Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to provide a capital disregard in Universal Credit in relation to ill health retirement lump sums in the context of recently announced changes to terminally ill people accessing private pensions.

Universal Credit is a means-tested benefit designed to target support according to a claimant’s overall financial circumstances, including any capital available to them. As with other forms of capital, any ill health retirement lump sum payment is assessed under the existing Universal Credit capital rules, including the £6,000 lower capital threshold and the £16,000 upper capital limit. There are currently no plans to introduce a specific capital disregard in Universal Credit for ill health retirement lump sum payments.