Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask Her Majesty's Government when recipients of the Adult Dependency Increase (ADI) were notified of the removal of the ADI on 6 April; and how was such notice communicated.

As at May 2019, the latest data available, the numbers of people in receipt of State Pension Adult Dependency Increases, and the average weekly amount of Adult Dependency Increase they were in receipt of, is shown in the table below.

By April 2020 this number will already have decreased further as, for example, some adult dependents will reach their State Pension age before then.

As at autumn 2019, 6,440 people were in receipt of, or had an underlying entitlement to, an Adult Dependency Increases for Carer’s Allowance.

Those who lose their Adult Dependency Increase, either in April 2020 or before then, may be able to access income-related benefits to top up their household income, depending on their circumstances. For those already in receipt of income-related benefits, their awards will be adjusted to take account of the removal of the Adult Dependency Increase. Claimants who receive income-related benefits may also be entitled to 'passported' benefits to help with, for example, housing costs or heating costs. Income-related benefits are an important protection for the incomes of some of our most vulnerable people.

We are encouraging people who live overseas to consider if they may be entitled to any additional benefits or support from the country where they reside.

State Pension Adult Dependency Increases were abolished by the Pensions Act 2007 from April 2010. Carer’s Allowance Adult Dependency Increases were abolished by the Welfare Reform Act 2009 from April 2010. However, transitional provisions were included for both benefits which allow existing claimants from April 2010 to continue receiving Adult Dependency Increases until April 2020.

Information about the ending of State Pension Adult Dependency Increases has been available on the Government website at www.gov.uk. Furthermore, State Pension recipients in the UK have also been informed about the changes to State Pension Adult Dependency Increases within the annual uprating notifications, which have been sent to them since 2010. We have also included this information in annual uprating notifications sent to overseas State Pension recipients since 2018.

We sent specific letters to those affected by the State Pension and Carer Allowance changes during May/June 2019, and a further letter was sent out in October 2019.

The ending of State Pension Adult Dependency Increases was part of a package of reforms contained in the Pensions Act 2007 that improved the State Pension position for both women and carers.

The savings from ending the provision of State Pension Adult Dependency Increases are estimated to be £125m between 2020/21 and 2024/25, based on analysis from 2018. This only reflects savings on ADI expenditure and does not take into account any offsetting impacts on other benefits.

We have not done a detailed costing of the costs of tapering provision for Adult Dependency Increases. However, we estimate that the cost of continuing to pay State Pension Adult Dependency Increases until all dependents reach their State Pension age would be in the region of £200m to £250m