Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in the context of the increase in the cost of living, what recent assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing a £20 a week uplift to all legacy benefits.

There are no plans to make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a £20 uplift to all legacy benefits.

The government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living. These are global challenges, but the government has taken action to support and help families with cost-of-living pressures with a total package worth £37 billion in 2022-23.

This includes helping all domestic electricity customers in Great Britain to cope with the impact of higher energy bills, with £400 off their bills from October through the expansion of the Energy Bills Support Scheme (EBSS). This is a doubling of the £200 of support announced in February, and there will no longer be any repayments.

The government is supporting over 8 million households across the UK in receipt of eligible means tested benefits with a one-off Cost of Living Payment of £650, paid in two instalments. The government is giving additional UK-wide support to help disabled people with the extra costs they will face, with 6 million people who receive non-means tested disability benefits receiving a one-off disability Cost of Living Payment of £150.

Millions of low-income households will receive at least £1,200 of one-off support in total this year to help with the cost of living.