Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, further to question 95498 if he will make an assessment of the impact for his policies of the findings of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation entitled Guarantee our Essentials: reforming Universal Credit to ensure we can all afford the essentials in hard time, published on 4 March 2025.

As I set out in the response I gave on 4 December 2025 to PQ UIN 95498, this government is taking important steps to tackle child poverty and improve the support we provide people with their living costs.

There is no overall agreed approach to benchmark benefit levels. Each household will always have different requirements depending on their circumstances. We will continue to consider evidence and insights from a range of organisations to ensure the social security system provides the support people need.