Written questions by Byrne.

With reference to her Department's publication entitled Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, published in March 2025, how the £1 billion employment, health and skills support package will be spent.

We are delivering the biggest investment in support for disabled people and those with health conditions in at least a generation. Our Pathways to Work Guarantee will provide work, health and skills support for disabled people and those with health conditions claiming out of work benefits. We are increasing funding each year up to £1billion a year by the end of the scorecard. This includes additional funding in 2026/27 to ensure that those affected by benefit changes in England, Scotland and Wales will be offered support with their work, health and skills needs. We anticipate this support will include: access to a conversation about needs, goals and aspirations from one of our 1,000 dedicated Pathways to Work advisors; an offer of one-to-one follow-on support; and help to access additional work, health and skills support through dedicated programmes. As the Green Paper notes, we are keen to engage widely on the longer-term design of the Pathways to Work guarantee and the components needed to deliver it. To get this right, we are seeking input from a wide range of stakeholders including devolved governments, local health systems, local government and Mayoral Strategic Authorities, private and voluntary sector providers, employers and potential users. We will confirm further details in due course after we have completed our consultation process.

What assessment her Department has made of the decision to freeze Local Housing Allowance on rates of poverty.

No assessment has been made using current economic assumptions and methodological practices.However, the department has previously produced a poverty impact assessment using OBR economic assumptions from 30 October 2024 on an outdated version of the model. Using this methodology, the department has estimated the poverty impact of uprating the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) to the 30th percentile of rents in a broad rental market area compared to freezing it. Uprating the LHA to the 30th percentile in each year has been estimated to decrease the number of individuals in relative poverty after housing costs by 50,000 (0.1%) individuals in 25/26 and 100,000 (0.1%) individuals in 28/29 compared to freezing it at April 2024 levels.Estimates have been rounded to the nearest 50,000 and are on a UK basis. The poverty impacts are independent of the underlying trends in poverty, so they are not an estimate of the total change in poverty over time.Since this version of the model, the welfare policies announced at Autumn Budget and Spring Statement have been incorporated into the model and the economic assumptions have been updated to OBR's March 2025 assumptions.At last year’s Autumn Budget, the Secretary of State’s decision to maintain LHA at current levels for 2025/26 was taken after a range of factors were considered, including rental data, the impacts of LHA rates, rate increases in April 2024, and the wider fiscal context. The April 2024 one-year LHA increase cost an additional £1.2bn in 2024/25, and approximately £7bn over 5 years.Any future decisions on LHA policy will be taken in the context of the Government’s missions, goals on housing, and the fiscal context.For those who need further support, Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) are available from local authorities. DHPs can be paid to those entitled to Housing Benefit or Universal Credit who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs.

What recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of (a) Statutory Maternity Pay and (b) Maternity Allowance.

Government spends approximately £3 billion a year on parental payments.The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is required by law to undertake an annual review of benefits and State Pensions, including Statutory Maternity Pay and Maternity Allowance. This is based on a review of trends in prices and earnings growth in the preceding year.From April 2025, the rate for Statutory Maternity Pay and Maternity Allowance increased by September 2024's CPI figure of 1.7%, from £184.03 to £187.18 per week.Parental pay is only one element of the support available for parents. Depending on individual circumstances, additional financial support, for example, Universal Credit, Child Benefit and the Sure Start Maternity Grant (a lump sum payment of £500) may also be available.

What steps she is taking to ensure the perspectives of older people are included in her Department's policy decision-making.

We know that work helps everyone, including older people, play active and fulfilling roles in society while building financial security for retirement. That is why we are reformingemployment support to ensure it helps everyone who needs it. This includes creating a new Jobs and Careers service that will enable everyone, regardless of age, to access support to find good, meaningful work, and help them progress in work or increase their earnings. We are also committing to the establishment of ‘collaboration committees’ to further develop the reforms set out in our Pathways to Work Green Paper. These will bring together groups of people for specific work areas, including older people, collaborating with civil servants to provide discussion, challenge, and recommendations. We have asked Sir Charlie Mayfield to lead an independent “Keep Britain Working” review as a part of the plan to Get Britain Working again. In recognition of employer's vital role, his review is considering recommendations to support and enable employers to promote healthy and inclusive workplaces, support more people to stay in or return to work from periods of sickness absence, and recruit and retain more disabled people and people with health conditions. This includes the perspectives of older people themselves, as well as engaging with the Centre for Ageing Better.

Whether people with a claim under the Special Rules for Terminal Illness will be exempt from work-related activity requirements following the abolition of the Work Capability Assessment.

We are currently consulting on how we should determine which individuals or groups of individuals should be exempt from the requirement to participate in conversations or any work-related requirements following the abolition of the Work Capability Assessment.

How many people in receipt of Universal Credit have a terminal condition but do not have a claim under the Special Rules for Terminal Illness.

The information is not available. The Universal Credit system is usually only informed of a terminal illness diagnosis through an application for the Special Rules for End of Life.

Whether people with a terminal illness who do not have a claim under the Special Rules for Terminal Illness will be exempt from work-related activity requirements following the abolition of the Work Capability Assessment.

We are currently consulting on how we should determine which individuals or groups of individuals should be exempt from the requirement to participate in conversations or any work-related requirements following the abolition of the Work Capability Assessment.

With reference to the Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, published on 18 March 2025, what the value will be of the additional premium in Universal Credit for people with the most severe, life-long health conditions with no prospect of improvement.

As set out in the Green Paper, we will ensure that those with the most severe, life-long health conditions, who will never be able to work will see their incomes protected. We will also ensure this group face no future reassessment. We will set this out in the forthcoming Bill.

With reference to his Department's publication entitled Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, published in March 2025, whether people with a claim under the Special Rules for Terminal Illness will be eligible for the additional premium in Universal Credit.

The Department supports people nearing the end of life through the Special Rules for End of Life (SREL). These enable people who are nearing the end of their lives to get faster, easier access to certain benefits, without needing to attend a medical assessment or serve waiting periods, and in most cases, receive the highest rate of benefit. The Pathways to Work Green paper is clear that in taking forward reforms, the Government is considering the appropriate rules for those in specific circumstances, such as being at end of life. It is also clear that after April 2026, the Government is proposing that those with the most severe, life-long health conditions, who have no prospect of improvement and will never be able to work, will see their incomes protected.

With reference to his Department's publication entitled Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, published in March 2025, whether people with a terminal illness who do not have a claim under the Special Rules for Terminal Illness will be eligible for the additional premium in Universal Credit.

The Department supports people nearing the end of life through the Special Rules for End of Life (SREL). These rules enable people who are nearing the end of their lives to get faster, easier access to certain benefits, without needing to attend a medical assessment or serve waiting periods, and in most cases, to receive the highest rate of benefit.The SREL have been extended to apply to people who have 12 months or less to live, rather than 6 months or less to live, so that people receive vital support through the Special Rules six months earlier, increasing the number of people able to access benefits through the Special Rules.The Pathways to Work Green paper announced that the Government is considering the appropriate rules for those in specific circumstances, such as being at end of life. It also announced that, after April 2026, the Government plans to protect the incomes of those with the most severe, life-long health conditions, who have no prospect of improvement and will never be able to work.

Whether she plans to widen the scope of the consultation for the Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, published on 18 March 2025.

The Pathways to Work Green Paper set out our plans and proposals for reform to health and disability benefits and employment support. This includes some urgently needed reforms to PIP eligibility and UC rates that are not subject to consultation but on which Parliament will fully debate and vote. We included these changes in the Green Paper to allow readers to see the proposals in wider context and so they can provide more informed views. The Green Paper does consult on many key elements of the reform package, including employment support and access to work, which are at the centre of our plans to improve the system for disabled people. We hope that a wide range of voices will respond to the consultation, and we are holding a programme of public consultation events across the country to help facilitate input. We are also developing other ways to facilitate the involvement of stakeholders and disabled people in our reforms. In addition to the consultation itself, we will establish ‘collaboration committees’ that bring groups of people together for specific work areas and our wider review of the PIP assessment will bring together a range of experts, stakeholders and people with lived experience.

With reference to the Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, CP 1297, published on 18 March 2025, what estimate her Department has made of the number of people who would lose entitlement to Personal Independence Payments by health (a) condition and (b) impairment.

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.

For what reason has the Department's Decision Maker's Guide downgraded Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit applications for asbestos (PD1 pneumoconiosis) and asbestos-related pleural thickening (PD9) to non-urgent.

Guidance on how the law is interpreted for DWP decision makers is contained in the Decision Makers' Guide (DMG). The DMG is also published on GOV.UK.In December 2024, the DMG - Volume 11, Chapter 67 - was updated to remove references to ‘urgent processing criteria’ for some Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB) prescribed diseases. This included: D1 (pneumoconiosis), D9 (unilateral or bilateral diffuse pleural thickening) and D12 (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease – COPD). This is because ‘urgent processing criteria’ is not set out in IIDB legislation for these conditions. Urgent processing for these conditions is an internal operational procedure only, therefore these references should not have been included in the DMG.Removing references to urgent processing in the DMG has had no impact on IIDB processing instructions. Claims for D1, D9 and D12 continue to be processed urgently and there are no plans for any future changes to this process. IIDB operational guidance continues to specify that:Claims for PD D1 Pneumoconiosis are treated as urgent cases if the claimant mentions exposure to asbestos.Claims for PD D9 are treated as urgent cases if the claimant is 'Nearing End of Life' due to their pleural thickening or any other illness the customer has.Claims for PD D12 Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease are treated as urgent cases if the claimant is known to be 'Nearing End of Life'.

What recent assessment has she made of the potential impact of the under occupancy charge on rates of poverty.

The Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy (RSRS), sometimes referred to as the underoccupancy charge, applies to claims for housing support - either Housing Benefit or the housing element of Universal Credit - where the claimant is living in the social rented sector in a property that has more bedrooms than their benefit entitlement. Easements are available which allow an additional bedroom to support disabled people and carers, the families of disabled children, foster carers, parents who adopt, parents of service personnel and people who have suffered a bereavement. We continue to keep all policies under review, considering them against a range of factors, including the wider fiscal situation and fit with government missions. Those unable to meet the shortfall in their rent can seek a Discretionary Housing Payment from their local authority.

With reference to the report by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman entitled Women’s State Pension age: our findings on injustice and associated issues, published on 21 March 2024, whether she has conducted an impact assessment of the issues raised in that report.

Ministers will comply with requirements under the Public Sector Equality Duty as set out in section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 for decisions in relation to the Ombudsman’s report.

What steps her Department is taking to improve employment support for disabled Universal Credit claimants.

As part of the get Britain working plan, more disabled people and those with health conditions will be supported to enter and stay in work, by devolving more power to local areas so they can shape a joined-up work, health, and skills offer that suits the needs of the people they serve. Good quality work is generally good for health and wellbeing, so we want everyone to get work and get on in work, whoever they are and wherever they live. We want people to avoid poverty, and for this to happen we must ensure that disabled people and people with health conditions have the opportunity to work and save for as long as they wish and are able to. Disabled people and people with health conditions are a diverse group who need access to the right work and health support, in the right place, at the right time. We have a range of specialist initiatives to support individuals to stay in work and get back into work, including disabled Universal Credit claimants. Measures include support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres, Access to Work grants and the Work and Health Programme, as well as joining up health and employment support around the individual through Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies and Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care. Employers play a key role in increasing employment opportunities and supporting disabled people and people with health conditions, to thrive as part of the workforce. Our support to employers includes increasing access to Occupational Health, a digital information service for employers and the Disability Confident scheme.

With reference to the report by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman entitled Women’s State Pension age: our findings on injustice and associated issues, published on 21 March 2024, HC 638, if she will establish a compensation scheme for affected women by 5 February 2025.

We are reviewing the Ombudsman’s report along with the evidence provided during the investigation. We need to consider the views that have been expressed on all sides including the points raised by representatives from the WASPI Campaign who I met recently, the first Government Minister to do so for 8 years. Once this work has been undertaken, the Government will be in a position to outline its approach.