Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will review the eligibility criteria for means-tested benefits to ensure that people with small work pensions can access support.

A person with a small work pension can still access support from the welfare system but the amount of benefit they may get will depend on the amount of their pension income.

Within Universal Credit, the general principle is that income, other than earnings, used to meet everyday living costs is taken into account pound for pound in the calculation of an award. As occupational and private pensions are paid to provide support to help people meet their living costs, they are taken fully into account, as unearned income.

In common with the means-tested legacy benefits it replaces, Universal Credit takes into account money available from other sources which allow a claimant to support themselves, allowing a fair balance to be struck between those in the greatest financial need and taxpayers who fund the welfare system. There are no plans to review this approach.