Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the decision to scrap Work Capability Assessments on people receiving (a) Employment and Support Allowance and (b) the health-related elements of Universal Credit who do not receive Personal Independence Payment or Disability Living Allowance.

We will put protections in place to ensure that no one experiences financial loss at the point at which the reform is enacted. For the group who receive the Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity (LCWRA) payment, but not Personal Independence Payment, there will be transitional protection at the point that they move to the new system.

We are committed to protecting those claimants who are currently treated as LCWRA due to pregnancy risk, or because they are about to receive, receiving, or recovering from, treatment for cancer by way of chemotherapy or radiotherapy. We will provide explicit provision to allow these claimants to access the new UC health top-up, even when they are not in receipt of PIP.

These reforms will be rolled out on a gradual, geographical basis, starting with new claims from 2026/27 and reaching existing claims from 2029 onwards at the earliest.