Written questions by Smith.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure that recent changes to the Motability Scheme, including the removal of VAT zero-rating on advance payments and the introduction of Insurance Premium Tax on certain vehicles, do not disproportionately impact disabled individuals in rural areas who require higher-specification vehicles capable of handling adverse road conditions.

The Motability Scheme is a lifeline for many disabled people and families, supporting their independence by enabling them to lease a car, wheelchair accessible vehicle, scooter or powered wheelchair in exchange for an eligible disability benefit allowance.The Scheme will continue to offer a choice of vehicles, to meet a range of accessibility needs. The changes announced at the budget will not apply to current leases or wheelchair adapted vehicles, and the Scheme will continue to offer vehicles which require no advance payment, meaning that people will be able to access a suitable vehicle using only their qualifying disability benefit.  The Scheme will continue to offer a full ‘peace of mind package’ – including insurance and UK breakdown cover – and provide means-tested grants to support eligible people who would otherwise struggle to afford the advance payment. Proposed changes to the leasing package will undergo disability impact assessment by the Motability Foundation, which oversees the Scheme.

What assessment he has made of the level of readability of the correspondence sent by his Department when setting out how a constituent's New State Retirement Pension has been calculated (a) when considering contracted-out National Insurance contributions and (b) in general.

Individuals enrolling in a private pension scheme should receive clear and accessible information from their pension provider or employer about how the scheme may affect their State Pension entitlement. They can forecast their State Pension entitlement using the 'Check Your State Pension' service on GOV.UK, the HMRC app, or by requesting a paper statement with form BR19. The Department is committed to making communications clear, understandable and accessible for all customers. DWP Customer Communications are tested regularly to ensure they continue to meet customers’ needs. For example, Easy Read products are specifically created to help and support disabled customers. MENCAP test our Easy Read products before publication.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of her Department's proposed changes to Personal Independence Payment eligibility on the number of people experiencing homelessness; and whether she has shared that assessment with the Ministerial Group on homelessness and rough sleeping.

The Department is working closely with the Inter-Ministerial Group on Homelessness and Rough Sleeping, to get the country back on track to ending homelessness. As I made clear in my statement to the House, Hansard, 1 July, col 219, any changes to PIP eligibility will come after a comprehensive review of the benefit, which I am leading, and which will be co-produced with disabled people, the organisations that represent them, clinicians, experts, MPs and other stakeholders, so a wide range of views and voices are heard. This review aims to ensure that the PIP assessment is fair and fit for the future. The review is expected to conclude in autumn 2026.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of proposed changes to Personal Independence Payment eligibility on the number of people qualifying for PIP experiencing homelessness.

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is there to help people, now and into the future, with the extra costs of living with a disability. PIP is not intended to cover housing costs, which are paid through Universal Credit or Housing Benefit, but my department is committed to identifying and preventing homelessness amongst all customers. Tailored support is available to those at risk of and experiencing homelessness. This includes easements for those with work-related requirements, to give the space to resolve housing issues; referrals to local authority housing teams under ‘duty to refer’ legislation; and signposting to money advice services. We are continuing funding this year for local authorities to provide additional financial support for people struggling with housing and other essential living costs through the Household Support Fund and Discretionary Housing Payments. Through the Spending Review, we announced £1bn a year including Barnett consequentials from 2026 to reform crisis support in England. The Pathways to Work Green Paper announced a broad package of plans and proposals to reform health and disability benefits and employment support. Our reforms will ensure the most vulnerable and severely disabled people are protected, so they can live with dignity and security, while supporting those who can work to do so. As we develop detailed proposals for change, we will continue to consider the potential impacts of reforms. Ending all forms of homelessness is a priority for this Government. £1 billion has been invested in homelessness and rough sleeping services this year. DWP is fully committed to playing its part in homelessness prevention and supporting MHCLG to develop a new cross-government strategy to get us back on track to ending homelessness.

What assessment she has made of the merits of involving the (a) voluntary and (b) charitable sector to support people in need of employment support as part of her Department's proposed welfare reforms. support.

We announced in the Pathways to Work Green Paper that we would establish a new guarantee of support for all disabled people and people with health conditions claiming out of work benefits who want help to get into or return to work, backed up by £1 billion of new funding As the Green Paper notes, we are keen to engage widely on the design of this guarantee and the components needed to deliver it. To get this right, we will be seeking input from a wide range of stakeholders including devolved governments, local health systems, local government and Mayoral Strategic Authorities, organisations in the private, voluntary and charitable sectors, employers and potential users. We will confirm further details in due course after we have completed our consultation process.  We expect voluntary and charitable organisations to play a significant role in delivering employment support.

What steps she is taking to include representatives of the (a) voluntary and (b) charitable sector in the consultation on the proposed welfare reforms.

We strongly value the input of disabled people and people with health conditions, in addition to representative organisations that support them, and that is why we have brought forward this Green Paper and the consultation.The consultation welcomes the views of voluntary organisations, and we hope many will respond before the consultation closes on the 30 June 2025. Our programme of accessible public events will further facilitate input, including in-person and online, and will help us hear from disabled people and representative organisations directly.We are also exploring other ways to facilitate the involvement of stakeholders in our reforms. In addition to the consultation, we will establish ‘collaboration committees’ that bring groups of people together for specific policy development areas and our wider review of the PIP assessment will bring together a range of experts, stakeholders and people with lived experience.As we develop proposals further, we will consider how to best to involve voluntary and community organisations in the planning and implementation of reforms, including in our employment support package.

If she will review the Minimum Income Floor for self-employed farmers on Universal Credit.

Universal Credit treats all forms and sectors of self-employment in the same way, focusing on the level of a customer’s earnings rather than the sector in which they work. The Minimum Income Floor (MIF) encourages self-employed customers to progress in work and grow their earnings to a sustainable level. The Government is committed to reviewing Universal Credit. Further details will be provided in due course.

Whether her Department has made an estimate of the number of women born in the 1950s affected by State Pension age changes in (a) North Northumberland constituency and (b) Northumberland.

ONS population estimates suggest that in 2021 there were approximately 7,630 females born in the 1950s currently resident in the North Northumberland constituency, and 23,639 females currently resident in Northumberland.

Whether she has had discussions with the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman on the contents of it's report entitled Women’s State Pension age: our findings on injustice and associated issues, published on 21 March 2024.

The Secretary of State has not had discussions with the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman since the report into Women’s State Pension age was published on 21 March 2024. As Pensions Minister, on behalf of the ministerial team, I had a meeting with the acting Ombudsman on 22 October to discuss the report.

Whether she plans to meet regularly with representatives of the Women Against State Pension Inequality campaign.

I met representatives from the WASPI campaign on the 5th September. There are currently no future meetings planned.