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 effect of changes in financial support for disabled people under universal credit on living standards of that group.

The core design of Universal Credit for claimants with health conditions and disabilities has remained as intended since its introduction in the Welfare Reform Act 2012, and the impacts were analysed then.

DWP continue to evaluate the policy as it is delivered. The Universal Credit Evaluation is a comprehensive and multi-dimensional programme of analysis designed to assess economic, social and behavioural impacts of the Universal Credit experience. Research and analysis is conducted to provide continuous tracking and inform the evaluation and the expansion of Universal Credit, focusing specifically on the effects of Universal Credit on all claimants’ behaviours and outcomes.

We have always said that there will be transitional protection for those with existing premiums who move over to Universal Credit as part of the managed migration process, whose overall Universal Credit entitlement would be less than under the old system, provided that their circumstances remain the same.

Claimants who ‘naturally’ move to Universal Credit will do so because they have had a change of circumstances. In such cases claimants will continue to have their new welfare support entitlement calculated based on the rules of their new benefit.