Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow and Gateshead East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 24 March 2025 to Question 38671 on Means-tested Benefits: Veterans, whether her Department has considered requiring local authorities to disregard payments from the (a) Armed Forces Compensation Scheme, (b) Service Invalidity Pension, (c) Service Attributable Pension and (d) War Pension when assessing entitlement to (i) Housing Benefit, (ii) Council Tax Support, (iii) Discretionary Housing Payments and (iv) Disabled Facilities Grants.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Housing Benefit regulations permit local authorities to disregard beyond the standard disregard of £10 a week the whole or part of any war disablement pensions, war widow’s pensions, war widower’s pensions and guaranteed income payments under the Armed Forces and Reserve Forces Compensation Scheme.
(a) Armed Forces Compensation Scheme £10 disregard with local discretion
(b) Service Invalidity Pension no disregard is applied and it is treated as income
(c) Service Attributable Pension is treated the same as a War Pension so subject to the £10 disregard and local discretion.
(d) War Pension - £10 disregard with local discretion
There are no plans to make changes to the discretionary scheme.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and the devolved administrations are responsible for Council Tax Support and Disabled Facilities Grants policy.
Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) can be paid to veterans entitled to Housing Benefit or the housing element of Universal Credit who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs. Local authorities administer the Discretionary Housing Payments scheme as they are best placed to make informed judgements about relative priorities and needs in their area to ensure that the most vulnerable are supported and the funds are targeted effectively. There are no prescribed resources tests; local authorities simply have to be satisfied that the person concerned needs further financial assistance towards housing costs. The payments are entirely at local authority discretion, including the amount and duration of any award.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow and Gateshead East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the proposed changes to Personal Independence Payment eligibility criteria on veterans with service-related (a) mental and (b) physical health conditions (i) with and (ii) without fluctuating symptoms.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department does not centrally record the veteran status of PIP claimants.
In our recent Pathways to Work Green Paper, published on the 18 March 2025, we announced a broad package of reforms to the health and disability benefit and support system. No changes are proposed to Armed Forces Independence Payments which provide support to some of the most severely disabled veterans.
For those who receive PIP and are affected by the eligibility changes, we are consulting on how best to support this group, including how to make sure health and eligible care needs are met. We also intend to launch a wider review of the PIP assessment, and we will bring 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.
As we develop proposals further, we will consider the impacts of changes as part of our wider consideration of responses to the Green Paper consultation. We would encourage organisations supporting and representing veterans, such as the Royal British Legion, SSAFA, and many others, to respond to the consultation setting out their thoughts and views on how wounded, injured and sick veterans can best be supported.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow and Gateshead East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of expanding the criteria for Armed Forces Independence Payments to include veterans with service-related mental health conditions who may be impacted by changes to Personal Independence Payment criteria.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Veterans with service-related mental health conditions may, depending on the severity of their condition, already be eligible for Armed Forces Independence Payments. Officials in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and Ministry of Defence continue to work closely to ensure that where DWP benefits interface with the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme and War Pension Scheme, they are taken into consideration as work on welfare reform continues.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow and Gateshead East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking support veterans with fluctuating physical and mental health conditions, in the context of the proposed changes to the Personal Independence Payment eligibility criteria in the Pathways to Work Green Paper.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessment considers the needs arising from a long-term health condition or disability, not the health condition or disability itself. The impact in each case will depend on an individual’s circumstances. For those already claiming PIP, the changes will only apply from November 2026 at their next award review, subject to parliamentary approval. People will be reviewed by a trained assessor or healthcare professional and assessed on individual needs and circumstance.
Veterans are able to access the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS), which provides compensation for injury or illness caused or made worse by Service on or after 6 April 2005. For serious injuries and illness, the AFCS provides a tax-free index-linked income stream known as the Guaranteed Income Payment (GIP). The Armed Forces Independence Payment (AFIP) is an additional allowance which provides financial support for eligible service personnel and veterans who have an AFCS GIP. It is an alternative to PIP (and other disability benefits), based on separate eligibility criteria, but paid at the same rate as the combined enhanced daily living and mobility components. The eligibility criteria for AFIP is not due to change.
I have also asked my officials to work with their counterparts in the OVA to set up a dedicated Green Paper consultation event for armed forces stakeholders (likely to be held in May) and to give a detailed briefing on the proposals to MoD and OVA officials. And once we have completed the consultation we will be building up to a White Paper, where we will once again engage with the OVA and MoD in advance of collective agreement.
We are also mindful of the impact the change to PIP eligibility could have on people. That is why, in the Green Paper Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working (published on 18 March), we are consulting on how best to support those who lose entitlement due to the reforms, including how to make sure health and eligible care needs are met.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow and Gateshead East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 26 March 2025 to Question 39109 on Social Security Benefits: Disability, what estimate she has made of the number of people who will no longer be in receipt of (a) PIP and (b) Universal Credit Carers element, broken down by geographical region.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No estimate has yet been made.
Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course, with some information 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: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow and Gateshead East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the levels of compliance by overseas territories on providing public registers of beneficial ownership.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
At the Joint Ministerial Council (JMC) in November 2024, the Falkland Islands and Saint Helena committed to join Montserrat and Gibraltar in implementing fully public registers by April 2025. The British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Bermuda, Anguilla and Turks and Caicos Islands agreed to implement registers of beneficial ownership, accessible to those with a legitimate interest by June 2025, with the necessary safeguards to protect the right to privacy in line with respective constitutions.
Every Territory is making progress towards these commitments and FCDO officials are in regular contact with counterparts in the Overseas Territories on their proposals for registers to ensure they meet JMC agreements. I have and will continue to raise this directly with elected leaders across the Overseas Territories, and have discussed with the leaders of a number of OTs including Bermuda and the British Virgin Islands in recent weeks.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow and Gateshead East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he plans to take to ensure that Overseas Territories adopt open and public registers of beneficial ownership.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Work is ongoing to improve beneficial ownership transparency in the Overseas Territories. At the Joint Ministerial Council (JMC) in November 2024, the Falkland Islands and Saint Helena committed to join Montserrat and Gibraltar in implementing fully public registers by April 2025. The British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Bermuda, Anguilla and Turks and Caicos Islands agreed to implement registers of beneficial ownership, accessible to those with a legitimate interest, by June 2025. It remains our expectation that the Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies will ultimately implement fully public registers.
Every Territory is making progress towards these commitments and FCDO officials are in regular contact with counterparts in the Overseas Territories on their proposals for registers to ensure they meet the agreement made at JMC. I have and will continue to raise this directly with elected leaders across the Overseas Territories, and have discussed with the leaders of a number of OTs including Bermuda and the British Virgin Islands in recent weeks.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow and Gateshead East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the proposals within the Pathways to Work Green Paper on the level of regional disparities in access to (a) out-of-work and (b) in-work disability benefits.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The are no regional disparities in access to disability benefits.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow and Gateshead East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of treating military compensation for injury in the same way as civil compensation for the purposes of means testing for benefits.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the honourable member to the answer we gave on 3 March 2025 to question UIN 32275.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow and Gateshead East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make it her policy to ensure the continuation of the Lionesses Future Fund.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to supporting women’s sport and ensuring all women and girls, no matter their background, have access to high quality sport, including football.
The department is working with the Football Foundation to embed standard criteria to ensure access for women and girls for all their major capital projects, meaning more women and girls benefit from our investment. At the Autumn Budget, the Government confirmed our continued support for elite and grassroots sport by investing in multi-use facilities. Further details will be confirmed in due course.