Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he is taking steps to ensure that single claimants with long-term disabilities receive the same benefits under Universal Credit as under the legacy system.

Universal Credit provides more generous support for disabled people than it does for people in similar circumstances who are not disabled.

Based on the outcome of a work capability assessment, it may be decided that a claimant has limited capability for work and work-related activity, and may be awarded an additional amount of benefit, currently £416.19 per calendar month from (2024/25 rates).

Additionally, where it is decided that claimants have limited capability for work or limited capability for work and work-related activity, they are eligible for a work allowance.

The Government has given a commitment that no eligible claimants who are invited to move to Universal Credit (UC), from legacy benefits, by the Department for Work and Pensions, and whose circumstances remain the same, will have a lower entitlement to UC than they had entitlement to their legacy benefits at the point of moving. Where necessary, eligible claimants will be awarded Transitional Protection (TP) in the form of a Transitional Element (TE) to ensure this commitment is met.

Severe disability premium (SDP) transitional payments are available to claimants who became entitled to Universal Credit (UC) within a month of being entitled to severe disability premium (SDP) within a legacy benefit. In a case where the legacy benefit had terminated within that month the claimant must have continued to satisfy the eligibility conditions for SDP up to and including the first day of their UC award. The relevant legacy benefits are:

• Income Support.
• Jobseeker’s Allowance (income based).
• Employment and Support Allowance (income related); or
• Housing Benefit

New regulations came into force on 14^th February 2024 and provide newly eligible claimants additional transitional protection where they are entitled to the transitional SDP element.

The claimants must also have been previously entitled to other disability premia in the month preceding their claim to UC, and continue to satisfy the eligibility conditions up to and including the first day of their UC award, to one or more of the following:

• Enhanced disability premium
• Disability premium
• disabled child premium or the disabled child element (in child tax credits) -and are now receiving the lower rate disabled child addition in Universal Credit.