Written questions by Darling.

With reference to her Department's Pathways to Work Green Paper, published on 18 March 2025, what definition her Department plans to use to identify people with severe lifelong health conditions who will be protected from reassessment.

We will ensure that those with the most severe, life-long health conditions, who will never be able to work, will see their incomes protected, and that this group will face no future reassessment. We will set out further information on this in due course.

How many letters she has issued to people who registered details of deceased family members on underpaid state pensions in 2025; whether her Department holds other records to assist with validating claims for underpaid state pensions; whether her Department has paused the destruction of state pension payment records; and what the age is of the oldest of those records retained by her Department.

The Next of Kin / representatives of a deceased State Pension customer had the opportunity to contact DWP if they thought the customer may be in scope for the State Pension Underpayments exercise. In reviewing these enquiries, the Department has identified that for a small number, approximately 2,500 customers, our Pension Service Computer System (PSCS) no longer holds a record for the deceased customer. This is in line with our Data Retention Policy. A pause on the deletion of customer records was implemented at the start of the State Pension Underpayments exercise and remains in place. However, records for customers who died before 16/01/21 will have been deleted in line with our Data Retention Policy. DWP may be able to review a deceased customer’s State Pension award, if the Next of Kin / representative could supply historical records, such as letters received by the deceased customer from DWP and supporting bank statements.

What estimate her Department has made of the number of households no longer eligible for both PIP and other passported benefits.

No estimate has yet been made.Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course, and some information was published alongside the Spring Statement. These publications can be found in ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper’. A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of proposed changes to the Personal Independence Payment qualifying criteria on unpaid family carers.

We have committed to introduce a new requirement that, in addition to the existing eligibility criteria, claimants must score a minimum of four points in at least one daily living activity to be eligible for the daily living component of Personal Independence Payment. Our intention is that – subject to parliamentary approval – the changes will apply to new claims and award reviews from November 2026. This government is committed to supporting carers, who do one of the most valuable jobs in society, unpaid. As the Green Paper sets out, we will consider the impacts on benefits for unpaid carers as part of our wider considerations of responses to the consultation as we develop our detailed proposals for change. We are also consulting on how best to support those who lose entitlement to Personal Independence Payment due to the reforms, including how to make sure health and eligible care needs are met.

Whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of allowing carers to keep Carer’s Allowance if they are providing over 35 hours of care to someone who has eligible health needs but who no longer qualifies for the Personal Independence Payment.

We have committed to introduce a new requirement that, in addition to the existing eligibility criteria, claimants must score a minimum of four points in at least one daily living activity to be eligible for the daily living component of Personal Independence Payment. Our intention is that – subject to parliamentary approval – the changes will apply to new claims and award reviews from November 2026. This government is committed to supporting carers, who do one of the most valuable jobs in society, unpaid. As the Green Paper sets out, we will consider the impacts on benefits for unpaid carers as part of our wider considerations of responses to the consultation as we develop our detailed proposals for change. We are also consulting on how best to support those who lose entitlement to Personal Independence Payment due to the reforms, including how to make sure health and eligible care needs are met.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of the proposed changes to the Personal Independence Payment qualifying criteria and the consequential effect on Carer's Allowance eligibility on the ability of carers to participate in paid employment.

We have committed to introduce a new requirement that, in addition to the existing eligibility criteria, claimants must score a minimum of four points in at least one daily living activity to be eligible for the daily living component of Personal Independence Payment. Our intention is that – subject to parliamentary approval – the changes will apply to new claims and award reviews from November 2026. We understand the struggles facing many carers. We have launched an Independent Review of Carer’s Allowance which is exploring how earnings-related overpayments have occurred and what changes can be made. We’ve already taken action by boosting the Carer’s Allowance earnings threshold by £45 a week to £196 – a move that will benefit more than 60,000 carers by 2029/30. As the Green Paper sets out, we will consider the impacts on benefits for unpaid carers as part of our wider considerations of responses to the consultation as we develop our detailed proposals for change. We are also consulting on how best to support those who lose entitlement to Personal Independence Payment due to the reforms, including how to make sure health and eligible care needs are met.

What plans her Department has to ensure that disabled people who do not receive Personal Independence Payment but have work-related limitations are not adversely impacted by welfare reforms.

We are committed to protecting disabled people who can't and won’t ever be able to work and support them to live with dignity. As part of making changes to the payment rates in Universal Credit, we are proposing that the incomes of those with the most severe, lifelong conditions who will never be able to work are protected. We will also protect the incomes of existing claimants, by holding the value of the health element of UC in cash terms and increasing the standard allowance.

What steps her Department is taking to ensure changes to the eligibility of Personal Independence Payments don't disproportionately impact individuals with fluctuating conditions.

Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course, with some information published here alongside the Spring Statement.A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months. The proposal in the Green Paper that assessments for Personal Independence Payment should be recorded will help assure that the assessments reach the right conclusion for people with fluctuating conditions

On what basis her Department decided which aspects of the proposed reforms to the benefits system would be subject to consultation.

This consultation sets out plans and proposals to reform health and disability benefits and employment support. We are committed to putting the views and voices of disabled people and people with health conditions at the heart of everything we do. We urgently need this reform to stop people from falling into inactivity, restore trust and fairness in the system and promote the interests of disabled people. This means we need to take decisive action to tackle a situation in which PIP claims are set to double from 2 million to over 4.3 million this decade. We are consulting on how best to support those affected by the changes. We will also consider improvements to the PIP assessment. We will launch a wider review of PIP, which I shall lead, and we will bring together a range of experts, stakeholders and people with lived experience to consider how best to do this. We will provide further details as plans progress. We will rebalance payments in Universal Credit, reducing the health top up for new claims and delivering the first ever permanent, above inflation rise to the standard allowance of UC, offering help for people to get into work as quickly as possible. We will be bringing forward changes in a Bill so Parliament can fully debate and vote on them.

With reference to her Department's Pathways to work: reforming benefits and support to get Britain working green paper, published on 18 March, when accessible versions will be published.

Further accessible formats will be published on GOV.UK in due course. The consultation will close 12 weeks after the point at which all accessible versions of this Green Paper are available, to ensure that all stakeholders have sufficient time to engage and we hear from as many people as possible.We have published this Green Paper ahead of all accessible versions to put detailed information about the matters subject to consultation in the public domain at the earliest opportunity; the production of accessible versions requires some additional time.

What steps her Department is taking to ensure that adequate transition arrangement are put in place to help support people with changes to the levels of benefits.

There will be no immediate changes to Personal Independence Payment (PIP). Our intention is that the changes will apply to new claims and award reviews from November 2026, subject to parliamentary approval. For those already on PIP, the changes will only apply at their next award review. The average award review is about three years. When people are reassessed, they will be reviewed by a trained assessor or healthcare professional, and assessed on their individual needs and circumstances. The personal impact will depend on an individual’s circumstances. We are consulting on how best to support those who lose entitlement, including how to make sure health and eligible care needs are met.In regards to Universal Credit (UC), for people who already receive the UC health element the rate of the UC health element will be frozen at £97pw until 2029/2030 but this group will receive an increased UC entitlement in cash terms as a result of the increased standard allowance.In addition, we will guarantee that no-one who has been found Limited Capability for Work and Work Related Activity (LCWRA) prior to April 2026 and remains LCWRA following reassessment will see their UC health element entitlement changed. We will ensure that this group do not fear a loss of their benefit rate from working.For new claims the rate of the UC health element will be reduced by £47pw (from £97pw in 2024/2025 to £50pw in 2026/2027). However, this group will benefit from the higher standard allowance, which will partially offset this reduction.For those receiving the new reduced UC health element after April 2026, we are proposing that those with the most severe, life-long health conditions, who have no prospect of improvement and will never be able to work, will see their incomes protected through an additional premium. We will also guarantee that for both new and existing claims, those in this group will not need to be reassessed in future

If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of raising the standard rate of Universal Credit on the number of people claiming incapacity benefits.

Universal Credit awards include a standard allowance, which is the core component of any award and is paid according to age and household unit. The purpose of the standard allowance is to provide towards basic living costs. Additional amounts are added to provide for individual needs such as housing, children, disability, and childcare costs. On 18 March 2025 we announced the first permanent above-inflation rise in the Standard Allowance, benefitting millions of people. That is an increase of up to £775 annually in cash terms by 2029/30 for single households on UC aged over 25. This avoids people having to choose between employment or adequate financial support, and addresses the current issue where people on the health element receive over double the rate of the standard allowance, creating an incentive for people to prove they are unfit to work to claim the health element and access greater financial support. The government will publish the OBR-certified costings of individual measures on the day of the Spring Statement on 26 March and we will be publishing estimated impacts on claimants, including for changes to the Standard Rate of Universal Credit, on the same day.

If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the introduction of Universal Credit on the ease of applying for (a) the Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity element and (b) other incapacity benefits.

We are always looking to make improvements to the service we provide to customers, including how they apply for benefits As a modern digital service Universal Credit is iterated all the time. It is developed taking into consideration the users of the service. Before and after any changes are made Universal Credit undertakes user research with claimants, including those with health conditions, to gain feedback on their experience and suggestions for improvements.

Whether she has made an assessment of the impact of the removal of the additional Limited Capability for Work payment in 2017 on the likelihood of claimants applying for the Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity payment.

The removal of the Work-Related Activity Component in the 2017 change made the financial distinction between those found to have Limited Capability for Work (LCW) and those with Limited Capability for Work and Work Related Activity (LCWRA) sharper. The Department has not made an assessment of whether this led to rising LCWRA claims. Although, in their “Welfare trends” report for October 2024, the Office for Budget Responsibility did mention this issue. Specifically, the OBR noted an increase of people’s claims to incapacity benefits being approved from 2018-19 to 2022-23, nearly entirely in the more severe incapacity group. They say that this might be in part explained by the reduced generosity of the 2017 policy for the less severe incapacity group creating higher incentives to be placed in the more severe group, as well as a reflection in claimants having more serious health conditions than in the past.

What the (a) average wait time and (b) number of calls received were for the Winter Fuel Payment helpline in each winter since 2015.

We have provided a response from 2017 only as we do not hold the required data for the years prior. The tables in the response show Total Calls Offered (Volume) and Average Speed of Answer (in an hh:mm:ss format) for each month within each business year for the period Apr 17 to Mar 25. The most current table for business year 2024/2025 is to date only, up to and including 02/03/2025. To note, the business year 2017/2018 data for the month of Nov 17 is unavailable.Month YearTelephony Service LineCalls OfferedAverage Speed of Answer (hh:mm:ss)Apr-2024Winter Fuel Payments4,45900:04:18May-2024Winter Fuel Payments2,42000:02:08Jun-2024Winter Fuel Payments1,70900:01:36Jul-2024Winter Fuel Payments2,05900:00:45Aug-2024Winter Fuel Payments3,41900:00:59Sep-2024Winter Fuel Payments4,87200:01:12Oct-2024Winter Fuel Payments32,69800:04:53Nov-2024Winter Fuel Payments35,75600:01:50Dec-2024Winter Fuel Payments19,89400:03:58Jan-2025Winter Fuel Payments22,64200:07:32Feb-2025Winter Fuel Payments13,19000:02:51Total 143,11800:03:462024/2025 Business Year is to date only, up to and including 02/03/2025Month YearTelephony Service LineCalls OfferedAverage Speed of Answer (hh:mm:ss)Apr-2023Winter Fuel Payments5,30500:03:30May-2023Winter Fuel Payments4,04300:01:50Jun-2023Winter Fuel Payments2,29300:01:14Jul-2023Winter Fuel Payments1,85400:01:07Aug-2023Winter Fuel Payments2,18500:01:17Sep-2023Winter Fuel Payments4,28400:02:04Oct-2023Winter Fuel Payments68,99900:04:07Nov-2023Winter Fuel Payments101,23100:02:27Dec-2023Winter Fuel Payments50,25100:04:03Jan-2024Winter Fuel Payments44,37300:04:22Feb-2024Winter Fuel Payments18,89100:03:55Mar-2024Winter Fuel Payments8,49200:06:04Total 312,20100:03:30 Month YearTelephony Service LineCalls OfferedAverage Speed of Answer (hh:mm:ss)Apr-2022Winter Fuel Payments4,32300:02:34May-2022Winter Fuel Payments4,24100:02:20Jun-2022Winter Fuel Payments3,88200:02:00Jul-2022Winter Fuel Payments3,39400:01:46Aug-2022Winter Fuel Payments7,50200:07:26Sep-2022Winter Fuel Payments9,97200:06:19Oct-2022Winter Fuel Payments66,05700:00:52Nov-2022Winter Fuel Payments124,82600:02:36Dec-2022Winter Fuel Payments65,84700:08:38Jan-2023Winter Fuel Payments61,96900:04:38Feb-2023Winter Fuel Payments20,09500:01:54Mar-2023Winter Fuel Payments14,47900:03:19Total 386,58700:03:37 Month YearTelephony Service LineCalls OfferedAverage Speed of Answer (hh:mm:ss)Apr-2021Winter Fuel Payments12,05800:18:39May-2021Winter Fuel Payments4,47100:06:12Jun-2021Winter Fuel Payments2,98300:02:57Jul-2021Winter Fuel Payments2,92100:02:39Aug-2021Winter Fuel Payments3,78000:03:46Sep-2021Winter Fuel Payments6,93100:04:11Oct-2021Winter Fuel Payments87,69000:06:24Nov-2021Winter Fuel Payments118,40200:03:10Dec-2021Winter Fuel Payments30,36900:01:10Jan-2022Winter Fuel Payments47,90300:03:32Feb-2022Winter Fuel Payments18,10200:01:38Mar-2022Winter Fuel Payments9,77000:03:06Total 345,38000:04:04 Month YearTelephony Service LineCalls OfferedAverage Speed of Answer (hh:mm:ss)Apr-2020Winter Fuel Payments49000:00:12May-2020Winter Fuel Payments47500:00:14Jun-2020Winter Fuel Payments49400:00:10Jul-2020Winter Fuel Payments51800:00:19Aug-2020Winter Fuel Payments2,41800:00:36Sep-2020Winter Fuel Payments4,85100:00:53Oct-2020Winter Fuel Payments50,46000:08:55Nov-2020Winter Fuel Payments154,83100:19:51Dec-2020Winter Fuel Payments142,77900:13:31Jan-2021Winter Fuel Payments83,95200:15:21Feb-2021Winter Fuel Payments28,37700:03:09Mar-2021Winter Fuel Payments22,05000:09:37Total 491,69500:13:38 Month YearTelephony Service LineCalls OfferedAverage Speed of Answer (hh:mm:ss)Apr-2019Winter Fuel Payments1,70300:00:31May-2019Winter Fuel Payments1,09600:00:18Jun-2019Winter Fuel Payments92400:00:23Jul-2019Winter Fuel Payments96700:00:11Aug-2019Winter Fuel Payments1,02500:00:09Sep-2019Winter Fuel Payments3,20900:01:06Oct-2019Winter Fuel Payments10,93500:01:08Nov-2019Winter Fuel Payments84,69700:03:48Dec-2019Winter Fuel Payments45,55700:01:01Jan-2020Winter Fuel Payments37,42500:03:15Feb-2020Winter Fuel Payments7,49600:00:45Mar-2020Winter Fuel Payments1,32800:00:39Total 196,36200:02:32 Month YearTelephony Service LineCalls OfferedAverage Speed of Answer (hh:mm:ss)Apr-2018Winter Fuel Payments3,19300:00:56May-2018Winter Fuel Payments15,29000:01:12Jun-2018Winter Fuel Payments22,62400:01:59Jul-2018Winter Fuel Payments19,13000:01:27Aug-2018Winter Fuel Payments16,39300:01:39Sep-2018Winter Fuel Payments8,41800:01:07Oct-2018Winter Fuel Payments18,59000:01:05Nov-2018Winter Fuel Payments112,84600:04:53Dec-2018Winter Fuel Payments57,27500:03:08Jan-2019Winter Fuel Payments39,45000:01:36Feb-2019Winter Fuel Payments14,06400:01:04Mar-2019Winter Fuel Payments4,76100:01:29Total 332,03400:02:47 Month YearTelephony Service LineCalls OfferedAverage Speed of Answer (hh:mm:ss)Apr-2017Winter Fuel Payments5,26600:00:34May-2017Winter Fuel Payments3,97800:00:27Jun-2017Winter Fuel Payments5,14700:00:38Jul-2017Winter Fuel Payments33,87300:00:39Aug-2017Winter Fuel Payments38,33400:00:49Sep-2017Winter Fuel Payments23,02800:00:30Oct-2017Winter Fuel Payments21,80400:00:50Nov-2017Winter Fuel Payments*Data Unavailable*Data UnavailableDec-2017Winter Fuel Payments64,38600:01:03Jan-2018Winter Fuel Payments48,79300:01:18Feb-2018Winter Fuel Payments17,91900:01:12Mar-2018Winter Fuel Payments11,20800:02:17Total 273,73600:00:59*No data is available for Nov 17 due to inconsistencies with the HMI Data downloads DISCLAIMERPlease note this information is derived from the Department’s management information, designed solely for the purpose of helping the Department to manage its business. As such, it has not been subjected to the rigorous quality assurance checks applied to our published official statistics. As DWP holds the information internally, we have released it. However, it is possible information held by DWP may change due to operational reasons and we recommend that caution be applied when using it.

How many and what proportion of Personal Independence Payment requests that were initially refused were subsequently accepted after appeal in the latest period for which data is available.

Of the 721,100 claimants who had their claim for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) cleared in the Financial Year 2023-2024, 332,800 (46%) were disallowed at assessment. Of these, 13,500 were subsequently awarded PIP following an appeal, which is 4% of all who were initially disallowed while 18,900 appeals have not been cleared yet. Notes:Figures have been rounded to nearest 100.Percentages have been rounded to nearest percent.This data is unpublished data. It should be used with caution, and it may be subject to future revision.These figures include appeal outcomes up to end of September 2024, the latest date for which published data is available. Note that more appeals could be made and completed after September 2024, so numbers may change as it can take some time for an appeal to be lodged and then cleared after the initial decision.Figure provided for the number of applicants first awarded PIP at appeal stage include claims that were awarded via a lapsed appeal after a disallowed initial decision and no change to award at MR.A lapsed appeal is where DWP changed the decision in the customer’s favour after an appeal was lodged but before it was heard at a tribunal hearing

Which local authorities have engaged with the Government on increasing applications for pension credit since November 2024.

As part of our nationwide Pension Credit campaign, the Department has engaged with all councils in Great Britain, via the regular LA Welfare Direct bulletins. In response to our call to action in 2024, 200 councils across Great Britain have engaged and supported our Pension Credit campaign either on social media, or by distributing the promotional material we have provided

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of her Department's proposed changes to the Work Capability Assessment on the Child Poverty Strategy.

The Work Capability Assessment is not working and needs to be reformed or replaced. 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. We are working to develop proposals for reform in the months ahead and will set them out in a Green Paper ahead of the Spring Statement later this year. Delivering our manifesto commitment to tackle child poverty is an urgent priority for this Government, and the Ministerial Taskforce is working to publish a Child Poverty Strategy which will deliver lasting change. The Strategy will look at all available levers across four key themes of increasing incomes, reducing essential costs, increasing financial resilience; and better local support especially in the early years. This will build on the reform plans underway across Government and work underway in Devolved Governments.

How many children live in households in which at least one person is subject to a Limited Capability to Work Assessment in (a) the UK and (b) Torbay constituency.

The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

How many full-time equivalent civil servants are working on supporting people who wish to buy back missing National Insurance years before the 5 April 2025 deadline.

The majority of customers can check for gaps in their NI record, and make payment online. To support those unable to use online services, we have deployed c.300 frontline Civil servants within the DWP and HMRC. A further c100 frontline Civil Servants will be deployed in February, ahead of the 5 April 2025 deadline.