birmingham Edgbaston constituency were enrolled on Pension Credit in (a) 2023, (b) 2024 and (c) 2025 to date.

As of November 2023, 2,586 pensioner households were in receipt of Pension Credit in Birmingham Edgbaston constituency.The latest Pension Credit statistics were published in May 2025 and cover the period up to November 2024. These show that as of November 2024, 2,577 pensioner households were in receipt of Pension Credit in Birmingham Edgbaston constituency. This data is available via DWP Stat-Xplore.The Pension Credit caseload statistics for 2025 are not available yet. The next iteration of Pension Credit caseload statistics will be released on 12th August 2025 as part of the DWP Benefits Statistics quarterly release. This release will cover the quarterly period up to the end of February 2025.

How many people are enrolled on Pension Credit, by (a) religion and (b) ethnic group.

Latest caseload statistics show that as of November 2024, there were 1,391,728 pensioner households in receipt of Pension Credit. This data is available via DWP Stat-Xplore. This can be broken down into constituency and local authority level as well as by various characteristics such as age, gender and partner indicator. However, this cannot be broken down by religion or ethnic group, as this information is not collected as part of the PC claim process.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing specific (a) Sikh and (b) Jewish options for a person’s ethnic group in data collection conducted by her Department.

Public bodies usually collect ethnicity data in line with the ethnicity harmonised standard, which is developed by the independent Office for National Statistics. The current harmonised standard is based on the 2011 Census questions used across the UK; those questions were updated for the 2021 and 2022 Censuses. The current standard does not include specific “Sikh” and “Jewish” categories for a person’s ethnic group. The ONS is reviewing the harmonised standard to ensure this remains appropriate and meets the needs of both data users and respondents. This will include a public consultation later this year. We await the outcome of this review.

What data her Department holds on the number of people living in deprivation, by ethnic group.

Statistics on the number of individuals in material deprivation in the UK by ethnic group are published annually. The latest available data can be found on Stat-Xplore (https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/) in the Households Below Average Income dataset. The latest statistics were published on 21 March 2025 and are for the financial period 2023/24. We are committed to tackling poverty and we know that good work can significantly reduce the chances of people falling into poverty so this will be the foundation of our approach. Our Get Britain Working White Paper, backed by £240 million investment, will target and tackle economic inactivity and unemployment and join up employment, health and skills support to meet the needs of local communities. Alongside this, we are reviewing Universal Credit to make sure it is doing the job we want it to do, to make work pay and tackle poverty. We have begun this work with our new Fair Repayment Rate which will help around 1.2 million of the poorest households benefit by an average of £420 a year.

What steps she is taking to modernise Job Centres in Birmingham, Edgbaston constituency.

This Government’s number one mission is to grow the economy and drive up living standards right across the country as part of its Plan for Change. Building a thriving and inclusive labour market – which spreads the benefits of good work to as many people as possible – is central to achieving that goal. Linking to the government’s missions of Kickstarting Economic Growth and Breaking Down Barriers to Opportunities, the Department is working to ensure that the DWP estate is more flexible and responsive and can react to the changing demands for services and economic changes. As set out in the ‘Get Britain Working White Paper’, the Department is transforming the Jobcentre Plus network across Great Britain to create a new national jobs and careers service that will enable everyone to access tailored support through an enhanced focus on people’s skills and careers, rather than merely monitoring and managing benefit claims.

Whether she plans to make an assessment of the effectiveness of the Household Support Fund.

The findings of an evaluation of the fourth iteration of the Household Support Fund that ran from April 2023 to March 2024 are published here: Evaluation of the Household Support Fund 4 - GOV.UK. The evaluation ran from September 2023 to August 2024 and assessed the effectiveness of delivery by Local Authorities and the benefits of the scheme for award recipients. In addition, management Information from the first to fourth iteration of the Household Support Fun can be found here- Household Support Fund management information - GOV.UK.

Whether it is her policy to allow Household Support Fund allocations to be used by local authorities to purchase (a) slow cookers and (b) kettles.

In England, the Household Support Fund is a scheme providing discretionary support to those most in need towards the cost of essentials, such as food, energy and water and to support with essentials linked to these for example, energy efficient items which reduce bills and the purchase of equipment such as slow cookers. Local Authorities have the discretion to design their own local schemes within the parameters of the guidance and grant determination that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have set out for the fund. This is because they have the ties and the knowledge to best determine how support should be provided in their local communities.