Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she had made of the levels of spending on social security for disabled people as a result of the provisions of Budget 2018.
Answered by Sarah Newton
We will spend over £50 billion in 2018/19 on benefits to support disabled people and people with health conditions.
In the budget we have announced that work allowance rates will be increased by £1000 from April 2019 and uprated in line with inflation thereafter. Raising the current work allowances will direct additional funding to working disabled people by allowing them to keep more of their earnings before the earnings taper is applied. By increasing the work allowances many disabled families on UC will be £630 better off, in a package worth £1.7bn in 2023/24.
It has also been announced that income related legacy benefits, Income Support (IS), Income Related Employment and Support Allowance and Income Based Jobseeker’s Allowance will continue for two weeks after a claim for Universal Credit has been made. This change will particularly support vulnerable claimants who may have been on benefits for some time, have little or no savings to fall back on and currently rely on regular payments at shorter intervals.
We have also previously announced that transitional payments for former recipients of Severe Disability Premium (SDP) and protection for those who are receiving SDP as part of their existing benefit entitlement. These claimants will now only move to UC with transitional protection. Those who have already moved to UC will be considered for a lump sum payment that will be back-dated to the start of their UC claim, and will receive ongoing monthly payments.
These regulations provide transitional support to recipients of the SDP while removing the complexity of dealing with different rules for seven different disability additions. 500,000 vulnerable people receive the SDP alongside their benefit awards. All of these people will ultimately move to UC and benefit from this enhanced support.
Not replicating the Severe Disability Premium in UC means the government can target additional support to a wider group. UC provides a higher level of support for the most severely disabled people than the benefit it replaces, worth up to £328.32 per month.
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what measures are in place to support claimants receiving employment and support allowance in their transition to universal credit.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
Once passed, our managed migration regulations will ensure that anyone we move onto Universal Credit, without a change of circumstance, will have their existing benefit entitlement safeguarded. As part of this we will also be providing on-going protection for 500,000 claimants receiving the Severe Disability Premium.
Earlier this month, we announced a new partnership with Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland to deliver a new approach to Universal Support, initially up to March 2020. Our new partnership will ensure that all those who need to make a claim and need extra support can access it.
Our focus is always on safeguarding claimants and ensuring a smooth transition with uninterrupted support. Our plans, under discussion with stakeholders, already include a mechanism to ensure that, before the existing benefits are stopped, agents will check for evidence of complex needs or vulnerability or disability to safeguard these claimants.
Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the draft Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) (Managed Migration) Regulations 2018, what estimate she has made of the number and proportion of claimants in receipt of (a) severe disability premium and (b) enhanced disability premium under employment support allowance who will see a reduction in social security support as a result of moving to universal credit.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
The Government has already made a commitment that anyone who is moved to Universal Credit without a change of circumstance will be protected. Transitional protection will be provided to eligible claimants, including those in receipt of severe disability or enhanced disability premiums, to safeguard their existing benefit entitlement until their circumstances change.
We are also changing the system to prevent those claimants in receipt of Severe Disability Premium on existing benefits from moving to Universal Credit until they qualify for transitional protection. In addition, we will provide both an on-going payment to claimants who have already lost this Premium as a consequence of moving to Universal Credit and an additional payment to cover the period since they moved.
These changes are subject to parliamentary approval of the Universal Credit Managed Migration and Transitional Protection Regulations which we intend to bring forward in the autumn. In the legacy system there are £2.4bn of unclaimed benefits not taken up by people who need them, because they do not know about them. These Regulations will ensure that 700,000 more people will get paid their full entitlement under Universal Credit.
Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of claimants of (a) severe disability premium and (b) enhanced disability premium under employment support allowance have had a reduction in social security support as a result of moving from universal credit with the transitional provisions as outlined in the draft Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) (Managed Migration) Regulations 2018.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
Currently, there are no claimants receiving the transitional provisions as outlined in the Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) (Managed Migration) Regulations 2018. These have not yet come into force and are subject to parliamentary approval.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
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 effect of the proposed rates of transitional payments for universal credit on the financial situation of individuals receiving severe disability premium; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
As outlined in the Explanatory Memorandum submitted to Social Security Advisory Committee (SSAC), the £80 per month flat rate payment is an additional transitional payment to support people who have a disability and who live alone.
In setting the rate for this additional payment, we have had regard to the rates of Severe Disability Premium, and also have taken into account whether the claimant receives additional support due to having limited capability to undertake work related activity, because the level of support for these claimants is set higher than the equivalent level under Employment and Support Allowance.
Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the draft Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) (Managed Migration) Regulations 2018, which criteria her Department used to calculate the proposed flat rate of £80 per month to cover the shortfall to claimants' income moving from Employment Support Allowance to universal credit.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
As outlined in the Explanatory Memorandum submitted to Social Security Advisory Committee (SSAC), the £80 per month flat rate payment is an additional transitional payment to support people who have a disability and who live alone. In setting the rate for this additional payment, we have had regard to the rates of Severe Disability Premium, and also have taken into account whether the claimant receives additional support through being in the Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity Group (LCWRA) as part of their Universal Credit award.
This is due to the policy design of Universal Credit, and the LCWRA payment, which is set at a much higher rate than its Employment and Support Allowance equivalent to ensure financial support, is available for those who are severely disabled.
Full details on the method of calculation can be found in the documents sent to the SSAC at:
We are committed to ensuring severely disabled claimants have transitional protection during their migration from the legacy system. These changes and the protection proposed in the the Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) (Managed Migration) Amendment Regulations 2018, will be subject to Parliamentary approval.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans her Department has to ensure that claimants previously in receipt of severe disability premium of employment and support allowance are not financially worse off after moving to universal credit.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
We are committed to supporting disabled people and continue to review the Universal Credit claimant experience and processes.
Earlier this month we announced that claimants in receipt of the Severe Disability Premium will qualify for transitional protection when they move to Universal Credit. We will backdate these payments for those who have already moved to Universal Credit, to cover the period between their move to Universal Credit and the introduction of the new payment.
Further detail can be accessed in the Secretary of State’s Written Statement HCWS745, made on 7 June:
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what transitional protections are in place to ensure that claimants of employment and support allowance retain their severe disability premium when they move on to universal credit.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
We will start to move legacy benefit claimants to Universal Credit as part of our Managed Migration process from 2019. At this point, claimants will receive transitional protection if their overall Universal Credit entitlement would be less than under the old system, provided that their circumstances remain the same.
Currently, claimants only move from existing benefits to Universal Credit through natural migration when they experience a change in their circumstances that triggers a new claim to benefit. Their entitlement is then calculated on the rules of their new benefit. This is a long-established principle which we maintain for Universal Credit. In the case of claimants currently in receipt of the Severe Disability Premium, we will continue to reflect on the matter.
Asked by: Ruth George (Labour - High Peak)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 12 March 2018 to Question 130769, on Disability Premium, on what date her Department plans to release the ad-hoc statistics publication for employment and support allowance people in receipt of severe and enhanced disability premiums.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The Disability Premium data is currently being quality assured. We cannot yet give an exact date for the publication.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to support people with diverticulitis through the welfare system.
Answered by Sarah Newton
Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) is an income replacement benefit, available for people with health conditions or disabilities, including diverticulitis who face barriers to work.
People claiming ESA are offered support through the Personal Support Package to help them move closer to the Labour Market. The package is for people with health conditions and disabilities, with a range of interventions and initiatives designed to provide support that is tailored to the individual needs of claimants.
Universal Credit (UC) is replacing Income-related ESA and the linked disability premiums, including the Severe Disability Premium. This is will simplify the benefits processes and better target support. UC claimants are assigned a dedicated Work Coach to support them throughout their claim. This builds relationships and trust, and means Work Coaches can identify and address any specific needs the claimant may have as a result of their health condition.
Personal Independence Payment (PIP) provides a contribution towards the extra costs that disabled people can face and is assessed on needs arising rather than being condition specific. There are currently 620 people in receipt of PIP whose main disabling condition is recorded as being diverticular disease of diverticulitis.