Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of excluding (a) Lifetime ISA's, and (b) private pension savings mechanisms from universal credit capital rules.

The value of any right to receive pension under an occupational or personal pension scheme or any other pension scheme registered under section 153 of the Finance Act 2004, is already disregarded under Universal Credit capital rules.

The Lifetime ISA is primarily a savings vehicle rather than a pension scheme. That is why money invested in a Lifetime ISA will be treated as capital in Universal Credit.

Universal Credit capital rules strike a balance between protecting less well-off people and protecting the taxpayer, whilst at the same time recognising the hard work of people who have built up capital. They ensure that the help which comes from taxpayers, many of whom are themselves on low incomes and have limited capital, is directed to people who need it most.