Work and Pensions Committee
Welcome to the Work and Pensions Committee's website.
The Work and Pensions Committee is appointed by the House of Commons to examine the expenditure, administration and policy of the Department for Work and Pensions
We work through inquiries, gathering evidence, both written and oral, from a wide range of groups and individuals with relevant interests. We do not have executive powers but make reports to the House of Commons. These reports contain our opinions in the form of recommendations to the Government and are based on the evidence taken. The Government has to respond to these recommendations within two months.
The Department for Work and Pensions has annual operating costs of over £8 billion and is responsible for benefits and pensions expenditure of around £120 billion each year. The Department employs over 100,000 staff, most of whom work for one of the delivery agencies: Jobcentre Plus, The Pension, Disability and Carers Service and the Child Support Agency.
More about the Committee | Attending a meeting | Guide for witnesses | Formal Minutes
Committee News
- Fuel Poverty: one off oral evidence session minutes of evidence published on 17 November 2009.
- Publication of the Govt. Response to the Tackling Pensioner Poverty Report on Monday 19 October 2009
- Tackling Pensioner Poverty report published: Press Notice. Report.
Current Inquiries
Management and administration of contracted employment programmes. - Memoranda recieved
Decision making and appeals in the benefits system - Memoranda recieved
Report published -
Tackling Pensioner Poverty in Great Britain (Govt. Reply now published)
Recent inquiries
Child Poverty: One off evidence session was held on 17 June 2009. Memoranda recieved.
Fuel Poverty: One off evidence session held on 24 June 2009. Memoranda recieved.
The Equality Bill: What steps should DWP take to achieve greater equality
DWP's commissioning strategy and the Flexible New Deal (Report and Govt. response published)
Parliament Live
You can now listen to meetings broadcast live from www.parliamentlive.tv, with some meetings being available in audio-visual. Here you will also find an on-demand archive, where broadcasts are stored for twenty eight days from their original transmissions.
