Asked by: Mel Stride (Conservative - Central Devon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of the total caseload for UC LCWRA and ESA Support Group participated in Additional Work Coach Time in the most recent (a) month and (b) financial year for which data is available; and what estimate she has made of what that proportion will be for financial year 2026-27.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Additional Work Coach Support provides disabled people and people with health impairments increased one-to-one personalised support from their work coach to help them move towards, and into, work.
Last month, June 2025, 900 LCWRA claimants voluntarily started AWCT support. Since AWCT started in June 2022, there have been over 14,000 LCWRA starts to the programme. There would be, however, a disproportionate cost to providing the number of starts for the financial year 2024/25. There would be a need to retrieve data for a period when AWCT wasn’t targeted at the LCWRA group, and assessments of the accuracy of this data would need to be made. There would also be a disproportionate cost to providing AWCT data on claimants in the ESA Support Group due to difficulties with data collection for this group.
The latest publicly available data shows the LCWRA caseload was 1.93 million in March 2025 and the ESA Support Group caseload was 1.23 million in November 2024. However, the AWCT starts figure is cumulative since 2022, so it would be misleading to give AWCT starts as a percentage of the total current caseload.
We will be rolling out our new support offer from next April (2026) when our benefit changes start to come in so that everyone affected by the reduction to the UC health element will be offered support, provided by a dedicated Pathways to Work adviser. These 1000 Pathways to Work Advisers will build and expand on existing measures like additional work coach support to provide one-to-one personalised support to more disabled customers and those with health conditions to help them move towards, and into, work. Pathways to Work Advisers will support claimants on Universal Credit (UC) who are awaiting their Work Capability Assessment and those who have been found to have ‘limited capability for work’ or ‘limited capability for work and work-related activity’ who want, or could benefit from, more help to move into work. They can also support Employment Support Allowance (ESA) claimants.
People affected will be able to access a conversation about their needs, goals and aspirations; offered one-to-one follow-on support, and given help to access additional work, health and skills support that can meet their needs. This will include:
Pathways to Work adviser support will be in place across England, Scotland and Wales for all those affected by the changes from April. We will be working with governments in Scotland and Wales to join up support where elements of policy and funding are devolved. We are beginning testing of our new support conversation this year (summer 2025). There will be additional funding of £200 million to support people next year (2026/27), building to £1 billion a year by 2029/30 as reforms fully roll out.
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Asked by: Mel Stride (Conservative - Central Devon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people impacted by the changes to PIP proposed in the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill she estimates will (a) lose eligibility to PIP entirely, (b) be eligible for the UC health element under the current system and (c) be eligible for the UC health element under her Department’s proposals to replace the Work Capability Assessment with the PIP passporting mechanism.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Pathways to Work Green Paper set out the Government’s intention to abolish the Work Capability Assessment (WCA). This reform will move away from categorising individuals into binary groups of ‘can work’ or ‘can’t work’. Instead, eligibility for additional financial support in Universal Credit (UC) due to health conditions will be determined through a single assessment - the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessment - focused on the impact of disability on daily living, rather than on capacity to work.
This change will decouple entitlement to the UC health element from employment status, giving people confidence that taking steps towards or into work will not put their benefit entitlement at risk.
Any changes to PIP eligibility will follow a comprehensive review of the benefit, which I am leading. This review is being co-produced with disabled people, representative organisations, clinicians, experts, MPs, and other stakeholders to ensure a wide range of voices are heard. Its aim is to ensure the PIP assessment is fair, robust, and fit for the future and the review is expected to conclude in autumn 2026.
As the review is ongoing, the Department has not yet developed estimates of how many people will (a) lose eligibility to PIP, (b) be eligible for the UC health element under the current system, or (c) be eligible under the proposed PIP-based system. These figures will be made available in due course, alongside supporting analysis.
Asked by: Mel Stride (Conservative - Central Devon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to her Oral Statement of 30 June 2025 on Welfare Reform, columns 23-25, whether (a) the cost of changes to her welfare reform proposals include the cost of the new severe conditions group, (b) how many people are expected to qualify for that group in each financial year up to and including 2029-30 and (c) what estimate she has made of the additional cost to the exchequer for the creation of that group relative to the spending forecasts produced at Spring Statement 2025.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We published Impact Assessments alongside this Bill in the usual way. These set out who will be impacted, the financial implications of the changes and equality analysis.
To account for the proposed changes to the Bill, the Impact Assessment will be revised and republished. We will provide and update an Impact Assessment to support Commons Committee, as is the usual process when a Bill is amended at this stage.
Asked by: Mel Stride (Conservative - Central Devon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to her Oral Statement of 30 June 2025 on Welfare Reform, columns 23-25, what the evidential basis was for her statement that less that 1% of people on universal credit move into work each month.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The statistics referred to in that statement related to those on Universal Credit in the Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity Group.
Statistics on the Into Work Rates of Claimants on the Universal Credit Health Journey by month can be found in table T1.14 in Chapter 1 of the Pathway to Work Evidence Pack
chapter-1-case-for-change-evidence.ods
Asked by: Mel Stride (Conservative - Central Devon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether it remains her Department's policy to spend an additional £1 billion on employment support for people with health conditions and disabilities by 2029-30 relative to pre-Spring Statement plans, following the changes to the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payments Bill; how the further £300 million of funded announced on 30 June 2025 is to be allocated across financial years; and what the total planned spending on employment support for people with health conditions and disabilities was in each financial year to 2029-30 (a) before the Spring Statement and (b) as of 2 July 2025.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We will spend an additional £1 billion on employment support for people with health conditions and disabilities by 2029-2030 relative to pre-Spring Statement plans, with no impact following changes made to the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payments Bill.
Further details were given by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions’ statement on Welfare Reform given on 30 June.
Asked by: Mel Stride (Conservative - Central Devon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the award rate for Work Capability Assessment was (a) in-person, (b) not in-person and (c) across all modes in each of the last 10 years; and whether her Department has made a comparative assessment of award rates for (i) in-person assessments and (ii) other modes of assessment.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested on decisions is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
However, relevant available information on health professional recommendations has been provided in response to a previous Parliamentary Question:
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2025-02-13/31637
The Health Assessment Channels Trial, conducted by the department between May 2022 and March 2023, compared the monetary impact of each Work Capability Assessment channel, focussing on initial claimants eligible for all channels (in-person, telephone or video). The trial found that the proportion of claimants awarded the health element after being allocated an in-person assessment did not differ considerably from the proportion awarded after being allocated a remote channel. We are working on publishing the full results of the trial in due course.
Asked by: Mel Stride (Conservative - Central Devon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has made a comparative assessment of award rates for (a) in-person and (b) other modes of PIP assessment.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Health Assessment Channels Trial, conducted by the department between May 2022 and March 2023, compared the monetary impact of each PIP assessment channel, focussing on initial claimants eligible for all channels (in-person, telephone or video). The trial found that the award rates of PIP claimants allocated an in-person assessment did not differ considerably from the proportion of claimants awarded PIP after being allocated a remote channel. We are working on publishing the full results of the trial in due course.
As part of the Functional Assessment Service (FAS) process, a paper-based assessment is always considered first. Where a paper-based review is not possible the claimant will be invited to an assessment.
Before sending an invitation, the assessment supplier considers whether a specific assessment channel is needed due to the claimant’s health or circumstances. Otherwise, claimants are offered the next available appointment, which can be changed if the claimant informs us that a reasonable adjustment is appropriate in their circumstances.
While suppliers recommend awards, the final decisions are made by case managers who may alter these recommendations.
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. The review is expected to conclude in autumn 2026.
Asked by: Mel Stride (Conservative - Central Devon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason the planned rollout of the abolition of the Work Capability Assessment has been delayed from 2026, and what the full new planned timetable is for rollout of this reform to (a) new and (b) current claims.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Our Green Paper outlines why we think removing the WCA and moving to using the PIP assessment as the single assessment for additional financial support, is the correct decision for the reformed disability benefits system. Scrapping the Work Capability Assessment will take time, and we need to act now to reset the system. We are making changes to PIP eligibility to ensure it focuses more on those with higher needs, making support more targeted to protect this safety net for future generations. We are also lowering the rate of UC health for new claims from April 2026 to £50 and then freezing the rate until 2029/30 – alongside increasing the standard allowance – to reduce the incentive to define yourself as unfit to work, while still providing a higher rate of benefit for disabled people and those with health conditions with extra costs.
Following the Green Paper consultation, we will bring forwards a White Paper in Autumn 2025 to set out our full proposals. This will be followed by further primary legislation, which we expect to take forward in the second session, subject to parliamentary approval. Therefore, the indicative date this will take place will be in 2028/29.
Asked by: Mel Stride (Conservative - Central Devon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether it is her Department's policy that people with (a) more than £16,000 in savings, (b) a full National Insurance record and (c) a work-limiting health condition will not be eligible for support through the benefits system after the time-limited period of the proposed new single contributory benefit has elapsed.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This is not current government policy. We are consulting on plans for a new “Unemployment Insurance”. We are asking about what the right level of support is and how long it should last, and we would welcome your response. No final decisions have been taken. To confirm, both Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment will continue to exist in the reformed system.
Asked by: Mel Stride (Conservative - Central Devon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department's proposed reforms to contributory out of work benefits are expected to reduce contributory benefits as a proportion of overall welfare expenditure.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Our proposed reforms to contributory benefits are about creating a more proactive, pro-work system that actually supports individuals. While the reforms are part of a package that will make the benefits system more affordable, they will also ensure that the system continues to provide for those who need it most, while supporting those who can, back into work. We are consulting on establishing a new, simple and clear “Unemployment Insurance” benefit through the reform of contributory working age benefits and we welcome responses. No final decisions have been taken.