Written questions by Collins.

What steps his Department is taking to encourage small businesses to offer apprenticeships for young people in Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency.

Awaiting answer.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the eligibility rules for Carer’s Allowance on unpaid carers seeking to access higher and further education.

Awaiting answer.

How many carers have lost entitlement to Carer’s Allowance as a result of exceeding the 21‑hour study limit in each of the last five years.

Awaiting answer.

If he will make an assessment of the potential impact of State Pension age changes on 1950s-born women living in Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency.

The Government carefully considered the findings of the Ombudsman’s report on the communication of changes to women’s State Pension age, and a detailed response including an Equality Analysis has been deposited in the House library.

What steps he is taking to reform access to work in Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency.

In the Pathways to Work Green Paper, we consulted on the future of the Access to Work scheme. We also considered the role of employers in creating accessible and inclusive workplaces as well as how we can shape the market for aids, appliances and assistive technology, to reduce their cost and spread their adoption. We are using the outcomes of the Pathways to Work Green Paper consultations, the Collaboration Committees, and upcoming work of the Independent Disability Advisory Panel to inform the future direction of Access to Work. Once the outcome is established, we will consider timelines, and work closely with stakeholders to ensure an appropriate transition, including in Harpenden and Berkhamsted.

What steps he is taking to support disabled people into work in Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency.

In the Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency, we have a range of specialist initiatives to support individuals to stay in work and get back into work, including those that join up employment and health systems. Existing measures include support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers (DEAs) in Jobcentres and Access to Work grants. Our Supported Employment programme, Connect to Work is being delivered by Hertfordshire County Council (HCC), and is supporting disabled people, people with health conditions and people with complex barriers to employment. DEAs in the Jobcentres supporting the constituency hold in-depth Work Ability conversations that focus on strengths, suitable work options, workplace adjustments and confidence building. There is a Weekly Wednesday Job Club for Berkhamsted customers. As part of the Pathways to Work initiative, DEAs work in collaboration with HCC to deliver joined-up services for residents by supporting disabled people into employment through our Connect to Work programme and referrals to Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies. DWP is also working with the NHS and HCC as part of the Get Hertfordshire Working strategic plan. Representatives from DWP and the NHS co-chair the Work and Health subgroup of the plan. This group is working with local employers and key partners from the statutory, education and voluntary sectors to support residents with health conditions to both stay in and return to work through a range of activities such as employment and skills training and through providing support in managing their health conditions. The group is also developing employment pathways such as work experience, internships and apprenticeships with partner agencies.

What recent assessment he has made of levels in youth unemployment in Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency.

The Government is committed to transform young people’s prospects by ensuring every one of them has the chance to earn and learn through the Youth Guarantee.On 16th March, the Government announced a further £1 billion investment in young people, resulting in a total £2.5 billion over the next three years into the Youth Guarantee and additional investment in the Growth and Skills Levy. This investment will support almost one million young people and create up to 500,000 opportunities to earn and learn.This includes the delivery of eight Youth Guarantee Trailblazers in England, expansion of Youth Hubs to more than 360 areas across Great Britain and introduction of a new Youth Guarantee Gateway in Jobcentres, providing more intensive support to 16-24 year olds.This investment will also create around 300,000 more opportunities to gain workplace experience and training. It will also help unlock up to 200,000 more employment opportunities, through a new £3,000 Youth Jobs Grant for employers who hire 18–24-year-olds who have been on Universal Credit for over six months, a new £2,000 apprenticeship incentive for small and medium sized employers hiring 16–24-year-olds and the Jobs Guarantee scheme, providing long-term unemployed 18–24-year-olds with a fully funded six month job. Together these measures demonstrate the Government’s commitment to supporting employers, partners and young people across Great Britain.The Department works closely with local partners to ensure support for young people reflects local labour market needs. In Harpenden and Berkhamsted, support is provided in the St Albans Jobcentre, which has specialist work coaches who work with young people claiming Universal Credit.At a local level, St Albans Jobcentre works closely with local colleges and training providers to commission tailored support programmes for young people, including provision focused on confidence building and mental health support.The information on geographic youth unemployment figures is published and available at: https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/default.asp Guidance for users can be found at: https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/home/newuser.asp

What steps his department is taking to reduce levels of youth unemployment in Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency.

The Government is committed to transform young people’s prospects by ensuring every one of them has the chance to earn and learn through the Youth Guarantee.On 16th March, the Government announced a further £1 billion investment in young people, resulting in a total £2.5 billion over the next three years into the Youth Guarantee and additional investment in the Growth and Skills Levy. This investment will support almost one million young people and create up to 500,000 opportunities to earn and learn.This includes the delivery of eight Youth Guarantee Trailblazers in England, expansion of Youth Hubs to more than 360 areas across Great Britain and introduction of a new Youth Guarantee Gateway in Jobcentres, providing more intensive support to 16-24 year olds.This investment will also create around 300,000 more opportunities to gain workplace experience and training. It will also help unlock up to 200,000 more employment opportunities, through a new £3,000 Youth Jobs Grant for employers who hire 18–24-year-olds who have been on Universal Credit for over six months, a new £2,000 apprenticeship incentive for small and medium sized employers hiring 16–24-year-olds and the Jobs Guarantee scheme, providing long-term unemployed 18–24-year-olds with a fully funded six month job. Together these measures demonstrate the Government’s commitment to supporting employers, partners and young people across Great Britain.The Department works closely with local partners to ensure support for young people reflects local labour market needs. In Harpenden and Berkhamsted, support is provided in the St Albans Jobcentre, which has specialist work coaches who work with young people claiming Universal Credit.At a local level, St Albans Jobcentre works closely with local colleges and training providers to commission tailored support programmes for young people, including provision focused on confidence building and mental health support.The information on geographic youth unemployment figures is published and available at: https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/default.asp Guidance for users can be found at: https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/home/newuser.asp

What steps his Department is taking to help support people with endometriosis in the workplace in Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency.

Good work is good for health, so we want everyone to get work and get on in work, whoever they are and wherever they live. Backed by £240 million investment, the Get Britain Working White Paper launched in November 2024 is driving forward approaches to tackling economic inactivity. Disabled people and people with health conditions are a diverse group so access to the right work and health support, in the right place, at the right time, is key. The Government is committed to supporting disabled people and people with health conditions, including women with endometriosis, with their employment journey. We therefore have a range of specialist initiatives to support individuals to stay in work and get back into work, including those that join up employment and health systems. Existing measures include support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres and Access to Work grants, as well as joining up health and employment support around the individual through Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies, Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care and WorkWell. WorkWell is part of Pathways to Work and will be rolled out across all of England backed by up to £259 million investment over three years. We are also rolling out Connect to Work, our supported employment programme for anyone who is disabled, has a health condition or is experiencing more complex barriers to work. In November 2025, Sir Charlie Mayfield reported his Keep Britain Working Review, setting out recommendations to support employers to create healthier and more inclusive workplaces and radically reshape the way Government works with employers to improve outcomes. Following publication we have entered the Vanguard phase and, as part of this, we are partnering with Vanguard employers to test how we can better support good health in work, with a focus on women's health as part of this. Women’s health directly impacts economic participation, with health issues being the leading cause of lost working time for women. We have been inputting into the Women’s Health Strategy renewal to ensure women being in work is a positive health outcome. This includes a commitment to adopting a women’s health across the life course lens as part of the partnership with Vanguard employers in the Keep Britain Working Vanguard Phase. The 10 Year Health Plan, published in July, builds on existing work to better integrate health with employment support and incentivise greater cross-system collaboration, recognising good work is good for health. The Plan states our intention to break down barriers to opportunity by delivering the holistic support that people need to access and thrive in employment by ensuring a better health service for everyone, regardless of condition or service area. It outlines how the neighbourhood health service will join up support from across the work, health and skills systems to help address the multiple complex challenges that often stop people finding and staying in work. Individuals unable to work due to endometriosis may be eligible to receive Statutory Sick Pay from their employer which, from April becomes payable from the first full day of sickness absence.

Whether his Department plans to publish an equalities impact assessment of the Child Poverty Strategy, including its impact on groups at highest risk of poverty.

A full summary Equalities Analysis was published alongside the Strategy and is available at: Child Poverty Strategy: Summary Equalities Analysis - GOV.UK.The impacts of policies contributing to the Child Poverty Strategy will be kept under review and monitored on an ongoing basis by departments using their own established approaches to considerations made under the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED). The ongoing Monitoring and Evaluation of the Child Poverty Strategy will also continue to assess the poverty risk and prevalence for groups with protected characteristics, as far as the data and evidence gathering allow. The Monitoring and Evaluation framework published alongside the Strategy set out that a baseline report will be published in Summer 2026, with annual reporting on progress thereafter.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of State Pension age changes for 1950s-born women living in Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency.

All women born since 6 April 1950 have been affected by changes to State Pension age. Estimates can be made with ONS 2022 Census Data of how many women born in the 1950s were resident in each constituency in that year.

What steps his Department is taking to help tackle barriers to work for disabled people in Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency.

Good work is good for health, so we want everyone to get work and get on in work, whoever they are and wherever they live. Backed by £240 million investment, the Get Britain Working White Paper launched in November 2024 is driving forward approaches to tackling economic inactivity.Disabled people are a diverse group so access to the right work and health support, in the right place, at the right time, is key. We therefore have a range of specialist initiatives to support individuals to stay in work and get back into work, including those that join up employment and health systems. Existing measures include support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers (DEAs) in Jobcentres and Access to Work grants, as well as joining up health and employment support around the individual through Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies, Individual Placement and Support (IPS) in Primary Care and WorkWell. We are also rolling out Connect to Work, our supported employment programme for anyone who is disabled, has a health condition or is experiencing more complex barriers to work. DWP is working with the NHS and Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) as part of the Get Hertfordshire Working strategic plan. DWP and the NHS co-chair the Work and Health subgroup of the plan. This group is working with local employers and key partners from the statutory, education and voluntary sectors, to support residents with health conditions to both stay in and return to work through a range of activities such as employment and skills training and providing support in managing their health conditions. The group is also developing employment pathways such as work experience, internships, and apprenticeships with partner agencies. DEAs in the Jobcentres supporting the constituency hold in-depth Work Ability conversations that focus on strengths, suitable work options, workplace adjustments and confidence building. There is a Weekly Wednesday Job Club for Berkhamsted customers. As part of the Pathways to Work initiative DEAs work in collaboration with HCC to deliver joined up services for residents by supporting disabled people into employment through our Connect to Work programme, referrals to Employment Advisors in Talking Therapies and IPS. We set out our plan for the Pathways to Work Guarantee in our Pathways to Work Green Paper and are building towards our guaranteed offer of personalised work, health and skills support for disabled people and people with health conditions on out of work benefits. The guarantee is backed by £1 billion a year of new, additional funding by the end of the decade. We anticipate the guarantee, once fully rolled out, will include: a support conversation to identify next steps, one-to-one caseworker support, periodic engagement, and an offer of specialist long-term work health and skills support. The 10 Year Health Plan, published in July, builds on existing work to better integrate health with employment support and incentivise greater cross-system collaboration, recognising good work is good for health. The Plan also states the Government’s intention to break down barriers to opportunity by delivering the holistic support that people need to access and thrive in employment by ensuring a better health service for everyone, regardless of condition or service area. It outlines how the neighbourhood health service will join up support from across the work, health and skills systems to help address the multiple complex challenges that often stop people finding and staying in work.

Whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of pausing deductions being taken from Carer's Allowance payments as a result of earnings-related overpayments while the Department reassesses those cases.

We have been clear that the Sayce review into earnings related Carer’s Allowance overpayments was not a substitute for legal proceedings. The report’s findings do not prejudice business-as-usual activity by DWP. The department must balance fairness for unpaid carers and its duty to taxpayers.The department’s guidance on averaging earnings, for those with fluctuating earnings, did not accurately reflect the legislation between 2015 and summer 2025. We are, in response, planning a reassessment exercise. Overpayment recovery work will continue during the reassessment exercise. Should reassessment lead to an amended decision in an individual case, we will adjust entitlement to Carer’s Allowance and take the appropriate action depending on the customer’s circumstances. We will set out more details about the reassessment exercise in the coming weeks.For anyone who has had an overpayment, DWP’s Debt Management Service is available to discuss their repayment terms.

What recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of funding for the Access to Work scheme; and whether he plans to increase that funding.

In the Pathways to Work Green Paper, we consulted on the future of Access to Work and how to improve the scheme so that it helps more disabled people in work. We are considering all aspects of the scheme as we develop plans for reform following the conclusion of the consultation. We have recently concluded (November) the Access to Work Collaboration Committees, in which we engaged with a range of stakeholders, including disabled people’s organisation representatives and lived experience users, to provide discussion, experience, and challenge to the design of the future Access to Work Scheme.

What plans his Department has to expand apprenticeship and training programmes for engineering roles supporting digital and energy infrastructure development.

This Government is transforming the apprenticeships offer into a new growth and skills offer, backed by £725 million of additional investment, which will deliver greater flexibility to employers and learners and support the industrial strategy.In August 2025 we introduced new foundation apprenticeships to give young people a route into careers in critical sectors, enabling them to earn a wage while developing vital skills. The first foundation apprenticeships are focussed on industrial strategy and priority areas, they include engineering and manufacturing, software and data, and hardware, network and infrastructure. Additionally, from April 2026, employers will also be able to access short, flexible training courses to help respond quickly to evolving skills needs. The first wave of these courses will be called apprenticeship units, and they will be available in critical skills areas such as engineering and digital. Following commitments made in the Industrial Strategy, the Post 16 Education and Skills White Paper announced an £182 million engineering skills package, with the aim of helping to address the engineering skills needed in priority sectors such as advanced manufacturing, clean energy, and digital and technology.

What steps his Department are taking to review the state pension addition for individuals aged 80 and over; and whether the Department plans to adjust that addition in line with inflation to ensure it provides meaningful financial support.

The 25 pence a week Age Addition is part of the old State Pension, for those who reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016, and is paid with their State Pension, when they reach the age of 80. The Age Addition is not part of the new State Pension, but for those people who reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016, the 25 pence Age Addition under the existing rules will continue.

What recent progress his Department has made on working with expert stakeholders to review the impact of four-weekly employer pay cycles on Universal Credit payments.

We are committed to reviewing Universal Credit, to make sure it is doing the job we want it to, to make work pay and tackle poverty. As part of the review we have considered the impact that fluctuating incomes including those paid on a four-weekly cycle has on households including engaging with expert stakeholders and those with direct experience. The Department is considering this insight and will provide updates on the review in due course.

What plans his Department has to increase the number of approved apprenticeship providers for (a) stone masonry, (b) quarrying (c) and heritage restoration skills.

As of 15 October 2025, there are 1450 active providers on the Apprenticeship Provider and Assessment Register (APAR). New training providers can enter the apprenticeship training market under one of the three entry routes in place. These are either where there is a legitimate gap in provision that is generated by unmet employer demand, where a levy paying employer wants to become an employer-provider to train its own workforce, or where the provider is in an area we want to grow or where we identify a capacity issue. The government continues to monitor the suitability of entry routes onto APAR as the government develops the Growth and Skills offer.

What steps her Department is taking to help support the development of (a) specialist training and (b) apprenticeship pathways in the (i) natural stone and (ii) heritage construction sectors, including (A) traditional craft and (B) masonry roles.

As announced in the Spending Review, the Government is investing over £1.2 billion annually in skills by 2028-29 to support technical routes and work-based training. Employers and learners in the sector can benefit from a range of apprenticeship standards, such as Level 2 Stonemason, Leve 2 Thatcher and Level 5 Heritage Construction Specialist. On 20 October 2025, we published the Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper, setting out a strategy to build a world-class skills system aligned with student and employer needs. Central to these reforms is Skills England, which provides expert insight into current and future skills needs. It has published two key reports — Skills for Growth & Opportunity and Assessment of Priority Skills to 2030 — and will continue to assess national, regional, and sectoral demands. This evidence base will inform policy and funding decisions, helping employers close skills gaps all sectors, including the heritage sector.

Whether he will ask the Pensions Commission to consider the potential merits of allowing people of working age living with a terminal illness to claim state pension.

The government recognises the importance of ensuring that individuals who are terminally ill are treated with compassion and dignity. The Terms of Reference for the Pensions Commission, which set out the scope for the Commission, were published on the 21st July. The Commissioners will consider what is required in the long term to deliver financial security in retirement through a pensions framework that is stronger, fairer and more sustainable. The Commissioners will engage with a wide range of issues relevant to their terms of reference and will publish their findings in due course.