Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow and Gateshead East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 24 March 2025 to Question 38671 on Means-tested Benefits: Veterans, whether her Department has considered requiring local authorities to disregard payments from the (a) Armed Forces Compensation Scheme, (b) Service Invalidity Pension, (c) Service Attributable Pension and (d) War Pension when assessing entitlement to (i) Housing Benefit, (ii) Council Tax Support, (iii) Discretionary Housing Payments and (iv) Disabled Facilities Grants.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Housing Benefit regulations permit local authorities to disregard beyond the standard disregard of £10 a week the whole or part of any war disablement pensions, war widow’s pensions, war widower’s pensions and guaranteed income payments under the Armed Forces and Reserve Forces Compensation Scheme.
(a) Armed Forces Compensation Scheme £10 disregard with local discretion
(b) Service Invalidity Pension no disregard is applied and it is treated as income
(c) Service Attributable Pension is treated the same as a War Pension so subject to the £10 disregard and local discretion.
(d) War Pension - £10 disregard with local discretion
There are no plans to make changes to the discretionary scheme.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and the devolved administrations are responsible for Council Tax Support and Disabled Facilities Grants policy.
Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) can be paid to veterans entitled to Housing Benefit or the housing element of Universal Credit who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs. Local authorities administer the Discretionary Housing Payments scheme as they are best placed to make informed judgements about relative priorities and needs in their area to ensure that the most vulnerable are supported and the funds are targeted effectively. There are no prescribed resources tests; local authorities simply have to be satisfied that the person concerned needs further financial assistance towards housing costs. The payments are entirely at local authority discretion, including the amount and duration of any award.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow and Gateshead East)
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 the proposed changes to Personal Independence Payment eligibility criteria on veterans with service-related (a) mental and (b) physical health conditions (i) with and (ii) without fluctuating symptoms.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department does not centrally record the veteran status of PIP claimants.
In our recent Pathways to Work Green Paper, published on the 18 March 2025, we announced a broad package of reforms to the health and disability benefit and support system. No changes are proposed to Armed Forces Independence Payments which provide support to some of the most severely disabled veterans.
For those who receive PIP and are affected by the eligibility changes, we are consulting on how best to support this group, including how to make sure health and eligible care needs are met. We also intend to launch a wider review of the PIP assessment, and we will bring 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.
As we develop proposals further, we will consider the impacts of changes as part of our wider consideration of responses to the Green Paper consultation. We would encourage organisations supporting and representing veterans, such as the Royal British Legion, SSAFA, and many others, to respond to the consultation setting out their thoughts and views on how wounded, injured and sick veterans can best be supported.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow and Gateshead East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking support veterans with fluctuating physical and mental health conditions, in the context of the proposed changes to the Personal Independence Payment eligibility criteria in the Pathways to Work Green Paper.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessment considers the needs arising from a long-term health condition or disability, not the health condition or disability itself. The impact in each case will depend on an individual’s circumstances. For those already claiming PIP, the changes will only apply from November 2026 at their next award review, subject to parliamentary approval. People will be reviewed by a trained assessor or healthcare professional and assessed on individual needs and circumstance.
Veterans are able to access the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS), which provides compensation for injury or illness caused or made worse by Service on or after 6 April 2005. For serious injuries and illness, the AFCS provides a tax-free index-linked income stream known as the Guaranteed Income Payment (GIP). The Armed Forces Independence Payment (AFIP) is an additional allowance which provides financial support for eligible service personnel and veterans who have an AFCS GIP. It is an alternative to PIP (and other disability benefits), based on separate eligibility criteria, but paid at the same rate as the combined enhanced daily living and mobility components. The eligibility criteria for AFIP is not due to change.
I have also asked my officials to work with their counterparts in the OVA to set up a dedicated Green Paper consultation event for armed forces stakeholders (likely to be held in May) and to give a detailed briefing on the proposals to MoD and OVA officials. And once we have completed the consultation we will be building up to a White Paper, where we will once again engage with the OVA and MoD in advance of collective agreement.
We are also mindful of the impact the change to PIP eligibility could have on people. That is why, in the Green Paper Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working (published on 18 March), we are consulting on how best to support those who lose entitlement due to the reforms, including how to make sure health and eligible care needs are met.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow and Gateshead East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 26 March 2025 to Question 39109 on Social Security Benefits: Disability, what estimate she has made of the number of people who will no longer be in receipt of (a) PIP and (b) Universal Credit Carers element, broken down by geographical region.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No estimate has yet been made.
Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course, with some information published alongside the Spring Statement. These publications can be found in ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper’.
A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow and Gateshead East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the proposals within the Pathways to Work Green Paper on the level of regional disparities in access to (a) out-of-work and (b) in-work disability benefits.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The are no regional disparities in access to disability benefits.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow and Gateshead East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of treating military compensation for injury in the same way as civil compensation for the purposes of means testing for benefits.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the honourable member to the answer we gave on 3 March 2025 to question UIN 32275.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow and Gateshead East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made on the adequacy of local welfare assistance schemes in Jarrow constituency.
Answered by David Rutley
No assessment has been made.
Local Authorities have the power to establish local welfare provision in their area, using the funding they receive from the Local Government Finance Settlement. Local Authorities are responsible for determining how best to assess provision of any local welfare support.
We recognise, however, that some people require extra support with meeting essential household costs due to cost of living pressures, which is why the government is providing from April an additional £500 million to help households with the cost of essentials, on top of what we have already provided since October 2021, bringing the total funding for this support to £1 billion. In England, £421 million will be provided to extend the existing Household Support Fund, whilst the devolved administrations will receive £79 million through the Barnett formula.
Local Authorities are responsible for designing and delivering the Household Support Fund in their area to best meet the needs of local people, in accordance with the overall scheme parameters.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow and Gateshead East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of people who have been affected by the underpayment of benefits after transitioning from incapacity benefit to employment and support allowance in Jarrow constituency.
Answered by Chloe Smith
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 19th January to question number 104377.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow and Gateshead East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an estimate of the average (a) phone and (b) broadband costs incurred by universal credit claimants fulfilling their responsibility to spend 35 hours per week seeking employment.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The Department has no plans to estimate the average phone or broadband costs incurred by claimants fulfilling their responsibilities under the Universal Credit regime.
We are committed to supporting the individual needs of claimants, including agreeing realistic and structured steps to encourage them into or towards the labour market taking into the account their personal circumstances and resources.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow and Gateshead East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what comparative assessment her Department has made of the transport costs for universal credit claimants throughout the regions of the UK.
Answered by Will Quince
Since the introduction of Universal Credit, claimants have been supported by a more flexible approach to contact, with much greater use of digital and telephone channels. This enables claimants to continue to engage with the Department, receive appropriate support and satisfy the conditions of their personalised Claimant Commitment without having to always attend an appointment in person.
To assist with the affordability of public transport, and where an appointment at a Jobcentre has been agreed as necessary, Work Coaches are able to consider the reimbursement of a claimant’s travel costs. The Department publishes clear guidance to its staff of when mandatory awards for travel must be made from the Flexible Support Fund.
Concessionary travel legislation gives local authorities in England the power to offer discretionary concessions, such as extending free or discounted bus travel to groups of people such as those on Universal Credit. Local authorities decide to offer these concessions based upon their assessment of local needs and funding priorities, paying for them through local resources like Council Tax.
In addition, the rail industry, together with the Department for Work and Pensions, provides the Jobcentre Plus railcard that entitles card holders to a 50% discount on selected rail tickets. Some train operating companies and Jobcentres have also agreed to offer job seekers additional benefits, such as free rail tickets to job interviews.