Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to her Oral Statement of 30 June 2025 on Welfare Reform, columns 23-25, whether (a) the cost of changes to her welfare reform proposals include the cost of the new severe conditions group, (b) how many people are expected to qualify for that group in each financial year up to and including 2029-30 and (c) what estimate she has made of the additional cost to the exchequer for the creation of that group relative to the spending forecasts produced at Spring Statement 2025.

We published Impact Assessments alongside this Bill in the usual way. These set out who will be impacted, the financial implications of the changes and equality analysis.

To account for the proposed changes to the Bill, the Impact Assessment will be revised and republished. We will provide and update an Impact Assessment to support Commons Committee, as is the usual process when a Bill is amended at this stage.