Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment the Disability Unit has made of the potential merits of extending the £20 uplift to legacy benefit claimants.

The Government is committed to supporting disabled people affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. The temporary Universal Credit Standard Allowance uplift was introduced to support those facing the most financial disruption due to the pandemic. There are no plans to extend this temporary uplift to legacy benefits. Claimants on legacy benefits can make a claim for Universal Credit if they believe that they will be better off.

Claimants should check their eligibility before applying to Universal Credit as legacy benefits will end when they submit their claim and they will not be able to return to them in the future. For this reason, prospective claimants are signposted to independent benefits calculators on GOV.UK. There are special arrangements for those in receipt of the Severe Disability Premium, who are now able to make a new claim to Universal Credit.

The Government will publish the National Strategy for Disabled People this year taking into account the impacts of the pandemic on disabled people. The strategy will focus on the issues that disabled people say affect them the most in all aspects of life.