Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of people in receipt of (1) Disability Living Allowance (DLA), or (2) Personal Independence Payment (PIP), who are not eligible for the Cost of Living Payment; and what plans they have to provide assistance to those affected.

Of those claimants in receipt of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) in England and Wales in May 2022 (the most recent data available), 220 were not eligible for a Disability Cost of Living Payment (DCoLP), as they had claimed the benefit after the 25^th May 2022 deadline. A further 3,020 may not have been eligible as they had their DLA suspended in May. Some of these claimants may have been partially suspended and so would be eligible for a payment.

Of those claimants in receipt of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) in England and Wales in July 2022 (the most recent data available), 2,260 were not eligible for a DCoLP, as they had claimed the benefit after the 25^th May 2022 deadline. A further 43,290 claimants may not have been eligible as they had their PIP suspended on the 25^th May 2022. This figure includes claimants who were only partially suspended and so would be eligible for a payment.

There is a range of support available to claimants.

DLA and PIP claimants are paid at up to £159.60 per week and we are forecast to spend £24bn on PIP and DLA this year.

The Government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living, which is why, in addition to the £37 billion of support we have provided for cost of living pressures in 2022-23, we are acting now to ensure support continues throughout 2023/24.

To ensure stability and certainty for households, in the Autumn Statement, the Government has announced £26bn in cost of living support for 2023/24. From April 2023 we are uprating benefits for working age households and disabled people, including DLA and PIP, as well as the basic and new State Pensions, by 10.1%. In order to increase the number of households who can benefit from these uprating decisions, the benefit cap will also be increased by 10.1%. Alongside further Cost of Living Payments for the most vulnerable, the amended Energy Price Guarantee which will also save the average UK household £500 in 2023-24.

For those who require extra support, the Government is providing an additional £1 billion of funding, including Barnett impact, to enable the extension of the Household Support Fund in England in the next financial year. This is on top of what we have already provided since October 2021, bringing total funding to £2.5 billion. In England, this will be delivered through an extension to the Household Support Fund backed by £842 million, running from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, which local authorities will use to help households with the cost of essentials. It will be for the devolved administrations to decide how to allocate their additional Barnett funding.

Notes:

Source: PIP Atomic Data Store (ADS), National Statistics Frozen Dataset

• This is unpublished data. It should be used with caution and it may be subject to future revision.
• The PIP data provided reflects the position on suspensions as recorded on the PIP analytical data system as at 5^th December 2022. This is subject to revision as the Department receives more information about a claimant’s situation.
• The DLA data provided reflects the position on suspensions as recorded on the DLA analytical data system as at 31^st May 2022. This is subject to revision as the Department receives more information about a claimant’s situation.
• Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10.
• Figures include England and Wales only.