Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether people in Scotland who transition from Employment Support Allowance to Universal Credit will be (a) considered as new claimants and (b) subject to the new rules under the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Bill when determining their eligibility for the Universal Credit health element.

We are rebalancing Universal Credit (UC) to fix a system which encourages people to claim health benefits and incentivises inactivity. It’s a targeted reform that protects those with the most serious, long-term conditions and existing claimants, while providing work, health and skills support to everyone who is affected by changes to LCWRA.

Both Employment Support Allowance (ESA) and UC are entirely reserved so are assessed in the same way across England, Scotland and Wales. Customers who move to UC from ESA, with no gap between those awards, will not be treated as a new claimant.