Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to her oral contribution of 7 October 2019, Official Report, column 1496, what recent assessment she has made of the level of minimum income that a person needs to meet essential living costs after the benefits freeze ends in 2020.

The Secretary of State completed her annual review of benefits and pensions in November and I refer you to her statement of 4 November:

https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2019-11-04/HCWS74/

We continue to monitor the impact of our policies by assessing the trends in low income, using our annual Households Below Average Income publication.