Written questions by Forster.

Whether people on Universal Credit receive National Insurance Contribution credits.

Class 3 National Insurance (NI) Credits are awarded to those in receipt of Universal Credit (UC). Where UC recipients are also in work or are entitled to NI credits on other grounds, His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs will undertake any relevant reconciliation where a mixture of credits have been received. The full list of credits is listed on Gov.UK - National Insurance credits: Overview - GOV.UK

Whether people on legacy Employment and Support Allowance receive the same inflation increase as people on other benefits.

Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) is a single benefit with two strands, contribution-based ESA, ESA C (which was rebadged New Style ESA (NS ESA)), and income-related ESA (ESA IR). Legacy ESA is made up of a contributory (ESA C) and income-related strand (ESA IR).​New claims to legacy ESA (i.e. ESA C and ESA IR) are no longer available. Only new claims to NS ESA can be made. The Secretary of State has an annual Statutory duty to conduct a review of benefits and State pension rates to determine whether they have retained their value in relation to the general level of prices and/or earnings. The review will take place in the Autumn as is the convention. The Pathways to Work Green Paper included proposals for the future rates of Employment and Support Allowance.

Whether receipt of compensation from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme impacts entitlement to benefits.

Means tested benefits do not provide a specific disregard for a Criminal Injuries Compensation payment. However, it is very likely, due to the nature of these payments, that they will be regarded as a payment for personal injury and disregarded for 12 months from when the payment is received, or indefinitely if the payment is held in trust. For Pension Credit, the treatment is similar with the main difference being that there is no requirement for it to be held in a trust.

How many people have applied for Pension Credit in Woking constituency since 29 July 2024.

Statistics on Pension Credit application volumes, for Great Britain only, were published on 29th May 2025. This includes numbers of applications that were received, awarded and not awarded, and outstanding, from week commencing 3rd April 2023 up to week commencing 19th May 2025: Pension Credit applications and awards: May 2025 - GOV.UK. The next quarterly release of Pension Credit applications and awards statistics for Great Britian has been announced for late-August 2025: Pension Credit Applications and Awards Statistics: August 2025 - Official statistics announcement - GOV.UK.

What steps her Department is taking to help tackle childhood poverty in Canalside ward in Woking constituency.

Tackling child poverty is at the heart of this Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity. The Child Poverty Taskforce is progressing work to publish its strategy as soon as possible. We are exploring all available levers to drive forward short and long-term actions across government to reduce child poverty. The strategy will look 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. The vital work of the Taskforce comes alongside our commitments to triple investment in breakfast clubs to over £30 million, introduce a Fair Repayment Rate for deductions from Universal Credit, improve the adequacy of the standard allowance with the first sustained above inflation rise in the basic rate of Universal Credit since it was introduced and increase the National Living Wage to £12.21 an hour to boost the pay of three million workers.

How many people are (a) eligible for pension credit and (b) have yet to apply for it in Woking constituency.

Published DWP Pension Credit Take-up statistics estimate that up to 760,000 households who were entitled to receive Pension Credit did not claim the benefit. These statistics are only available at Great Britain level and cannot be broken down to smaller geographical areas. The latest available Pension Credit take-up statistics for Great Britain cover the financial year 2022 to 2023 and are available at: Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up: financial year ending 2023 - GOV.UK Latest caseload statistics show that as of November 2024, there were 1,390,749 people in receipt of Pension Credit in Great Britain, of which 1242 were in Woking constituency. This data is available via DWP Stat-Xplore.

What steps her Department is taking to help support the 2,198 children under the age of 16 living in relative poverty in Woking constituency.

Tackling child poverty is at the heart of this Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity. The Child Poverty Taskforce is progressing work to publish its strategy as soon as possible. We are exploring all available levers to drive forward short and long-term actions across government to reduce child poverty. The strategy will look 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. The vital work of the Taskforce comes alongside our commitments to triple investment in breakfast clubs to over £30 million, introduce a Fair Repayment Rate for deductions from Universal Credit, improve the adequacy of the standard allowance with the first sustained above inflation rise in the basic rate of Universal Credit since it was introduced and increase the National Living Wage to £12.21 an hour to boost the pay of three million workers.

What (a) support, (b) benefits and (c) resources her Department provides to (i) humanitarian and (ii) healthcare workers with PTSD who have worked in warzones and are unable to return to work.

For all Universal Credit (UC) customers with health conditions and disabilities additional support is based on the outcome of a Work Capability Assessment (WCA). The outcome may be that they are found to have Limited Capability for Work (LCW), Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity (LCWRA) or be found fit for work. An extra amount of UC is awarded if a customer is found to have LCWRA. Government is 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 reduce poverty for disabled people and those with health conditions and support disabled people to live independently. It is also vital to ensure that the system is financially sustainable in the long term. The Pathways to Work Green Paper, published in March 2025, set out our plans to reform benefits and support for disabled people and people with health conditions. The reforms will ensure the most vulnerable and severely disabled people are protected, so they can live with dignity and security, while supporting those who can work to do so. This Government is committed to putting the views and voices of disabled people at the heart of all that we do, so we will consult on these proposals with disabled people and representative organisations.

Whether her Department has made an assessment of the adequacy of waiting times for cases to be allocated to a Resolution Specialist at The Pensions Ombudsman.

The Pension Ombudsman (TPO) has experienced a significant increase in complaints over the past several years, and this trend is continuing. This has impacted on waiting times for cases to be allocated to a resolution specialist. In response to this pressure, TPO has implemented an Operating Model Review (OMR) programme. DWP are working closely with TPO to rigorously monitor the impact the OMR is having on waiting times and case allocation to resolution specialists.

What steps she is taking to improve her Department's customer service.

We are modernising our services, enabling customers to self-serve online, while retaining non-digital channels for those that need them, avoiding digital inclusion and ensuring everyone gets the level of support they need.For example, we are starting to use conversational platform in some service lines, which provides an automated conversational experience and reduces avoidable contact by signposting customers to more appropriate routeways.

What steps her Department is taking to support claimants of disability allowance who (a) have difficulties with oral communication, (b) have deafness, (c) have learning difficulties and (d) do not own a telephone.

For hearing and speech impaired customers:DWP utilise the Video Relay Service (VRS) which enables customers to communicate in real time via a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter using a video connection on an electronic device. There is no need to be in the same location or for the customer to make an appointment. This service is available across DWP and Department for Communities Northern Ireland (DfCNI) service lines. DWP also use Relay UK, previously known as Next Generation Text. The ‘app’ enables customer to contact a BT agent and type a message to them. The BT agent then calls DWP and verbally passes on the typed message. It works in reverse for a three-way conversation ie the DWP telephony agent speaks, and the BT Relay agent types the message back to the customer. For customers with learning difficulties: PIPCustomers with learning difficulties will often be represented by a third party or appointee who can support them to make a claim to disability related benefits, however we are aware that this does not apply in all cases.When an application for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is made by someone with learning difficulties or cognitive impairments, who is acting on their own behalf, we apply a marker to the case which indicates to colleagues in DWP (and colleagues who are involved in the assessment) that the customer requires additional support. The system marker also prevents the case being closed if the customer fails to engage or is not able to meet requirements to complete or return forms. Work Capability AssessmentCustomers requiring a Work Capability Assessment (WCA) are sent a clerical WCA50. The WCA50 will also gather details of any Reasonable Adjustment (RA) or Alternative Format (AF) requirements. If a RA/AF requirement is established, we would update the availability constraints within Medical Services Referral System (MSRS) to advise the healthcare providers that a face-to-face assessment is required. All WCA appointment letters are sent out clerically too. In cases where customers are vulnerable, and require more intensive support, home visits can be arranged through the Visiting Service, who can help with form completion for example. Disability Living AllowanceFor someone who we need to speak to eg: Parent/Guardian (PG) where they have identified/requested a reasonable adjustment, any business with DLA Adult/DLA Child will be conducted in that manner, including if needed BSL. (Same service as PIP).For learning difficulties, DLACS system(s) does not have a marker, however if the PG has an appointee DLA Child would need to make enquiries and potentially refer for a visiting officer to establish the child’s wellbeing and the PG support requirements. For customers who do not have a telephone: PIP:Support can be provided by third parties, but a clerical process is available, which means applications for disability benefits can be made in writing. Where the disability benefit is subject to an assessment with a healthcare provider, appointments can be made for face-to-face appointments for those unable to participate in telephony assessments. DLA Child/Adult:Primarily DLA Child/Adult operate on a postal notification service, DLA uses a freephone number and where a customer does not have a telephone, DWP JCP resources would be available to initiate contact. From mid-March 2025 enhanced functionality will allow customers using the online option to advise DWP of any Reasonable Adjustment (RA) or Alternative Format (AF) requirements.

What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help tackle (a) discrepancies between contribution amounts on pension statements and payslips, (b) lack of online access to manage pensions and (c) other common issues with workplace pensions.

The independent Pensions Regulator (TPR) is responsible for providing detailed guidance to employers on how to meet their automatic enrolment duties. This includes guidance on avoiding common errors, such as incorrect pension contributions, failing to enrol employees correctly and missing or late payments. Pension scheme managers and trustees also have a responsibility to ensure the correct management of schemes including monitoring the payment of contributions.If an employee has concerns regarding their workplace pension such as unpaid contributions, they should raise this with their employer in the first instance. An individual can report their employer to TPR if it is not complying with the law and/or make a complaint to The Pensions Ombudsman (TPO) who can investigate the complaint and provide a remedy if the employer is found to be at fault. TPO, in collaboration with MoneyHelper and TPR, has published a factsheet for customers about this: Workplace pensions – unpaid pension contributions | The Pensions Ombudsman.Accessible information and good communications are important in enabling savers to better understand their pensions. Some schemes already offer online access to help members easily and securely view their pension details. The government is also supporting the delivery of pensions dashboards, which will allow people to view their whole pensions picture, including their State Pension, securely and in one place. This will help reunite people with their lost pension pots and support better engagement – empowering individuals to better prepare for retirement.