Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the Bereavement Support Payment in the context of trends in the cost of living.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Bereavement Support Payment (BSP) is intended to provide support during the acute period following a bereavement when people may face sudden costs or disruption. Where longer-term income support is needed for everyday living costs, qualifying individuals can access Universal Credit, which is generally increased in line with inflation.
The rate of Bereavement Support Payment is reviewed on a discretionary basis each year as part of the annual uprating process.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to review the 18-month duration period of the Bereavement Support Payment; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) uprating the payment in line with inflation and (b) aligning the payment more closely with child‑related benefits.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Bereavement Support Payment (BSP) provides support during the acute period following a bereavement. Unlike its predecessor Widowed Parents Allowance, which could be paid for as long as there was entitlement to Child Benefit, BSP is not an income replacement benefit. Where longer term support is needed, benefits such as Universal Credit have been designed to provide assistance with ongoing living costs.
The rate of BSP is reviewed on a discretionary basis each year as part of the annual uprating process.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the extent to which the Timms Review steering group includes people with recent lived experience of disability and of claiming Personal Independence Payment and Universal Credit; and what steps he is taking to ensure that the composition of the group commands confidence among disabled people and stakeholders.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Almost all steering group members have lived experience of disability, and the group is diverse in terms of geography, ethnicity, and sexuality. However, no single group can be fully representative of the UK’s disabled community. This is why the steering group will not work alone and will design a broader programme of participation to bring together the full range of views and voices to contribute to the Review. We are committed to transparency and there will be regular updates on the Review’s work as it progresses.
In regard to type of disability, employment status, and benefit claimant status, it is for steering group members to decide whether they want to share their own sensitive personal information. Some of our steering group members have shared this information in their public facing biographies, and some have not. It is important their choice and privacy is respected. Further information on steering group members can be found here: The Timms Review: Co-Chair Update, February 2026 - GOV.UK
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department cross-checks identity information with (a) HM Revenue and Customs and (b) other government databases before initiating debt recovery action relating to Universal Credit.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
This department is committed to fairness in debt recovery and will always work with people to ensure that any recovery activity does not cause hardship or is unfairly detrimental. Identity checks are undertaken by DWP at the point a customer makes a benefit claim, and we work closely with other government departments during the claimant journey where necessary.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 5 March 2026 to Question 108679 on Universal Credit: Work Capability Assessment, what estimate his Department has made of the reasons for the reduction in the number of Universal Credit Work Capability Assessments completed in December 2025 compared to each of the previous four months; and what steps his Department plans to take to increase capacity.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Work Capability Assessments reduced in December 2025 compared to the previous four months due to fewer working days over Christmas and an increase of staff on annual leave, again due to the festive period.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of Local Housing Allowance levels on (a) Personal Independence Payment claimants, (b) Universal Credit claimants and (c) households placed in temporary accommodation.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Local Housing Allowance (LHA) sets the maximum level of support for people living in the private rented sector and is administered through Universal Credit Housing Element or Housing Benefit.
The current LHA rate does not apply to households living in temporary accommodation. Their housing costs are covered in full by their local authority, and DWP then subsidises the local authority through Housing Benefit.
At Autumn Budget, the Secretary of State reviewed LHA and decided not to increase rates for 2026/27. A range of factors were considered, including cross-government impacts on homelessness and impacts on protected characteristics, such as disability, in line with equality duties.
This Government has taken important steps to support people with their living costs such as the Universal Credit Act, which legislates to rebalance Universal Credit by bringing in, for the first time ever, a sustained above inflation increase to the standard allowance for all claimants.
Renters facing a shortfall in meeting their housing costs can apply for discretionary housing support from local authorities.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of automating eligible claimants' entitlement to the disabled child addition to Universal Credit.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP’s digital application process uses automated prompts to identify where a claimant has a disabled child and guides them through the relevant eligibility criteria, helping ensure the correct addition is applied at the point of claim. This is currently the primary mechanism to identify likely eligibility and raise claimant awareness at the point of claiming UC.
The Department keeps all aspects of Universal Credit under review to ensure the system remains responsive, accurate and efficient. Our processes are dynamic, and we routinely explore opportunities to introduce further automation to streamline the process and further improve the claimant experience, including where claims to other benefits have been made.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether eligible Claimants that have existing applications for the LCWRA element of Universal Credit and are currently waiting for their Work Capability Assessment (WCA) will upon completion receive (a) the current rate of payment or (b) the rate of payment in place when their WCA is completed.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Universal Credit and Employment and Support Allowance (Rates of Allowances) (Amendment) Regulations 2026 were laid in Parliament on 09 February 2026. The Regulations provide further detail on the application of the Universal Credit Act 2025 including the definition of a pre-6 April 2026 Claimant confirming that claimants who declare a health condition or disability on or before 5 April 2026 and are found to have limited capability for work and work-related activity (LCWRA) will receive the higher rate of LCWRA. This applies even if their decision on entitlement is made on or after 6 April 2026.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Work Capability Assessments received Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity, Limited Capability for Work and Fit for Work awards in the last five years.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The department regularly publishes Universal Credit Work Capability Assessment (UC WCA) statistics, with monthly UC WCA decision outcomes, currently available from April 2019 to August 2025, shown in Table 6 of the latest data tables and on Stat-Xplore in the UC WCA Decision Outcomes dataset. The next release, covering decision outcomes to November 2025, is scheduled for 09:30am on 12 March 2026.
The published UC WCA statistics include claimants who have been moved from Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) under the Move to UC programme, although such claimants would not have had a new assessment and their previous status under ESA will have been carried over. Consequently, the Stat-Xplore statistics overstate the number of health-related claimants with new Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity and Limited Capability for Work decisions but ESA transitions have been separated out in Table 6 of the data tables.
Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access guidance on how to extract information.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
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 raise awareness of the disabled child addition to Universal Credit among eligible claimants.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.