Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of levels of (a) public spending and (b) welfare payments on the (i) quality of life, (ii) mental wellbeing and (iii) physical wellbeing of disabled people.

The Government is providing extensive support to disabled people and those with a health condition to help them live independent lives. In 2022/23 we will spend over £64bn on benefits to support disabled people and people with health conditions in Great Britain: spending on main disability benefits – PIP, DLA and Attendance Allowance – will be over £6bn higher in real terms than it was in 2010.

In response to cost of living pressures, the Government has already paid out the £650 Cost of Living Payment to over 7 million low-income households and the £150 Disability Cost of Living Payment to 6 million people receiving eligible disability benefits. Pensioner households will also receive an additional £300 on their Winter Fuel Payment this winter. This is alongside the £400 non-repayable discount to eligible households provided through the Energy Bills Support Scheme in addition to the Energy Price Guarantee from now until April next year.

We have announced further cost of living support worth £26 billion in 2023-24, designed to target the most vulnerable households. In addition, benefits uprating is worth £11 billion to working age households and people with disabilities. This further cost of living support in 2023-24 includes:

• More than 8 million UK households on low-income benefits will receive an additional Cost of Living Payment of £900.
• Over 6 million people across the UK on eligible disability benefits will receive a further £150 Disability Cost of Living Payment to help with the additional costs they face. This is in addition to the Cost of Living Payments for households on means tested benefits and pensioner households, if eligible.
• More than 8 million pensioner households across the UK will receive an additional £300 Cost of Living Payment for pensioners to help with bills. This is in addition to the means tested benefit and disability payments, if eligible.
• We’ll continue to provide support to all households through the Energy Price Guarantee, which caps the price you pay for each unit of energy. This will save the average UK household £500 in 2023-24.

There is no recent assessment of the impact of public spending and welfare benefits on quality of life or mental and physical wellbeing of disabled people.