Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
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 reforms to Personal Independence Payment on people above over state pension age.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Our intention is that the new eligibility requirement in Personal Independence Payment (PIP) in which people must score a minimum of four points in one daily living activity to be eligible for the daily living component, will apply to new claims and award reviews from November 2026, subject to parliamentary approval. In keeping with existing policy, people of State Pension Age are not routinely fully reviewed and will not be affected by the proposed changes.
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: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made on people who will no longer be eligible to receive Personal Independence Payment by age.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Our intention is that the new eligibility requirement in Personal Independence Payment (PIP) in which people must score a minimum of four points in one daily living activity to be eligible for the daily living component, will apply to new claims and award reviews from November 2026, subject to parliamentary approval. In keeping with existing policy, people of State Pension Age are not routinely fully reviewed and will not be affected by the proposed changes.
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: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has commissioned an impact assessment on the proposed PIP reforms on household income with (a) at least one person in work and (b) at least one recipient of PIP, whether that be the person working or not.
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, with some information published alongside the Spring Statement. These publications can be found here ‘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: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of PIP recipients were in some form of (a) work and (b) training on 25 March 2025.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
You can find the proportion of PIP recipients in employment in the evidence pack that was provided alongside the ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper’, which shows that 17% of PIP claimants were in employment in March 2024.
Data for March 2025 is not currently available for analysts to access; the latest relevant data is for the financial year ending March 2024.
The department does not hold data regarding PIP recipients in training.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
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 impact of her Department's proposed social security reforms to PIP on trends in the levels of child poverty.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The government's impact assessment regarding Health and Disability Reform is available at Spring Statement 2025 health and disability benefit reforms - Impacts.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
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 her Department's proposed changes to PIP on households in which a PIP recipient is exempt from the benefit cap.
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, with some information published here alongside the Spring Statement.
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: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has made an impact assessment of the potential impact of changes to Personal Independence Payments on under 35's who claim Local Housing Allowance at the 1 bedroom rate.
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, with some information published here alongside the Spring Statement.
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: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
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 her Department's proposed changes to PIP on access to (a) carers allowance, (b) council tax support and (c) other benefits linked to PIP.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
There will be no immediate changes to Personal Independence Payment (PIP). Our intention is that the changes will apply to new claims and award reviews from November 2026, subject to parliamentary approval.
For those already on PIP, the changes will only apply at their next award review. The average award review is about three years.
When people are reassessed, they will be reviewed by a trained assessor or healthcare professional, and assessed on their individual needs and circumstances.
The personal impact will depend on an individual’s circumstances. We are consulting on how best to support those who are no longer eligible for PIP and linked entitlements, including how to make sure health and eligible care needs are met.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on uprating temporary accommodation subsidy rates.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We continue to keep the rates used for Housing Benefit subsidy under review and work closely with MHCLG and the Inter-Ministerial Group on Homelessness and Rough Sleeping.
The Government will prioritise the best way to achieve its mission and goals within the current challenging fiscal situation at the appropriate fiscal event.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the (a) Pensions Act 1995 and (b) Pensions Act 2011 on women.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
No recent assessments have been made.