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 and what proportion of recipients of the Personal Independence Payment daily living component scored fewer than four points on all of the descriptors on which they qualified across the ten activities, broken down by (1) gender of the recipient, (2) age of the recipient, including those of working age and over pension age, and (3) main condition type.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The proportion of people in receipt of Personal Independence Payment with the Daily Living component who were awarded fewer than four points in all daily living activities is readily available as part of the Pathways to Work Evidence Pack in Chapter 2.
The figures are broken down by the gender of the claimants in table 2.23, in which 39% of males and 52% of females scored fewer than four points on any daily living activity.
The figures are broken down by the age of the claimants in table 2.21. However, this table only includes statistics for working age claimants. For claimants over state pension age, 58% scored fewer than four points in all daily living activities. Claimants currently over state pension age are not routinely reviewed and will be unaffected by the proposals outlined in the Pathways to Work Green Paper.
The figures are broken down by the primary condition group of the claimants in table 2.22.
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 lose PIP. It is important to make a clear distinction between the two, not least because we do not want people to be unnecessarily fearful about their situation, when we understand many are already anxious.
No one will lose access to PIP immediately. The changes, subject to parliamentary approval, would be brought in from November 2026. After that date, no one will lose PIP without first being reassessed by a trained assessor or healthcare professional, who assesses individual needs and circumstance. Reassessments happen on average every 3 years. Someone who did not score 4 points in an activity in a previous assessment may well score 4 points in a future assessment – not least as many conditions tend to get worse, not better, over time. The OBR has taken into account expected behavioural changes in its numbers and determined that 370,000 (1 in 10) current PIP recipients may lose entitlement by 29/30 at their next award review after changes to PIP eligibility come into effect in November 2026.
Even with these reforms, the overall number of people on PIP is expected to rise by 750,000 by the end of this parliament and spending will rise from £23bn in 24/25 to £31bn in 29/30.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Sherlock on 2 May (HL6725), how many and what proportion of (1) existing, and (2) expected inflow, recipients of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) are expected to lose (a) the standard, and (b) the enhanced, PIP rate, broken down by gender.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department does not hold the data requested.
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.
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 currently receive the limited capability for work and work-related activity element of Universal Credit also receive Personal Independence Payment, broken down by gender.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Information on the number of claimants who currently receive Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity (LCWRA) element of Universal Credit (UC) and Personal Independence Payment (PIP) can be found in the table below.
Table 1: number of claimants receiving LCWRA and PIP, by gender.
Gender | LCWRA and receive PIP |
Male | 422,782 |
Female | 493,040 |
Total | 915,824 |
Source: Stat-Xplore (Benefits Combinations – Data from May 2019 for England and Wales)
Notes:
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number and proportion of people who may lose their entitlement to (1) Carer's Allowance, and (2) the carer element of Universal Credit, because they care for a disabled person who is no longer eligible for Personal Independence Payment because they score fewer than four points in the daily living component, broken down by gender.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department does not hold the data requested.
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 carers of claimants losing Personal Independence Payment entitlement under the proposals in the Green Paper Pathways to Work would (1) cease to be entitled to Carer’s Allowance, and (2) cease to be entitled to the carer element of Universal Credit; and, for each of the figures above, what proportion of the relevant current caseload this is.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In the “Spring Statement 2025 health and disability benefit reform – impacts” document, the Department estimated that, in 2029/30, 150,000 claimants receiving Carer’s benefits would be affected by the change.
Of these 150,000 we estimate that;
The current Green Paper consultation is considering whether transitional help should be provided to carers affected.
Notes:
a) Figures are based on modelling of the impact of requiring 4 points to be scored in at least one daily living activity.
b) Figures assume some behavioural impacts as a result of the PIP policy change.
c) Figures are based on carer’s benefits’ prevalence for the full PIP population, and are not specific to carers of people affected by the change in PIP criteria.
d) Figures have been rounded to the nearest thousand.
e) Figures are subject to change as forecasts are updated in light of more recent information, and further analysis is undertaken.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Lister of Burtersett on 3 April (HL6131), what is their estimate of the total cash amount of the Universal Credit standard allowance in 2029-30, both with and without the above-inflation increases listed.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The estimated cash amounts of the standard allowance in 2029-30 are presented in the table below. These cash amounts are minimum estimates based on Spring Statement 2025 Consumer Price Index forecasts and are subject to change with new forecasts.
The figures should therefore be treated with caution.
Estimated Monthly Standard Allowance in 2029-30 | ||
Rate | Inflation uprating only | Minimum Amounts with Above-inflation uprating |
Single under 25 | £348 | £365 |
Single 25 plus | £439 | £461 |
Couple under 25 | £546 | £573 |
Couple 25 plus | £690 | £723 |
Notes:
Amounts are rounded to the nearest £
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government, under the proposals for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) contained in the Green Paper Pathways to Work, how many current PIP claimants, based on their present activities of daily living points total and distribution between activities of daily living, would (1) not be entitled to the daily living component of PIP at the standard rate, (2) not be entitled to the daily living component of PIP at the enhanced rate, (3) become subject to the benefit cap, and (4) become subject to the shared accommodation rate of Local Housing Allowance.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In the Pathways to Work Impact assessment, the Department estimated that by 29/30 around 370,000 PIP claimants currently on PIP at policy implementation would be affected, after behavioural responses were taken into account. Of these, the Department estimates that around 270,000 will already be on PIP in March 2025 and 100,000 of these would be expected to inflow onto PIP between April 2025 and October 2026. 320,000 of these claimants affected are expected to otherwise, in the absence of the change to criteria, be in receipt of the standard rate of the daily living component of PIP, while 60,000 are expected to otherwise be in receipt of the enhanced rate.
No estimate has yet been made about numbers of current claimants who would now become subject to the benefit cap; in total for all current and future claimants affected by the measure, an estimated 2,000 will be subject to the benefit cap in 2029/30. No estimate has yet been made of the numbers of claimants who will become subject to the shared accommodation rate of Local Housing Allowance.
Note:
a) Figures are based on modelling of the impact of requiring 4 points to be scored in at least one daily living activity.
b) Figures are rounded to the nearest ten thousand, benefit cap figure is rounded to the thousand.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the publication on 7 April of Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, whether there will be exemptions from the proposed conversations for disabled people who cannot work, and if so what those exemptions will be.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The support conversation will enable individuals to set out their aspirations, needs and goals, understand what early support might be available to them and be signposted towards it. Given the importance of the support conversation in ensuring individuals understand the help available to them, we are considering making participation a requirement. However, we are consulting on how we should design and deliver it, and, if mandated, who should be exempted, so that it is welcomed by individuals and is effective.
We are seeking views through the Green Paper on what those exemptions should be.