Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of disabled people in receipt of a means-tested benefit but not in receipt of Personal Independence Payment in (a) Staffordshire and (b) England.

There are an estimated 1.7 million disabled people of working age who are in receipt of a means-tested benefit but not in receipt of Personal Independence Payment or an equivalent disability benefit in England, and an estimated 0.6 million of pension age.

With respect to (a) Staffordshire, no estimate can be made due to methodological constraints.

Source: These figures are modelled estimates from DWP’s Policy Simulation Model (PSM), and therefore should not be treated as official statistics.

The PSM is a tax/benefit static microsimulation model used widely throughout DWP and across Government to assess the impact of welfare policy. The PSM is based on a three-year pooled sample of the Family Resources Survey (FRS 19-20, 21-22 and 22-23). It is therefore subject to potential sampling error and respondent error. This is projected forwards to 2025/26 based on multiple assumptions about incomes for all households. The PSM corrects benefit under-reporting in the FRS by aligning the sample weights to benefit forecasts. The PSM is also calibrated to population data from the ONS and incorporates the OBRs economic forecast. The model does not yet take account of Spring Statement 2025 policy measures.

Notes:
1. Disability is defined as the Equality Act 2010 core definition, self-reported by survey respondents who report that they have a long-term physical or mental health condition, lasting or expected to last at least 12 months, that limits their daily activities either ‘a little’ or ‘a lot’.

2. Means-tested benefits includes any of the following: Universal Credit (UC), Income Support (IS), Employment Support Allowance (ESA), Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), Working Tax Credit (WTC), Child Tax Credit (CTC), Housing Benefit (HB, or Northern Ireland equivalent), Council Tax Rebate (CTR, or Northern Ireland equivalent), or Pension Credit (PC).

3. Receipt of Personal Independence Payment includes other equivalent disability benefits: Disability Living allowance (DLA) and Attendance Allowance (AA). Eligibility for these benefits is based on different criteria to the legal definition of disability (see Note 1).

4. Estimates for England relate to 2025/26 and are rounded to the nearest 0.1 million people.

5. The working age and pension age estimates for England are based on 2,557 and 1,421 individuals respectively, from a total national sample size of 78,192.