To match an exact phrase, use quotation marks around the search term. eg. "Parliamentary Estate". Use "OR" or "AND" as link words to form more complex queries.

Keep yourself up-to-date with the latest developments by exploring our subscription options to receive notifications direct to your inbox

Written Question
Universal Credit: Pregnancy
Monday 22nd December 2025

Asked by: Mel Stride (Conservative - Central Devon)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what number and proportion of pregnant Universal Credit claimants were deemed to have Limited Capability for Work-Related Activity due to pregnancy risk in the most recent year for which data is available.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Between January 2024 and December 2024 there were 1,150 UC claimants who were deemed to have Limited Capability for Work-Related Activity (LCWRA) due to pregnancy risk following a health assessment. Information on all UC claimants who are pregnant is not readily available, so the proportion this represents of all pregnant UC claimants cannot be provided.

Notes:

  • The data captures all UC decisions taken between January 2024 and December 2024.
  • Some LCWRA decisions do not have an associated decision reason recorded so may not be captured by this data.
  • The data supplied is based on bespoke analysis of departmental datasets and has not been certified as National Statistics or Official Statistics.
Written Question
Universal Credit
Monday 15th December 2025

Asked by: Mel Stride (Conservative - Central Devon)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have been migrated from Employment and Support Allowance to Universal Credit since July 2024.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

This information will be published as part of a routinely released statistical series in February 2026.

Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 27 Nov 2025
Budget Resolutions

"My right hon. and gallant Friend is entirely right, as usual, and something else has also been going on. I have written to the OBR to ask Richard Hughes exactly what happened with the information that the Treasury appears to have leaked out about the forecasts during the run-up to …..."
Mel Stride - View Speech

View all Mel Stride (Con - Central Devon) contributions to the debate on: Budget Resolutions
Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 27 Nov 2025
Budget Resolutions

"The Minister says from a sedentary position that inflation is coming down. The International Monetary Fund says that inflation will be the highest in the G7 this year and next year.

We know that with high inflation, interest rates are higher for longer. That means businesses’ borrowing costs are higher. …..."
Mel Stride - View Speech

View all Mel Stride (Con - Central Devon) contributions to the debate on: Budget Resolutions
Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 27 Nov 2025
Budget Resolutions

"We will come on to why that is the case momentarily.

What has happened to borrowing? One might have thought that the Government would have learned the lesson that ever-increasing borrowing always leads to disaster, but no: there is £11 billion of additional borrowing on average in every year of …..."
Mel Stride - View Speech

View all Mel Stride (Con - Central Devon) contributions to the debate on: Budget Resolutions
Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 27 Nov 2025
Budget Resolutions

"The Minister is having trouble containing himself, such is the punishment that he is receiving at the moment. They borrowed all this money, and what did that do? It stoked inflation, and with inflation higher, interest rates have been higher for longer...."
Mel Stride - View Speech

View all Mel Stride (Con - Central Devon) contributions to the debate on: Budget Resolutions
Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 27 Nov 2025
Budget Resolutions

"The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. The income tax threshold freeze—which has been extended for three years, even though the Government briefed that it would probably just be two—means 780,000 more people paying tax for the first time, because the personal allowance will be frozen for longer, and 920,000 people …..."
Mel Stride - View Speech

View all Mel Stride (Con - Central Devon) contributions to the debate on: Budget Resolutions
Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 27 Nov 2025
Budget Resolutions

"I congratulate the hon. Lady on reading accurately from the Whips’ circular. The Opposition stand by our record—[Interruption.] Absolutely. When we were in government, we were a job-creating machine: there were 4 million more jobs under us than had been there before. When we left on the …..."
Mel Stride - View Speech

View all Mel Stride (Con - Central Devon) contributions to the debate on: Budget Resolutions
Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 27 Nov 2025
Budget Resolutions

"I will in a moment. It is there in black and white in the OBR’s report. The reason for that forecast is £26 billion of additional taxation in 2029-30, and, as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury will know, an additional £12 billion of tax take that will occur because …..."
Mel Stride - View Speech

View all Mel Stride (Con - Central Devon) contributions to the debate on: Budget Resolutions
Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 27 Nov 2025
Budget Resolutions

"The hon. Lady has been very patient, so I give way to her...."
Mel Stride - View Speech

View all Mel Stride (Con - Central Devon) contributions to the debate on: Budget Resolutions