Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what (a) support, (b) benefits and (c) resources her Department provides to (i) humanitarian and (ii) healthcare workers with PTSD who have worked in warzones and are unable to return to work.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
For all Universal Credit (UC) customers with health conditions and disabilities additional support is based on the outcome of a Work Capability Assessment (WCA). The outcome may be that they are found to have Limited Capability for Work (LCW), Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity (LCWRA) or be found fit for work. An extra amount of UC is awarded if a customer is found to have LCWRA.
Government is committed to reforming the system of health and disability benefits so that it promotes and enables employment among as many people as possible. The system must also work to reduce poverty for disabled people and those with health conditions and support disabled people to live independently. It is also vital to ensure that the system is financially sustainable in the long term.
The Pathways to Work Green Paper, published in March 2025, set out our plans to reform benefits and support for disabled people and people with health conditions. The reforms will ensure the most vulnerable and severely disabled people are protected, so they can live with dignity and security, while supporting those who can work to do so.
This Government is committed to putting the views and voices of disabled people at the heart of all that we do, so we will consult on these proposals with disabled people and representative organisations.
Asked by: Sorcha Eastwood (Alliance - Lagan Valley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason her Department's consultation on the Health and Disability Green Paper, published on 18 March 2025, does not include proposals to (a) abolish the Work Capability Assessment, (b) freeze the Universal Credit Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity element and (c) make change to the PIP daily living component; and if she will (i) change that consultation to include those measures and (ii) extend the consultation period.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Pathways to Work Green Paper set out our plans and proposals for reform to health and disability benefits and employment support. This includes urgently needed reforms to PIP eligibility and Universal Credit rates that are not subject to consultation but which Parliament will fully debate and vote on. The reforms are included in the Green Paper to provide the wider context.
We are also scrapping the Work Capability Assessment to end the dysfunctional process which drives people into dependency – delivering on the Government’s commitment to reform or replace it. The details will be set out in a White Paper in autumn 2025, following the Green Paper consultation, which closes on 30 June. This will be followed by further primary legislation, which we expect to take forwards in the second session, subject to parliamentary approval. We will not be changing the scope of the consultation or extending the consultation period.
The Green Paper does consult on many key elements of the reform package, including employment support and Access to Work, which are at the centre of our plans to improve the system for disabled people. We hope that a wide range of voices will respond to the consultation, and we are holding a programme of public consultation events across the country to help facilitate input.
We are also developing other ways to facilitate the involvement of stakeholders and disabled people in our reforms. In addition to the consultation itself, we will establish ‘collaboration committees’ that bring groups of people together for specific work areas and our wider review of the PIP assessment will bring together a range of experts, stakeholders and people with lived experience.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an estimate she of the potential impact of changes to (a) PIP entitlement rules, (b) the Universal Credit health element and (c) the Universal Credit standard allowance and (d) all three measures on the number of (i) families, (ii) people and (iii) children who are (A) in and (B) not in relative poverty after housing costs pre-measures in 2029-30, using baselines in which the Autumn Statement 2023 Work Capability Assessment descriptor reforms are assumed to have (1) been implemented and (2) not been implemented.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
An assessment of the potential impact of the planned changes to health and disability benefits is available here: Spring Statement 2025 health and disability benefit reforms – Impacts.
This includes breakdowns for each change separately on levels of poverty. It also includes estimated impacts regarding the changes to the Work Capability Assessment descriptors proposed at Autumn Statement 2023, but which were subsequently reversed.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an estimate of the potential impact of changes to (a) PIP entitlement rules, (b) the Universal Credit health element, (c) Universal Credit standard allowance and (d) all three measures on the number of (i) people and (ii) children who will be in relative poverty after housing costs in 2029-30, using baselines in which the Autumn Statement 2023 Work Capability Assessment descriptor reforms are assumed to have (A) been implemented and (B) not been implemented.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
An assessment of the potential impact of the planned changes to health and disability benefits is available here: Spring Statement 2025 health and disability benefit reforms – Impacts.
This includes breakdowns for each change separately on levels of poverty. It also includes estimated impacts regarding the changes to the Work Capability Assessment descriptors proposed at Autumn Statement 2023, but which were subsequently reversed.
Asked by: Baroness Finn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of successful claims for (1) personal independence payment, and (2) universal credit with a limited capability for work and work-related activity payment, were made without any supporting medical evidence in the most recent 12-month period, broken down by (a) age cohort, (b) primary medical condition category, and (c) assessment modality.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
The Department does not hold data centrally on whether any supporting medical evidence was provided for a claimant’s application. Obtaining such data would require a manual search of individual records.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, published on 18 March 2025, how Scottish claimants would access the health element of Universal Credit, in the context of the planned use of the single Personal Independence Payment assessment for this purpose.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Pathways to Work Green Paper, published in March 2025, sets out our plans to reform health and disability benefits and employment support and opened a consultation on certain reforms. The consultation extends to Scotland, but the proposals will only apply to UK Government’s areas of responsibility. DWP Ministers are engaging with Scottish Government throughout the consultation period and beyond.
The interactions of the reformed system, in particular the abolition of the Work Capability Assessment and the introduction of a PIP passporting model and the implications for Devolved Governments, will need to be fully considered before being implemented. This will be particularly important in Scotland as PIP is devolved and has been replaced by Adult Disability Payment, so we will carefully consider how entitlement to the UC health element will be determined for people in Scotland.
DWP currently treats Scottish Government’s disability benefits in the same way as the equivalent DWP benefits for the purposes of reserved premia and additions. Whilst this will be kept under review, it will in any event be necessary for the UK Government to ensure that people in Scotland are not disadvantaged in the reserved benefit system compared with people in England and Wales.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, published on 18 March 2025, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to the limited capability for work and work related activity element of Universal Credit on disabled people in residential care aged under 22.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department has not yet made such an assessment and does not hold the requested information. We will consider the impacts of our changes for groups which may be affected as part of our wider consideration of responses to the consultation as we develop detailed proposals for change. Following the consultation, we will bring forward a White Paper in autumn 2025 to set out our full proposals.
We are clear in the Green Paper that the social security system will always be there for those who cannot work. As part of making changes to the payment rates in Universal Credit, we will aim to guarantee that those with the most severe, lifelong conditions who will never be able to work have their incomes protected.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an estimate of the number of disabled people in specialist education colleges who could be affected by the proposal to change the eligibility criteria for the (a) Limited Capability for Work and (b) Work-Related Activity group to people aged 22 and over.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department has not yet made such an assessment and does not hold the requested information. We will consider the impacts of our changes for groups which may be affected as part of our wider consideration of responses to the consultation as we develop detailed proposals for change. Following the consultation, we will bring forward a White Paper in autumn 2025 to set out our full proposals.
We are clear in the Green Paper that the social security system will always be there for those who cannot work. As part of making changes to the payment rates in Universal Credit, we will aim to guarantee that those with the most severe, lifelong conditions who will never be able to work have their incomes protected.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 7 April 2025 to Question 42060 on Pathways to Work: Impact Assessments, whether her Department’s further programme of analysis will include a disaggregation of data by category of (a) disability and (b) health condition.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
A breakdown of the impact of the reforms on disability overall has been published as part of an Equality Analysis of the Spring Statement package of measures (https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/pathways-to-work-reforming-benefits-and-support-to-get-britain-working-green-paper/spring-statement-2025-health-and-disability-benefit-reforms-equality-analysis).
Data on the health conditions of UC claimants being placed in the LCWRA has been published (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/universal-credit-work-capability-assessment-statistics) and will continue to be taken into account in the future programme of analysis.
Analysis of those who do not score 4 points in at least one daily living activity for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) has now been undertaken and is provided in the table below. This shows the volume of claimants with the 18 most common disabling conditions in receipt of the PIP daily living component in January 2025, as well as the volume and proportion of these claimants who were awarded less than 4 points in all ten daily living activities.
Health condition category | Volume of PIP Claimants in receipt of Daily Living component | Claimants awarded less than 4 points in all daily living activities | |
Volume in each condition group | Proportion in each condition group | ||
Cancer | 70,000 | 23,000 | 33% |
Anxiety and Depression | 587,000 | 282,000 | 48% |
Autistic Spectrum Disorders | 206,000 | 13,000 | 6% |
Learning Disabilities | 188,000 | 7,000 | 3% |
ADHD / ADD | 75,000 | 14,000 | 19% |
Psychotic Disorders | 112,000 | 26,000 | 23% |
Other Psychiatric Disorders | 90,000 | 25,000 | 28% |
Arthritis | 279,000 | 214,000 | 77% |
Chronic Pain Syndromes | 173,000 | 118,000 | 68% |
Back Pain | 194,000 | 154,000 | 79% |
Other Regional Musculoskeletal Diseases | 136,000 | 97,000 | 71% |
Cerebrovascular Diseases | 56,000 | 19,000 | 34% |
Epilepsy | 36,000 | 11,000 | 30% |
Multiple Sclerosis and Neuropathic Diseases | 80,000 | 38,000 | 48% |
Cerebral Palsy and Neurological Muscular Diseases | 47,000 | 11,000 | 24% |
Other Neurological Diseases | 97,000 | 35,000 | 36% |
Respiratory Diseases | 83,000 | 45,000 | 55% |
Cardiovascular Diseases | 61,000 | 38,000 | 62% |
All Other Conditions | 272,000 | 126,000 | 46% |
Source: PIP Administrative Data
Notes:
- Visual Diseases
- Other General Musculoskeletal Diseases
- Endocrine Diseases
- Hearing Disorders
- Gastrointestinal Diseases
- Genitourinary Diseases
- Skin Diseases
- Autoimmune Diseases (Connective Tissue Disorders)
- Infectious Diseases
- Diseases of the Liver, Gallbladder or Biliary Tract
- Haematological Diseases
- Metabolic Diseases
- Multisystem and Extremes of Age
- Diseases of the Immune System
- Anxiety disorders - Other / type not known
- Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Stress reaction disorders - Other / type not known
- Generalised anxiety disorder
- Phobia - Specific
- Phobia - Social
- Agoraphobia
- Panic disorder
- Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
- Anxiety and depressive disorders - mixed
- Conversion disorder (hysteria)
- Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD)
- Dissociative disorders - Other / type not known
- Somatoform disorders - Other / type not known
- Depressive disorder
- Bipolar affective disorder (Hypomania / Mania)
- Mood disorders - Other / type not known
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will publish the Work Capability Assessment decisions made between January 2022 and November 2024, broken down by mental and behavioural disorders.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Statistics on Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) Work Capability Assessment decisions by grouped medical condition, including ‘mental and behavioural disorders’, are published on Stat-Xplore in the sections ‘ESA Work Capability Assessments’.
Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access guidance on how to extract the information required.
Statistics on Universal Credit Work Capability Assessment decisions by grouped medical condition, including ‘mental and behavioural disorders’, are available at Universal Credit Work Capability Assessment statistics, April 2019 to December 2024 - GOV.UK in section 6 of the document and table 7 of the tables.
Information on lower level conditions is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.