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 potential merits of introducing a disability element to universal credit to replace disability premiums.

Universal Credit does not replicate the premiums of the legacy benefits system, and this has allowed us to target additional support to a wider group of claimants, while streamlining the system. This was a conscious policy decision from the outset, and by doing this we have increased provision for the most severely disabled.

The Universal Credit rate for the most severely disabled people (the Limited Capability for Work and Work Related Activity addition) is more than double the equivalent rate for the Employment and Support Allowance support group.

The Limited Capability for Work and Work Related Activity addition is £336.20 a month compared to the Employment & Support Allowance Support Group rate of £167.05.

On Universal Credit, more people who are severely disabled will receive higher payments, with around 1 million disabled households gaining on average around £100 more per month on Universal Credit than on legacy benefits.