Asked by: Richard Burgon (Labour - Leeds East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure that changes to the Work Capability Assessment prevent disabled people from entering poverty.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Health and Disability Green Paper published on 18th March 2025 outlines why we think removing the Work Capability Assessment and moving to using an amended version of the PIP assessment to determine what financial support people receive for health and disability in the Universal Credit system is the correct decision for the reformed system. We will be publishing estimated impacts on claimants for the changes announced on 18 March 2025 on the day of the Spring Statement or shortly after.
We understand that for some people, work is simply not possible. We will work through how, without a WCA, these people can be identified and appropriate protections put in place, such as considering award reviews. Engagement with employment support will be determined on a personal basis, according to needs.
Following the Green Paper consultation, we will bring forwards a White Paper in autumn 2025 to set out our full proposals.
Asked by: Richard Burgon (Labour - Leeds East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average Personal Independence Payment was in the 2023-24 financial year, broken down by (a) total, (b) daily living part and (c) mobility part.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The average weekly Personal Independence Payment (PIP) award for the 2023-24 financial year can be found in the table below.
Average Weekly PIP Award | ||
(a) Total | (b) Daily Living Component | (c) Mobility Component |
£126 | £83 | £44 |
Source: PIP Administrative Data
Notes:
Asked by: Richard Burgon (Labour - Leeds 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 number and proportion of disabled households that will be in poverty by financial year (a) 2025-26, (b) 2026-27, (c) 2027-28 and (d) 2028-29.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Making an estimate of future disability poverty rates is difficult to do robustly. It would involve both projecting forward the impact of economic conditions on every household’s income and individual circumstance, and future trends in disability prevalence and distribution.
Statistics on the number of people in families with a disabled person are published annually in the Households Below Average Income (HBAI) statistics publication, available here: Households below average income (HBAI) statistics - GOV.UK. The latest statistics show that in 2022/23 there were 6.2m (24%) people in families where someone is disabled in relative poverty after housing costs (AHC).
Data for 2023/24 will be published on 27th March 2025.
Asked by: Richard Burgon (Labour - Leeds East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential impact of proposals for reform of health and disability benefits on child poverty.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Delivering our manifesto commitment to tackle child poverty is an urgent priority for this Government, and the Ministerial Taskforce is working to publish a Child Poverty Strategy which will deliver lasting change.
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. This will build on the reform plans underway across government and work underway in Devolved Governments.
As part of the Strategy's development, the Taskforce is considering the potential impact of policies across government on child poverty.
Asked by: Richard Burgon (Labour - Leeds East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the child poverty strategy will consider the potential impact of reforms to health and disability benefit on child poverty.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Delivering our manifesto commitment to tackle child poverty is an urgent priority for this Government, and the Ministerial Taskforce is working to publish a Child Poverty Strategy which will deliver lasting change.
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. This will build on the reform plans underway across government and work underway in Devolved Governments.
As part of the Strategy's development, the Taskforce is considering the potential impact of policies across government on child poverty.
Asked by: Richard Burgon (Labour - Leeds East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of fraud in the social security system in financial year 2023-24 by benefit.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Estimates of the levels of fraud and error in the benefit system for the financial year 2023-24 can be found at: Fraud and error in the benefit system, Financial Year Ending (FYE) 2024 - GOV.UK
Asked by: Richard Burgon (Labour - Leeds East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 21 November 2024 to Question 14654 on Personal Independence Payment, what estimate her Department has made of the total amount lost to PIP fraud in financial year (a) 2020-21, (b) 2021-22 and (c) 2022-23.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Estimates of the levels of fraud and error in the benefit system for the financial years requested can be found at: Fraud and error in the benefit system - GOV.UK
Please see the requested information in the attached document.
Asked by: Richard Burgon (Labour - Leeds East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 16 December 2024 to Question 19366 on Social Security Benefits: Appeals, what role Mandatory Reconsideration Decision Makers have in reducing clearance times for mandatory reconsiderations of Personal Independence Payment decisions.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Mandatory Reconsideration clearances can fluctuate for many reasons, but we expect to recover the current backlog of cases by March 2025.
The role of a Mandatory Reconsideration (MR) decision maker is to make a robust decision, supported by the law and available evidence.
In law there is no time limit within which a MR decision must be made. This reflects the overarching policy that the focus should be on making the right decision and not the speed of clearance. Decisions should always be made without delay, but if the decision maker considers that more time is needed to gather or consider evidence, then they will give themselves that time to ensure they are confident that the decision made is correct.
Asked by: Richard Burgon (Labour - Leeds East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 16 December 2024 to Question 19366 on Social Security Benefits: Appeals, when she plans that waiting times for mandatory reconsideration processes will be back to December 2023 levels.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Mandatory Reconsideration clearances can fluctuate for many reasons, but we expect to recover the current backlog of cases by March 2025.
The role of a Mandatory Reconsideration (MR) decision maker is to make a robust decision, supported by the law and available evidence.
In law there is no time limit within which a MR decision must be made. This reflects the overarching policy that the focus should be on making the right decision and not the speed of clearance. Decisions should always be made without delay, but if the decision maker considers that more time is needed to gather or consider evidence, then they will give themselves that time to ensure they are confident that the decision made is correct.
Asked by: Richard Burgon (Labour - Leeds 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 pensioners that will receive the full increase to the State Pension.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
From April 2025, around 12.5 million people receiving either the basic or new State Pension will see it increased by 4.1%, in line with our commitment to the Triple Lock. Some people will receive an increase of 1.7% (in line with price inflation) on other elements of their State Pension, including Protected Payments and additional State Pension.
Under both the basic and new State Pensions, the amount people are entitled to, and the annual increases, vary according to the individual’s National Insurance record, but both reflect the National Insurance contributions they have made.