Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on steps being taken to help mitigate the potential mental health impact of (a) conditionality groups and (b) welfare sanctions on claimants.

Ministers hold discussions with other ministerial colleagues regularly on a range of issues.

As set out in the Major Conditions Strategy: Case for Change and Strategic Framework, published in August 2023, we are currently working with stakeholders to develop a tool which will potentially support policymakers across Whitehall to examine the impact of their proposals on people’s mental health.