Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of families with children relying on emergency food parcels.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are committed to tackling poverty and ending mass dependence on emergency food parcels. We are expanding Free School Meals to every pupil whose household is in receipt of Universal Credit, which will lift 100,000 children out of poverty by the end of this Parliament, and introducing a new £1 billion package (including Barnett impact) to reform crisis support, including funding to ensure the poorest children do not go hungry outside of term time.
This comes alongside £600 million for the Holiday Activities and Food Programme across the next three financial years as well as expanding free breakfast clubs, increasing the national minimum wage for those on the lowest incomes and supporting 700,000 of the poorest families by introducing a Fair Repayment Rate on Universal Credit deductions.
The Child Poverty Taskforce will publish a Child Poverty Strategy in the autumn that will deliver measures to tackle the structural and root causes of child poverty. The Strategy will tackle overall child poverty as well as going beyond that to focus on children in deepest poverty lacking essentials, and what is needed to give every child the best start in life.
We know that good work can significantly reduce the chances of people falling into poverty. Our Get Britain Working White Paper, backed by an initial £240 million investment in 2025/26, will target and tackle economic inactivity and unemployment and join up employment, health and skills support to meet the needs of local communities.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps to remove the two-child benefit cap.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This government is committed to tackling child poverty and the Child Poverty Taskforce is developing an ambitious Child Poverty Strategy which we will publish in the autumn.
We are considering all available levers to give every child the best start in life as part of our strategy.
The commitments at the 2025 Spending Review and since, including the extension of free school meals eligibility to all children in families in receipt of Universal Credit, are key steps in our Plan for Change to put extra pounds in people’s pockets, and a downpayment on the Child Poverty Strategy, building on the expansion of free breakfast clubs, national minimum wage boost, and the cap on Universal Credit deductions through the Fair Repayment Rate.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will remove the two-child benefit cap in the Autumn Budget.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government is committed to tackling child poverty. The Child Poverty Taskforce is developing an ambitious Child Poverty Strategy which we will publish in the autumn.
Commitments made at the 2025 spending review, and since then, are the latest steps in our Plan for Change to put extra pounds in people’s pockets – a downpayment on our Child Poverty Strategy, building on expansion of free breakfast clubs, the national minimum wage boost and the cap on Universal Credit deductions through the Fair Repayment Rate.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to support Universal Credit claimants to repay overpayments resulting from administrative errors in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP strives to set affordable, and sustainable repayment plans and encourages customers to make contact if they are unable to afford the proposed repayment rate. In most cases, deductions from the UC standard allowance are capped at 15%.
When a customer makes contact due to financial hardship, the repayment rate may be reduced or, depending on the customer’s financial circumstances, a temporary suspension of repayment can be agreed. Where an individual considers that recovery is not appropriate given their circumstances, they should contact the Department. A request for a waiver can be made and we will consider a number of factors included in the department’s Benefit Overpayment Recovery Guide in line with HM Treasury’s Managing Public Money guidance.
Independent financial advice is also available from organisations such as National Debtline Free Debt Advice and Support | National Debtline and MoneyHelper https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk
Asked by: Ann Davies (Plaid Cymru - Caerfyrddin)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of households in receipt of Universal Credit that are affected by the Benefit Cap have (a) no debt deductions from their Universal Credit award, (b) a deduction of more than 0% of their standard allowance and less than or equal to 5%, (c) a deduction of more than 5% and less than or equal to 10%, (d) a deduction of more than 10% and less than or equal to 15% and (e) a deduction of more than 15% in (i) Wales, (ii) Scotland and (iii) England.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Statistics related to Universal Credit deductions are routinely published. The latest publication, published on 12 August 2025, is available here: Universal Credit statistics, 29 April 2013 to 10 July 2025 - GOV.UK
The narrative Universal Credit deductions statistics, June 2024 to May 2025 - GOV.UK and supporting supplementary data tables provide a range of breakdowns including deduction amounts as a percentage of the standard allowance, in Table 2 of the supplementary tables and breakdowns by Local Authorities and Parliamentary Constituencies.
Statistics on households that have had their benefits capped is also routinely published. The latest publication is available here: Benefit Cap statistics - GOV.UK.
Data on UC households affected by the Benefit Cap that have deductions is not published.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to support disabled households with the cost of living in Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Extra costs disability benefits, including Personal Independence Payment (PIP), are individual benefits paid to all qualifying members of a household. They provide a contribution towards the extra costs that may arise from a long-term disability or health condition. These benefits are non-contributory, non-means-tested, can be worth up to £9,747.40 a year, tax free and are paid in addition to any other benefits or income received. Receiving a qualifying rate of an extra costs disability benefit could also act as a ‘passport’ to extra money or higher amounts of other means-tested benefits, such as Universal Credit, Employment and Support Allowance, Pension Credit and Housing Benefit. It can also provide access to council tax reductions and a Disabled Person's Railcard.
We know for those who can, work is the best route out of poverty. The Government is investing in the biggest employment support package for disabled people and those with a health condition in a generation. Our Pathways to Work Guarantee will ensure there is an offer of work, health and skills support for disabled people and those with health conditions claiming out of work benefits.
Disabled people may also benefit from the wide range of measures we have announced to support those in low-income families and households, including an expansion of Free School Meals that will lift 100,000 children out of poverty by the end of this parliament, a long-term Crisis and Resilience Fund supported by £1 billion a year (including Barnett impact), and extending the £3 bus fare cap. We have increased the national minimum wage for those on the lowest incomes and introduced a Fair Repayment Rate on Universal Credit deductions, helping around 1.2 million UC households retain more of their award, 700,000 of these households include children. We are also expanding the Warm Home Discount Scheme to give more eligible households £150 off their winter energy bills. All households on a qualifying means tested benefit will be eligible for the Discount, bringing around 2.7 million households into the scheme and pushing the total number of households that will receive the discount this winter up to around 6 million.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the increase in the cost of living over the past four years, and what steps they are taking to ensure those costs are manageable.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
CPI inflation, which measures how the cost of goods and services change each year, has fallen from a high of 11.1% in October 2022, to 3.8% in July 2025.
The Bank of England has the responsibility of controlling inflation, and the Government fully supports them as they take action to sustainably return inflation to the 2% target.
The Government understands that the cost of living remains a challenge which is why, at the Budget in October 2024, we took significant steps to support households. These steps include increasing the National Living Wage, extending the Household Support Fund, raising working-age benefits, reducing the cap on Universal Credit deductions, and raising the Carer's Allowance weekly earnings limit.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the report from the Child Poverty Action Group entitled 'Two-child limit statistics briefing', published on 10 July 2025, what steps she is taking to lift children out of poverty.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Tackling child poverty is at the heart of the Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and improve the life chances of every child. The Child Poverty Taskforce is progressing work to publish the Child Poverty Strategy in autumn that will deliver fully funded measures to tackle the structural and root causes of child poverty.
The Taskforce will continue to explore all available levers to drive forward short and long-term action across government to reduce child poverty. The Strategy will tackle overall child poverty as well as going beyond that to focus on children in deepest poverty lacking essentials, and what is needed to give every child the best start in life.
As a significant downpayment ahead of Strategy publication, we have already taken substantive action across major drivers of child poverty through Spending Review 2025. This includes an expansion of Free School Meals that will lift 100,000 children out of poverty by the end of the parliament. We are also establishing a long-term Crisis and Resilience Fund supported by £1 billion a year (including Barnett impact), investing in local family support services, and extending the £3 bus fare cap. We also announced the biggest boost to social and affordable housing investment in a generation and £13.2 billion including Barnett impact across the Parliament for the Warm Homes Plan.
We’ve also committed to rolling out Best Start Family Hubs in every local authority by April 2026 and creating up to 1,000 hubs across the country by the end of 2028. Backed by £500m funding, this vital support will relieve pressure on parents and give half a million more children the very best start in life. And last month, we confirmed funding of £600m for the Holiday Activities and Food programme for the next three years, ensuring that children and young people can continue to benefit from enriching experiences and nutritious meals during the school holidays.
These commitments come on top of the existing action we have taken which includes expanding free breakfast clubs, capping the number of branded school uniform items children are expected to wear, increasing the national minimum wage for those on the lowest incomes and supporting 700,000 of the poorest families by introducing a Fair Repayment Rate on Universal Credit deductions.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to reduce levels of (a) poverty and (b) economic inequality in the North West; and what recent assessment she has made of trends in the level of regional disparities in (i) income and (ii) living standards.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Government has set out a Plan for Change that includes raising living standards in every part of the United Kingdom. To deliver this, we have taken action to support households facing the greatest hardships by increasing the National Living Wage by 6.7%, introducing a Fair Repayment Rate to cap deductions from Universal Credit, uplifting the Universal Credit standard allowance to 5% above CPI by 2029-30, and expanding the Warm Homes Discount to every billpayer on means-tested benefits. Furthermore, at the Spending Review we expanded Free School Meals to lift 100,000 children out of poverty, funded the biggest boost to social and affordable housing in a generation, provided £1bn a year (including Barnett impact) for a new Crisis and Resilience Fund, and extended the £3 Bus Fare Cap in England. This is in addition to investing in 350 deprived communities across the UK, to fund interventions including regeneration, community cohesion and improving the public realm.
The Government is also investing in infrastructure in the North West to spur economic growth, boost wages and increase living standards, providing £4.1bn to the North West via the Transport for City Regions fund. It has recommitted to £160m of funding over 10 years for Investment Zones in Greater Manchester and Liverpool, and reconfirmed support for Liverpool City Region Freeport. Local partners expect Greater Manchester Investment Zone to deliver £1.1 bn in private sector investment and 32,000 jobs, and expect Liverpool City Region’s Investment Zone to generate £320m in private investment and 4,000 jobs.
The latest Office for National Statistics data shows that in 2022 Gross Disposable Household Income (GDHI) per head was £19,752 in the North West compared to £22,789 for the UK. The Plan for Change sets out that living standards at a regional level is measured by regional Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per head. The latest ONS data shows that GDP per head, in real terms (2022 prices), was £33,170 per head in the North West and £37,135 per head for the UK in 2023. GDP per head was £23,555 per head in the North West in 1998 compared to £28,570 for the UK.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 6 January 2025 to Question 21111 on Local Housing Allowance, if she will publish the analysis of the range of factors considered in the decision not to increase local housing allowance rates.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The impacts referenced in the previous answer were determined using a wide variety of metrics, data and analysis. These included:
At Autumn Budget the Government prioritised a downpayment on poverty, by introducing a Fair Payment Rate for Universal Credit (UC) customers with deductions to retain more of their benefit award. We also invested £1bn in extending the Household Support Fund and maintaining Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) at current levels (including Barnett impacts) for 2025/26. Additionally, from 1 April 2026, we are introducing a new Crisis and Resilience Fund, incorporating Discretionary Housing Payments and funding to ensure the poorest children do not go hungry outside of term time. This will provide £842 million per year (£1 billion including Barnett consequential) to reform how crisis support is delivered locally.
This support can be paid to those entitled to Housing Benefit or Universal Credit who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs.
DWP forecast data is regularly published and can be found in our benefit expenditure tables: Benefit expenditure and caseload tables - GOV.UK
The Rent Officers Order 2025 Explanatory Memorandum includes considerations for reviewing LHA rates for 2025/26:
The Rent Officers (Housing Benefit and Universal Credit Functions) (Modification) Order 2025
In addition, the department regularly publishes Universal Credit and Housing Benefit data via Official Statistics. The data can be obtained via Stat-Xplore: