Department for Work and Pensions

Government spends approximately £3 billion a year on parental payments. When considering calls to increase the level of maternity benefits generally, those must be balanced against limited resources as well as being mindful of the burden on employers, the needs of parents and could not be made without consultation with businesses and other stakeholders. Further, any changes would need to take account of economic circumstances and affordability for taxpayers.

The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is required by law to undertake an annual review of benefits and State Pensions, including Statutory Maternity Pay and Maternity Allowance. This is based on a review of trends in prices and earnings growth in the preceding year.

From April 2025, the rate for Statutory Maternity Pay and Maternity Allowance increased by September 2024's CPI figure of 1.7%, from £184.03 to £187.18 per week.

Maternity and other types of Parental Pay are intended to provide a measure of financial security to support parents whilst they are away from the workplace; they are not a replacement of earnings.

We know that the parental leave system needs improvement. In the Plan to Make Work Pay the government committed to a Review of the parental leave system to ensure that it best supports working families. Planning work is already underway across Government.

The review provides us with an opportunity to consider the current framework of parental leave entitlements and how they should operate as a holistic system to improve the support available for working families.

We will also take the opportunity to establish a set of objectives for the parental leave system, which reflect the needs of GB’s modern economy. This has been lacking in recent years as the framework of entitlements has evolved over time.

We are delivering the biggest investment in support for disabled people and those with health conditions in at least a generation – a total of £1.9bn over 4 years. Our Pathways to Work Guarantee will provide work, health and skills support for disabled people and those with health conditions claiming out of work benefits.

Our new support offer will begin to roll out next year backed by £200 million - to ensure that those affected by the benefit changes in England, Scotland and Wales will be offered support by one of 1,000 dedicated Pathways to Work advisors. This will include access to a conversation about needs, goals and aspirations; an offer of one-to-one follow-on support; and help to access additional work, health and skills support through dedicated programmes.

These programmes include Connect to Work, which will support around 100,000 people with disabilities, health conditions or other complex barriers to employment in 2026/27, Trailblazers and WorkWell, which join up health and employment support at a local level.

This will be a guarantee of support to address work, health and skills needs, available to claimants as long as they need it.

The social security system will always be there for those who cannot work. We are committed to ensuring that the most vulnerable and severely disabled people are protected, so they can live with dignity and security, while supporting those who can work to do so. That is why we are legislating for people with the most severe, lifelong conditions to be protected from future reassessment for Universal Credit entitlement and paid the higher rate of the Universal Credit health top-up.

The Department publishes the employment rates of disabled people using the Labour Force Survey which is conducted by the Office for National Statistics. The Labour Force Survey collects data on main and main or secondary health conditions, this includes Severe or specific learning difficulties but does not specifically collect data for Down’s syndrome.

In 2020 to 2022, the overall disability employment rate in Fylde was 52.5%. In 2023/24, the overall disability employment rate was 55.1% in Lancashire.

Statistics on disability employment by main and main or secondary health condition can be found here: The employment of disabled people 2024 - GOV.UK

Carer’s Allowance application Average Actual Clearance Times are measured weekly. For the Carer’s Allowance figures shown here, Average Actual Clearance Time (AACT) is calculated as the average length of time (working days) from the receipt of a claim to the date the first payment was issued. Please see attached annex for details of weekly Carer’s Allowance application Average Actual Clearance Times from week commencing 2 January 2023 to week commencing 2 June 2025.

Special Notes:

The Average Actual Clearance Time figures are unpublished management information, collected and intended for internal departmental use and have not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard.

When the FAS Health Assessment Advisory Service (HAAS) contracts commenced, DWP Clinical Policy Group took over ownership of all the clinical Core Training and Guidance Materials (CTGM). These documents, amongst other things, contain clinical condition specific training including ME.

All HAAS Lot Suppliers are required to use CTGM to inform and develop training programmes and associated materials for their Health Care Professionals (HCPs) delivering Work Capability Assessments, Personal Independence Payment and Specialist benefit assessments on behalf of the DWP. HCPs are required to have appropriate knowledge of the clinical aspects and the functional effects of a wide range of health conditions and disabilities.

To maintain quality and consistency across all Suppliers, we have established a Clinical Authorship Team (CAT), an Editorial Board and a robust quality assurance process. The CAT is responsible for producing, reviewing, and updating all CTGM annually. The CAT is comprised of: Clinical leads, Clinical authors & Admin leads from each of the Suppliers and is overseen by the DWP clinical policy team.

To ensure CTGM is unbiased and fit for purpose it is subject to a rigorous quality assurance process. All materials are clinically quality assured by external independent clinicians (in line with best practice and current up-to-date clinical guidance e.g. NICE guidelines) and policy quality assured by DWP clinical policy experts.

No such assessment has been made, however we publish Move to Universal statistics quarterly, which includes a breakdown of households paid Transitional Protection.. Stat-Xplore - Home -

All eligible customers who claim Universal Credit as part of managed migration will be considered for a Transitional Element, to ensure that they do not have a lower entitlement compared to their legacy benefits at the point they move to Universal Credit.

The Transitional Element is not intended to permanently replicate legacy benefit awards. Over time, it will be eroded by increases in other elements, except the childcare costs element and the housing element awarded to those previously living in specified or temporary accommodation, to gradually align the award with those of new customers who are in the same circumstances.

The Access to Work Scheme provides grant funding for workplace adjustments that go beyond an employer’s duty to provide reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010. The Scheme can provide support for those in work or about to start work for a wide range of health conditions, such as Cystic Fibrosis, including support to travel to and in work.

In 2018, the Department commissioned NatCen, an independent social research organisation, to explore the feasibility of evaluating the impacts of Access to Work. The report uncovered several challenges determining the impacts of Access to Work mainly around identifying an appropriate counterfactual and the difficulties in constructing a comparison group.

To assess the role of Access to Work in supporting people with disabilities and long-term health conditions to enter and stay in work, the Department commissioned qualitative evaluations of Access to Work in most recently in 2018, and 2009. The 2018 evaluation ‘Access to Work: Qualitative research with applicants, employers and delivery staff’ gathered evidence on the value of Access to Work to employers and employees.

The 2009 evaluation: ‘Evaluation of Access to Work: Core Evaluation’ explored customer, employer, assessor and other views relating to: marketing and awareness, application process, assessments, outcomes, impact and areas for improvement.

As part of our plan to Get Britain Working, we are launching a new Youth Guarantee for all young people aged 18-21 in England to ensure that they can access quality training opportunities, an apprenticeship or help to find work. The Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Education are working closely with the eight Mayoral Strategic Authorities in England which began mobilising the Youth Guarantee Trailblazers in April 2025.

We are taking steps to support young people with youth pilots in Bath and Youth Job Clubs in Taunton. ‘Youth Curriculum’ sessions have been operational in Bath since October 2024, which provide tailored support including CV support, interview prep, mock interviews with Work Coaches and job matching. The sessions are targeted at our customers who are not in employment, education or training, who typically have lower engagement. Attendance has been excellent, at just under 90%.

We have a Youth Guarantee Trailblazer in the West of England, which supports young people in North East Somerset and Hanham constituency aged 18-21 to access employment education and training. There is one pilot programme of support focusing on young people with special educational needs, and another on improving access to opportunities and support from more rural areas. All participants will access 1:1 coaching and support, work placement opportunities, and free bus travel to support their pathway to employment.

In addition, DWP continues to provide young people aged 16-24 with labour market support through an extensive range of interventions at a national and local level. This includes flexible provision driven by local need, nationwide employment programmes and support delivered by Work Coaches based in our Jobcentres and in local communities working alongside partners.

The Access to Work process for reviewing reconsideration requests, as well as complaints, includes a full review of the original case, including all relevant documentation and communications relating to the original decision. To help ensure impartiality, these reviews are conducted by staff there were not involved in the original decision.

We will consider potential impacts of our reforms on people with all health conditions, including mental health conditions, as part of our wider consideration of responses to the consultation and as we develop our detailed proposals for change.

This includes any impacts on unpaid carers, who provide invaluable support to people with health conditions, are frail or disabled, and who this government is committed to supporting.

As we introduce changes to PIP eligibility, we are mindful of the potential impact on unpaid carers. The recently published Bill commits to providing a 13-week run-on for existing claimants who – at their next award review – are no longer eligible for PIP as a result of this change. This will include passporting to other entitlements such as Carers Allowance, allowing the carer a longer period of adjustment.

We are also taking action to improve Carer’s Allowance separate to the Green Paper. We have pegged the weekly Carer’s Allowance earnings limit to 16 hours’ work at National Living Wage (NLW) levels, and in future it will increase when the NLW increases. The Carer’s Allowance earnings limit increased to be £196 a week net earnings on 7 April 2025, compared to £151 in 24/25. This is the largest ever increase in the earnings limit since Carer’s Allowance was introduced in 1976 and the highest percentage increase since 2001. Over 60,000 additional people will be able to receive Carer’s Allowance between 2025/26 and 2029/30 as a result.

We will also continue to work closely with the Department for Health and Social Care to further assess the impacts of reforms and to see how best health and care needs can continue to be met

In 2023/24, total housing support provided to private rented sector (PRS) tenants amounted to £12.3 billion (in 2024/25 prices). Of this, £3.9 billion was delivered through Housing Benefit (HB), while £8.4 billion was provided via the Universal Credit Housing Element (UCHE). This means that HB accounted for 32% of total PRS housing support, with UCHE making up the remaining 68%.

The Department does not hold information on housing benefit payments made to private landlords in other OECD countries. Housing support systems vary significantly between countries, and as such, comparisons of housing benefit payments across international contexts should be treated with caution.

The information requested on Housing Benefit paid to private landlords by region and local authority is publicly available. It can be accessed via Benefit expenditure and caseload tables 2024 - GOV.UK (Benefit Expenditure by Local Authority 2023/24)

Housing Benefits Expenditure, £m real terms, 2025/26 prices, from 2014/15 to 2023/24

In 2023/24, total housing support provided to private rented sector (PRS) tenants amounted to £12.3 billion (in 2024/25 prices). Of this, £3.9 billion was delivered through Housing Benefit (HB), while £8.4 billion was provided via the Universal Credit Housing Element (UCHE). This means that HB accounted for 32% of total PRS housing support, with UCHE making up the remaining 68%.

The Department does not hold information on housing benefit payments made to private landlords in other OECD countries. Housing support systems vary significantly between countries, and as such, comparisons of housing benefit payments across international contexts should be treated with caution.

The information requested on Housing Benefit paid to private landlords by region and local authority is publicly available. It can be accessed via Benefit expenditure and caseload tables 2024 - GOV.UK (Benefit Expenditure by Local Authority 2023/24)

Housing Benefits Expenditure, £m real terms, 2025/26 prices, from 2014/15 to 2023/24

In 2023/24, total housing support provided to private rented sector (PRS) tenants amounted to £12.3 billion (in 2024/25 prices). Of this, £3.9 billion was delivered through Housing Benefit (HB), while £8.4 billion was provided via the Universal Credit Housing Element (UCHE). This means that HB accounted for 32% of total PRS housing support, with UCHE making up the remaining 68%.

The Department does not hold information on housing benefit payments made to private landlords in other OECD countries. Housing support systems vary significantly between countries, and as such, comparisons of housing benefit payments across international contexts should be treated with caution.

The information requested on Housing Benefit paid to private landlords by region and local authority is publicly available. It can be accessed via Benefit expenditure and caseload tables 2024 - GOV.UK (Benefit Expenditure by Local Authority 2023/24)

Housing Benefits Expenditure, £m real terms, 2025/26 prices, from 2014/15 to 2023/24

In 2023/24, total housing support provided to private rented sector (PRS) tenants amounted to £12.3 billion (in 2024/25 prices). Of this, £3.9 billion was delivered through Housing Benefit (HB), while £8.4 billion was provided via the Universal Credit Housing Element (UCHE). This means that HB accounted for 32% of total PRS housing support, with UCHE making up the remaining 68%.

The Department does not hold information on housing benefit payments made to private landlords in other OECD countries. Housing support systems vary significantly between countries, and as such, comparisons of housing benefit payments across international contexts should be treated with caution.

The information requested on Housing Benefit paid to private landlords by region and local authority is publicly available. It can be accessed via Benefit expenditure and caseload tables 2024 - GOV.UK (Benefit Expenditure by Local Authority 2023/24)

Housing Benefits Expenditure, £m real terms, 2025/26 prices, from 2014/15 to 2023/24

In 2023/24, total housing support provided to private rented sector (PRS) tenants amounted to £12.3 billion (in 2024/25 prices). Of this, £3.9 billion was delivered through Housing Benefit (HB), while £8.4 billion was provided via the Universal Credit Housing Element (UCHE). This means that HB accounted for 32% of total PRS housing support, with UCHE making up the remaining 68%.

The Department does not hold information on housing benefit payments made to private landlords in other OECD countries. Housing support systems vary significantly between countries, and as such, comparisons of housing benefit payments across international contexts should be treated with caution.

The information requested on Housing Benefit paid to private landlords by region and local authority is publicly available. It can be accessed via Benefit expenditure and caseload tables 2024 - GOV.UK (Benefit Expenditure by Local Authority 2023/24)

Housing Benefits Expenditure, £m real terms, 2025/26 prices, from 2014/15 to 2023/24

In 2023/24, total housing support provided to private rented sector (PRS) tenants amounted to £12.3 billion (in 2024/25 prices). Of this, £3.9 billion was delivered through Housing Benefit (HB), while £8.4 billion was provided via the Universal Credit Housing Element (UCHE). This means that HB accounted for 32% of total PRS housing support, with UCHE making up the remaining 68%.

The Department does not hold information on housing benefit payments made to private landlords in other OECD countries. Housing support systems vary significantly between countries, and as such, comparisons of housing benefit payments across international contexts should be treated with caution.

The information requested on Housing Benefit paid to private landlords by region and local authority is publicly available. It can be accessed via Benefit expenditure and caseload tables 2024 - GOV.UK (Benefit Expenditure by Local Authority 2023/24)

Housing Benefits Expenditure, £m real terms, 2025/26 prices, from 2014/15 to 2023/24

In 2023/24, total housing support provided to private rented sector (PRS) tenants amounted to £12.3 billion (in 2024/25 prices). Of this, £3.9 billion was delivered through Housing Benefit (HB), while £8.4 billion was provided via the Universal Credit Housing Element (UCHE). This means that HB accounted for 32% of total PRS housing support, with UCHE making up the remaining 68%.

The Department does not hold information on housing benefit payments made to private landlords in other OECD countries. Housing support systems vary significantly between countries, and as such, comparisons of housing benefit payments across international contexts should be treated with caution.

The information requested on Housing Benefit paid to private landlords by region and local authority is publicly available. It can be accessed via Benefit expenditure and caseload tables 2024 - GOV.UK (Benefit Expenditure by Local Authority 2023/24)

Housing Benefits Expenditure, £m real terms, 2025/26 prices, from 2014/15 to 2023/24

Rental discrimination against people who receive benefits has no place in a fair and modern housing market.

The Renters’ Rights Bill takes direct action to stop discriminatory practices against households receiving benefits in the private rented sector. It will address overt discriminatory practices, such as ‘no DSS’ adverts, and any indirect practices designed to intentionally prevent someone entering into a tenancy.

DWP does not incentivise private landlords to rent their properties to benefit recipients.

We do provide housing support towards rental costs for private renters in receipt of either Housing Benefit or Universal Credit via the Local Housing Allowance.

Discretionary Housing Payments are also available from local authorities to those who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs.

The Pathways to Work Green Paper announced that we would be scrapping the Work Capability Assessment and moving to a single assessment for financial support related to health and disability benefits.

The UC and PIP payment Bill currently before Parliament sets out that existing claimants will continue to receive additional financial support for health on Universal Credit health (the LCWRA addition), frozen at its current cash value, until 2029-30.

We are currently considering how the future system will operate and will provide further information, including on transitioning to a reformed system, in a White Paper in the autumn.

The information requested on Housing Benefit (HB) expenditure over the next ten years is not readily available, and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost. However, expenditure on HB for the years up to and including 2029/30 is available in the Benefit Expenditure and Caseload tables.

The Department for Work and Pensions does not estimate the cost of provision of social housing.

This government values the input of stakeholders, disabled people and representative organisations. Ahead of the formal consultation for the Green Paper, we engaged with a number of organisations, and we continue to explore ways of involving stakeholders in our reforms. This includes through the PIP review, collaboration committees and the Disability Advisory Panel. I also continue to meet with a range of charities, organisations and individuals.

The Green Paper consultation further offers the opportunity for organisations, as well as claimants themselves, to provide input and help shape the reform proposals. We hope to hear from a wide range of voices and encourage organisations to respond to the consultation to share their views and expertise, before it closes on the 30 June.

We will continue to consider the potential impacts of reforms as part of our wider consideration of responses to the consultation, including any impacts on services.

The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (HSWA) sections 2 and 3 could apply to harassment offences in the workplace, but the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) does not apply HSWA where:

• there is a more appropriate regulator with specific responsibility; or
• more directly applicable legislation.

HSE’s long standing policy position is that it will not seek to regulate or apply health and safety at work legislation where another regulator has specific responsibility or there is more directly applicable legislation. As a result, HSE has not established any procedures to address workplace sexual harassment under HSWA.

Since sexual harassment in the workplace is not part of HSE’s remit, it does not maintain records of instances of workplace sexual harassment.

A specific purpose of The Equality Act 2000 is to tackle sexual harassment in the workplace and from 26 October 2024, employers are under a new legal duty to take reasonable steps to prevent the sexual harassment of staff at work.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission and the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service have published extensive guidance on sexual harassment in the workplace, provide advice to individuals and organisations, and will help individual people with their legal cases in seeking civil remedies to instances of sexual harassment. HSE works closely with other regulators to promote co-operation, share intelligence and where appropriate, co-ordinate on joint regulatory activities.

The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (HSWA) sections 2 and 3 could apply to harassment offences in the workplace, but the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) does not apply HSWA where:

• there is a more appropriate regulator with specific responsibility; or
• more directly applicable legislation.

HSE’s long standing policy position is that it will not seek to regulate or apply health and safety at work legislation where another regulator has specific responsibility or there is more directly applicable legislation. As a result, HSE has not established any procedures to address workplace sexual harassment under HSWA.

Since sexual harassment in the workplace is not part of HSE’s remit, it does not maintain records of instances of workplace sexual harassment.

A specific purpose of The Equality Act 2000 is to tackle sexual harassment in the workplace and from 26 October 2024, employers are under a new legal duty to take reasonable steps to prevent the sexual harassment of staff at work.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission and the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service have published extensive guidance on sexual harassment in the workplace, provide advice to individuals and organisations, and will help individual people with their legal cases in seeking civil remedies to instances of sexual harassment. HSE works closely with other regulators to promote co-operation, share intelligence and where appropriate, co-ordinate on joint regulatory activities.

We are aware from working closely with health colleagues that there is increased anxiety relating to the Green Paper changes resulting in people seeking health related support.

We want to reassure people that the changes to PIP will not come into effect immediately. The changes will apply from November 2026 at a person’s next award review. If an existing claimant loses eligibility to PIP, they will continue to receive their full entitlement for 13 weeks after their award review. This will provide time for individuals to respond to their new situation, including accessing employment support if appropriate. This transitional cover is more than three times the length of protection provided for the transition from DLA to PIP.

Through the Pathways to Work Green Paper, the Department is consulting on what else is needed to support those who lose entitlement due to the reforms, including how to make sure that health and eligible care needs are met. The Department has secured the first ever multi year settlement for the household support fund – now the crisis and resilience fund, which gives councils certainty about the money they are getting to help people struggling. Guidance has been issued strongly encouraging Local Authorities in England to support disabled people using the Household Support Fund through the new Crisis and Resilience Fund which starts from April 2026

However, we do recognise this will still be concerning for people - and that, as a department, we come into contact with some claimants who have complex needs or are vulnerable. The department already has processes in place to support and safeguard people who use our services, and we will continue to provide this support as changes are taken forward.

If someone within a job centre is identified as being at risk of suicide, there is the 6-point plan that will be invoked. We already have robust safeguarding processes in place during the assessments where our trained health care professionals can make contact with the claimant’s GP or mental health team if they are concerned that there has been or is a risk of deterioration to the mental or physical health of an individual.

We want to go further so that there is a clear and transparent process in place to ensure vulnerable individuals are adequately supported. In the Green Paper Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working published on 18 March we have committed to undertaking a thorough review of our current approach to safeguarding, with the aim of developing and implementing a new departmental-wide approach.

We are aware from working closely with health colleagues that there is increased anxiety relating to the Green Paper changes resulting in people seeking health related support.

We want to reassure people that the changes to PIP will not come into effect immediately. The changes will apply from November 2026 at a person’s next award review. If an existing claimant loses eligibility to PIP, they will continue to receive their full entitlement for 13 weeks after their award review. This will provide time for individuals to respond to their new situation, including accessing employment support if appropriate. This transitional cover is more than three times the length of protection provided for the transition from DLA to PIP.

Through the Pathways to Work Green Paper, the Department is consulting on what else is needed to support those who lose entitlement due to the reforms, including how to make sure that health and eligible care needs are met. The Department has secured the first ever multi year settlement for the household support fund – now the crisis and resilience fund, which gives councils certainty about the money they are getting to help people struggling. Guidance has been issued strongly encouraging Local Authorities in England to support disabled people using the Household Support Fund through the new Crisis and Resilience Fund which starts from April 2026

However, we do recognise this will still be concerning for people - and that, as a department, we come into contact with some claimants who have complex needs or are vulnerable. The department already has processes in place to support and safeguard people who use our services, and we will continue to provide this support as changes are taken forward.

If someone within a job centre is identified as being at risk of suicide, there is the 6-point plan that will be invoked. We already have robust safeguarding processes in place during the assessments where our trained health care professionals can make contact with the claimant’s GP or mental health team if they are concerned that there has been or is a risk of deterioration to the mental or physical health of an individual.

We want to go further so that there is a clear and transparent process in place to ensure vulnerable individuals are adequately supported. In the Green Paper Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working published on 18 March we have committed to undertaking a thorough review of our current approach to safeguarding, with the aim of developing and implementing a new departmental-wide approach.

The purpose of the Transitional Severe Disability Premium Element (TSDPE) is to protect certain customers entitled to a severe disability premium who moved to Universal Credit from legacy benefits following a change in their circumstances.

The TSDPE is subject to erosion and termination, in line with managed migration rules. From the second assessment period onwards, the amount of the TSDPE will be reduced by the addition or increase of any Universal Credit element, other than the childcare costs element or the housing element awarded to those who have previously been entitled to Housing Benefit whilst living in specified or temporary accommodation.

Customers who are moved to Universal Credit by the Department for Work and Pensions will receive an amount of transitional protection if their circumstances remain the same and their Universal Credit entitlement is less than the amount they received on their legacy benefit.

The difference will be included as an award of transitional element as part of the overall Universal Credit award for the first assessment period. This transitional element will also be subject to erosion and termination as outlined above.

There are no current plans to evaluate the impact of Universal Credit transitional protection rules.

Subject to Parliamentary approval, the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill legislates that those who meet the Severe Conditions Criteria (SCC) will not be called for reassessment for Universal Credit (UC).

The Severe Conditions Criteria are set out in the Bill, which was introduced to the House on 18 June 2025 and can be found here:

https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/59-01/0267/240267.pdf

Cost figures are rounded to the nearest pound.

Data Source: ABM

The cost figures quoted are estimated DWP level 1 operating costs, including both direct delivery staff and non-staff costs. Non-staff costs are only those costs incurred in local cost centres, relating to direct delivery staff. They show the average Unit Cost of processing one PIP Mandatory Reconsideration.

Please note that the data supplied is from the Departmental Activity Based Models. This data is derived from unpublished management information, which was collected for internal

Departmental use only and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standards. It should therefore be treated with caution. The Departmental Activity Based staffing models are a snapshot of how many people were identified as undertaking specified activities as assigned by line managers.

24/25 model is in a process of sign off therefore the numbers may be a subject to change

We do not hold information on the unit cost of successful appeals.

My department has been supporting the development of a long-term housing strategy which the government intends to publish later this year.

At Spending Review 2025, the government announced the biggest boost to social and affordable housing investment for England in a generation, confirming £39 billion for a successor to the Affordable Homes Programme over 10 years from 2026-27 to 2035-36. The programme will prioritise homes for social rent and will make more homes available for those who would otherwise struggle to afford private rents. The Government also announced a 10-year social housing rent settlement from 2026 at CPI + 1%, alongside a consultation on how to implement social housing rent convergence.

My department has been supporting the development of a long-term housing strategy which the government intends to publish later this year.

At Spending Review 2025, the government announced the biggest boost to social and affordable housing investment for England in a generation, confirming £39 billion for a successor to the Affordable Homes Programme over 10 years from 2026-27 to 2035-36. The programme will prioritise homes for social rent and will make more homes available for those who would otherwise struggle to afford private rents. The Government also announced a 10-year social housing rent settlement from 2026 at CPI + 1%, alongside a consultation on how to implement social housing rent convergence.

In 2023/24 financial year, 490,000 Housing Benefit claimants lived in private-rented accommodation. This accounted for 21% of all housing benefit claimants.

In 2023/24 financial year, 1.9 million Housing Benefit claimants lived in social housing. This accounted for 79% of all housing benefit claimants.

Local Housing Allowance (LHA) determines the maximum levels of housing support for households claiming Housing Benefit or the housing element of Universal Credit and who rent in the private rented sector.

LHA rates are reviewed annually, usually at an Autumn fiscal event. LHA rates are based on the area of the country a person lives and their bedroom entitlement.

The decision to maintain LHA rates at current levels for 2025/26 was taken after a range of factors were considered, including rental data, the impacts of LHA rates, rate increases in April 2024 and the wider fiscal context. The April 2024 one-year LHA increase cost an additional £1.2bn in 2024/25, and approximately £7bn over 5 years.

In the Private Rented Sector, households in similar circumstances living in the same area are entitled to the same maximum rent allowance regardless of the contractual rent paid. However, LHA rates do not cover all rents in all areas.

Any future decisions on LHA policy will be taken in the context of the Government’s missions, goals on housing and the challenging fiscal context. This includes the recent Spending Review announcement of a £39 billion successor to the Affordable Homes Programme over 10 years from 2026-27 to 2035-36.

Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) are available from local authorities to those who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs.

Housing support is delivered through Housing Benefit (HB) and the Housing Element of Universal Credit (UCHE). These are means tested benefits intended to help people pay their rental costs, including around two-thirds of households living in the social rented sector in England.

Registered providers of social housing use income from rents to manage and maintain their homes, as well as to deliver new homes. At Spending Review 2025, the Government announced a 10-year social housing rent settlement from 2026 at CPI + 1% for England, alongside a consultation to follow shortly on how to implement social housing rent convergence. This settlement will provide long-term certainty to enable providers to borrow and invest in new and existing homes.

We are committed to supporting neurodivergent people, including autistic people, get into and thrive in work. Our Jobcentres have a range of support available, including Disability Employment Advisors.

On 6th March 2025 we announced that we will deploy 1000 work coaches to help people with health conditions and disabled people towards and into work. This will build and expand on existing measures like additional work coach support which delivers personalised support for some customers on the health journey.

Connect to Work is our new, voluntary, locally led Supported Employment Programme that is helping disabled people, people with health conditions and those with complex barriers to employment, including learning disabled and autistic adults, to find sustained work. West London Alliance and East Sussex have now opened their local Connect to Work services, with roll out across England and Wales continuing throughout 2025.

In January this year we launched an independent panel of academics with expertise and experiences of neurodiversity. The panel will consider the reasons why neurodivergent people have poor experiences in the workplace, and a low overall employment rate, making their recommendations to government later this summer.

The Secretaries of State for Work and Pensions and Business and Trade have asked Sir Charlie Mayfield to lead an independent review. While not specific to neurodiversity, this review is considering how best to support and enable employers to recruit and retain more people with health conditions and disabilities, promote healthy and inclusive workplaces, and how to support more people to stay in or return to work. Sir Charlie Mayfield will deliver his final report in the autumn.

Unpaid carers play a vital role in supporting elderly or disabled relatives or friends. Sometimes unpaid carers will need to turn to the benefit system for financial support, so it is right that we keep Carer’s Allowance (CA) under review, to see if it is meeting its objectives, and giving unpaid carers the help and support they need and deserve.

Unpaid carers may be able to receive financial and/or employment support from the department depending on their circumstances. This includes CA and means tested benefits such as Universal Credit (UC). UC can be paid to carers at a higher rate than those without caring responsibilities through the additional amounts for carers. UC pays an extra £2400 a year to unpaid carers.

Carers (providing at least 35 hours per week) of severely disabled people may be eligible for benefit support as set out above. They are not required to undertake any work-related activity but can access employment support on a voluntary basis if they wish.

A part-time carer on UC (providing care for under 35 hours a week) would be supported to combine work and care. They will receive personalised employment support from their work coach, who tailors the number of hours a week they are expected to work or search for work to fit their caring responsibilities and take into account any other barriers to working full time, for example a health condition.

Employment support can include identifying skills gaps and referral to skills training, careers advice, job search support, volunteering opportunities and access to the Flexible Support Fund to aid job entry. Unemployed customers who require more intensive employment support can also be referred to the Restart and Connect to Work programmes.

We also know that some carers are keen to maintain contact with the labour market, so we want to encourage carers to combine some paid work with their caring responsibilities wherever possible, meaning they can increase their overall income (eligibility rules apply).

That’s why we have pegged the CA earnings limit to 16 hours work at National Living Wage (NLW) levels, and in future it will increase when the NLW increases. The earnings limit increased to be £196 a week net earnings on 7 April 2025, compared to £151 in 24/25. This is the largest ever increase in the earnings limit since CA was introduced in 1976 and the highest percentage increase since 2001. Over 60,000 additional people will be able to receive CA between 2025/26 and 2029/30 as a result.

DWP has also begun some scoping work to see whether an earnings taper in CA might be a feasible option in the longer term. This will require significant change to current DWP systems.

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

The Department does not hold data on the level of payments made by claimants to private landlords, either under Universal Credit or legacy benefits. While we can identify the value of a Universal Credit housing element or a managed payment to a landlord, we do not have access to landlord rent account data and therefore cannot determine what was actually paid by the claimant. This applies across both the social and private rented sectors.

The Department for Work and Pensions has not made a formal estimate of the number of people who are incapable of ever working. However, we recognise that a proportion of claimants receiving health-related benefits have severe or lifelong conditions that significantly limit their ability to engage in work.

Subject to Parliamentary approval, the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill sets out that those who meet the Severe Conditions Criteria (SCC) will not be called for future reassessments for Universal Credit (UC).

We estimate that over 200,000 people will be covered by this exemption in 2029/30.

This comprises:

• 106,000 people in the ESA Support Group, who have met the SCC as of January 2025, but some will move to UC over the coming years.
• 56,000 people who are existing recipients of the UC Health element, 6,000 of whom are also in receipt of ESA, as of January 2025. This number will fluctuate prior to implementation of the policy in April 2026.
• 71,500 people who we expect to flow on to the UC Health element and meet the SCC after April 2026.

Further details can be found in The Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill: Impact Assessment (May 2025).

As outlined in the Pathways to Work Green Paper, the Department intends to make changes to both the UC health element and the reassessment process. While final decisions are yet to be made, the Government has committed to ensuring that people with severe or terminal health conditions, such as those meeting the SCC or the Special Rules for End of Life (SREL), will not be subject to routine reassessments.

The Department is currently consulting on these proposals, and further detail will be provided following the conclusion of the consultation period on 30 June 2025.

The Government keeps all aspects of Carer’s Allowance under review to see if it is meeting its objectives. It is not means-tested, but is subject to a weekly earnings limit. This was increased by a record amount in April 2025, which will benefit at least 60,000 unpaid carers between 2025/26 and 2029/30. The Government is also considering the possibility of introducing an earnings taper in the longer term.

Carer’s Allowance may be supplemented for those on low incomes through Universal Credit and Pension Credit. These are paid at a higher rate for carers through the Universal Credit carer element of £201.68 per monthly assessment period, paid in addition to the Standard Allowance; or the additional amount for carers in Pension Credit of £46.40 a week, paid in addition to the Standard Minimum Guarantee.

The Government has no plans to make Carer’s Allowance available to those aged under 16, or to change the requirement to be caring for at least 35 hours a week for someone in receipt of a “trigger” disability benefit.

The income taper in Housing Benefit ensures people in work are better off than someone wholly reliant on benefits. In addition to any financial advantage, there are important non-financial benefits of working. These include learning new skills, improved confidence and independence as well as a positive effect on an individual's mental and physical health.

Notwithstanding these positive outcomes from work, the Department acknowledges there is a challenge presented by the interaction between Universal Credit and Housing Benefit for those residing in Supported Housing and Temporary Accommodation and receiving their housing support through Housing Benefit. The department is considering the issue carefully in partnership with stakeholders.

I refer the Hon. member to the answer I gave on 20 May 2025 to PQ 51603 [Written questions and answers - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament].

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessments are not medical consultations and do not require Health Professionals (HPs) to diagnose conditions or recommend treatment. Instead, they are functional assessments designed to evaluate how an individual’s health conditions or impairments affect their ability to carry out daily living activities.

HPs conducting PIP assessments are trained specialists in disability analysis. Their focus is on understanding the functional impact of a claimant’s condition, rather than its clinical diagnosis. All HPs receive specific training on assessing the effects of mental health conditions and are supported by Mental Health Function Champions (MHFCs). MHFCs are experienced professionals with relevant expertise in mental health, cognitive, developmental, and learning disabilities. They are available to provide advice and support throughout the assessment process.

Additionally, HPs have access to Condition Insight Reports and Continuing Professional Development guides. These resources offer detailed clinical and functional information on a range of conditions, including Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, to support HPs in delivering informed assessments.

We are delivering the biggest investment in support for disabled people and those with health conditions in at least a generation. Our Pathways to Work Guarantee will provide work, health and skills support for disabled people and those with health conditions claiming out of work benefits.

We are increasing funding each year up to £1billion a year by the end of the scorecard. This includes additional funding in 2026/27 to ensure that those affected by benefit changes in England, Scotland and Wales will be offered support with their work, health and skills needs. We anticipate this support will include: access to a conversation about needs, goals and aspirations from one of our 1,000 dedicated Pathways to Work advisors; an offer of one-to-one follow-on support; and help to access additional work, health and skills support through dedicated programmes.

As the Green Paper notes, we are keen to engage widely on the longer-term design of the Pathways to Work guarantee and the components needed to deliver it. To get this right, we are seeking input from a wide range of stakeholders including devolved governments, local health systems, local government and Mayoral Strategic Authorities, private and voluntary sector providers, employers and potential users. We will confirm further details in due course after we have completed our consultation process.

The information requested is provided in the excel workbook attached. A content of the tables provided in the attached workbook is below:

The number of people currently on PIP who did not score 4 points in one category in their last assessment should not be equated with the number who are likely to lose PIP in future. It’s important to make a clear distinction between the two, not least because we don’t want constituents to be unnecessarily fearful about their situation, when we understand many are already anxious. Someone who did not score 4 points in an activity in a previous assessment may well score 4 points in a future assessment as conditions change over time.

No one will lose access to PIP immediately - and most people will not lose access at all. Our intention is that changes will start to come into effect from November 2026 for PIP, subject to parliamentary approval and will only apply at a claimant’s next scheduled award review, which on average occurs every three years. At that point, a claimant will be reassessed by a trained assessor or healthcare professional based on their individual needs and circumstances.

After accounting for behavioural changes, the OBR predicts that 9 out of 10 PIP recipients at the time of policy implementation are expected to be unaffected by the PIP 4-point change in 2029/30. Despite the reforms, the overall number of people on PIP and DLA is expected to increase by 750,000 by the end of this Parliament and spending is projected to rise from £23 billion in 2024/25 to £31 billion in 2029/30.

We are consulting on how best to support those who are affected by the new eligibility changes, including ensuring health and care needs are met. We have also announced a wider review of the PIP assessment to make it fair and fit for purpose, which I am leading. We are bringing together a range of experts, stakeholders and people with lived experience to consider how best to do this. We will provide further details as plans progress.

Notes:

- The volumes provided have been rounded to the nearest 10.

- HMRC data is used to determine whether a claimant was in employment. HMRC data covers up to the end of the tax year 2023/24, therefore March 2024 has been provided as the latest data available.

- Self-employment data from the financial year 2023/24 is not available until the end of the 2024/25 financial year, so self-employment data for the financial year 2022/23 has been used as a proxy for 2023/24 instead.

- People without any employment or self-employment record in the HMRC data, as well as those who have been confirmed to not be in employment or self-employment in the data, have been considered not employed or not self-employed respectively.

- The data provided excludes special rules for end of life claimants and claimants over state pension age.

- The data provided excludes Scottish and Northern Irish claimants, as these claimants do not fall under DWP policy ownership.

The Department is committed to pursuing a just, equal and inclusive society, ensuring independence and control for all customers, including all disabled people and those with complex needs. This means we need to ensure that our customers have access to reasonable adjustments or additional support, to enable them to access benefits and our services.

We aim to support customers to access services independently but recognise some customers need the support of an appointee. The Department has a robust end-to-end process to fully assess both the customer and the proposed appointee to ensure suitability and prevent financial abuse. For customers without an appointee, and unable to complete forms through other channels, the DWP Visiting service can conduct home visits to provide support. Support is also offered within our Job centres.

The national DWP Visiting Service provides additional support across all service lines to customers who cannot access DWP services in any other way. A visit can be arranged for a customer if they need extra help to claim benefits, for example because they have complex needs, are disabled, are a vulnerable young person making a claim for the first time, have nobody else to support them or cannot claim benefits in any other way. Support visits if you need help to claim benefits - GOV.UK. Where further specialist help is required, DWP has a national network of 37 Advanced Customer Support Senior Leaders who can provide additional advice and support through the local networks they have built with external partners and organisations.

In some benefits there is an opportunity to share information. For example, Case Managers will occasionally cross reference information held on previous Employment Support Allowance (ESA) claims to build a more complete picture, where it is felt there are gaps or inconsistencies in evidence provided. However, specific information is required to support a Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claim to assess functionality across a range of activities. In this scenario, information provided for the purposes of other benefit claims would not be sufficient for this purpose. A further example of where information is shared across benefits would relate to an SR1 claim - special rules for end of life.

The Department continues to review the experience of users of its services and seeks to balance application simplicity with obtaining the information needed for an accurate award. A key objective of the DWPs Service Modernisation Programme is assessing how people locate, access, and navigate support, including making new applications and ensuring that services are designed around the needs of DWP customers and joined up wherever it is possible to do so.