Written questions by Slade.

What steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to improve employers' awareness of migraine symptoms amongst employees.

Awaiting answer.

Whether his Department collects information on whether claimants have caring responsibilities when they register for out of work benefits.

During the application process for Universal Credit the applicant is asked whether they are caring for someone with a health condition or disability. Information is not collected as part of a claim for New Style Jobseekers Allowance as it is not relevant for the award.

What data his Department holds on the (a) uptake and (b) drop-out rates in (i) barbering and (ii) hairdressing apprenticeships over the last 7 years.

Statistics on apprenticeships are published in the Apprenticeships accredited official statistics publication: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/apprenticeships. Apprenticeship starts on barbering and hairdressing apprenticeships can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/ccfd7de7-48a4-4913-19a0-08de58cbc7ae Apprenticeship achievement rates can be found here:2021/22 to 2023/24 academic years: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/64773b20-6850-4200-19a3-08de58cbc7ae2018/19 to 2020/21 academic years: Apprenticeship Achievement Rates Standards and FrameworksAchievement rates for the 2024/25 academic year will be published in March 2026 in the Apprenticeships: March 2026 statistics publication.

What steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support small businesses with their provision of (a) barbering and (b) hairdressing apprenticeships.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer of 21 January 2026 to Question 105881.

What steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to increase the uptake of (a) hairdressing and (b) barbering apprenticeships.

There are a number of apprenticeship standards available to support the hair and beauty sector, including the Level 2 Hairdressing Professional standard and the Level 2 Barbering Professional standard. The government provides a range of financial support for employers to take on apprentices. We provide £1,000 to both employers and training providers when they take on apprentices aged under 19, or 19-to-24-year-old apprentices who have an EHCP or have been, or are, in care. Employers also benefit from not being required to pay anything towards employees’ National Insurance for all apprentices aged up to age 25, when the employee’s wage is below £50,270 a year. In addition, from the next academic year, the government will fully fund apprenticeships for non-levy paying employers (essentially small and medium sized enterprises) for all eligible people aged under 25. At the moment, this only happens for apprentices aged 16-21 and apprentices aged 22-24 who have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) or have been, or are, in local authority care. This change will make it easier for those employers to engage with apprenticeships by cutting costs and reducing bureaucracy for both them and their training providers.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of her Department's policy that claimants’ (a) appointees and (b) Lasting Power of Attorney appointees cannot submit online claims on those claimants.

In law both appointees and attorneys can make online claims. They act for the claimant and can perform any function ordinarily required of the claimant. The department is continuing to modernise its services to provide customers and appointees/attorneys with a greater choice over the channels they use to interact with the department. For example, the Health Transformation Programme is transforming the entire Personal Independence Payment service to improve the experience of applying and this includes introducing an optional online service.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the housing benefit taper rate on young people in supported housing who increase working hours.

The income taper in Housing Benefit ensures people in work are better off than someone wholly reliant on benefits. In addition to any financial advantage, there are important non-financial benefits of working. These include learning new skills, improved confidence and independence as well as a positive effect on an individual's mental and physical health. Notwithstanding these positive outcomes from work, the Department acknowledges there is a challenge presented by the interaction between Universal Credit and Housing Benefit for those residing in Supported Housing and Temporary Accommodation and receiving their housing support through Housing Benefit. The department is considering the issue carefully in partnership with stakeholders.

What steps her Department is taking to ensure that it conducts a full review of the requester's (a) case and (b) complaint when Access to Work reconsideration requests are made.

The Access to Work process for reviewing reconsideration requests, as well as complaints, includes a full review of the original case, including all relevant documentation and communications relating to the original decision. To help ensure impartiality, these reviews are conducted by staff there were not involved in the original decision.

What steps her Department is taking to ensure that self-employed people are adequately supported when using the Access to Work scheme.

Access to Work is a personalised discretionary grant that provides support with workplace adjustments beyond an employer’s obligation as outlined in the Equality Act 2010, to support the recruitment and retention of disabled people into employment. In 23/24 the Access to Work Scheme supported 67,720 people with workplace adjustments to move into or stay in work. This includes a wide range of support including travel to work, support workers, and specialist aides and equipment, as well as the Mental Health support service which provides up to nine months of non-clinical support for people who need additional help with their well-being. Access to Work is available to self-employed people.To receive it they must satisfy the standard eligibility criteria for the Scheme and meet the business viability rules as outlined in Access to Work: staff guide - GOV.UK The support a customer will get from Access to Work is dependent upon the support needed to do their job at the time they made an application. A case manager will use the current guidance to ensure Access to Work principles are considered when making a decision. There is no set amount for an Access to Work grant. The amount awarded will depend on the specific case. More guidance and information on Access to Work applications and processes can be found on: Access to Work: factsheet for customers - GOV.UK As part of our Plan for Change, and as set out in the Pathways to Work Green Paper published in March, we are consulting on how to improve Access to Work to help more disabled people into work and support employers, ensuring value for money for taxpayers.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of enabling carers receiving Carer's allowance who defer drawing state pension to receive the same uplift as those who do not.

Where a person has deferred claiming their State Pension, they cannot accumulate increments that will increase their State Pension amount if they have received certain social security benefits including Carer’s Allowance. The underlying principle is to prevent a person earning an enhancement to their pension while drawing another benefit that would otherwise have not been payable had they been receiving their State Pension. The Department encourages people to seek independent financial advice before making a decision not to claim their State Pension when they reach State Pension age and this is set out in GOV.UK at https://www.gov.uk/plan-retirement-income/get-financial-advice

What steps her Department is taking with HMRC to establish data-sharing processes to enable the auto-enrolment for Pension Credit for individuals on very low incomes.

HMRC and DWP already have well established data-sharing processes and procedures, which are governed by the rules on how data can be accessed, shared and used whilst safeguarding individuals’ data and privacy. DWP officials are currently considering options of using government data, including HMRC data, more effectively to help identify households eligible for Pension Credit. However, a person’s eligibility for Pension Credit and the amount they may get depends on their particular financial and personal circumstances and not all of these can be accurately determined from Government data alone.

What steps her Department is taking to create effective information sharing processes with the Department for Health and Social Care so that people with a permanent disability are no longer required to repeatedly prove the existence of their disability for receipt of disability benefit.

Personal Independence Payment, the main disability benefit, is based on an assessment of the customer’s needs and not whether they have a particular condition or not. Award reviews are a key feature of these benefits to ensure that the level of benefit matches the customer’s current needs. The Health Transformation Programme is modernising health and disability benefit services to improve efficiency and customer experience. By improving how we gather evidence and by enabling the re-use of information, the new service will provide DWP agents and Healthcare Professionals with easier access to relevant information. This will reduce the burden on customers to provide complex information and reduce the need for them to provide it more than once. As part of this, we are exploring the potential for data sharing between the Department for Health and Social Care and DWP.

What steps she is taking to increase the effectiveness safeguards for people with mental health conditions when engaging with the benefits system.

All customer-facing DWP colleagues are undertaking mandatory mental health awareness training to better support claimants who may present with mental health issues. All colleagues also have access to a wide range of guidance and signposting to help support customers. Where further specialist help is required, DWP has a national network of Advanced Customer Support Senior Leaders who can provide additional advice and support through the local networks they have built with external partners and organisations. Additionally, through the national DWP Visiting Service, the department provides additional face-to-face support across all service lines to customers who cannot access DWP services in any other way. A visit can be arranged for a customer if they need extra help to claim benefits, for example because they have complex needs, are disabled, are a vulnerable young person making a claim for the first time, have nobody else to support them or cannot claim benefits in any other way.

If she will take steps to provide the same level of support to self-employed parents taking maternity leave as to self-employed people taking leave for adoption.

Self-employed pregnant women who have paid the required Class 2 National Insurance contributions are entitled to Maternity Allowance.As a general rule, maternity pay is primarily a health and safety provision relating specifically to pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding. As there is no associated period of pregnancy for adopters, they are unable to make a claim for maternity pay regardless of their employment status.The Government very much values self-employed people who come forward to take on the challenging but rewarding role of being an adoptive parent, that is why there is provision for Local Authorities to make discretionary payments, equivalent to Maternity Allowance, to self-employed adopters who do not qualify for Statutory Adoption Pay and where they satisfy the relevant criteria. This payment is means-tested and ensures that resources are targeted at those adopters who need it most, as part of a package of post-adoption support.Prospective adopters and the child or children that they intend to adopt are also entitled to an assessment of their family’s needs. This includes a whole host of support including discretionary means-tested financial support, advice, information and counselling, and support services.Depending on individual circumstances, additional financial support, for example, Universal Credit, Child Benefit and the Sure Start Maternity Grant (a lump sum payment of £500) may also be available to new parents.The Government has committed to a review of parental leave to ensure that it best supports working families. Work is already underway on planning for its delivery.

What steps she is taking to help (a) pensioners who will not receive Winter Fuel Allowance and (b) other people with disabilities who (i) need to run equipment through the winter and (ii) have a condition which makes them susceptible to the effects of the cold, damp weather.

This Government is committed to pensioners – everyone in our society, no matter their working history or savings deserves a comfortable and dignified retirement. The State Pension is the foundation of income in retirement and will remain so protecting 12 million pensioners through the triple lock. Based on current forecasts, the full rate of the new state pension is set to increase by around £1,700 over the course of this Parliament. We are also providing support for pensioners through our Warm Homes Plan which will transform homes across the country by making them cleaner and cheaper to run. We will offer grants and low interest loans to support investment in insulation, low carbon heating and other home improvements to cut bills. We have also announced a new Warm Homes: Local Grant to help low-income homeowners and private tenants with energy performance upgrades and cleaner heating. The Warm Home Discount scheme in England and Wales provides eligible low-income households across Great Britain with a £150 rebate on their electricity bill. This winter, we expect over three million households, including over one million pensioners, to benefit under the scheme. The Household Support Fund is also being extended for a further six months, from 1 October 2024 until 31 March 2025. An additional £421 million will be provided to enable the extension of the Household Support Fund in England, plus funding for the Devolved Governments through the Barnett formula to be spent at their discretion, as usual. For those with long-term illnesses, the “extra costs” disability benefits, namely Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and Attendance Allowance (AA), provide a tax free, non-income-related contribution towards the extra costs people with a long-term health condition can face, such as additional heating costs. They are paid monthly throughout the year. AA can be worth up to £5,600 a year and recipients are free to use their benefit according to their own priorities. Receipt of AA can provide a passport to additional amounts in means-tested benefits (notably Pension Credit and Housing Benefit) for those on low incomes providing they meet the other eligibility criteria.