Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill on care-leavers.

The Department has not made a specific assessment of the impact of the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill on care leavers. However, we recognise the challenges that care leavers may face in transitioning to independent living and navigating the welfare system, and remain committed to supporting them as with all vulnerable groups.

Our care leaver offer provides additional support such as access to the higher one-bedroom Local Housing Allowance rate up to the age of 25, as well as tailored support through Jobcentre Plus. We review this regularly.

The Department continues to engage with stakeholders and welcomes views on how best to ensure that care leavers are supported through future reforms to UC and PIP. As part of the Pathways to Work Green Paper consultation, we are also inviting views on proposals to raise the age at which individuals can access the UC health element to 22.

• There will be no immediate changes. Changes to PIP eligibility and rebalancing of UC aren’t coming into effect immediately. Our intention is these changes will start to come into effect from April 2026 for UC and November 2026 for PIP, subject to parliamentary approval.
• Protecting those most in need is at the heart of our reforms. Our Green Paper outlines why we think removing the WCA and moving to using the PIP assessment as the single assessment for additional financial support, is the correct decision for the reformed system.