Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people pay spare room subsidy payments.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Easements from RSRS deductions allow for the provision of an additional bedroom to support the needs of disabled people and families of disabled children such as where members of the household are unable to share a bedroom or where overnight care is required from a non-resident carer where they meet the qualifying criteria.
Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) are available from local authorities to those who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs.
The information requested on how many people with a disabled person in their household pay a spare room subsidy payment is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
All DWP policies are kept under review and all decisions are taken in the context of the Government’s missions, goals on housing, and the challenging fiscal context. Data on number of people subject to RSRS is published and available at: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what methods her Department uses to calculate the minimum amount of social security that a person can live off.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Under the Social Security Administration Act 1992 the Secretary of State is required by law to review State Pension and benefit rates each year to see if they have retained their value in relation to the general level of prices or earnings. We have uprated benefit rates for 2025/26 in line with inflation, with 5.7 million Universal Credit households forecast to gain by an average of £150 annually.
In the Pathways to Work Green Paper, we recently announced that we will improve the adequacy of the standard allowance with the first sustained above inflation rise in the basic rate of Universal Credit since it was introduced. This increase will be for new and existing customers and will benefit millions of people.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much (a) local housing allowance and (b) housing support was provided to tenants in the private rented sector in each of the last five years.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Information on how much the Department for Work and Pensions spent to support households a) in the Private Rented Sector (PRS) and in receipt of the Local Housing Allowance and b) in the PRS in general is published and the latest statistics can be found at: Benefit expenditure and caseload tables 2025 - GOV.UK, in the Housing Benefits tab.
For real term expenditure on all claimants in receipt of housing support in the PRS this can be found in row 80 of the published statistics. Expenditure on LHA can be calculated by summing rows 75 and 76.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make it her policy to introduce a minimum income guarantee for people in receipt of social security.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government recognises the importance of the social security safety net and the role Universal Credit has to play in tackling poverty and making work pay.
In the Pathways to Work Green Paper, we announced that we will improve the adequacy of the standard allowance with the first sustained above inflation rise in the basic rate of Universal Credit since it was introduced. This increase will be for new and existing customers and will help millions of people. According to the Institute of Fiscal Studies, this is the largest sustained increase in the headline rate of benefit since at least 1980.
We recently introduced a new Fair Repayment Rate for Universal Credit customers, reducing the overall deductions cap from 25% to 15% of a customer's standard allowance. This enables approximately 1.2 million of the poorest households to retain on average £420 a year of their award. This increase will be for new and existing customers and will help millions of people with a cash increase of £725 by the end of the Parliament.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make it her policy to set up a task group on tackling the impact of poverty on disabled people.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This government is putting disabled people’s views and voices at the heart of everything we do. That is why we have brought forward the Pathways to Work Green Paper and opened a public consultation. This consultation welcomes all views, and we hope that a wide range of voices will respond before it closes on the 30 June 2025.
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, which was announced in the Get Britain Working White Paper. It will be a strategic advisory panel consisting of up to 12 disabled people and individuals with long-term health conditions.
We are listening carefully to the voices of children and families living in poverty, including children with disabilities and special educational needs (SEND). Examples of the engagement we’ve undertaken are events with: Contact, a charity for families with disabled children; ALLFIE, a campaign group focused on including disabled learners in mainstream education; and the Challenging Behaviour Foundation that aims to improve the life opportunities for young people with severe learning disabilities and their families. In April, the Taskforce met with external experts, including disability charities and organisations, to discuss the experiences of disabled children living in poverty.
In December 2024, a Lead Minister for Disability was appointed in every government department, to represent the interests of disabled people and champion disability inclusion and accessibility across their department, as they drive forward progress on the government’s manifesto commitments and 5 missions. I am proud to serve as the chair of this group and we meet regularly throughout the year to break down barriers to opportunity for disabled people right across the government’s long-term missions; and fulfil the manifesto commitment to ensure their departments put the views and voices of disabled people at the heart of everything they do.
Alongside delivering on our Get Britain Working plan to support people into good jobs and make everyone better off, which is the fastest route out of poverty, we’re increasing the Living Wage, uprating benefits (including the first sustained, above inflation increase to the UC standard allowance) and supporting 700,000 of the poorest families with children by introducing a Fair Repayment Rate on Universal Credit deductions to help low-income households. We have also extended free school meals provision to all children in households on Universal Credit.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to help tackle poverty among parents who are carers of disabled children.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Tackling child poverty is an urgent priority for this Government. The Child Poverty Taskforce’s publication of 23 October ‘Tackling Child Poverty: Developing our Strategy’ sets out how we are developing the Strategy, exploring all available levers to drive forward short and long-term actions across government to reduce child poverty. The Strategy will look at levers across four key themes of increasing incomes, reducing essential costs, increasing financial resilience; and better local support especially in the early years. Parental employment is a key part of the work we are doing. This will build on the reform plans underway across government and work underway in Devolved Governments. The Child Poverty Taskforce is progressing work to publish the Child Poverty Strategy as soon as possible.
This is a cross-government effort. The Department for Education is working to provide the best start in life through high-quality early education and childcare to raise standards and help parents to work, for example through the new breakfast club programme, and expanding wraparound childcare for primary school children across England by increasing the number of places available, to support working families. We have jointly announced with DfE that we are expanding free school meals to all children in households on Universal Credit.
The Department for Business and Trade has responsibility for policy on flexible working and carer’s leave, which is another key element.
And the benefit system, in addition, makes provision for disabled children through Disability Living Allowance (DLA), and for their parents through the carer element and the disabled child addition within Universal Credit (UC).
Support is also available through Carer’s Allowance (CA). Where carers are able to work, the weekly CA earnings limit for those in receipt of CA is now pegged at 16 hours work at National Living Wage (NLW) levels, and in future it will increase when the NLW increases. The earnings limit increased to £196 a week, on 7 April 2025, compared to £151 in 24/25. This is the largest ever increase in the earnings limit since Carer’s Allowance was introduced in 1976 and the highest percentage increase since 2001.
As a result, unpaid carers will be able to increase their income, and many will now have more certainty that if they are receiving the NLW (and have not done overtime or received a bonus) they will be able to work for 16 hours a week and still receive Carer’s Allowance.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on ensuring that (a) voluntary and (b) community organisations are adequately funded to support the child poverty strategy.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Local Authorities are key partners in tackling child poverty and the Child Poverty Taskforce, co-chaired by the Secretary of State, will bring forward a UK-wide child poverty strategy which supports and enables shared solutions. The Taskforce recognises that this is a complex landscape and has engaged extensively with Local Authorities about how the UK strategy can build from existing good practice and be based on understanding what matters to local communities. The September 2024 ministerial taskforce brought together local leaders from combined and local governments in England, who joined Ministers to discuss the experience of poverty in their local communities, and innovative solutions underway.
The Child Poverty Taskforce recognises the causes of child poverty are deep-rooted, with solutions that go beyond government, and will involve action from across society, including businesses, voluntary, community and social enterprises, working together in new and improved partnerships. A rolling programme of meetings between the Taskforce and experts, including from the voluntary and community sector, is supporting strategy development. Furthermore, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport is a member of the Taskforce.
The Taskforce will set out more details on the child poverty strategy in due course.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what (a) funding and (b) devolved powers she plans to provide to local authorities to help them tackle child poverty.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Local Authorities are key partners in tackling child poverty and the Child Poverty Taskforce, co-chaired by the Secretary of State, will bring forward a UK-wide child poverty strategy which supports and enables shared solutions. The Taskforce recognises that this is a complex landscape and has engaged extensively with Local Authorities about how the UK strategy can build from existing good practice and be based on understanding what matters to local communities. The September 2024 ministerial taskforce brought together local leaders from combined and local governments in England, who joined Ministers to discuss the experience of poverty in their local communities, and innovative solutions underway.
The Child Poverty Taskforce recognises the causes of child poverty are deep-rooted, with solutions that go beyond government, and will involve action from across society, including businesses, voluntary, community and social enterprises, working together in new and improved partnerships. A rolling programme of meetings between the Taskforce and experts, including from the voluntary and community sector, is supporting strategy development. Furthermore, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport is a member of the Taskforce.
The Taskforce will set out more details on the child poverty strategy in due course.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of potential impact of the potential impact of proposals to amend Carer's Allowance in the Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, published on 18 March 2025, on costs to (a) local authority adult social care services and (b) NHS.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Pathways to Work Green Paper set out our plans to reform health and disability benefits and employment support. There are no proposals to amend Carer’s Allowance in the Pathways to Work Green Paper and therefore no such estimate has been made.
As the Green Paper sets out, we will consider any impacts our reforms might have on benefits for unpaid carers as part of our wider consideration of responses to the consultation and 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 everyone’s health and care needs are met.
Our plans are designed to protect the most vulnerable and give disabled people equal chances and choices to work. They are backed by £1bn a year for employment support to give disabled people and people with health conditions help into work that they have been denied for too long. Evidence shows that good work is good for mental and physical health and reduces pressure and costs on the NHS.
We are taking other action to improve Carer’s Allowance separate to the Green Paper. We have pegged the weekly Carer’s Allowance earnings limit to 16 hours’ work at National Living Wage (NLW) levels, and in future it will increase when the NLW increases. The Carer’s Allowance earnings limit increased to be £196 a week net earnings on 7 April 2025, compared to £151 in 24/25. This is the largest ever increase in the earnings limit since Carer’s Allowance was introduced in 1976 and the highest percentage increase since 2001. Over 60,000 additional people will be able to receive Carer’s Allowance between 2025/26 and 2029/30 as a result.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people in receipt of the Personal Independence Payment enhanced daily living component were awarded less than four points in all daily living activities in (a) York Central constituency, (b) City of York Local Authority area and (c) York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority area in the most recent period for which data is available.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper has been published here ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper’(opens in a new tab), including an Evidence Pack which contains the maximum points scored on any Daily Living activity by Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claimants, broken down by Parliamentary Constituency and Local Authority. For York Central constituency, 42% of people scored fewer than 4 points at last assessment.
As the information is not published in the way you have requested, information on the volume and proportion of PIP claimants who received a standard Daily Living award rate and scored less than four points in all daily living activities, by different geographical breakdowns can be found in Table 1 below. This should not be equated with the number who are likely to lose PIP. It’s important to make a clear distinction between the two, not least because we don’t want constituents to be unnecessarily fearful about their situation, when we understand many are already anxious.
No one will lose access to PIP immediately. The changes, subject to parliamentary approval, would be brought in from November 2026. After that date, no one will lose PIP without first being reassessed by a trained assessor or healthcare professional, who assesses individual needs and circumstance. Reassessments happen on average every 3 years. Someone who didn’t score 4 points in an activity in a previous assessment may well score 4 points in a future assessment – not least as many conditions tend to get worse, not better, over time.
After taking account of behavioural changes, OBR predicts that 370,000 people who will be receiving PIP at the point of implementation of the four point requirement in November 2026, will have lost their PIP Daily Living entitlement by 2029/30. Of all PIP recipients at the point of implementation, 9 in 10 will not lose PIP during the subsequent 3 years from this change. If the OBR’s behavioural assumptions for England and Wales were applicable to York and North Yorkshire, around one-fifth of current claimants shown in table 1 would no longer receive their daily living component following review.
We are consulting on how best to support those who are affected by the new eligibility changes, including how to make sure health and eligible care needs are met. PIP is not based on condition diagnosis but on functional disability as the result of one or more conditions, and is awarded as a contribution to the additional costs which result.
We also intend to launch a wider review of the PIP assessment which I will lead, and we will bring together a range of experts, stakeholders and people with lived experience to consider how best to do this and to start the process as part of preparing for a review. We will provide further details as plans progress.
Even with these reforms, the overall number of people on PIP and DLA is expected to rise by 750,000 by the end of this parliament and spending will rise from £23bn in 24/25 to £31bn in 29/30.
Table 1: volume and percentage of PIP claimants who are in receipt of the daily living award rate and scored less than four points in all daily living activities by different geographical breakdowns
Geographical breakdowns | Standard Daily Living | Enhanced Daily Living | ||
Volume of claimants who scored <4 points | Percentage of claimants who scored <4 points | Volume of claimants who scored <4 points | Percentage of claimants who scored <4 points | |
York Central Parliamentary Constituency | 1,400 | 83% | 300 | 12% |
City of York Local Authority | 2,200 | 83% | 400 | 11% |
York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority | 10,700 | 85% | 1,800 | 11% |
England and Wales | 1,121,100 | 87% | 203,000 | 13% |
Notes: