Department for Work and Pensions
Question: How many people used Access to Work support at what cost and for what reasons in the last financial year.
Alison McGovern:
The most recent complete financial year of data available in the published Access to Work official statistics is 2023/24: Access to Work statistics: April 2007 to March 2024 – GOV.UK. In 2023/24, around 61,630 people received a payment for any Access to Work provision and total expenditure across all provision was £257.8 million. We have interpreted reason for using Access to Work as being the primary medical condition reported by the individual. In 2023/24, the largest Access to Work customer group in terms of number of payments, by primary medical condition are those with a ‘Mental health condition’, who account for 27% (16,560) of the total number of customers. Those with the primary medical condition ‘Learning disability’ are the second most common group and make up 11% of customers (6,720 people). Those who are ‘Deaf or hard of hearing’ are in receipt of the highest proportion (30%) of total Access to Work expenditure.
Question: How many claimants are in receipt of Universal Credit after passing a habitual residency test.
Andrew Western:
The information is not readily available and has not previously been published as official statistics. The Department is exploring the feasibility of developing suitable official statistics related to the immigration status of non-UK / Irish Universal Credit customers.
Question: What the primary language of benefits claimants has been in each of the last 10 years.
Sir Stephen Timms:
The Department does not centrally hold the information requested as it is not a requirement for a customer to declare their ‘primary’ language. Customer communications and benefit information is provided in English and Welsh as appropriate. Necessary information can be provided in another language and translation services are available.
Question: How many National Insurance numbers were issued to (a) Bulgarian and (b) Romanian nationals resident in Great Yarmouth constituency in each year since 2016.
Andrew Western:
The Department publishes quarterly statistics on National Insurance number allocations to adult overseas nationals entering the UK on Stat-Xplore. The latest statistics, for January 2002 to June 2024, can be compiled by rolling year end to June and nationality down to country level, and are available by Westminster parliamentary constituency (based on the address given at time of National Insurance number registration).
Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access guidance on how to extract the information required.
Question: How much her Department has attributed to fraud and error in each of the last ten years.
Andrew Western:
The Department publishes estimates of the levels of fraud and error in the benefit system by financial year. These statistics are available for the past ten financial years and can be found at: Fraud and error in the benefit system – GOV.UK
Question: How many recipients of Universal Credit were born outside the UK in each of the last five years.
Andrew Western:
The Department does not collect data on the country of birth of individuals claiming Universal Credit.
DWP policy responsibility lies in establishing a customer’s eligibility to claim benefits. An individual’s specific country of birth does not play a role in this and the Department therefore does not collect the country of birth information at the point of a Universal Credit claim.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 4 November 2024 to Question 11207 on Habitual Residence Test, how many habitual residence tests related to Universal Credit assessments have been granted in each of the last five years.
Andrew Western:
The table below gives the number of Universal Credit (UC) Habitual Residence Test (HRT) assessments that resulted in a ‘pass’ decision in the past five years.
Date Decision Entered on Admin System | Number of UC HRT ‘Pass’ Decisions |
April 2019 to March 2020 | 381,000 |
April 2020 to March 2021 | 918,000 |
April 2021 to March 2022 | 1,046,000 |
April 2022 to March 2023 | 555,000 |
April 2023 to March 2024 | 533,000 |
April 2024 to September 2024 | 322,000 |
Source: DWP internal analysis of UC Dataworks tables)
Notes:
- The Habitual Residence Test (HRT) is nationality blind. It is applied to British citizens returning from abroad to check for factual habitual residency in the UK, as well as to foreign nationals to check they have an immigration status permitting access to public funds and that they are factually habitually resident.
- All figures are rounded to the nearest thousand decisions.
- An individual may have multiple HRT assessments.
- These figures are not Official Statistics. These figures stem from administrative data and represent the best estimates using current methodologies and assumptions about the data. Future improvements in methodology may lead to different subsequent estimates.
- Figures are for the UK.
by DWP may change due to operational reasons and we recommend that caution be applied when using it.
Question: What the average (a) waiting time for people calling and (b) time people spent on hold for (i) Job Centre Plus, (ii) the Universal Credit helpline and (iii) the Personal Independence Payment helpline was in each of the last five years.
Andrew Western:
The table below shows the Average Speed of Answer and Average Hold Time for all people calling (i) Job Centre Plus, (ii) the Universal Credit helpline and (iii) the Personal Independence Payment helpline in each of the last 4 business years, with 2024 to 2025 being to date only (01/04/24 to 27/10/24). We are only able to provide a breakdown of the Average Speed of Answer for 5th business year 2020/2021, we do not hold that breakdown of data for Average Hold Time, this was only reported at DWP level prior to 2021.
Please note for part(i) of the request, figures provided are from Job Centre enquiry line only. DWP hierarchy does not have a telephony service line for Job Centre Plus.
Reporting Year | Product Line | Average Speed of Answer (hh:mm:ss) | Average Hold Time (hh:mm:ss) |
2020-2021 | Jobcentre Enquiry Line | 00:01:02 | N/A |
Personal Independence Payment | 00:18:15 | N/A | |
Universal Credit | 00:03:41 | N/A | |
2021-2022 | Jobcentre Enquiry Line | 00:02:03 | 00:00:59 |
Personal Independence Payment | 00:18:10 | 00:00:25 | |
Universal Credit | 00:05:09 | 00:00:41 | |
2022-2023 | Jobcentre Enquiry Line | 00:02:34 | 00:00:40 |
Personal Independence Payment | 00:19:21 | 00:00:29 | |
Universal Credit | 00:02:56 | 00:00:21 | |
2023-2024 | Jobcentre Enquiry Line | 00:01:52 | 00:00:37 |
Personal Independence Payment | 00:17:33 | 00:00:42 | |
Universal Credit | 00:02:45 | 00:00:13 | |
*2024-2025 | Jobcentre Enquiry Line | 00:01:21 | 00:00:33 |
Personal Independence Payment | 00:11:35 | 00:00:40 | |
Universal Credit | 00:03:24 | 00:00:09 | |
*year to date 01/04/2024 to 27/10/2024 | |||
DISCLAIMER
Please 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.
Question: What the total number of staff employed to review Personal Independence Payment claims is; and how many fraudulent claims were made in each of the last five years.
Sir Stephen Timms:
DWP currently has 2,700 FTE employed to review Personal Independence Payment Claims.
Staff Role | FTE |
DS PIP New Claims and Award Reviews | 2700 |
Notes:
- Data is correct as of 04th November 2024.
- Data for PIP New Claims and Award Reviews staff has been derived from the Department’s Activity Based Model (ABM).
- ABM FTE (Full Time Equivalent) have been rounded to the nearest 100.
- The number of staff that are employed on PIP New Claims and Award Reviews activity is unpublished management information, collected and intended for internal department use and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics standard. As the Department holds the information, we have released it.
Please refer to table 12 in the following published document which shows levels of fraud and error in the benefits system, including PIP. fraud-and-error-statistics-release-2023-2024-estimates-data-tables.xlsx
The published fraud statistics only provide an estimate of the percentage of PIP cases that are fraudulent. The total number can be calculated by applying that percentage to the total PIP caseload – information can be found at: Personal Independence Payment: Official Statistics to July 2024 – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
.
Question: How many staff in their Departmental work outside of the UK; where these staff work; and what the cost is of salaries for these staff.
Andrew Western:
None of the DWP’s employees work outside the UK.
Question: How many habitual residence tests have been granted in each year of the last five years
Andrew Western:
With the exception of Universal Credit, the information requested is not held centrally for the relevant DWP benefits and to provide it would incur disproportionate costs.
DWP uses the habitual residence test for income-related benefits (Universal Credit, State Pension Credit and Housing Benefit) to assess whether customers have a legal right to reside in the UK and whether they are factually habitually resident in the UK, as required in legislation. The habitual residence test is designed to prevent access to the welfare system for those who are not eligible and do not have an intention to live and/or work in the UK, ensuring both fairness in accessing public funds and that only those eligible are able to access benefits. All claimants must meet the requirements of the habitual residence test, including British citizens returning from periods of time living abroad, unless they are part of an exempt group as laid out in legislation (such as those fleeing specific humanitarian crises abroad specified in relevant secondary legislation).
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the total number of people of working age currently out of work.
Alison McGovern:
Official statistics for the number of people unemployed and economically inactive are published each month by the independent Office for National Statistics (ONS), estimated using the Labour Force Survey.
The ONS headline labour market statistics define working age as between 16 and 64 years old. The latest statistics show 10.61 million people are of working age currently out of work in the UK (June-August 2024) – 1.347 million who are unemployed and 9.263 million who are economically inactive. Of the 9.263 million who are economically inactive, 2.491 million are students and 1.674 million are looking after family/home.
Unemployment (000’s) | 1,347 |
Economic inactivity by reason (000’s) | |
Student | 2,491 |
Looking after family / home | 1,674 |
Temp sick | 201 |
Long-term sick | 2,750 |
Discouraged workers | 33 |
Retired | 1,079 |
Other | 1,035 |
Total (000’s) | 10,610 |
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department has taken to prevent illegal immigrants claiming benefits.
Andrew Western:
All benefits claimants have to verify their identity before they can receive payments. For any claimants who aren’t British or Irish, we verify that they have a valid UK immigration status. Illegal immigrants cannot access taxpayer-funded benefits (publicly funded benefits), including Universal Credit or Personal Independence Payment. In order to receive such benefits, an individual must either be a British or Irish citizen or hold an immigration status that allows them to access such benefits. Whether someone holds a valid immigration status or is a British or Irish citizen is tested through DWP residency tests and verified through information from the Home Office.
For DWP benefits that do not require a valid immigration status (contributory benefits), such as New-Style Jobseeker’s Allowance and Statutory Sick Pay, claimants will need to satisfy other eligibility criteria, such as having employment periods and paid sufficient national insurance contributions. To have been employed to meet the contributory benefits criteria, a valid. National Insurance number is required, meaning the identity and immigration status of the claimant has been verified.
Question: What discussions she has had with local authorities on tackling youth unemployment in Great Yarmouth constituency.
Alison McGovern:
Our plan to Get Britain Working includes a new Youth Guarantee for all young people aged 18-21 to ensure that they can access quality training opportunities, an apprenticeship or help to find work in their local area. This will sit alongside; a new national jobs and careers service to help get more people into work, and work health and skills plans for the economically inactive, to open new opportunities for young people. We will set out further detail in the upcoming Labour Market White Paper.
The department recognises that the needs of young people will vary depending on where they live and their own individual circumstances. The broad national reach of Jobcentres and its network of Partnership Managers means the Department for Work and Pensions is in regular contact with local stakeholders including working closely with Local Authorities.
This joint working approach is at the core of the Department for Work and Pensions Youth Offer. A recent example of collaboration in Great Yarmouth includes a multi-agency Great Yarmouth Skills Taskforce involving the Jobcentre and stakeholders from Great Yarmouth Borough Council, Norfolk County Council, East Coast College and the Universities of East Anglia and Suffolk in tandem with training providers such as Access Community Enterprises, business and community organisations. The immediate focus is on youth to support to entry and progression in the labour market.
Question: What discussions she has had with local authorities on tackling youth unemployment in Great Yarmouth constituency.
Alison McGovern:
Our plan to Get Britain Working includes a new Youth Guarantee for all young people aged 18-21 to ensure that they can access quality training opportunities, an apprenticeship or help to find work in their local area. This will sit alongside; a new national jobs and careers service to help get more people into work, and work health and skills plans for the economically inactive, to open new opportunities for young people. We will set out further detail in the upcoming Labour Market White Paper.
The department recognises that the needs of young people will vary depending on where they live and their own individual circumstances. The broad national reach of Jobcentres and its network of Partnership Managers means the Department for Work and Pensions is in regular contact with local stakeholders including working closely with Local Authorities.
This joint working approach is at the core of the Department for Work and Pensions Youth Offer. A recent example of collaboration in Great Yarmouth includes a multi-agency Great Yarmouth Skills Taskforce involving the Jobcentre and stakeholders from Great Yarmouth Borough Council, Norfolk County Council, East Coast College and the Universities of East Anglia and Suffolk in tandem with training providers such as Access Community Enterprises, business and community organisations. The immediate focus is on youth to support to entry and progression in the labour market.
Question: How many individuals claiming Universal Credit have received fit notes for each of the last three financial years.
Alison McGovern:
The number of people on Universal Credit in Great Britain who submitted an accepted fit note to the Department for each of the last three financial years is shown in the table below:
2021 to 2022 | 2022 to 2023 | 2023 to 2024 |
854,390 | 896,790 | 908,740 |
Notes:
Numbers are rounded to 10.
Although most will have submitted Statements of Fitness for Work (fit notes), other forms of medical evidence that the Department accepts (e.g. hospital discharge letters) will be included in the totals.
Data is taken from Universal Credit analytical systems but results have not been quality assured to Official Statistics publication standard.
The Department regularly publishes Universal Credit Health Journey caseload statistics on Stat-Xplore including the monthly number of people on UC Health with a current fit-note.
Question: How many pensioners in the Great Yarmouth council area will no longer receive the winter fuel allowance.
It is estimated that around 19,300 pensioners in Great Yarmouth will be impacted by the decision to amend the eligibility criteria for the Winter Fuel Payment. This is based on February 2024 Pension Credit statistics which are available via DWP Stat-xplore and the Winter Fuel Payment statistics for Winter 2022 to 2023 which are available via GOV.UK.
This estimation is calculated by subtracting the number of people claiming Pension Credit in Great Yarmouth from the number of Winter Fuel Payment recipients in Great Yarmouth. This is essentially the number of Winter Fuel Payment recipients who are not claiming Pension Credit pre-policy change, as an estimate of those who will no longer receive the Winter Fuel Payment.
Please note that the above figures do not take into account any potential increase in Pension Credit take-up that we might see as a result of the Government’s Pension Credit Awareness Campaign. We do not have data on those additional Pension Credit claims by Parliamentary constituencies or Local Authorities.
The published Pension Credit figures refer to households rather than individuals, so the number of individuals receiving Pension Credit will be higher (i.e. taking account of households where it is a couple claiming Pension Credit).
In addition, while Pension Credit claimants constitute the majority of those that will be eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment, pensioners who claim other qualifying means-tested benefits will also be eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment. It is not, however, possible to include those on other qualifying means-tested benefits in these figures.
Question: How many positions in her Department included (a) diversity, (b) inclusion, (c) equity and (d) equality in their job title in each of the last five years; and what the total cost of the salaries of each such job was in each of those years.
The information requested is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Question: How many people of what nationality claiming an out of work benefit are not UK citizens; and what the cost to the public purse is of such benefits.
Andrew Western:
The Department does not hold data on the current nationality of all those claiming benefits. DWP policy responsibility lies in establishing a customer’s eligibility to claim benefits. For non-UK / Irish citizens, an individual’s specific nationality does not play a role in this and the Department therefore does not consistently collect nationality information at the point of benefit claim.
Question: What steps her Department has taken to prevent illegal immigrants claiming benefits.
Andrew Western:
All benefits claimants have to verify their identity before they can receive payments. For any claimants who aren’t British or Irish, we verify that they have a valid UK immigration status. Illegal immigrants cannot access taxpayer-funded benefits (publicly funded benefits), including Universal Credit or Personal Independence Payment. In order to receive such benefits, an individual must either be a British or Irish citizen or hold an immigration status that allows them to access such benefits. Whether someone holds a valid immigration status or is a British or Irish citizen is tested through DWP residency tests and verified through information from the Home Office.
For DWP benefits that do not require a valid immigration status (contributory benefits), such as New-Style Jobseeker’s Allowance and Statutory Sick Pay, claimants will need to satisfy other eligibility criteria, such as having employment periods and paid sufficient national insurance contributions. To have been employed to meet the contributory benefits criteria, a valid. National Insurance number is required, meaning the identity and immigration status of the claimant has been verified.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 14 October to Question 6949 on Social Security Benefits: Foreign Nationals, if she will make it her policy to collect data on the nationality of those claiming benefits.
Andrew Western:
There are no plans to start consistently collecting nationality data across all DWP benefit lines. This is because DWP policy responsibility lies in establishing a customer’s eligibility to claim benefits. An individual’s specific nationality does not play a role in this.
The Department checks immigration status when assessing eligibility for benefits, but this information is not collated centrally across all benefit lines and hence is not readily available. We are, however, exploring the feasibility of developing suitable statistics related to the immigration status of non-UK / Irish customers.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much has been spent on (a) translation and (b) interpretation for individuals contacting her Department in each of the last five years.
Alison McGovern:
Translation Cost | Interpretation Costs | |
2019/20 | £ 472,539 | £ 2,219,613 |
2020/21 | £ 398,270 | £ 3,537,872 |
2021/22 | £ 518,927 | £ 6,823,140 |
2022/23 | £ 641,747 | £ 5,668,822 |
2023/24 | £ 677,614 | £ 6,195,053 |