Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of back-to-office policies on the workplace inclusion of disabled people.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
It is recognised that employers play an important role in addressing health and disability. To build on this, the Government has asked Sir Charlie Mayfield to lead “Keep Britain Working”, an independent review of the role of UK employers in reducing health-related inactivity and to promote healthy and inclusive workplaces. The review is expected to produce a final report with recommendations in autumn 2025.
All employers have a duty under the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments in the workplace where a disabled person would otherwise be put at a substantial disadvantage compared with their colleagues. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is responsible for enforcing the Equality Act and providing guidance on reasonable adjustments.
There has been research on the attitudes around homeworking from the DWP work aspirations project. It found that there were mixed attitudes towards homeworking.
The Office for National Statistics Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (2023) analysed homeworkers, including the prevalence of hybrid working. The survey found that having a disability or long-term condition had little effect on levels of homeworking. Disabled workers reported similar levels of homeworking only (18%) compared with non-disabled (16%). Workers who had a long-term condition for 12 months or more similarly reported homeworking at 18% compared with 15% without. The survey found that there was a difference for hybrid working - Disabled workers are significantly less likely to have hybrid working patterns (24%) compared to non-disabled workers (30%).
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a work allowance within Universal Credit for unpaid carers looking after (a) disabled and (b) ill (i) relatives and (ii) friends; if she will make an estimate of the (A) number of unpaid carers who would be affected by and (B) the cost to the public purse of implementing this.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No recent assessment has been made.
The carers element in Universal Credit is an additional amount of benefit paid to support carers who provide care of 35 hours or more each week for a severely disabled person and as such these particular claimants have no work-related requirements. The carer’s element is paid in recognition of the support provided by carers for relatives, partners and friends who may be ill, frail or disabled.
Work allowances in Universal Credit are currently focussed on those with work requirements who may face additional barriers to finding and keeping work. These are for people with children and people who have limited capability for work because of a health condition or disability.
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many unpaid carers have entitlement to (a) Carer's Allowance and Universal Credit, (b) Carer Element and Universal Credit and (c) a combination of Carer's Allowance, Carer Element and Universal Credit.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
(a) As of November 2024, there were 652,752 individuals entitled to both Carer’s Allowance and Universal Credit in England and Wales.
(b) As of November 2024, there were 978,159 households with Carers Entitlement to Universal Credit in Great Britain, with 893,258 of these in England and Wales.
(c) The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to her Department's green paper Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working published on 18 March 2025, which measures will require primary legislation.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Pathways to Work Green Paper set out our plans and proposals for reform to health and disability benefits and employment support. Some urgent reforms outlined in the Green Paper, such as changes to PIP eligibility and UC rates, will be introduced shortly in a Bill. Other changes will be introduced through separate primary and secondary legislation. Additionally, several improvements that do not require legislative change will focus on getting the basics right and enhancing the overall experience for individuals who rely on the health and disability benefits system
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many unpaid carers concurrently on Personal Independence Payments and Carers Allowance are awarded less than four points in all daily living activities.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In August 2024 for England and Wales, there were 95,000 working aged claimants receiving both the daily living component of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) - to help with extra living costs as a result of having a long-term physical or mental health condition or disability and difficulty doing certain everyday tasks or getting around because of their condition - and Carer's Allowance (including entitlement only) because they care for another person for at least 35 hours a week, that received fewer than 4 points across all daily living descriptors in their last PIP assessment. Their eligibility for Carer’s Allowance is dependent on the condition/needs of the individual for whom they are caring, rather than their own PIP award.
Notes:
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many households receive multiple PIP awards.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
9% of households claimed Personal Independence Payment (PIP) in 2023-2024, with 10% of these households claiming multiple awards.
Notes:
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of her Department’s estimate that the lost output due to working age carers caring for working age sick is £37 billion.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This Government recognises and values the vital contribution made by carers every day in providing significant care and continuity of support to sick and disabled family and friends. Without the support they provide there would be more pressure on formal social care services, whether provided by local authorities or through other routes.
The Casey Commission, announced recently by this government, will start a national conversation about what care and support working age adults, older people, and their families should expect from adult social care, including exploring the needs of unpaid carers. Furthermore, the Government’s plans to reform and modernise the NHS will see reduced waiting times and improved care, helping people to remain in work and economically active. And the Government is reviewing the implementation of the Carer’s Leave Act, which gave employed carers a right to time off work for the first time. We will also explore the benefits of paid leave, while being mindful of the impact of any changes on small employers. Through the Employment Rights Bill, we will make sure that flexible working – which can play such an important role in helping carers balance their work and caring responsibilities - is available to all workers except where it is genuinely not feasible.
With respect to support from DWP, unpaid carers on low incomes can receive support through Universal Credit. This can respond flexibly to variations in earnings and caring responsibilities and includes a carer element worth £2,400 a year for those providing unpaid care of 35 hours a week or more. Full-time carers are also exempt from requirements to seek or prepare for paid work, although they can request employment support if they wish to do so. For those providing unpaid care of less than 35 hours a week, Universal Credit seeks to balance paid work and unpaid care by tailoring the number of hours people are expected to work or search for work to take account of their caring responsibilities. Part-time unpaid carers receive personalised employment support through their Jobcentre Plus work coach. This can include access to skills provision, referral to an employment support programme such as Restart, careers advice, job search support, volunteering opportunities, and access to the Flexible Support Fund to aid job entry.
For those in England and Wales who are providing care of 35 hours or more a week to a disabled or elderly person with care needs, Carer’s Allowance is available. This is subject to a weekly earnings limit, which since 7 April 2025 has been linked to 16 hours work at National Living Wage (NLW) levels. This government has increased the threshold by the biggest amount ever, meaning it is currently £196 a week of net earnings (after allowable costs, including costs related to care), compared to £151 in 2024/25. The increase means that over 60,000 additional people will be able to receive Carer’s Allowance between 2025/26 and 2029/30. This is the largest ever increase in the earnings limit since Carer’s Allowance was introduced in 1976 and is the highest percentage increase since 2001.
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the proposals outlined in the (a) Green Paper entitled Pathways to Work and (b) Spring Budget on (i) unpaid carers and (ii) people with caring responsibilities whose disability benefit entitlements may have changed.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course, and some information was published alongside the Spring Statement. These publications can be found in ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper’.
A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many unpaid carers concurrently on Personal Independence Payments and Carers Allowance are expected to lose (a) PIP and (b) PIP and Carers Allowance.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department does not hold the data requested.
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has plans to change the classification of military compensation to bring it in line with civil compensation, in the context of what is categorised as a source of income for benefits means testing.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The receipt of War Pensions and Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) awards is already fully ignored when calculating eligibility for Universal Credit.
This is in line with the treatment of civil compensation payments for personal injury, which are usually in the form of lump sum payments and are disregarded as capital.
Periodic payments of civil compensation (i.e. income) in consequence of a personal injury either ordered by the court or under an agreement are fully disregarded.
The first £10 per week of a War Pension or AFCS award is disregarded in: income-related Employment and Support allowance; income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance; and Income Support. Armed Forces Independence Payments are fully disregarded in these benefits and can also allow the recipient to qualify for an additional disability amount. This contrasts with a benefit like Industrial Injuries Disablement benefit where there is no weekly disregard. Furthermore, these are legacy benefits, in the process of being replaced by Universal Credit, in which War Pensions and AFCS are ignored.
By default, the first £10 per week of a War Pension or Armed Forces Compensation Scheme is disregarded in Housing Benefit. Furthermore, a discretionary scheme allows local authorities to fully disregard them.
In relation to Pension Credit, the first £10 of any War Pension payments or AFCS award made due to injury or disablement is disregarded. Four additions to the War Disablement Pension are completely disregarded: Constant Attendance Allowance; Mobility Supplement; Severe Disablement Occupational Allowance; and dependency increases for anyone other than the applicant or her/his partner.
War Pensions and AFCS awards are a qualifying income for the Savings Credit element of Pension Credit, which is available to those who reached State Pension age before April 2016. Armed Forces Independence Payments are fully disregarded in Pension Credit and can also allow the recipient to qualify for an additional disability amount.