Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Health and Disability White Paper, CP 807, published on 15 March 2023, whether a benefit sanction that reduced Universal Credit Standard Allowance to zero would remove a claimant's entitlement to the Health Element of Universal Credit.

We are committed to reforming the system to better support people with health conditions overcome the barriers that prevent them from working. We are also committed to making work pay, and incentivising people to seek and stay in work.

The new health element will be awarded to people who are receiving the UC Standard Allowance and any PIP element. Entitlement to the new UC health element will only end when the functional impact of a person’s health condition improves and they are no longer eligible for PIP, or as people earn more money and their UC is tapered away, which ensures that they are financially better off in work.

As we develop our reform proposals, we will consider how some interactions with the UC system will be reflected in the reformed system. This will be carefully worked through and reported on before we introduce legislation in the next parliament.