Sections · PESA departmental group
Work and Pensions
The Department for Work and Pensions: benefits and pensions, and the department that pays them. In 2025-26 the bodies in this section spent £308.2bn on services. £315.2bn of it (102.3%) can be followed to who received it, and at most 102.5% counting payees who are named but can't be identified yet.
- Reached an identified organisation
- Reached a recipient the publisher did not name
- Reached people, counted by benefit
- Reached staff (pay) or holders of government debt (interest), followed as one published total
- Named payee, not yet identified (may be another public body)
- Not followed
The records counted here (£315.2bn) are more than PESA's total for this section (£308.2bn). That means the two are not drawn round the same money. DWP's benefit expenditure tables and PESA's departmental total are not drawn round exactly the same money, and which lines differ has not been worked out yet.
How far it is followed, and why the rest can't be
- Benefit figures are a forecast£308.3bnmeasured
The benefit lines counted here are the department's forecast or budget for 2025-26; its outturn has not been published yet. They are counted as followed, and every headline is also given without them.
- Benefits are counted by benefit, never by person
Each benefit is one recipient: everyone paid State Pension, everyone paid Universal Credit, and so on. That is as far as public money to people should be followed.
- Below the publication threshold
Payments under £25,000 (central government and the NHS) or £500 (councils) are not published one by one. Some publishers list every payment anyway; most do not.
- Pay: followed to staff as one total£4.9bnmeasured
Wages are never published person by person, and must not be. The staff costs of the 5 bodies in this section, from HM Treasury's OSCAR database (2025-26, provisional outturn), are counted as followed to their staff.
Where the records come from
Each publisher's 2025-26 payment records, and where their money went. "Identified" means matched to a registered company, charity or other organisation outside government; "named only", a payee named in the record but not yet matched; "passed on", paid to another public body.
| Publisher | Months | Records | Identified | Named only | Withheld | Passed on |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Department for Work and Pensions | 12 | 117,570 | £2.0bn | £898m | £0 | £9m |
Benefits, counted by benefit
People who receive benefits are never named here, one by one or otherwise. Each line is everyone paid that benefit, as one recipient.
| Recipients | Measure | 2025-26 |
|---|---|---|
| State Pension recipients (Great Britain) | forecast | £146.1bn |
| Universal Credit recipients (Great Britain) | forecast | £79.2bn |
| Personal Independence Payment recipients (Great Britain; England and Wales after transfer to Scotland) | forecast | £28.5bn |
| Housing benefits (exc. Universal Credit) recipients (Great Britain) | forecast | £12.1bn |
| Attendance Allowance recipients (Great Britain; England and Wales after transfer to Scotland) | forecast | £8.5bn |
| Disability Living Allowance recipients (Great Britain; England and Wales after transfer to Scotland) | forecast | £8.3bn |
| Employment and Support Allowance recipients (Great Britain) | forecast | £7.0bn |
| Pension Credit recipients (Great Britain) | forecast | £6.1bn |
| Carer's Allowance recipients (Great Britain; England and Wales after transfer to Scotland) | forecast | £4.6bn |
| Statutory Maternity Pay recipients (Great Britain) | forecast | £3.2bn |
| Winter Fuel Payments recipients (Great Britain; England and Wales after transfer to Scotland) | forecast | £1.9bn |
| Industrial injuries benefits recipients (Great Britain; England and Wales after transfer to Scotland) | forecast | £737m |
| Maternity Allowance recipients (Great Britain) | forecast | £379m |
| Access to Work Grants recipients (Great Britain) | forecast | £310m |
| Bereavement related benefits recipients (Great Britain) | forecast | £295m |
| Jobseeker's Allowance recipients (Great Britain) | forecast | £280m |
| Financial Assistance Scheme recipients (United Kingdom (Great Britain and Northern Ireland)) | forecast | £254m |
| Christmas Bonus recipients (Great Britain) | forecast | £186m |
| Mesothelioma 2008 & 2014 recipients (Great Britain) | forecast | £48m |
| Funeral Expenses Payments recipients (Great Britain) | forecast | £47m |
| Severe Disablement Allowance recipients (Great Britain; England and Wales after transfer to Scotland) | forecast | £47m |
| Cold Weather Payments recipients (Great Britain; England and Wales after transfer to Scotland) | forecast | £39m |
| Pneumoconiosis 1979 recipients (Great Britain) | forecast | £36m |
| Sure Start Maternity Grant recipients (Great Britain) | forecast | £24m |
| Armed Forces Independence Payment recipients (Great Britain) | forecast | £23m |
| Support for Mortgage Interest loans recipients (Great Britain) | forecast | £15m |
| Income Support recipients (Great Britain) | forecast | £10m |
| Incapacity Benefit recipients (Great Britain) | forecast | £3m |
| State Pension transfers recipients (Great Britain) | forecast | £2m |
| Cost of Living Payments recipients (Great Britain) | forecast | −£43m |
The largest payees not yet identified
Payees paid £5m or more. Named in the records as shown, but not yet matched to a registered organisation or a public body. Some may be public bodies; until they are matched they are counted as followed by name only.
| Payee, as published | 2025-26 |
|---|---|
| MITIE FM LTD - 2WM | £148m |
| CENTRE FOR HEALTH & DISABILITY ASSESSMENTS LTD | £148m |
| ALEXANDER MANN SOLUTIONS LTD-2WM | £120m |
| G4S SECURE SOLUTIONS UK LTD-2WM | £74m |
| UK MAIL | £47m |
| ISS MEDICLEAN LTD - 2WM | £35m |
| ROYAL MAIL GROUP PLC | £30m |
| FEDCAP EMPLOYMENT | £29m |
| BT GLOBAL SERVICES | £27m |
| EDF ENERGY 1 LTD SCC UTILITIES ONLY | £25m |
What PESA says this section spends on
| Function | 2025-26 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Social protection | £301.7bn | 98% |
| Economic affairs | £3.5bn | 1% |
| Education | £3.0bn | 1% |
| General public services | £9m | 0% |