Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants have received a Severe Disability Premium transitional payment; what the average lump sum was for a Severe Disability Premium payment; and what the cost to the public purse has been of payments made from the Severe Disability Premium.

A gateway was introduced from 16 January 2019 to prevent those claimants entitled to the Severe Disability Premium (SDP) as part of their legacy benefit from claiming Universal Credit. Additionally, a commitment was made for monthly transitional payments to be made to eligible former SDP claimants who have already moved to Universal Credit due to a change in circumstances and to provide a lump sum arrears payment, where appropriate.

The Universal Credit (Managed Migration Pilot and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2019, which were laid in Parliament on 22 July 2019, have allowed the Department to assess eligibility and make backdated payments to claimants covering the time since they moved to Universal Credit.

As of 26 September 2019, over 13,800 claims have been paid an SDP transitional payment. The average (median) value of the lump sum payments is £2,280. To date, over £37.2m has been disbursed to support former SDP claimants, including the recurring payments that have now commenced.