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 effect of the changes made to the Widowed Parent's Allowance on the long-term financial security of widowed spouses.

Current recipients of Widowed Parent’s Allowance will continue to receive that benefit for the natural lifetime of their award. There will be no change in payments of Widowed Parent’s Allowance to these claimants.

Bereavement Support Payment (BSP) replaced Widowed Parent’s Allowance for those whose spouse or civil partner died on or after 6 April 2017.

BSP is designed to provide targeted support to help with the immediate costs of bereavement without affecting access to financial help towards everyday living costs.

It is for this reason that BSP is paid in addition to income related benefits, is not taxable and is not taken into account when calculating income for the benefit cap. These measures protect the financial security of the least well off families and ensure that they are not disadvantaged by the reform.