Local authorities are responsible for ensuring there are sufficient places to deliver the childcare entitlements and give every child the best start in life. The department maintains close contact with local authorities to monitor sufficiency of childcare in their area, ensuring challenges are identified early and support is provided where needed.

We continue to work with local authorities to strengthen sufficiency planning, and improve data on the availability of suitable places, including for those needing specialist support.

We have seen significant growth in the early years workforce and continue to help people discover rewarding early years careers through the ‘Do something Big’ recruitment campaign, building on our pilot to offer financial incentives to attract and retain the best educators and introducing flexibilities for childminders.

We also recently published our early years funding consultation, which sets out our vision for a reformed early years funding system for the early years entitlements, alongside proposals for transition in 2027/28.

Figures are routinely published of the number of non ‘Common Travel Area’ (CTA) nationals in the Universal Credit statistics available on GOV.UK.

From the most recently published Universal Credit statistics, there were 8.3 million people on Universal Credit in January 2026, and the percentage of those people by nationality group, compiled from Table 2 of the immigration and nationality data tables, is shown in the table below.

Table 1: Proportion of People on Universal Credit by Nationality group, Great Britain, January 2026

Source: DWP Universal Credit - Immigration Status and Nationality statistics

Notes:

1. The latest non-missing Nationality declared by the claimant, reported across all previous UC claims.
2. CTA – The Common Travel Area (CTA) is a special travel zone that allows for free movement between the UK, Ireland, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands (Jersey, Guernsey).
3. “CTA – UK, Ireland, Right of Abode”: British nationals, Irish nationals, and people with right of abode in the UK do not need an immigration status to claim Universal Credit.
4. “EEA (Excluding Ireland)”: Those with nationalities from the 27 European Union (EU) member states, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.
5. “Non-EEA”: A person who is not an EEA citizen and is not a British citizen.
6. “No nationality recorded on digital systems”: The individual has not provided their nationality during their claim.
7. If a claimant has dual nationality and one is CTA then they will be recorded as CTA - UK, Ireland, Right of Abode.
8. Right of Abode individuals include Commonwealth citizens.

The Universal Credit Review has been designed as an ongoing flexible programme of engagement, evidence gathering and policy development rather than a single review culminating in a final report. This approach has allowed the Department to respond to evidence as it emerges and take forward improvements where appropriate.

Any future changes to Universal Credit arising from the Review will be announced in line with established Government and Parliamentary processes.

The current taper rate of 55 per cent gradually withdraws Universal Credit as earnings increase, allowing customers to retain at least 45 pence of each additional £1 earned, striking the right balance between supporting work incentives and targeting support at those on the lowest incomes. This policy is kept under regular review to ensure it continues to provide the right incentives for people receiving Universal Credit to move into work and progress in employment.

The Department is currently considering the policy design specification provided by the Scottish Government for its proposal to make split payments the default option for Universal Credit customers in Scotland.

The Department has no plans to make split payments the default arrangement for all joint Universal Credit claims.

Where a Universal Credit award is revised, established processes ensure that any resulting debt impact is communicated to Debt Management so that recovery action can be updated promptly.

Such decisions are processed through established appeals and decision-making processes, and where a claimant’s liability changes, the relevant information is recorded on DWP systems and communicated to Debt Management so that any necessary recovery action can be updated.

The Young People and Work Report has been commissioned by the UK Government to investigate the persistently high numbers of young people out of work, education and training (NEETs). On the 28^th May 2026, Alan Milburn published his diagnostic report, outlining his discoveries on the drivers of the increase in the number of young people who are part of this group.

The Report is being taken forward in two distinct phases, the first, a discovery phase which will provide a diagnosis on the increase in the number of young people who are NEET. The second phase will be a solution phase, which will identify potential areas for reform, aimed at increasing opportunities for young people.

The final Report is intended to take a holistic view of the welfare, health, skills and employment system and identify areas for reform. The Author will provide a full and final report in September.

Any proposals to change access to the benefits system will be considered in light of the conclusions and recommendations of the Young People and Work Report.

The situations of homeowners and renters are not directly comparable. If a tenant does not pay their rent, they face the real possibility of eviction. Homeowners have more flexibility to negotiate repayments with their lenders during periods of financial difficulty, and their mortgage payments allow them to acquire a significant asset.

The help homeowners, with or without children, can receive towards their mortgage payments is designed to provide a level of support that protects them from the threat of repossession. We have broad agreement with the lending industry that the support we provide is sufficient to achieve this aim.

The department has recently published research looking at the impact and effectiveness of Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) loans. This is available here: Impact Assessment of Support for Mortgage Interest loans and was published on 6^th May 2025.

The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

However, monthly Universal Credit statistics for the number of households in receipt of Universal Credit by the Number of Children Aged 0 to 4 are published in the Households on Universal Credit dataset on Stat-Xplore, and are currently available to February 2026.

Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access guidance on how to extract information. There is also a Universal Credit Official Statistics: Stat-Xplore user guide.

We do not routinely produce information on the distribution of households in receipt of Universal Credit by gross household income. However, the relevant data is publicly available in the Households Below Average Income datasets on DWP Stat-Xplore, https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/.

Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here: Getting Started (dwp.gov.uk). An account is not required to use Stat- Xplore, the ‘Guest Login’ feature gives instant access to the main functions.

Where it is considered to be in the claimant’s best interests, those who are vulnerable or who have accumulated arrears may have their rent payments sent direct to their landlords. Rent is a contractual agreement between a tenant and their landlord, which DWP is not party to. These administrative arrangements do not interfere with that contractual relationship and the tenant remains responsible for meeting their rental liabilities.

In general, there is no compensation available to landlords if errors or delays lead to arrears of rent as this would absolve them and the claimant of their responsibilities. The landlord remains responsible for pursuing any rent arrears in the normal way.

In cases of maladministration the Department may consider redress which may take the form of an apology, an explanation of what happened and what has been done to rectify matters or corrective action. In cases where an individual landlord is personally engaged in the management of their property(ies) and in the administration of their tenants’ rents and maladministration has caused an injustice or hardship, financial redress can be considered. Such payments are non-statutory and discretionary.

Responses to Freedom of Information requests are considered to be public. The requester can share the response if they so wish.

Where a tribunal decision overturns a Universal Credit overpayment, the decision is implemented through established DWP appeals and decision-making processes. Any resulting change to the claimant’s liability is recorded on the relevant systems and shared with Debt Management, enabling recovery action, including deductions from earnings, to be updated or ceased promptly, where appropriate.

The primary source of financial support for students comes from the student support system through various loans and grants designed for their needs. Students are unable to claim Universal Credit if they are studying full-time, unless they meet specific exceptions such as being responsible for a child. Where eligible students make a claim for Universal Credit, income available to meet their everyday living costs such as a basic student maintenance loan are taken into account, avoiding duplication of support.

The Department is committed to supporting people to retrain, develop new skills and move into jobs in sectors experiencing workforce shortages. Jobcentre Plus works with employers to provide work experience and training placements, including Sector Based Work Academy Programme, helping people gain the experience and skills to fill these vacancies. In addition, we are offering up to 300,000 additional opportunities with priority referrals for young people as part of the Youth Guarantee.

Since launching the Universal Credit Review in late 2024, we have engaged extensively with stakeholders, organisations and customers to understand better how Universal Credit is working in practice and where there may be opportunities for improvement. The Review has strengthened the Department’s evidence base and informed work across a number of policy areas where stakeholders and customers identified opportunities to improve how Universal Credit operates in practice.

We are not planning to publish a single final report, as the Review has been designed as a continuing programme of engagement, evidence gathering and policy development. This approach allows the Department to respond to evidence as it emerges and take forward improvements where appropriate.

The Department does not collate numbers or produce statistics for this purpose.

A request for a Managed Payment to a Landlord (MPTL) is considered on a case-by-case basis and is not automatically granted. An MPTL may not be accepted where the claimant does not meet the criteria for an Alternative Payment Arrangement.

Where a MPTL has been requested because of rent arrears, the department contacts the claimant and provides an opportunity to provide any contrary evidence. Claimants are given seven days to respond before a decision is made. Decisions are made using all available evidence.