Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure that changes to the Work Capability Assessment prevent disabled people from entering poverty.

The Health and Disability Green Paper published on 18^th March 2025 outlines why we think removing the Work Capability Assessment and moving to using an amended version of the PIP assessment to determine what financial support people receive for health and disability in the Universal Credit system is the correct decision for the reformed system. We will be publishing estimated impacts on claimants for the changes announced on 18 March 2025 on the day of the Spring Statement or shortly after.

We understand that for some people, work is simply not possible. We will work through how, without a WCA, these people can be identified and appropriate protections put in place, such as considering award reviews. Engagement with employment support will be determined on a personal basis, according to needs.

Following the Green Paper consultation, we will bring forwards a White Paper in autumn 2025 to set out our full proposals.