Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many universal credit claimants have lost the severe disability premium following a change of circumstances since the inception of universal credit in (a) Wales and (b) each parliamentary constituency in Wales.

It is not possible to confirm exactly how many people in (a) Wales and (b) each parliamentary constituency in Wales became ineligible for the Severe Disability Premium (SDP) following their move to Universal Credit (UC) due to a change in circumstance. This is because each case must be individually assessed to determine whether SDP eligibility would have continued following the end of their claim to Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), Jobseekers’ Allowance (JSA) or Income Support (IS).

Information on claimants of JSA and IS in receipt of SDP who have moved to Universal Credit would incur disproportionate cost in response to a Parliamentary Question.

Regulations announced by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on 22 July 2019 provide support for claimants who were entitled to the SDP, and who have already moved to UC. From 24 July 2019, these claimants will be considered for backdated payments covering the time since they moved to UC. We estimate that by 2024/25, approximately 45,000 of the most vulnerable claimants will benefit from this package of support, worth an estimated £600million over the next six years.