Asked by: Yuan Yang (Labour - Earley and Woodley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many recipients of the PIP daily living component are (a) in work and (b) self-employed at (i) regional, (ii) constituency and (iii) local authority level; and what proportion of those recipients were awarded fewer than four points in all daily living activities.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested is provided in the excel workbook attached. A content of the tables provided in the attached workbook is below:
ai | Volume of employees in receipt of PIP Daily Living by region and maximum point score (March 2024) |
aii | Volume of employees in receipt of PIP Daily Living by Parliamentary Constituency and maximum point score (March 2024) |
aiii | Volume of employees in receipt of PIP Daily Living by Local Authority and maximum point score (March 2024) |
bi | Volume of self-employed PIP Daily Living claimants by region and maximum point score (March 2024) |
bii | Volume of self-employed PIP Daily Living claimants by Parliamentary Constituency and maximum point score (March 2024) |
biii | Volume of self-employed PIP Daily Living claimants by Local Authority and maximum point score (March 2024) |
The number of people currently on PIP who did not score 4 points in one category in their last assessment should not be equated with the number who are likely to lose PIP in future. It’s important to make a clear distinction between the two, not least because we don’t want constituents to be unnecessarily fearful about their situation, when we understand many are already anxious. Someone who did not score 4 points in an activity in a previous assessment may well score 4 points in a future assessment as conditions change over time.
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 and will only apply at a claimant’s next scheduled award review, which on average occurs every three years. At that point, a claimant will be reassessed by a trained assessor or healthcare professional based on their individual needs and circumstances.
After accounting for behavioural changes, the OBR predicts that 9 out of 10 PIP recipients at the time of policy implementation are expected to be unaffected by the PIP 4-point change in 2029/30. Despite the reforms, the overall number of people on PIP and DLA is expected to increase by 750,000 by the end of this Parliament and spending is projected to rise from £23 billion in 2024/25 to £31 billion in 2029/30.
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.
Notes:
- The volumes provided have been rounded to the nearest 10.
- HMRC data is used to determine whether a claimant was in employment. HMRC data covers up to the end of the tax year 2023/24, therefore March 2024 has been provided as the latest data available.
- Self-employment data from the financial year 2023/24 is not available until the end of the 2024/25 financial year, so self-employment data for the financial year 2022/23 has been used as a proxy for 2023/24 instead.
- People without any employment or self-employment record in the HMRC data, as well as those who have been confirmed to not be in employment or self-employment in the data, have been considered not employed or not self-employed respectively.
- The data provided excludes special rules for end of life claimants and claimants over state pension age.
- The data provided excludes Scottish and Northern Irish claimants, as these claimants do not fall under DWP policy ownership.
Asked by: Yuan Yang (Labour - Earley and Woodley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to help support employees facing redundancy at Moog Reading.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Get Britain Working White Paper focuses on building a thriving labour market, reducing economic inactivity and increasing the number of people in work, which is central to growing the economy.
DWP provides Rapid Redundancy Support (RRS) to both Employers and Individuals following notification from the National RRS team or via the DWP Strategic Relationship Team and Insolvency Service.
Local Employer Advisors will make contact with the Employers/Individuals to offer support as a matter of urgency. Support is tailored and can vary depending on the scale of the redundancy and the level of support required. This can include:
Asked by: Yuan Yang (Labour - Earley and Woodley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 23 April 2025 to Question 45355 on Personal Independence Payment, if she will make an assessment of the (a) causes of the increase in claims for PIP to include (i) health related and (ii) behaviour related factors and (b) the rate of increase in economic inactivity due to long-term sickness and disability over the same period.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The number of new claims registered for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) increased from around 41,000 a month in 2019 to 74,000 a month in 2024.
The number of economically inactive people who cite long-term sickness or disability as their main reason for inactivity increased from around 2.1 million in the last quarter (October to December) of 2019 to 2.8 million in the last quarter of 2024.
It is not possible to assess the relative contribution of each of the potential causes of the increase in PIP claims because it is likely that many different drivers are interacting with each other, both in aggregate and for individual claimants.
However, we will continue to monitor potential drivers of new claims demand for PIP. These include higher prevalence and recognition of health conditions, whether that’s driven by the direct health impacts of the COVID-19 virus; indirect impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns on physical health (through reduced activity) and mental health (through reduced social interaction and increased anxiety); impacts of subsequent labour market changes and cost of living pressures on health; or increases in NHS waiting times. These potential causes in turn may interact with behavioural factors including: cost of living pressures; greater awareness of disability benefits (in part due to cost of living); longer waits for NHS treatment; economically inactive people being more likely to report long-term illness or disability as their main reason for inactivity; and incentives in the benefit system that can encourage people to claim health-related benefits.
Sources:
(a) PIP new claim registrations taken from Stat-Xplore (Stat-Xplore - Log in), excluding Reassessments from Disability Living Allowance and excluding claims from people living in Scotland, because policy ownership was devolved to Scotland during this period.
(b) Estimates of economically inactive people by main reason are published by the Office for National Statistics in Table INAC01 SA of their Labour Market Overview (Labour market overview, UK - Office for National Statistics). Estimates are seasonally adjusted and relate to people aged 16-64 in the United Kingdom.
Asked by: Yuan Yang (Labour - Earley and Woodley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has conducted quantitative analysis into the potential causes of increases in claims for Personal Independence Payment into shares attributable to (a) underlying ill health, (b) financial incentives and (c) other personal or behavioural factors; and whether such analysis includes a comparison with the rate of increase in economic inactivity due to long-term sickness or disability over the same period.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department has not conducted quantitative analysis exactly as described; however, we do regularly monitor potential drivers of new claims demand for PIP and how this compares with changes in disability prevalence in the population. It is likely that both health-related and behaviour-related factors have been important contributory factors in the rising number of claims for PIP, as well as changes in the population, with demand for PIP accelerating since the COVID-19 pandemic.
A number of health-related factors may have contributed to these increases, including: higher prevalence and recognition of health conditions, particularly mental health and neurodiverse conditions; the direct health impacts of the COVID-19 virus; indirect impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns on physical health (through reduced activity) and mental health (through reduced social interaction and increased anxiety); impacts of subsequent labour market changes and cost of living pressures on health; and increases in NHS waiting times.
In addition, a number of behavioural factors are also likely to have contributed to higher numbers claiming incapacity and disability benefits, including: cost of living pressures; greater awareness of disability benefits (in part due to cost of living); longer waits for NHS treatment; economically inactive people being more likely to report long-term illness or disability as their main reason for inactivity; and incentives in the benefit system that can encourage people to claim health-related benefits.
Asked by: Yuan Yang (Labour - Earley and Woodley)
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 changes to the uptake of Carer’s Allowance as a result of proposed tightening of PIP eligibility criteria on (a) rates of poverty among carers, (b) carers’ labour market participation and (c) levels of demand for public services.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No assessment has yet been conducted.
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: Yuan Yang (Labour - Earley and Woodley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people claiming the daily living part of Personal Independence Payment scored fewer than four points in each of the daily living activities (a) by sex, (b) by age, (c) by ethnicity and (d) in total.
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, 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.
The Department does not hold data on the ethnicity of all PIP claimants on its computer systems, since it is not required for the administration of benefit. Information on the ethnicity of PIP claimants is available from the Family Resources Survey: financial year 2023 to 2024 (Table 2.10), but this cannot be related to PIP point scores.
Asked by: Yuan Yang (Labour - Earley and Woodley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people claiming Carer’s Allowance are caring for a person who scores fewer than four points for each individual descriptor in the daily living part of Personal Independence Payment (a) by sex, (b) by ethnicity and (c) in total.
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, 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.
The Department does not hold data on the ethnicity of all PIP claimants on its computer systems, since it is not required for the administration of benefit. Information on the ethnicity of PIP claimants is available from the Family Resources Survey: financial year 2023 to 2024 (Table 2.10), but this cannot be related to PIP point scores.
Asked by: Yuan Yang (Labour - Earley and Woodley)
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 implications for her Department's data on the gender pensions gap in private pensions of the ONS's latest release of the Wealth and Assets Survey, published on 24 January 2025.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department is committed to both monitoring and narrowing the Gender Pension Gap and we are currently exploring the latest Wealth and Asset survey, provided by the ONS, with the aim of publishing an update on the Gender Pension Gap publication in due course.
Asked by: Yuan Yang (Labour - Earley and Woodley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of (a) the number of constituents in Earley and Woodley who will be impacted by the proposed reforms to the Work Capability Assessment and (b) the average financial impact on those individuals of those reforms.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department does not hold constituency-level information about the specific Work Capability Assessment descriptors met by claimants, so we are unable to estimate impacts for individual constituencies robustly.
Asked by: Yuan Yang (Labour - Earley and Woodley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of (a) the number of constituents in Earley and Woodley who will be affected by reductions in sickness benefits announced at the budget and (b) the average financial impact of those reductions on individuals.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No reductions in sickness benefits were announced at the Budget.