Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans the Government has to uprate the Local Housing Allowance to the 30th percentile of local rents.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates are reviewed each year at Autumn Budget.
In his Written Ministerial Statement following Autumn Budget, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions confirmed that LHA rates will remain at current levels in 2026/27. He considered a range of factors, such as rental levels across Great Britain and the challenging fiscal context.
Written statements - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament
For those renters who require additional support to meet a shortfall in rent costs, Discretionary Housing Payments are available from local authorities.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the time taken to decide on a compensation scheme for women impacted by State Pension age changes on those women.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced in his Oral Statement of 11 November that we will retake the decision made last December as it relates to the communications on state pension age. Information that was not considered at the time of the original decision has come to light. In retaking the decision, we will review this evidence alongside evidence previously considered.
The process to retake the decision is underway and we will update the House on the decision as soon as a conclusion is reached.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he plans to make a decision on a compensation scheme for women impacted by State Pension age changes.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced in his Oral Statement of 11 November that we will retake the decision made last December as it relates to the communications on state pension age. Information that was not considered at the time of the original decision has come to light. In retaking the decision, we will review this evidence alongside evidence previously considered.
The process to retake the decision is underway and we will update the House on the decision as soon as a conclusion is reached.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans her Department has to help support the financial needs of families, including their (a) eligibility for benefits and (b) access to childcare support.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Universal Credit is designed to be a flexible benefit which offers support for both those in and out of work. It provides an invaluable safety net for millions of customers through the standard allowance and additional elements.
The government recognises the value of this safety net to millions of people and has therefore legislated for the first ever sustained above-inflation uplift to the UC standard allowance.
In September we launched the Best Start in Life website for carers and parents, providing information on the government childcare offers available and an eligibility checker.
Independent, free and anonymous benefit calculators are available to help people check what benefits they may be entitled to. The calculators can be accessed on the Government website at: https://www.gov.uk/benefits-calculators
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking with businesses to help ensure that staff working in high street businesses have adequate safety measures in place when working alone on the shop floor.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the Honourable Member to the previous answer 71094
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that young people living in supported accommodation are not financially disadvantaged when increasing their working hours.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We acknowledge there is a challenge arising from the interaction between Universal Credit and Housing Benefit, particularly for young people living in supported and temporary accommodation, including the different income tapers used by each benefit.
We are considering options to improve work incentives for residents of supported housing and temporary accommodation, while taking into account the views of stakeholders. As funding is required to allow a change, any future decisions will take account of the current fiscal context.
It remains the department’s priority to ensure that those who can work are supported to enter the labour market and to sustain employment.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the Housing Benefit taper rate on the number of young people living in supported accommodation who are in work.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We acknowledge there is a challenge arising from the interaction between Universal Credit and Housing Benefit, particularly for young people living in supported and temporary accommodation, including the different income tapers used by each benefit.
We are considering options to improve work incentives for residents of supported housing and temporary accommodation, while taking into account the views of stakeholders. As funding is required to allow a change, any future decisions will take account of the current fiscal context.
It remains the department’s priority to ensure that those who can work are supported to enter the labour market and to sustain employment.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will publish a health and social care impact assessment of the decision to reduce disability benefits.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Pathways to Work Green Paper was published on 18 March 2025. This paper sets out plans and proposals to reform health and disability benefits and employment support.
Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper has been published in the impacts analysis and equality analysis on 26 March 2025 and the evidence pack on 2 May 2025 at:
A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.
We will consider the wider impacts of reforms for disabled people or those with a health condition as we develop our detailed proposals for change. We will also continue to work closely with the Department for Health and Social Care to ensure health and social care considerations are built into our policies and to ensure everyone’s health and care needs are met.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
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 potential impact on disabled people of her decision not to hold a consultation on proposed cuts to disability benefits.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Pathways to Work Green Paper set out our plans and proposals for reform to health and disability benefits and employment support. This includes some urgently needed reforms to PIP eligibility and Universal Credit rates that are not subject to consultation but on which Parliament will fully debate and vote.
This government values the input of disabled people and people with health conditions, in addition to the representative organisations and people that support them. The Green Paper consults on many key elements of the reform package, including employment support and Access to Work, which are at the centre of our plans to improve the system for disabled people. We hope that a wide range of voices will respond to the consultation, and we are holding a programme of public consultation events across the country to help facilitate input.
We are also continuing to develop other ways to facilitate the involvement of stakeholders and disabled people in our reforms. In addition to the consultation itself, we are establishing ‘collaboration committees’ that bring groups of people together for specific work areas and our wider review of the PIP assessment will bring together a range of experts, stakeholders and people with lived experience. We are also in the process of establishing the Disability Advisory Panel we announced in the Get Britain Working White Paper, which will be a strategic advisory panel of disabled people and individuals with long-term health conditions.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 7 January 2025 to Question 21895 on Benefits for people with disabilities, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the benefits available for people with disabilities.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
There are a wide range of studies and estimates for the extra cost of disability. As such, there is no objective way of deciding what an adequate level of the extra costs disability benefits should be, and everyone has different requirements reflecting their own circumstances and priorities.
DWP pays close attention to the evidence base on the extra costs faced by disabled people; including academic research, analysis by Scope, and DWP’s own commissioned research.