Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the proposed expansion of free school meals on student attainment in North East Somerset and Hanham constituency.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity and tackling child poverty. The department has now announced that we are extending free school meals (FSM) to all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit from September 2026. This will lift 100,000 children across England out of poverty and put £500 back in families’ pockets, supporting parents in decisive action to improve lives ahead of the Child Poverty Strategy coming later this year.
In North East Somerset and Hanham, 2,008 pupils are currently eligible for FSM. Following the expansion of FSM to all on Universal Credit from September 2026, the department expects approximately 3,500 children to be eligible based on data from the Department for Work and Pensions. Providing over half a million children from the most disadvantaged backgrounds with a free, nutritious lunchtime meal every school day will lead to higher attainment, improved behaviour and better outcomes, meaning children get the best possible education and chance to succeed in work and life.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the proposed expansion of free school meals on pupil behaviour in North East Somerset and Hanham constituency.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity and tackling child poverty. The department has now announced that we are extending free school meals (FSM) to all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit from September 2026. This will lift 100,000 children across England out of poverty and put £500 back in families’ pockets, supporting parents in decisive action to improve lives ahead of the Child Poverty Strategy coming later this year.
In North East Somerset and Hanham, 2,008 pupils are currently eligible for FSM. Following the expansion of FSM to all on Universal Credit from September 2026, the department expects approximately 3,500 children to be eligible based on data from the Department for Work and Pensions. Providing over half a million children from the most disadvantaged backgrounds with a free, nutritious lunchtime meal every school day will lead to higher attainment, improved behaviour and better outcomes, meaning children get the best possible education and chance to succeed in work and life.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of proposed welfare reforms on people with bipolar disorder.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
As I made clear in my statement to the House, Hansard, 1 July, col 219, any changes to PIP eligibility will come after a comprehensive review of the benefit, which I am leading, and which will be co-produced with disabled people, the organisations that represent them, clinicians, experts, MPs and other stakeholders, so a wide range of views and voices are heard. This review aims to ensure that the PIP assessment is fair and fit for the future. The review is expected to conclude in autumn 2026.
In relation to Universal Credit changes, existing claimants at the point of change in April 2026 will continue to receive at least the same amount of benefit as under the current rules, if there are no changes in their circumstances. For future claimants we are not able to assess the impact of the changes at this level as the readily available data on health conditions is not sufficiently detailed.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the potential merits of allowing early state pension access for people with a terminal illness.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
There has been no recent assessment. The principle of having a State Pension age that is the same for everybody has the merit of simplicity and clarity through providing an important trigger moment for planning purposes. It has always been the case that nobody can claim their State Pension before they reach their State Pension age.
For those nearing the end of their life, the Government’s priority is to provide people with financial support quickly and compassionately. The main way the Department does this is through the Special Rules for End of Life. These enable people who are nearing the end of their lives to get faster, easier access to certain benefits, without needing to attend a medical assessment, serve waiting periods and in most cases, receive the highest rate of benefit.
These rules apply to five benefits that support people with health conditions or disabilities: Personal Independence Payment, Disability Living Allowance, Attendance Allowance, Universal Credit and Employment and Support Allowance
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment has she made of the adequacy of (a) telephone and (b) online Work Capability Assessments in ensuring the needs of disabled people are (i) met and (ii) understood.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
All Work Capability Assessments (WCAs) including paper-based, telephone, video and face-to-face are conducted by fully qualified, clinical professionals who have undergone a comprehensive training programme designed and approved by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). The quality of their advice is continually assured internally by the assessment suppliers and externally by the department's independent audit function.
DWP conducted a Health Assessment Channels Trial (HACT) to evaluate how well telephone and video assessments are working compared to face-to-face assessments. The Health Assessment Channels Research report, published on 7 October 2024, presents findings from mixed-method research conducted by Ipsos to understand the impact of the introduction of remote channels on claimant experiences.
The HACT found that over three quarters of Universal Credit and Employment and Support Allowance claimants that participated in the trial felt that the channel was suitable after having attended their assessment. This was consistent across telephone, video and face-to face assessments. Moreover, when asked about their channel preference for future assessments, channel preference was closely correlated to the channel through which their most recent assessment had been conducted.
We remain committed to enabling a multi-channel assessment approach ensuring the needs of all our customers, including those that are disabled, are met.
Asked by: Anna Dixon (Labour - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of PIP claims are fraudulent; how many existing PIP claimants are expected to lose their allowance as a result of proposed changes to limit eligibility to those scoring at least four points on one domain; and what data her Department holds on how PIP claimants are spending their allowance for people who are (a) in work and (b) not in work.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Information on Fraud and Error in the Benefit System, including Personal Independence Payment, is published here.
Information on the impacts changes to PIP have been published here: Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill publications - Parliamentary Bills - UK Parliament.
We will be making changes so no one currently on PIP will lose PIP as a result of the four-point change. The four point eligibility requirement will be implemented from November 2026 for new claims only, subject to Parliamentary approval.
The number of people currently on PIP who did not score 4 points in one category in their last assessment should not be equated with the number who are likely to not to be awarded the daily living component of PIP in future. Our intention is that changes will start to come into effect from November 2026, subject to parliamentary approval. After that date, people already in receipt of PIP will continue to be treated under the current rules, with only new claimants having the new criterion applied. As a result of behavioural responses to the change, we expect that a higher proportion of new claimants will score 4 points against at least one activity than happens currently.
We are consulting on how best to support those who are affected by the new eligibility changes, including ensuring health and care needs are met. We have also announced a wider review of the PIP assessment to make it fair and fit for purpose, which I am leading. We are bringing together a range of experts, stakeholders and people with lived experience to consider how best to do this. We will provide further details as plans progress
Information on how claimants spend their benefit is published in The Uses of Health and Disability Benefits, and, for a subset in receipt of the Support Group rate of Employment and Support Allowance and its Universal Credit equivalent, in chapter 3.4 of The work aspirations and support needs of claimants in the ESA Support Group and Universal Credit equivalent.
Asked by: Catherine Atkinson (Labour - Derby North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of her proposed reforms to PIP on people who (a) travel to work and (b) require (i) practical and (ii) mental health support at work.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper has been published here: Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill publications - Parliamentary Bills - UK Parliament.
We are consulting on how best to support those who are affected by the new eligibility changes, including ensuring health and care needs are met. We have also announced a wider review of the PIP assessment to make it fair and fit for purpose, which I am leading. We are bringing together a range of experts, stakeholders and people with lived experience to consider how best to do this. We will provide further details as plans progress
We will be making changes so no one currently on PIP will lose PIP as a result of the four-point change. The four point eligibility requirement will be implemented from November 2026 for new claims only, subject to Parliamentary approval.
Asked by: Catherine Atkinson (Labour - Derby North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of her proposed reforms to PIP on (a) employment and (b) health and care needs of disabled people.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper has been published here: Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill publications - Parliamentary Bills - UK Parliament. A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper is being developed and undertaken in the coming months.
The number of people currently on PIP who did not score 4 points in one category in their last assessment should not be equated with the number who are likely to not to be awarded the daily living component of PIP in future. Our intention is that changes will start to come into effect from November 2026, subject to parliamentary approval. After that date, people already in receipt of PIP will continue to be treated under the current rules, with only new claimants having the new criterion applied. As a result of behavioural responses to the change, we expect that a higher proportion of new claimants will score 4 points against at least one activity than happens currently.
We are consulting on how best to support those who are affected by the new eligibility changes, including ensuring health and care needs are met. We have also announced a wider review of the PIP assessment to make it fair and fit for purpose, which I am leading. We are bringing together a range of experts, stakeholders and people with lived experience to consider how best to do this. We will provide further details as plans progress
We will be making changes so no one currently on PIP will lose PIP as a result of the four-point change. The four point eligibility requirement will be implemented from November 2026 for new claims only, subject to Parliamentary approval.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) Universal Credit and (b) Universal Credit health element claimants are (i) current and (ii) previous members of the UK Armed Forces.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Data is not held on the total number of UC claimants who are currently serving in the Armed Forces or who have served in the past. Data is held on those who have identified themselves so far.
Therefore, data on Armed Forces status has only been recorded for a proportion of the UC claimants. Data coverage continues to improve over time and by September 2024 data was held on the armed forces status of approximately 77% of the GB UC caseload, as shown in the table below:
UC caseload month | Proportion of caseload with a recorded status | Currently serving | Served in the past | Not served | Prefer not to say | No recorded status | |
September 2024 | 77% | 4,700 | 68,000 | 5,400,000 | 37,000 | 1,700,000 | |
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) started collecting data on the Armed Forces status of Universal Credit (UC) claimants in Great Britain (GB) in April 2021. At first only new claimants were asked about their Armed Forces status. From June 2021 onwards, other UC claimants reporting changes in their work and earnings have also been able to report their status. From July 2021 onwards, UC agents have also been able to record claimants’ Armed Forces status if they are told about this via other means such as journal messages, face-to-face meetings or by telephone.
It should be noted that Armed forces status is self-reported by claimants and is not verified by the Ministry of Defence or Office for Veterans’ Affairs. A claimant’s status can be recorded as “currently serving”, “served in the past”, “not served” or “prefer not to say”.
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, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of proposed changes to (a) Universal Credit and (b) Personal Independence Payment on veterans.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No assessment has been made. Information on previous occupations is not systematically recorded on DWP IT systems and is not readily available for analysis.
Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper has been published here: Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill publications - Parliamentary Bills - UK Parliament.
The number of people currently on PIP who did not score 4 points in one category in their last assessment should not be equated with the number who are likely to not to be awarded the daily living component of PIP in future. Our intention is that changes will start to come into effect from November 2026, subject to parliamentary approval. After that date, people already in receipt of PIP will continue to be treated under the current rules, with only new claimants having the new criterion applied. As a result of behavioural responses to the change, we expect that a higher proportion of new claimants will score 4 points against at least one activity than happens currently.
We are consulting on how best to support those who are affected by the new eligibility changes, including ensuring health and care needs are met. We have also announced a wider review of the PIP assessment to make it fair and fit for purpose, which I am leading. We are bringing together a range of experts, stakeholders and people with lived experience to consider how best to do this. We will provide further details as plans progress.
We will be making changes so no one currently on PIP will lose PIP as a result of the four-point change. The four point eligibility requirement will be implemented from November 2026 for new claims only, subject to Parliamentary approval.
We take our commitments under the Armed Forces Covenant very seriously. My department has taken steps to ensure that veterans with injuries or conditions arising from their service are appropriately supported when accessing statutory support, this includes the establishment of the Armed Forces Independence Payment and ensuring that those receiving War Disablement Pensions and guaranteed income payments made under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme do not have their Universal Credit (UC) reduced to take account of this income.
We have welcomed veterans and representative organisations to respond to our Green Paper consultation to share their views on how wounded, injured and sick veterans can best be supported. To promote further engagement, we recently held a specific consultation event for Armed Forces and veterans’ organisations on 25 June to hear their experiences and thoughts directly.