Written questions by McDonald.

What estimate she has made of the number of people who will no longer qualify for Carer's Allowance following the proposed changes to entitlements to the Personal Independent Payment in (a) Middlesbrough and Thornaby East constituency, (b) Middlesbrough Council, (c) Tees Valley Combined Authority area and (d) the North East.

No assessment has yet been made. Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course, and some information was published alongside the Spring Statement. These publications can be found in ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper’. A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.

With reference to the policy paper entitled Spring Statement 2025 health and disability benefit reforms - Impacts, published in March 2025, what estimate she has made of the number and proportion of additional people there will be in relative poverty in each Parliamentary constituency.

No assessment has yet been made. Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course, and some information was published alongside the Spring Statement. These publications can be found in ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper’. A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.

Whether she had discussions with disabled people's groups on the introduction of the requirement that claimants must score a minimum of four points in at least one daily living activity to be eligible for the daily living component of Personal Independence Payment.

We urgently need reform to stop people from falling into inactivity, restore trust and fairness in the system and promote the interests of disabled people. This means we need to take decisive action to tackle a situation in which PIP claims are set to double from 2 million to over 4.3 million this decade. We are consulting on how best to support those affected by the changes. We will also consider improvements to the PIP assessment. We will launch a wider review of the PIP indicators, which I shall lead, and we will bring together a range of experts, stakeholders and people with lived experience to consider how best to do this. We will provide further details as plans progress. We will be bringing forward changes in a Bill so Parliament can fully debate and vote on them.

If she will make an estimate of the change in number of recipients of the health element of universal credit in Middlesbrough and Thornaby East constituency as a result of the green paper entitled Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working.

Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published alongside the Spring Statement. A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.

How many people below the age of 22 are in receipt of the health element of Universal Credit in Middlesbrough and Thornaby East constituency.

Quarterly statistics for the number of People on Universal Credit with a health condition or disability restricting their ability to work in Great Britain are published on Stat-Xplore. The latest release provides figures up to December 2024 which can be broken down by ‘Age (in bands and single year)’, Westminster Parliamentary Constituency and Local Authority. Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access guidance on how to extract the information required. The UC Health caseload aged under 22 at the mid-point of the current financial year (July 2024) can be combined with the standard monthly Limited capability for work and work-related activity element of £416.19 to derive an estimate for annual expenditure for 24/25.

What the cost to her Department was of payments for the health element of Universal Credit to people aged below 22 in the latest period for which data is available.

Quarterly statistics for the number of People on Universal Credit with a health condition or disability restricting their ability to work in Great Britain are published on Stat-Xplore. The latest release provides figures up to December 2024 which can be broken down by ‘Age (in bands and single year)’, Westminster Parliamentary Constituency and Local Authority. Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access guidance on how to extract the information required. The UC Health caseload aged under 22 at the mid-point of the current financial year (July 2024) can be combined with the standard monthly Limited capability for work and work-related activity element of £416.19 to derive an estimate for annual expenditure for 24/25.

How many people are in receipt of personal independence payments in Middlesbrough and Thornaby East constituency.

In January 2025, there were a total of 11,800 people in receipt of Personal Independence Payment in the Middlesbrough and Thornaby East constituency. This information can be found on Stat-Xplore in the ‘PIP Cases with Entitlement from 2019’ dataset’.

How many people are in receipt of the health element of universal credit in Middlesbrough and Thornaby East constituency.

Quarterly statistics for the number of People on Universal Credit with a health condition or disability restricting their ability to work in Great Britain are published on Stat-Xplore. The latest release provides figures up to December 2024 which can be broken down by ‘Age (in bands and single year)’, Westminster Parliamentary Constituency and Local Authority. Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access guidance on how to extract the information required. The UC Health caseload aged under 22 at the mid-point of the current financial year (July 2024) can be combined with the standard monthly Limited capability for work and work-related activity element of £416.19 to derive an estimate for annual expenditure for 24/25.

If she will make an estimate of the number of future (a) applicants and (b) recipients for the health element of universal credit in Middlesbrough and Thornaby East constituency as a result of the green paper entitled Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working.

Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published alongside the Spring Statement. A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.

For what reason the (a) equality and (b) poverty impact analysis were not published with the green paper entitled Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working.

The equalities analysis and poverty analysis includes detailed information which would have pre-empted the OBR forecast. That forecast is market sensitive until the Spring Statement. The analysis was published alongside the Spring Statement this week.

If she will launch a consultation on proposals to introduce an additional requirement for people to score at least four points in one daily living activity to be eligible for the daily living part of PIP.

We have committed to introduce a new requirement that, in addition to the existing eligibility criteria, claimants must score a minimum of four points in at least one daily living activity to be eligible for the daily living component of Personal Independence Payment. Our intention is that – subject to parliamentary approval – the changes will apply to new claims and award reviews from November 2026.We will bring forward this change this session via primary legislation, which will enable Parliament to provide full scrutiny of these plans.

If she will launch a consultation on proposals to rebalance Universal Credit (a) standard allowance, (b) health element and (c) new payment rates.

We urgently need reform to stop people from falling into inactivity, restore trust and fairness in the system and promote the interests of disabled people. Therefore, there are some measures announced in the Pathways to Work Green Paper on the 18 March 2025, that we will not be consulting on.The Pathways to Work Green Paper sets out our wider plan to reform the system by rebalancing the levels of the Universal Credit (UC) standard allowance and the UC health element. Our objective is a social security system which is pro-work but provides adequate financial support for people when they are not working, regardless of the reason. The changes to UC payment rates will be introduced in primary legislation, and so will be fully debated in Parliament, and are not subject to consultation.

With reference to the green paper entitled Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working, if she will publish the membership of the panel to ensure that the views of (a) disabled people and (b) people with health conditions are used in the (i) design and (ii) delivery of reforms.

As part of wider efforts to put disabled voices at the heart of policy, the Get Britain Working White Paper announced a commitment to establishing a panel to consult disabled people. We are in the process of establishing this panel, which will also consider the reforms set out in the Pathways to Work Green Paper.We also committed to the establishment of ‘collaboration committees’ in the Pathways to Work Green Paper to further develop our welfare reforms. These will involve bringing together groups of disabled people and other experts for specific work areas to collaborate and provide discussion, challenge, and recommendations.Both initiatives will include people who have lived experience of disability and representation of a range of disabilities. Further information about both initiatives will be announced soon.

With reference to the green paper entitled Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working, if she will publish the criteria for membership of the panel to ensure that the views of (a) disabled people and (b) people with health conditions are used in the (i) design and (ii) delivery of reforms.

As part of wider efforts to put disabled voices at the heart of policy, the Get Britain Working White Paper announced a commitment to establishing a panel to consult disabled people. We are in the process of establishing this panel, which will also consider the reforms set out in the Pathways to Work Green Paper.We also committed to the establishment of ‘collaboration committees’ in the Pathways to Work Green Paper to further develop our welfare reforms. These will involve bringing together groups of disabled people and other experts for specific work areas to collaborate and provide discussion, challenge, and recommendations.Both initiatives will include people who have lived experience of disability and representation of a range of disabilities. Further information about both initiatives will be announced soon.

If she will make an estimate of the number of future (a) applicants and (b) recipients of personal independence payments in Middlesbrough and Thornaby East constituency as a result of the green paper entitled Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working.

No such estimates have been made. Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course with some information published this week alongside the Spring Statement. A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.

If she will make an estimate of the change in number of recipients of personal independent payments in Middlesbrough and Thornaby East constituency as a result of the green paper entitled Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working.

No such estimate has been made.Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course with some information published this week alongside the Spring Statement. A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.

If she will launch a consultation on proposals to (a) end the Work Capability Assessment and (b) use the single Personal Independence Payment assessment to assess entitlement for the Universal Credit health element.

We urgently need reform to stop people from falling into inactivity, restore trust and fairness in the system and protect disabled people. Therefore, there are some measures announced in the Pathways to Work Green Paper on the 18th March 2025, that we will not be consulting on. Urgently needed changes to PIP will be brought forward via Primary Legislation so that Parliament can fully debate and vote on them. Spending on PIP has increased by £2 billion per year above inflation on average in each of the last five years. We need to take decisive action to make the benefit financially sustainable, so that it can continue to provide vitally needed support. In the Green Paper, we are however consulting on how best to support those who lose benefit as a result of this change. We will launch a wider review of the PIP assessment, which I shall lead. We will bring together a range of experts, stakeholders and people with lived experience to consider how best to do this. We will provide further details as plans progress.

What assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the accessibility of the appeals process for deduction orders.

The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) takes the accessibility of the appeals process for Regular Deduction Order (RDO) or Lump Sum deduction Order (LSDO) seriously.Guidance on how to appeal the deduction order is enclosed with the final lump sum deduction order letter when it is sent to the paying parent. The guidance clearly points out the time limits associated with an appeal.The Family Court rules determine the 21 days afforded to appeal a deduction order is absolute. Neither CMS nor the courts have the power to extend the period to appeal beyond 21 Days.The Judicial Review Team is aware that the Family Courts in England and Wales are experiencing unprecedented demand for their services and as such there is a delay in responding to customers’ deduction order appeals. To mitigate matters for the customer, measures have been put in place to hold the secured funds with the deposit taker for longer provided the customer can provide evidence the appeal was filed in the court within the 21-day appeal window.The Judicial Review Team do investigate the lawfulness of the application of the deduction order. If errors are identified, action is taken to remedy those errors. This may involve reducing the amount of the sums frozen or discharging the funds completely. However, if the deduction order is lawful the Judicial Review Team will mount a defence to the appeal instructing a solicitor from the Government Legal Department to assist. Appeals are determined by a District Judge sitting in the Family Court.

How many people have had their driving license suspended for failure to pay child maintenance in each of the last five years.

From January to September 2024, the courts issued 1 immediate and 5 suspended disqualifications for driving. From January to December 2023, the courts issued 4 suspended disqualifications for driving. From January to December 2022, the courts issued 1 immediate and 8 suspended disqualifications for driving. From January to December 2021, the courts issued 1 immediate and 4 suspended disqualifications for driving. From January to December 2020, the courts issued 2 suspended disqualifications for driving. Current legislation for driving license and passport removal requires repayment of the debt within six months, whereas legislation covering commitment to prison allows the courts to order the paying parent to repay debt in instalments over a two-year period. This longer period is generally more appropriate, so the commitment to prison power is used more often.It should also be noted that these are actions of last resort and are intended to have a deterrent effect. The low number of sentences given may not reflect the number of people persuaded to pay by the prospect of these powers being used.

How many recipients of social security payments were subject to one or more deduction in each of the past five years; and what the (a) mean and (b) median monthly deduction was by constituency.

Some of the requested information for Universal Credit is published and available here: Universal Credit statistics, 29 April 2013 to 10 October 2024 - GOV.UK. Table 6 in the Universal Credit deductions statistics, supplementary data tables breaks down households with deductions by Advance deductions, Government deductions and Third Party deductions for each parliamentary constituency in August 2024. The remaining information for Universal Credit is provided in the separate spreadsheet. Information regarding other social security payments is not readily available, as it requires merging of different data tables from several sources, and to provide it would be at disproportionate cost.