Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to uprate the annual Christmas bonus for recipients of benefits.

There are no plans to uprate the annual Christmas Bonus. The bonus was initially introduced as a one-off payment of £10 in 1972, and has not been uprated or increased on a yearly basis. It was introduced to provide additional financial support at a time of high inflation. It is now an established feature of the social security system.