Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans do they have to review the eligibility conditions of the Bereavement Support Payment.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 5 February 2026 to Question UIN 109400.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions he has had with Capita on ensuring that no redundancies result from the awarding of the Synergy contract to that company.
Answered by Andrew Western - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Synergy is replacing out of date technology systems and processes that cost us time to use and maintain – time that could be better spent serving people who rely on our services. It will free up employee time for higher value work delivering outcomes for the taxpayer. The work Capita will carry out under the Synergy Business Process Services (BPS) contract is activity not currently delivered by Civil Servants, because BPS is already outsourced to another supplier.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he conducted an assessment of the decision to award Capita the Synergy contract prior to that contract being awarded.
Answered by Andrew Western - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Synergy programme awarded its Business Processing Services contract after a robust process, conducted in line with Government procurement regulations. Its priority is to ensure continuity of service and value for public money.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to increase the benefit cap.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)
There is a statutory obligation to review the levels of the benefit cap at least once every five years. They were last reviewed in November 2022 and, as such, a further review is required by November 2027. This will happen at the appropriate time as determined by the Secretary of State.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Timms Review plans to (a) hold discussions with (i) carers and (ii) disabled people from and (b) considers the potential impact of proposed changes in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)
The Timms Review will be co-produced with disabled people, the organisations that represent them, and other experts, including carers. This means the Government will share ownership and responsibility for how the Review runs and what it recommends.
We recognise that unpaid carers play a vital role in supporting disabled people, which is why, in keeping with the commitments made in Parliament, we have explicitly included carers in the list of groups who will be involved in the co-production of the Review.
PIP is a transferred matter in Northern Ireland, but there is a long-standing principle of parity between the social security systems of the Northern Ireland Executive and the UK Government. It is therefore important that the Review hears from disabled people in Northern Ireland and the organisations that represent them.
As the Review progresses, we will continue to engage closely with officials and disability stakeholders from across the devolved governments, to ensure that its work is informed by the diverse approaches to disability support from across the United Kingdom.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make it her policy to uprate (a) inflation-linked benefits and (b) tax credits for the 2026–27 financial year in line with the consumer prices index rate of inflation for September.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)
The Social Security Administration Act 1992 requires the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to review State pension and benefit rates each year to see if they have retained their value in relation to the general level of prices or earnings. Where the relevant rates have not retained their value, legislation provides that the Secretary of State is required to, or in some instances may, up-rate their value. Following this review, some rates are increased in line with statutory minima, and others are increased subject to the Secretary of State’s discretion.
The new and basic State Pensions, and the Standard Minimum Guarantee in Pension Credit (which replaced tax credits for most people above State Pension age on 5 April 2025). must be increased at least in line with the growth in earnings. In practice, the new and basic State Pensions are subject to our commitment for this Parliament to the triple lock of the highest of earnings growth, the increase in prices, or 2.5%
Additional-needs disability benefits such as Personal Independence Payment, Carer’s Allowance, and Additional Pension must be increased at least in line with the increase in prices. By convention, the measure used for this is the increase in the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) in the year to September.
For the rates of most other benefits, including Universal Credit (which replaced tax credits for people below State Pension age on 5 April 2025), once the Secretary of State has concluded her review of the increase in the general level of prices, she may decide to increase them. The Office for Budgetary Responsibility currently assumes that she will do so in line with the increase in CPI in the year to September. However, the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill has been introduced into Parliament and subject to parliamentary approval, this will alter the standard parameters of Secretary of State's annual review.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the report by Maternity Action, entitled Pushed into Poverty, published in May 2025, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the recommendation on ÂŁ7.99 million model costing for maternity allowance to be treated as earned income by Universal Credit on women in low income jobs.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)
No assessment is planned.
Universal Credit treats Maternity Allowance in the same way as legacy means-tested benefits, such as Income Support or Income Based Jobseeker’s Allowance, in that it is taken fully into account. Whilst we keep all policies under review, we have no plans to review how Maternity Allowance is taken into account in UC.
Maternity pay is primarily designed as a health and safety provision for pregnant working women. We want new mothers to be able to take time away from work in the later stages of their pregnancy and following childbirth, if they wish, for their own health and wellbeing.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
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 merits of treating Maternity Allowance as earned income for the purposes of calculating Universal Credit.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)
No assessment is planned.
Universal Credit treats Maternity Allowance in the same way as legacy means-tested benefits, such as Income Support or Income Based Jobseeker’s Allowance, in that it is taken fully into account. Whilst we keep all policies under review, we have no plans to review how Maternity Allowance is taken into account in UC.
Maternity pay is primarily designed as a health and safety provision for pregnant working women. We want new mothers to be able to take time away from work in the later stages of their pregnancy and following childbirth, if they wish, for their own health and wellbeing.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what long-term plans her Department has to increase levels of (a) maternity, (b) paternity and (c) parental pay in line with the National Living Wage.
Answered by Andrew Western - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Government spends approximately ÂŁ3 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 ÂŁ184.03 to ÂŁ187.18 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.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
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 merits of increasing (a) Statutory Maternity Pay, (b) Maternity Allowance and (c) Shared Parental Pay to 62.5 per cent of the weekly National Living Wage by 2028.
Answered by Andrew Western - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Government spends approximately ÂŁ3 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 ÂŁ184.03 to ÂŁ187.18 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.