Written questions by Davies.

What proportion of Carer's Allowance claimants received an (a) underpayment and (b) overpayment of their Allowance in each of the last three years.

The Department published estimates of the proportion of Carer’s Allowance claims overpaid and the proportion of Carer’s Allowance claims underpaid for the financial year 2024-2025, in its annual national statistics: Fraud and error in the benefit system, Financial Year Ending (FYE) 2025 - GOV.UK. However, Carer’s Allowance was not measured for the National Statistics publication in 2022/23 or 2023/24 and so that information is not available.

Whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of calculating Carer's Allowance eligibility over longer periods to help reduce the rate of overpayments and underpayments.

Carer’s Allowance is assessed on a weekly basis and paid either weekly or 4 weekly. Payment of Carer’s Allowance (CA) is dependent upon the person being cared for receiving a “trigger” DWP benefit, such as Disability Living Allowance, Personal independence Payment or Attendance Allowance, where entitlement is also assessed on a weekly basis. Where someone has fluctuating earnings, we try and find the most suitable period to average those earnings over to obtain the most accurate figure. Liz Sayce OBE was commissioned to lead an Independent Review into overpayments of CA. The Government is carefully considering the recommendations of this Review which investigated how overpayments of CA related to earnings occurred, how we can best support those who have accrued them, and how to reduce the risk of these problems occurring in future. We have already taken steps to improve the way CA operates and to support those who can combine their caring responsibilities with some paid work, including changing the weekly CA earnings limit to match 16 hours work at National Living Wage levels. This is the largest ever increase in the earnings limit since CA was introduced in 1976 and the highest percentage increase since 2001. Over 60,000 additional people will be able to receive CA between 2025/26 and 2029/30 as a result from investment worth around £500 million. As with all benefits we keep Carer’s Allowance under review to see whether it is meeting its objectives.

How many lower-layer super output areas are within Telford constituency; how those areas are ranked by top (a) 1%, (b) 5% and (c) 10% in the index of multiple deprivation; and what impact that data has on the allocation of funding by her Department.

Data for the index for multiple deprivation at lower level super output area can be accessed from the Parliament website at https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/constituency-data-indices-of-deprivation/. In England, the Household Support Fund (HSF) is a DWP funded scheme for Local Authorities (LAs) to provide discretionary support to vulnerable households in the most need. The distribution of the funding is targeted at the areas of the country with the most vulnerable households, on the basis of Office for National Statistics (ONS) local population estimates and Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) scores. Allocation amounts for upper tier Local Authorities in England are therefore reflective of population size and relative deprivation. Eligibility for benefits administered by the department, and the relevant support that it provides through the Jobs and Careers Service and any contracted provision, is typically determined by the individual benefit rules and criteria, which do not explicitly account for the Index of Multiple Deprivation.

If she will publish the (a) the cost of the Motability Scheme, (b) number of people who benefit from the scheme, (c) analysis of the medical conditions of people who benefit from the scheme, (d) age of the (i) newest and (ii) oldest vehicle in the scheme, (e) proportion of vehicles in the scheme which are (A) hybrid and (B) fully electric, (f) number and proportion of vehicles in the scheme by manufacturer, and (g) proportion of vehicles in the scheme manufactured in Britain, for each year for which data is available.

We estimate that in 2024, payments totalling £600 million were sent by the department to the Motability Scheme. We are unable to provide volumes of all people benefitting from the scheme. We can, however, provide the number of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claimants in a contract with the Motability Scheme to receive a vehicle. In April 2025, this was 589,550 claimants. A breakdown of these claimants by primary medical condition can be found attached in Table 1. Table 2 contains the same breakdown for Telford constituency only. The Motability Scheme is overseen by Motability Foundation and delivered by Motability Operations Ltd. Motability is independent of government and is wholly responsible for the terms and administration of the Scheme, including determining what types of vehicles they use. Notes:- The monetary value provided is rounded to the nearest £1 million. The volumes provided have been rounded to the nearest 10. Values which are above 1 and below 5 have been replaced with a dash.- Data is provided for claimants under DWP policy ownership (England, Wales and Abroad) only.- The monetary value provided covers the money sent to the Motability Scheme in total. The volumes provided cover claimants of PIP with an active contract for the Motability Scheme only.

Pursuant to the Answer of 22 June 2025 to Question 60172 on Motability: Telford, if she will publish the number of Motability Scheme claims in Telford constituency by medical condition.

We estimate that in 2024, payments totalling £600 million were sent by the department to the Motability Scheme. We are unable to provide volumes of all people benefitting from the scheme. We can, however, provide the number of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claimants in a contract with the Motability Scheme to receive a vehicle. In April 2025, this was 589,550 claimants. A breakdown of these claimants by primary medical condition can be found attached in Table 1. Table 2 contains the same breakdown for Telford constituency only. The Motability Scheme is overseen by Motability Foundation and delivered by Motability Operations Ltd. Motability is independent of government and is wholly responsible for the terms and administration of the Scheme, including determining what types of vehicles they use. Notes:- The monetary value provided is rounded to the nearest £1 million. The volumes provided have been rounded to the nearest 10. Values which are above 1 and below 5 have been replaced with a dash.- Data is provided for claimants under DWP policy ownership (England, Wales and Abroad) only.- The monetary value provided covers the money sent to the Motability Scheme in total. The volumes provided cover claimants of PIP with an active contract for the Motability Scheme only.

How many customers were supported by Telford Job Centre in each year for which data is available.

Telford Jobcentre works closely with local employers and providers to support its customers. Our Work Coaches have tailored appointments to work closely with customers to understand their circumstances and needs. The Jobcentre offers customers a range of provision which includes job fairs, Sector-based Work Academy Programmes and Mentoring Circles to help those customers who are ready for employment. For those customers on the health journey, Telford Jobcentre has a Disability Employment Advisor (DEA) to engage with customers to ensure they are connected with the right partners such as NHS talking therapies. The DEA and Employer Advisors also work closely with employers to promote Disability Confident, Access to Work and Reasonable Adjustment in the workplace. Official monthly claimant count statistics by Parliamentary Constituency Areas are published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on the NOMIS website.

How many universal credit claimants there were in Telford constituency in each year for which data is available by category.

Official statistics for the number of people on Universal Credit are published regularly on Stat-Xplore, with breakdowns available by conditionality group and by various geographies including Westminster Parliamentary Constituency. The latest statistics on conditionality are available from April 2015 to March 2025. 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. For guidance on the Universal Credit datasets on Stat-Xplore, see the Universal Credit Official Statistics Stat-Xplore User Guide.

How many customers claimed a mobility car in Telford constituency in each year for which data is available.

Information is not available centrally to identify which claimants claimed a car through the Motability Scheme. However, data is available for the number of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claimants with an active Motability Scheme agreement in Telford constituency in each month and is provided in the attached table for December 2013 to January 2025. Notes: - The Motability Scheme enables anyone in receipt of a qualifying mobility allowance to use all or part of their mobility allowance to lease a vehicle. Vehicles include cars, wheelchair accessible vehicles, powered scooters, and powered wheelchairs.- The Department for Work and Pensions facilitates a direct transfer to Motability of a claimant’s DLA, PIP or AFIP mobility allowance if they elect to join the Scheme.- The data provided covers Motability Scheme agreements for PIP only. There may be agreements made on Daily Living Allowance, Armed Forces Independence Payment, and War Pensioners’ Mobility Supplement however data on such agreements is not held centrally for analysis.- Volumes provided are rounded to the nearest 10.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of proposed changes to welfare spending on the Household Support Fund.

Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper has been published here ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper’(opens in a new tab). A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months. This Government has extended the Household Support Fund by a further year, from 1 April 2025 until 31 March 2026. This will ensure vulnerable households in the most need can continue to access support towards the cost of essentials, such as energy, water and food. No decision has been made at this stage on funding beyond the end of March 2026. As with all other government programmes, any such funding will be considered in the round at Phase 2 of the Spending Review.

How many and what proportion of people in receipt of the State Pension live outside the UK have less than (a) 35, (b) 20, (c) 10 and (d) 5 years of National Insurance contributions.

The information on the years of National Insurance contributions for State Pension recipients living outside the UK is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost. The Department publishes the volumes of State Pension recipients living outside the UK on StatXplore Stat-Xplore - Log in. The latest figure, for the quarter ending August 2024, is around 1.1 million State Pension recipients living outside the UK. This is 8.5% of the overall State Pension caseload.

How many foreign nationals who currently live outside of the UK are paid the state pension.

The Department does not hold data on the number of foreign nationals residing outside of the UK and in receipt of the UK State Pension. However, the Department does hold data on the number of individuals in receipt of the UK State Pension residing outside of the UK. As of August 2024, this was 1.1 million. Source: DWP Stat-Xplore.

If she will publish data on levels of child poverty in Telford constituency for each year that data is available.

Statistics on the number of children living in absolute and relative poverty on a before housing costs basis by parliamentary constituency are published annually in the “Children in low income families: local area statistics” publication and can be found in tabs “6_Absolute_ParlC” and “5_Relative_ParlC” at Children in low income families: local area statistics 2014 to 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). The latest statistics published on 21 March 2024 are for the financial period 2022/23. The figures provided for parliamentary constituencies are on the 2010 boundaries. The latest available data can also be found on Stat-Xplore (https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/) in the Children in low income families dataset. Figures on both the 2010 and 2024 parliamentary constituency boundaries are available here. Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here: Getting Started (dwp.gov.uk). An account is not required to use Stat- Xplore, the ‘Guest Login’ feature gives instant access to the main functions.

How many households in Telford consistency claimed pension credit in November (a) 2022, (b) 2023 and (c) 2024.

In November 2022, 2,541 households in the Telford constituency received Pension Credit.In November 2023, 2,509 households in the Telford constituency received Pension Credit.Data is not yet available for November 2024. The latest available data is for May 2024, in which 2,450 households in the Telford constituency received Pension Credit. This data is available on Stat-Xplore at https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk in the ‘Pension Credit - Data from May 2018’ dataset. More information on the data included in the ‘Pension Credit’ dataset can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dwp-statistical-summaries. 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.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of establishing a permanent Access to Elected Office fund for disabled election candidates.

It is the Government’s ambition to see more disabled people in public office. The Government has been clear that it will champion disabled people's rights, and work closely with them so that disabled people's voices and views are at the heart of all we do. We know that some disabled people still face additional financial barriers when standing for elected office. We are looking at how we might work with political parties and others to help tackle this.

What the average length of paternity leave taken by staff in her Department was in each of the last three years.

This data has been taken from a live system. Staff have 52 weeks to take paternity leave following the birth of the child, so figures for 2024 may rise. The average working days taken (AWDT) is shown in the table below: YearAWDT2021620229202372024 (1-Jan - 30-Sep)7

What discussions she has had with (a) Metro Mayors and (b) local authorities on tackling youth unemployment.

Our plan to get Britain Working includes a new Youth Guarantee for all young people aged 18-21 to ensure that they can access quality training opportunities, an apprenticeship or employment support. This will sit alongside; a new national jobs and careers service to help get more people into work, work health and skills plans for the economically inactive, and the launch of Skills England to open new opportunities for young people. Further detail will be shared in the up-coming White Paper. Such ambitious plans require input and expertise from a wide range of stakeholders - from community groups and employers through to local authorities and providers of employment support and careers advice. We have convened a small advisory group with the Mayoral Combined Authorities, Local councils and the Central London Forward to gather expertise and support the development of the White Paper, and we are working closely with the Devolved Governments to share insights on what is currently working across Britain. We look forward to working closely with stakeholders post-publication on the design and implementation of the measures in the White Paper.

How many pensioner households claimed (a) pension credit and (b) housing benefit in Telford in each year since 2010.

Quarterly statistics on pensioners who receive a) pension credit and b) housing benefit from quarter ending February 2010 to quarter ending February 2024 are published on Stat-Xplore. Housing benefit can be broken down by age group prior to April 2018 and from April 2018 onwards, it can be broken down by working age or pension age. Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access guidance on how to extract the information required.