Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of planned disability benefit changes on rates of school readiness.

The ‘Pathways to Work’ green paper, published in March 2025, sets out plans and proposals to reform health and disability benefits and employment support. The reforms will ensure the most vulnerable and severely disabled people are protected while ensuring everyone who can work receives the active support they need. This includes an extra £1 billion for personalised health, skills and employment support for sick and disabled people. The department knows that good work brings higher incomes, dignity and can significantly reduce the chances of falling into poverty.

The reforms to disability benefit were part of a wider range of reforms, and so the specific impact on school readiness has not been assessed.