Topical Questions 2026-01-26
2026-01-26
TAGS
Response quality
Questions & Answers
Q1
Direct Answer
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Context
Concerns about the number of apprenticeships available for smaller businesses compared to larger companies like Kia, Alstom.
Whether it is at Kia, Alstom or others, apprentices in Derby are thriving at our large manufacturing companies, but we also want our small and medium-sized businesses to take on more apprentices. Will the Government set out what is being done to help smaller businesses to take on more apprentices?
Around 40% of all apprenticeship starts are in small and medium-sized employers and they will benefit from the £725 million in funding that we announced at the Budget, which includes fully funding SME apprenticeships for eligible people aged under 25. As he will be aware, employers are not required to pay anything towards employee national insurance for those apprenticeships.
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Q2
Direct Answer
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Context
Concern about the number of young people on benefits, particularly graduates out of work and NEET numbers rising.
Under this Labour Government the number of people on benefits is soaring, with nearly a million young people not in education, employment or training, and over 700,000 university graduates are now out of work and on benefits. Many young people are putting in hundreds of job applications and getting hundreds of rejections. This Government are killing their jobs and their dreams by taxing job-creating businesses into oblivion. What does the Secretary of State have to say to those young people?
What I have to say to those young people is that the rise in graduate inactivity happened under the last Government. Economic inactivity is down by 450,000 since the last election. There is a critical problem—the hon. Lady is right—in NEET numbers, which have been rising for four years. The difference is that we are doing something about that through the youth guarantee, which has £820 million behind it, and by changing her record on apprenticeships, which saw a 40% fall in youth apprenticeship starts over 10 years.
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Q3
Direct Answer
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Context
A constituent's experience of battling with depression due to undiagnosed ADHD, leading to difficulties in getting treatment on the NHS and having to go back to work before she was ready.
My constituent, Julie, a single mum of two, had a successful career in marketing, but had to quit after battling with depression, stemming from undiagnosed attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Julie has been stuck in a cycle of struggling to get treatment and diagnosis on the NHS and having to go back to work before she is ready—a story that is sadly echoed among many of my constituents who struggle with fragmented mental health services and a lack of employment support due to cuts made by the previous Government. Will the Minister update the House on the work that she is doing with her counterparts in the Department of Health and Social Care, to ensure people struggling with mental ill health can recover and get back to work?
I meet my colleagues in the Health and Social Care Department regularly, particularly because of the important work that the joint work and health directorate is doing to get people into work and to support people with health conditions in work, including those with chronic mental health conditions. Our employment advisers in talking therapies specifically target people with mental health conditions.
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Q4
Direct Answer
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The Sayce review identified almost 87,000 carers affected by the carers’ allowance scandal.
The Sayce review investigated the carers’ allowance scandal and identified that almost 87,000 carers were affected. The Government are planning to write off the debts of 26,000 carers, but does that mean that the Minister believes that 60,000 carers are guilty of fraud?
I think the hon. Gentleman would agree that Liz Sayce did a superb job. We commissioned her review straight after the general election, and we have accepted all but two of the recommendations that she made in her report. We are working through the detail of how to implement those recommendations, and we will set out the proposals and the details as soon as we are able to do so. We are also working with carer organisations on communications with the carers affected to ensure that they are right.
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Q5
Direct Answer
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Context
Inquiries about the commitment to delivering employment and opportunities for young people of all backgrounds.
In the light of the Government’s commitment to delivering employment and opportunities for young people of all backgrounds, will the Secretary of State set out what recent progress has been made on establishing the youth guarantee scheme in Scotland?
The youth guarantee scheme will be delivered across Great Britain. That includes the jobs guarantee scheme, which I mentioned earlier. From the spring, we will provide more than 1,000 fully subsidised jobs in six areas across the UK, including central and east Scotland, ahead of the national roll-out, which will come later this year.
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Q6
Direct Answer
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Context
A constituent's experience with incorrect payments, long delays to identity verification and a lack of help with accessibility during the migration to universal credit.
One of my constituents is a disabled Royal Navy veteran. Their migration to universal credit has been a nightmare, involving incorrect payments, long delays to identity verification and a lack of help with accessibility. I have received no response to their case since 13 November last year. Does the Minister agree that that falls short of what people should expect from the DWP? Will he help me to get this matter resolved?
I am sorry to hear of the hon. Gentleman’s experience. We are in the most difficult part of the transition, as people who were previously on employment and support allowance move over to universal credit. We have introduced an enhanced support journey to try to simplify it, and I am keeping a very close eye on how it is going. If he sends me the details of that case, I will certainly look at them.
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Q7
Partial Answer
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Two constituents have been waiting for reassessments since July and September 2024, respectively. The question highlights the long wait times in the Department of Work and Pensions.
I have two constituents who have been awaiting work capability reassessments since July and September 2024. That is more than a year that they have been stuck in limbo, rather than preparing to get back to work. Will the Minister confirm what my team has been told—that extreme waiting times are now normal in the Department? Will he set out what it is doing to break that backlog?
We are certainly addressing the backlog, but if the hon. Lady would like to send me the details of those two cases, I will certainly investigate.
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Assessment & feedback
Confirmation about normal wait times and specific actions being taken
Response accuracy
Q8
Partial Answer
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Context
A constituent with complex needs and learning difficulties lost financial support due to changes in universal credit. The question asks about involvement of people with similar needs in system design.
My constituent Stephen Sherwood has complex needs and learning difficulties. He could not understand changes to universal credit, needed guidance that never came, and so lost financial support that he badly needed. Stephen and his mum, Nicola, rightly want to know whether the DWP involves people with complex needs and learning difficulties in the design of system changes, and whether the Government will do more to ensure that such people have these changes explained to them in ways that they can understand.
My hon. Friend raises a very good point. As I have said, the process of migration that we are going through is the most difficult part, as people move from employment and support allowance to universal credit. We have introduced an enhanced support journey to assist people such as my hon. Friend’s constituent who are going through this process, but I look forward to meeting him in a couple of weeks’ time to discuss lessons from this particular case.
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Assessment & feedback
Involvement of people with complex needs and learning difficulties in system design changes
Response accuracy
Q9
Partial Answer
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Context
Adzuna, a job search website founded by Mike Martin's constituent Andrew, has research showing that existing AI tools could improve the DWP’s service and create 250,000 more jobs per year. However, it is reported that these tools will not be included in the new rebuild.
Can the Secretary of State give the House reassurance that we are going to incorporate those new tools into the rebuild of the service so that we get that employment boost?
For commercial reasons, I cannot confirm if Adzuna’s specific tool will be part of our work forward. However, we are bringing forward a new AI tool in the coming months that includes ‘find a job’ options and CV support among other cutting-edge tools to aid people into employment.
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Assessment & feedback
Details about whether Adzuna's specific tool will be included
For Commercial Reasons
Response accuracy
Q10
Partial Answer
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Context
The UK shared prosperity fund currently supports about 20% of Renfrewshire council’s employability budget, which is due to end.
Can my right hon. Friend outline what steps he will take to support employability services in Renfrewshire going forward?
My hon. Friend, the youth guarantee will be a GB-wide scheme helping people in Scotland. She will agree that the Scottish Government have had the most generous financial settlement since devolution and should allocate some of this towards employability priorities.
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Assessment & feedback
Steps to support Renfrewshire's employability services specifically after UK shared prosperity fund ends
Will Agree
Should Use Generous Financial Settlement
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Q11
Partial Answer
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Context
A constituent has been trying for more than five months to get a response from the DWP about his Universal Credit claim, facing delays of 15 weeks.
Can the Minister please say what action he is taking to ensure that the DWP responds to constituents and MPs within reasonable timescales?
I recently met our newly appointed complaints lead and independent case examiner who is raising concerns about trends. We are putting in place a range of interventions to improve complaints handling process and will share more detail directly with the hon. Lady.
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Assessment & feedback
Specific actions taken to address delays within reasonable timescales
Range Of Interventions
Will Share
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Q12
Partial Answer
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Context
A constituent named Harry, who has a learning disability and holds two jobs, faces difficulty accessing his Access to Work paperwork online. His mother Helen, acting as an appointee, must print out 24 bits of paper and manually sign them before posting.
Will the Minister undertake to look at Harry’s case and ensure that appointees such as Helen do not find it too hard to access Access to Work so that we can keep brilliant people like Harry in work?
The hon. Lady makes a good point, reforming Access to Work is needed; we consulted on this in the Green Paper last year and agree that less bureaucracy for access is required.
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Assessment & feedback
Concrete actions or timeline for addressing Harry's case specifically
Reforming Access To Work
Consultation
Response accuracy