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 granting the £650 cost of living payment to people in receipt of Disability Living Allowance.

The Government recognises that disabled people face extra costs, which is why 6 million disabled people who are in receipt of a qualifying disability benefit will receive a one-off Disability Cost of Living Payment worth £150. This includes people in receipt of Disability Living Allowance. Households will receive a payment for each eligible disabled person.

Many disabled people are also in receipt of a means-tested benefit. Therefore, they will be eligible for both the £150 Disability Cost of Living Payment and the £650 Cost of Living Payment. Disabled pensioners will in addition benefit from the £300 increase in the Winter Fuel Payment.

The Government is also providing an additional £500 million to help households with the cost of essentials, bringing the total funding for this support to £1.5 billion. In England, £421m will be used to further extend the Household Support Fund from October 2022 to March 2023.

Guidance and individual local authority indicative allocations for this further extension to the Household Support Fund will be announced in due course.