Asked by: Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to allow individuals who claim Attendance Allowance to qualify for the Motability Scheme.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Qualifying benefits for the Motability Scheme are the enhanced rate mobility component Personal Independence Payment (enhanced rate mobility component Adult Disability Payment in Scotland), higher rate mobility component Disability Living Allowance (higher rate mobility component Child Disability Payment in Scotland), Armed Forces Independence Payment and War Pensioners’ Mobility Supplement.
Attendance Allowance is intended to help those with a severe disability who have long term care or supervision needs which arise after reaching State Pension age. It has never included a mobility component, and so cannot be used in payment for a leased Motability Scheme vehicle. Government mobility support is focused on people who are disabled earlier in life; developing mobility needs in older life is a normal consequence of ageing, which non-disabled younger people have had opportunity to plan and save for.
There is no constraint on what an award of Attendance Allowance can be spent on, and a recipient may choose to use this benefit to fund mobility aids. Disabled people over the age of 65 can apply to their local authority for assessment under the Blue Badge Scheme, which helps people with severe mobility problems to park close to where they need to go. Assistance from other sources may be available and details can be found on the Research Institute for Disabled Consumers (RiDC) website.
Asked by: Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the income or savings to be derived from the new criteria for Motability vehicles limiting the mileage a lessee can drive before incurring a charge.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We do not have an estimate of the income or savings to be derived from the new mileage criteria. A series of measures were announced in the November 2025 Budget to strike the right balance between delivering a key service for disabled people and fairness to the taxpayer, saving over £1 billion by financial year 2030/31.
Motability Operations is an independent commercial company under contract to Motability to deliver the Motability Scheme. Motability Operations is owned by the four major banks (Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, RBS). No ordinary dividends are paid, and all profits are reinvested in the company to benefit Scheme customers or donated to Motability the charity.
Asked by: Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans he has to reform bereavement benefits.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
For those whose spouse or civil partner dies on or after 6 April 2017 we are replacing the current suite of bereavement benefits with a single benefit known as Bereavement Support Payment. The Regulations setting out the details of Bereavement Support Payment were debated in the House of Lords on 21 February 2017 and in the House of Commons on 27 February 2017.
Asked by: Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his policy is on the introduction of transitional arrangements to assist women born on or after 6 April 1951 who have been adversely affected by changes to the state pension age.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
At the time of the Pensions Act 2011 the government introduced a concession worth £1.1 billion to limit the impact of the rising state pension age on those most affected. The concession capped the maximum delay that anyone would face in claiming their State Pension to 18 months rather than two years, relative to the previous timetable. The Government has no plans to introduce further transitional arrangements.
Asked by: Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Health and Safety Executive has carried out research into the potential risks associated with hydraulic fracturing.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
It is not necessary for HSE to commission new research in order to be confident that it can regulate the shale industry effectively, due to the broad range of shale research already available and HSE's existing knowledge of oil and gas extraction.
I have asked HSE to keep the situation under review.