Asked by: Natasha Irons (Labour - Croydon East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 25 June 2025 to Question 61354 on Personal Independence Payment, if she will set out the methodology used to estimate the number of claimants who would be subject to the benefits cap.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
As I made clear in my statement to the House, Hansard, 1 July, col 219, any changes to PIP eligibility will come after a comprehensive review of the benefit, which I am leading, and which will be co-produced with disabled people, the organisations that represent them, clinicians, experts, MPs and other stakeholders, so a wide range of views and voices are heard. This review aims to ensure that the PIP assessment is fair and fit for the future. The review is expected to conclude in autumn 2026.
For the previous proposals’ impact on the benefit cap, administrative datasets from August 2024 showing the number of households exempt from the benefit cap as a result of PIP receipt were used to estimate the proportion of households that would become affected by the benefit cap if they lost their entitlement to PIP. This was then applied to the estimated volume of PIP claimants that would be affected by the 4-point policy that do not receive the Mobility component of PIP. Implicit in this assumption was that exemptions from the benefit cap are equally likely among those not having a 4-point score as those who have one.
Asked by: Natasha Irons (Labour - Croydon East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the potential impact of her Department's proposed changes to the PIP eligibility criteria on the number of people subject to the benefits cap (a) nationally and (b) in Croydon East constituency.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We estimate that in 2029/30, for those affected by the proposed changes to the PIP eligibility criteria, 1,200 claimants will be also subject to the benefit cap. This estimate assumes that people potentially subject to the benefit cap are no more, and no less, likely than other people affected by the proposed changes to change their behaviour to continue to qualify for PIP and the estimate is subject to revision.
Estimates of the volumes of PIP claimants affected by the reform in the future are forecast for England and Wales only and therefore have not been broken down by Parliamentary Constituency or any other geographic area.
After accounting for behavioural changes, the OBR predicts that 9 out 10 PIP recipients at the time of policy implementation are expected to be unaffected by the PIP 4-point change in 2029/30. 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. After that date, no one will lose PIP without first being reassessed by a trained assessor or healthcare professional, who assesses individual needs and circumstance. Reassessments happen on average every 3 years. People who continue to receive a PIP mobility component will remain exempt from the benefit cap.
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.
Even with these reforms, the overall number of people on PIP and DLA is expected to rise by 750,000 by the end of this parliament and spending will rise from £23bn in 24/25 to £31bn in 29/30.
Asked by: Natasha Irons (Labour - Croydon East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an estimate of the potential impact of the policies to be set out in the Get Britain Working white paper on the number of people who will be supported back into work in each region.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government is publishing a Get Britain Working White Paper setting out reforms to employment support to help tackle the elevated level of economic inactivity, support people into good work, and create an inclusive labour market in which everybody can participate and progress in work. These reforms are driven by a long-term ambition to reach an 80% employment rate and to reduce the UK’s inactivity rate back to pre-pandemic levels.
The White Paper will build on manifesto commitments including fundamental reform for DWP through a new service to support more people into work and help them get on in work, including through an enhanced focus on skills and careers; local Get Britain Working Plans for areas across Britain to set out how economic inactivity will be tackled at a local level, led by Mayors and local areas; and a Youth Guarantee for all people aged 18 to 21 in England, to ensure they have an offer of education, training or help to find work.
Through the Autumn Budget, £240 million funding has recently been announced for the White Paper measures and will help us deliver and build on these labour market reforms to Get Britain Working.