Written questions by Darling.

If she will include bespoke support for unemployed care leavers in the Youth Guarantee.

We recognise the challenges care leavers face as they move out of the care system and are working closely with Department for Education to ensure care leavers can access the right skills, opportunities, and wider support, to move towards sustained employment and career progression. Under the new Youth Guarantee, all young people between 18-21 years will be able to access support to enter employment, education and training opportunities. This includes Care Leavers who we know are more likely than their peers to not be in education, employment or training and may benefit from more tailored support to support their transition as they leave the care provided by their Local Authority. We are working closely with the Department for Education on the design of the Youth Guarantee, which is in the early stages of development. The Autumn Budget announced that we will establish eight Youth Guarantee Trailblazer areas to test new ways of supporting young people into employment, education or training, by bringing together and enhancing existing programmes in partnership with local areas. Further details will be set out the up-coming ‘Get Britain Working’ White Paper.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of benefits sanctions on children in the households of those sanctioned.

Our manifesto commitment to tackle child poverty is a key priority for this Government. The Child Poverty Taskforce has already started urgent work to publish the Child Poverty Strategy in Spring 2025 and will continue to explore all available levers to drive forward short and long-term actions across government to reduce child poverty. No assessment has been made of the potential impact of benefit sanctions on children in the households of those that have been sanctioned. The Department records information on the number of children living in Universal Credit (UC) households as part of the official Universal Credit Statistics. The Department also records information on the number of people on UC who have received a sanction as part of the official Benefit Sanctions Statistics. These statistics are produced using different methodologies, therefore information on the number of children living in households subject to a UC sanction is not readily available.

Whether her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the over-25 rate of universal credit to care leavers.

The Government supports care leavers by offering a series of safeguards and easements aimed at simplifying and improving their interaction with the benefit system. This includes single care leavers qualifying for the more generous one-bedroom Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rate until their 25th birthday. The Government is committed to reviewing Universal Credit. Details of the review will be set out in due course.

What assessment she has made of the impact of the stronger nudge to pensions guidance on Pension Wise guidance usage by pension savers.

The Stronger Nudge to pension guidance regulations were introduced in June 2022. In the year following this (June 2022 to May 2023) around 124,000 Pension Wise appointments were attended, and in the subsequent year (June 2023 to May 2024) around 119,000 appointments were attended. These figures represent a 14% and 9% increase, respectively, on the number of appointments prior to the introduction of the regulations. Overall, Stronger Nudge has accounted for around 16% of attended Pension Wise appointments between June 2022 and October 2024, according to unpublished data from the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS). Increases in Pension Wise uptake cannot be solely attributed to the Stronger Nudge regulations. The Department for Work and Pensions works closely with MaPS to understand what pensions guidance people are using and to help people get the right guidance at the right time, with further support available through multiple channels. Depending on individual circumstances, these channels may direct people, through triaging, to Pension Wise (delivered by MaPS) or may help them decide Pension Wise is not appropriate for them at that time. For example, in the 2023/24 financial year, 258,000 people accessed the more holistic Money Helper pensions guidance (also delivered by MaPS). This is a 13% increase from 2022/23.

Whether she has undertaken financial modelling for a potential compensation scheme for issues raised in the report by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman entitled Women’s State Pension age: our findings on injustice and associated issues, published on 21 March 2024.

As part of our work on the Ombudsman’s investigation and report, we have been considering the costs of setting up a compensation scheme. The Ombudsman used DWP’s broad estimates in their report published 21 March 2024, stating that “Compensating all women born in the 1950s at the level 4 range would involve spending between around £3.5 billion and £10.5 billion of public funds”. This estimate excludes administration costs. This government is giving its full and proper consideration to all areas of the Ombudsman's report. Once this work has been undertaken, we will be in a position to outline our approach.

How many full-time civil servants are working on the response to the report by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman entitled Women’s State Pension age: our findings on injustice and associated issues, published on 21 March 2024.

Work is ongoing by civil servants across grades who work both full and part-time. The Ombudsman’s report is detailed and complex. It took around 6 years to complete and the issues it considers span a period of some 30 years. It is not possible to determine the exact number of people working on this as it fluctuates as we review and consider different elements of the Ombudsman’s report and evidence. The work includes input from teams across the Department, who support it as and when needed. Once this work has been undertaken, we will be in a position to outline our approach.

If she is will hold discussions with Auditory Verbal UK on tackling barriers to opportunities for deaf children.

There are no current plans to meet. However, I note that my colleague the Minister for Early Education has met with and visited Auditory Verbal UK to understand the work they are doing to improve the lives of deaf children.

With reference to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman's report into women’s State Pension age changes, published on 21 March 2024, what recent discussions she has had with the Leader of the House on making parliamentary time available for a debate on financial redress before 19 December 2024.

In the course of conducting the business of her Department, the Secretary of State has many discussions with Cabinet colleagues. As stated on 07 October (Women’s State Pension Age: Compensation - Hansard - UK Parliament.) I am the first Minister in eight years to meet WASPI campaigners to hear their experiences directly. The Ombudsman’s report took around five years to complete and deserves serious consideration. This Government respects the work of the Ombudsman and we are currently working through all aspects of the Ombudsman’s final report along with the evidence provided during the investigation.

What recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Universal Support programme; and what steps she is taking to ensure that funding is targeted towards the areas of highest deprivation.

The Universal Support funding has supported the expansion of Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care and additional support through Work and Health Programme Pioneer. For Work and Health Programme Pioneer, between September 2023 and May 2024, the Official Statistics publication Work and Health Programme statistics to May 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) shows that 17,000 individuals were referred with 11,000 starting on the programme. By May 2024, so far 1,700 people had achieved first earnings from employment and 290 people had achieved a sustained work job outcome. Data on Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care will be published in due course. We will shortly announce further details about a new supported employment programme, which, using the funding originally intended for the main Universal Support programme, will be co-designed with local authorities. Once fully rolled out across England and Wales, the programme will support up to 100,000 disabled people, people with health conditions and those with complex barriers to employment to help them get into and on in work per year. As local areas understand local needs best, they will be able to make choices about which eligible groups to prioritise for support.

What data banks will have to share under the Fraud, Error and Debt Bill.

The Fraud, Error and Debt Bill will introduce a range of measures that will interact with banks and Financial Institutions. Information shared will vary by each measure but will always be proportionate, and include strong safeguards being put in place for each. Further details will be set out when the Bill is introduced to Parliament shortly.

What steps her Department plans to take to (a) protect and (b) support vulnerable people in relation to the new Fraud, Error and Debt Bill.

Safeguarding vulnerable claimants is always a priority. All the powers included in the Fraud, Error and Debt Bill will include strong safeguards to ensure they are only used appropriately and proportionately – including new oversight and reporting mechanisms. We have a clearly defined scope and clear limitations for the use of all the powers we are introducing, and our staff will be trained to the highest possible standards.

What steps she is taking to ensure that her Department's assessors are aware of the symptoms of mesh injury.

The Personal Independence Payment and Work Capability Assessments are functional assessments that consider the impact of a person’s disability or health condition, rather than the condition itself. They have been developed considering the needs of people with the full range of physical, mental, and cognitive conditions. The department has not specified that assessment suppliers (ASs) employ health professionals (HPs) who are specialists in specific conditions or impairments. Instead, the focus is on ensuring they are experts in disability analysis, focusing on the effects of health conditions and impairments on the individual’s daily life. HPs have access to guidance and support (such as Condition Insight Reports and Continuous Professional Development modules) on how certain conditions present and how they might affect function. These were developed specifically for HPs, to enable them to gain insight into specific conditions before undertaking an assessment. They contain clinical and functional information relevant to the condition and are usually developed with relevant stakeholders, and quality assured to ensure accuracy from both a clinical and policy perspective. All HPs within the Health Assessment Advisory Service, have access to learning modules specifically relating to mesh injury/implants. There are also opportunities for charities and organisations to engage with ASs, which include forums, to continue to foster good relationships and to help aid the understanding of how conditions may impact on daily life. We expect this engagement to continue.

How many Access to Work scheme applications are outstanding (a) nationally and (b) by regional.

The information requested about Access to Work applications that are outstanding by region is not readily available as it is a national service and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost. As of 7th October 2024, there were around 55,500 applications outstanding nationally. The Department for Work and Pensions is committed to reducing waiting times for new applications for Access to Work, as well as renewals. We are considering the best way to deliver that for customers. We have increased the number of staff processing Access to Work claims and have prioritised applications from customers who are about to start a job, and renewals. Please note:The data supplied is derived from unpublished management information, which was collected for internal Departmental use only, and have not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. They should therefore be treated with caution. Applications includes new claims, renewals and change of circumstances.