Asked by: Graeme Downie (Labour - Dunfermline and Dollar)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in (a) Dunfermline and Dollar constituency, (b) Scotland and (c) the UK receive the maximum award from PIP.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department regularly publishes Personal Independence Payment (PIP) statistics. The 'PIP Cases with Entitlement' dataset on Stat-Xplore, which contains the number of people entitled to PIP by geography including Parliamentary constituency and components received, can be used to calculate the number of people receiving PIP at the highest level. Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here: Introduction to the Stat-Xplore User Guide.
PIP has been devolved to Scotland since April 2020 and existing claims are currently being moved to the Scottish replacement benefit Adult Disability Payment.
Asked by: Graeme Downie (Labour - Dunfermline and Dollar)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in (a) Dunfermline and Dollar constituency, (b) Scotland and (c) the UK receive the health rate top-up for Universal Credit.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Quarterly statistics for the number of People on Universal Credit with a health condition or disability restricting their ability to work in Great Britain are published on Stat-Xplore. The latest release provides figures up to December 2024 which can be broken down by country, Westminster Parliamentary Constituency and Local Authority.
Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access guidance on how to extract the information required. Universal Credit statistics for Northern Ireland are published by the Department for Communities.
Note: the Universal Credit health element is paid at a household level, not to individuals, and Households on Universal Credit statistics can be broken down similarly, by the numbers receiving the Limited Capability for Work Entitlement and by geography.
Asked by: Graeme Downie (Labour - Dunfermline and Dollar)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, published on 18 March 2025, what support will be available for new claims for Universal Credit health rate.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We announced in the Pathways to Work Green Paper that we would establish a new guarantee of support for all disabled people and people with health conditions claiming out of work benefits who want help to get into or return to work, backed up by £1 billion of new funding
As the Green Paper notes, we are keen to engage widely on the design of this guarantee and the components needed to deliver it. To get this right, we will be seeking input from a wide range of stakeholders including devolved governments, local health systems, local government and Mayoral Strategic Authorities, private and voluntary sector providers, employers and potential users. We will confirm further details in due course after we have completed our consultation process.
Asked by: Graeme Downie (Labour - Dunfermline and Dollar)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has conducted an equality impact assessment on proposals in the Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, published on 18 March 2025.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We published an Equality Analysis and Policy Rationale impacts alongside the Spring Statement.
Further analysis for the measures in the Green Paper, not included in the Spring Statement, will be published in due course.
Asked by: Graeme Downie (Labour - Dunfermline and Dollar)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, published on 18 March 2025, whether she plans to amend the work allowance for people in receipt of the limited capability for work and work related activity element of Universal Credit.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The work allowance for individuals who are found limited capability for work and work related activity (LCWRA) will remain unchanged to continue to incentivise people to try work.
In the reformed system, work allowances will continue to be available to those who receive the UC health element. We want to enable people to take advantage of this strong financial incentive to work, which means they can earn up to £404 a month (or over £673 if they don’t get help with housing costs) without their benefits being affected.
Asked by: Graeme Downie (Labour - Dunfermline and Dollar)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, published on 18 March 2025, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to the limited capability for work and work related activity element of Universal Credit on families of disabled people aged under 22.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No decision has been made on this policy. The key principle of our focus for 18-21 year olds should be helping them to be earning or learning, because of the long-term scarring effects for young people of a period of unemployment. That is why we are consulting on delaying access to the UC health top up until age 22 with savings reinvested into work support and training opportunities.
Universal Credit Health caseload statistics are available on DWP Stat-Xplore and were most recently updated with December 2024 data.
In December 2024, 13,650 and 68,350 16- to 21-year-olds in Great Britain were in the Limited Capability for Work (LCW) and Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity (LCWRA) groups respectively.
Table: 16–21-year-olds in (a) Dunfermline and Dollar, (b) Scotland and (c) Great Britain on the UC Health caseload (December 2024)
| LCW | LCWRA | Total |
(a) Dunfermline and Dollar | 20 | 110 | 130 |
(b) Scotland | 1,380 | 7,460 | 8,830 |
(c) Great Britain | 13,650 | 68,350 | 82,000 |
Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/ (opens in new window). An account is not required to use Stat- Xplore, the ‘Guest Login’ feature gives instant access to the main functions.
Asked by: Graeme Downie (Labour - Dunfermline and Dollar)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people under 22 in (a) Dunfermline and Dollar constituency, (b) Scotland and (c) the UK will be impacted by changes to the limited capability for work and work related activity element of Universal Credit.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No decision has been made on this policy. The key principle of our focus for 18-21 year olds should be helping them to be earning or learning, because of the long-term scarring effects for young people of a period of unemployment. That is why we are consulting on delaying access to the UC health top up until age 22 with savings reinvested into work support and training opportunities.
Universal Credit Health caseload statistics are available on DWP Stat-Xplore and were most recently updated with December 2024 data.
In December 2024, 13,650 and 68,350 16- to 21-year-olds in Great Britain were in the Limited Capability for Work (LCW) and Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity (LCWRA) groups respectively.
Table: 16–21-year-olds in (a) Dunfermline and Dollar, (b) Scotland and (c) Great Britain on the UC Health caseload (December 2024)
| LCW | LCWRA | Total |
(a) Dunfermline and Dollar | 20 | 110 | 130 |
(b) Scotland | 1,380 | 7,460 | 8,830 |
(c) Great Britain | 13,650 | 68,350 | 82,000 |
Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/ (opens in new window). An account is not required to use Stat- Xplore, the ‘Guest Login’ feature gives instant access to the main functions.
Asked by: Graeme Downie (Labour - Dunfermline and Dollar)
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 impact of the Disability Confident Scheme on the ability of disabled people to find work.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In 2022, the department commissioned a survey to understand from members’ perspectives the impact that signing up to the scheme has had on their recruitment and retention attitudes and practices towards disabled people. The survey can be accessed on gov.uk using the following link: Disability Confident: survey of participating employers, May 2022 - GOV.UK
There are currently over 19,000 employers signed up to the Disability Confident scheme. Collectively, these employers estimate over 12 million employees work in their organisations. It is not known how many of these employees are disabled, have a health condition, or are direct users of the scheme.
No assessment has been made of the impact of the scheme on the ability of disabled people to find work. I have been discussing with stakeholders in Disability Confident ideas for making the scheme criteria more robust, and plan to bring forward proposals for this in due course.
Asked by: Graeme Downie (Labour - Dunfermline and Dollar)
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 effectiveness of the Disability Confident Scheme.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In 2022, the department commissioned a survey to understand from members’ perspectives the impact that signing up to the scheme has had on their recruitment and retention attitudes and practices towards disabled people. The survey can be accessed on gov.uk using the following link: Disability Confident: survey of participating employers, May 2022 - GOV.UK
There are currently over 19,000 employers signed up to the Disability Confident scheme. Collectively, these employers estimate over 12 million employees work in their organisations. It is not known how many of these employees are disabled, have a health condition, or are direct users of the scheme.
No assessment has been made of the impact of the scheme on the ability of disabled people to find work. I have been discussing with stakeholders in Disability Confident ideas for making the scheme criteria more robust, and plan to bring forward proposals for this in due course.
Asked by: Graeme Downie (Labour - Dunfermline and Dollar)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have used the Disability Confident Scheme.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In 2022, the department commissioned a survey to understand from members’ perspectives the impact that signing up to the scheme has had on their recruitment and retention attitudes and practices towards disabled people. The survey can be accessed on gov.uk using the following link: Disability Confident: survey of participating employers, May 2022 - GOV.UK
There are currently over 19,000 employers signed up to the Disability Confident scheme. Collectively, these employers estimate over 12 million employees work in their organisations. It is not known how many of these employees are disabled, have a health condition, or are direct users of the scheme.
No assessment has been made of the impact of the scheme on the ability of disabled people to find work. I have been discussing with stakeholders in Disability Confident ideas for making the scheme criteria more robust, and plan to bring forward proposals for this in due course.