Asked by: John Whittingdale (Conservative - Maldon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to chapter 2, section 1 of the Green Paper entitled Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working, published on 18 March 2025, whether Universal Credit claimants currently in receipt of the health element will continue to receive the health element after the Work Capability Assessment is abolished in the 2028-29 financial year if they do not qualify for the Personal Independence Payment daily living component.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Our Pathways to Work Green Paper set out why we are scrapping the Work Capability Assessment (WCA). We want to end the binary categorisation of groups and labelling as either ‘can or can’t work’. Instead, any extra financial support for health conditions in UC will be assessed via a single assessment – the PIP assessment – and be based on whether someone is receiving any Daily Living award in PIP, not on capacity to work. This will de-couple access to the health element in from work status, so people can be confident that the act of taking steps towards and into employment will not put their benefit entitlement at risk.
The Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill we recently introduced will freeze the health top-up at its current rate for existing claimants for the rest of this Parliament. This is twinned with delivering the first ever sustained, above-inflation rise to the standard allowance, with a cash increase of around £725 a year for single claimants aged 25 and over by the end of this Parliament. This is around £250 higher than an inflation-only increase.
Alongside these changes we are also looking to provide financial protection in Universal Credit for people with the most severe, life-long health conditions and those who are nearing the end of their lives. This will mean that anyone who meets the Severe Conditions Criteria (existing criteria for people with life-long conditions who can never work); and/or the Special Rules for End of Life (existing rules for people with 12 months or less to live to get faster, easier access to certain benefits) will continue to receive the existing, higher health top-up in Universal Credit over this Parliament. In addition, people who meet the Severe Conditions Criteria will never face a reassessment for Universal Credit, as we committed to do in the Green Paper – removing unnecessary stress, anxiety and uncertainty. As a result, we estimate more than 200,000 people with the most severe, life-long conditions will be protected by the end of the Parliament.
Asked by: Graeme Downie (Labour - Dunfermline and Dollar)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Defence on the need for amputee veterans to undertake capability assessments every two years.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government has not proposed to introduce two year assessments for any specific group.
Currently, Work Capability Assessment re-assessments are prioritised for customers on Employment and Support Allowance and the health element of Universal Credit who report a change in their health condition. Routine department-led reassessments are scheduled according to expected prognosis length for recovery and subject to available assessment capacity.
Individuals who have Limited Capability for Work- and Work-Related Activity (LCWRA), with the most severe and lifelong health conditions or disabilities, whose level of function means that they will always have LCWRA and are unlikely ever to be able to move into work, are not routinely reassessed.
Our wide-ranging package of reforms to health and disability benefits, set out in the Pathways to Work Green Paper, will improve experiences of the system for those who need it. The functional impact and severity of a condition can significantly vary across individuals, which is why we will continue to ensure that those with the most severe, life-long health conditions, who will never be able to work, will not need to be reassessed.
Asked by: Graeme Downie (Labour - Dunfermline and Dollar)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether amputee veterans will need to undertake capacity reassessments ever two years as part of proposed welfare reforms.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government has not proposed to introduce two year assessments for any specific group.
Currently, Work Capability Assessment re-assessments are prioritised for customers on Employment and Support Allowance and the health element of Universal Credit who report a change in their health condition. Routine department-led reassessments are scheduled according to expected prognosis length for recovery and subject to available assessment capacity.
Individuals who have Limited Capability for Work- and Work-Related Activity (LCWRA), with the most severe and lifelong health conditions or disabilities, whose level of function means that they will always have LCWRA and are unlikely ever to be able to move into work, are not routinely reassessed.
Our wide-ranging package of reforms to health and disability benefits, set out in the Pathways to Work Green Paper, will improve experiences of the system for those who need it. The functional impact and severity of a condition can significantly vary across individuals, which is why we will continue to ensure that those with the most severe, life-long health conditions, who will never be able to work, will not need to be reassessed.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether people who are in receipt of the Universal Credit health element who were not also in receipt of the Personal Independence Payment daily living component prior to the Work Capability Assessment being abolished will automatically lose their entitlement to the Universal Credit health element once the Work Capability Assessment is abolished.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Our Pathways to Work Green Paper set out why we are scrapping the Work Capability Assessment (WCA). We want to end the binary categorisation of groups and labelling as either ‘can or can’t work’. Instead, any extra financial support for health conditions in UC will be assessed via a single assessment – the PIP assessment – and be based on whether someone is receiving any Daily Living award in PIP, not on capacity to work. This will de-couple access to the health element in from work status, so people can be confident that the act of taking steps towards and into employment will not put their benefit entitlement at risk.
We are considering how any change of this kind could affect individuals who currently meet limited capability for work and work-related activity (LCWRA) criteria due to non-functional special circumstances; for example, those affected by cancer treatment, people with short term conditions that get better, women with a high-risk pregnancy and those currently classed as having substantial risk. Individuals in these categories may not be eligible for PIP, and therefore the UC health element, in the reformed system.
In the reformed system these groups will still be eligible for UC and for the proposed new higher rate Unemployment Insurance if they meet relevant eligibility criteria. Individuals who are nearing the end of their life with 12 months or less to live will continue to be able to access PIP through the existing fast track route (Special Rules for End of Life (SREL) to ensure we protect those who are nearing the end of their life, irrespective of the duration of their illness.
Further details on these changes will be set out in a White Paper in the Autumn.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average time is for her Department to respond to Mandatory Reconsideration requests.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The median mandatory reconsideration (MR) clearance times have been provided for Universal Credit (UC), Personal Independence Payment (PIP), and Employment Support Allowance (ESA) Work Capability Assessment (WCA) benefit decisions. To provide information across all other DWP administered benefits would incur disproportionate cost.
Median clearance times have been provided as the mean can be unduly affected by outlying cases.
Universal Credit
The median clearance time for UC MRs cleared in the 2024/25 financial year was 33 calendar days.
Notes:
Personal Independence Payment
PIP MR clearance times are published at Personal Independence Payment statistics - GOV.UK. They can be found by accessing the latest release and opening the excel tables. Tables 4A – 4Biii contain information on PIP MR clearance times.
Employment Support Allowance
ESA WCA MR clearance times are available on Stat-Xplore: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/. They can be found by going through “ESA Work Capability Assessments”, “Mandatory Reconsideration – Clearances” “Table 4 – Median Clearance Times by Date of Decision”.
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a work allowance within Universal Credit for unpaid carers looking after (a) disabled and (b) ill (i) relatives and (ii) friends; if she will make an estimate of the (A) number of unpaid carers who would be affected by and (B) the cost to the public purse of implementing this.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No recent assessment has been made.
The carers element in Universal Credit is an additional amount of benefit paid to support carers who provide care of 35 hours or more each week for a severely disabled person and as such these particular claimants have no work-related requirements. The carer’s element is paid in recognition of the support provided by carers for relatives, partners and friends who may be ill, frail or disabled.
Work allowances in Universal Credit are currently focussed on those with work requirements who may face additional barriers to finding and keeping work. These are for people with children and people who have limited capability for work because of a health condition or disability.
Asked by: Jacob Collier (Labour - Burton and Uttoxeter)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether people not in receipt of the Personal Independence Payment daily living component will lose their entitlement to the health element of Universal Credit after the abolition of the work capability assessment.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Our Pathways to Work Green Paper set out why we are scrapping the Work Capability Assessment (WCA). We want to end the binary categorisation of groups and labelling as either ‘can or can’t work’. Instead, any extra financial support for health conditions in UC will be assessed via a single assessment – the PIP assessment – and be based on the impact of disability on daily living, not on capacity to work. This will de-couple access to the health element in UC (current LCWRA rate referred to as UC health throughout) from work status, so people can be confident that the act of taking steps towards and into employment will not put their benefit entitlement at risk.
We are considering how any change of this kind could affect individuals who currently meet limited capability for work and work-related activity (LCWRA) criteria due to non-functional special circumstances; for example, those affected by cancer treatment, people with short term conditions that get better, women with a high-risk pregnancy and those currently classed as having substantial risk. Individuals in these categories may not be eligible for PIP, and therefore the UC health element, in the reformed system.
In the reformed system these groups will still be eligible for UC and for the proposed new higher rate Unemployment Insurance if they meet relevant eligibility criteria. Individuals who are nearing the end of their life with 12 months or less to live will continue to be able to access PIP through the existing fast track route (Special Rules for End of Life (SREL) to ensure we protect those who are nearing the end of their life, irrespective of the duration of their illness.
Further details on these changes will be set out in a White Paper in the Autumn.
Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
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 restricting access to the limited work capability component of Universal Credit for those under the age of 22 on (a) armed forces early service leavers and (b) people who have been medically discharged from the armed forces.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In our recent Pathways to Work Green Paper, published on 18 March 2025, we announced a broad package of reforms to the health and disability benefit and support system. Importantly, no changes are proposed to Armed Forces Independence Payments (AFIP), which continue to provide support to some of the most severely disabled veterans.
For those in receipt of PIP who may be affected by the proposed eligibility changes, we are consulting on how best to support this group, including how to ensure health and eligible care needs are met. We also intend to launch a wider review of the PIP assessment process, bringing together experts, stakeholders, and individuals with lived experience. We will provide further details as plans progress.
As we develop proposals further, we are carefully considering the potential impacts, including on veterans and their families, as part of our broader response to the Green Paper consultation. We would encourage organisations supporting and representing veterans, such as the Royal British Legion, the Soldiers', Sailors', and Airmen's Families Association (SSAFA), and many others, to contribute their views on how best to support wounded, injured, and sick veterans.
I have also asked my officials to work with their counterparts in the Office for Veterans' Affairs (OVA) to organise a dedicated consultation event for armed forces stakeholders, likely to take place in June. We are also providing detailed briefings on the proposals to Ministry of Defence (MoD) and OVA officials. Once we have completed the consultation we will be building up to a White Paper, where we will once again engage with MoD and the OVA in advance of collective agreement.
We are also welcoming views on raising the age at which someone can access the Universal Credit health element to 22 as part of our Green Paper consultation.
A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many people who receive (1) the employment and support allowance, or (2) Universal Credit, are treated as having limited capability for work and work-related activity without scoring points under the Work Capability Assessment, broken down by gender.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The specific information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Statistics on Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) Work Capability Assessment decisions, including reason for support group allocation, are published on Stat-Xplore in the section ‘ESA Work Capability Assessments’.
Statistics on Universal Credit Health caseload, including an identifier for terminally ill claimants, are published on Stat-Xplore in the section ‘Universal Credit Work Capability Assessments’.
Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access guidance on how to extract information.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many people who underwent a Work Capability Assessment were placed in (1) the work-related activity group, (2) the support group, and (3) the fit-for-work group, for the year January to December 2024, broken down by gender.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The following tables shows the volumes of Work Capability Assessments (WCAs) that were placed in (1) the work-related activity group (WRAG), (2) the support group (SG), and (3) the fit-for-work (FFW) group, for the year January to December 2024, broken down by gender.
For WCA outcomes for the health element of Universal Credit (UC), WRAG is referred to as limited capability for work, SG is referred to as limited capability for work and work-related activity, and FFW is referred to as no limited capability for work.
Volumes cover all WCA outcomes including:
- initial assessments (the first assessment of the claim),
- repeat assessments (subsequent assessments after prognosis period of previous assessment of the claim expires), and
- initial assessments for those moving over from Incapacity Benefit (IB).
ESA WCAs January to December 2024 by gender
| Male | Female | Total |
WRAG | 11,200 | 9,600 | 20,800 |
SG | 43,300 | 47,500 | 90,800 |
FFW | 8,800 | 6,200 | 15,000 |
Source: WCA Administrative Data
UC WCAs January to November 2024 by gender
| Male | Female | Total |
Limited capability for work | 51,600 | 72,000 | 123,700 |
Limited capability for work and work-related activity | 222,900 | 265,800 | 488,700 |
No limited capability for work | 48,000 | 50,500 | 98,500 |
Source: Stat-Xplore
Please note that in both tables, figures may not sum due to rounding.