Written questions by Stride.

Whether her Department's proposed reforms to contributory out of work benefits are expected to reduce contributory benefits as a proportion of overall welfare expenditure.

Our proposed reforms to contributory benefits are about creating a more proactive, pro-work system that actually supports individuals. While the reforms are part of a package that will make the benefits system more affordable, they will also ensure that the system continues to provide for those who need it most, while supporting those who can, back into work. We are consulting on establishing a new, simple and clear “Unemployment Insurance” benefit through the reform of contributory working age benefits and we welcome responses. No final decisions have been taken.

Whether it is her Department's policy that people with (a) more than £16,000 in savings, (b) a full National Insurance record and (c) a work-limiting health condition will not be eligible for support through the benefits system after the time-limited period of the proposed new single contributory benefit has elapsed.

This is not current government policy. We are consulting on plans for a new “Unemployment Insurance”. We are asking about what the right level of support is and how long it should last, and we would welcome your response. No final decisions have been taken. To confirm, both Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment will continue to exist in the reformed system.

What proportion of the additional defence expenditure she announced at the Spring Statement falls under capital departmental expenditure limits; what proportion falls under resource departmental expenditure limits; and for what reason these allocations were arrived at.

The Chancellor’s Spring Statement document, published on 26 March, set out the Resource DEL and Capital DEL uplifts to defence spending over the scorecard period.A greater proportion of the uplift will be Capital DEL funding. This reflects the needs of defence, and will enable the accelerated the adoption of cutting-edge capabilities, and rebuild stockpiles, munitions, and other essentials depleted after a period focussed on international terrorism and global crises. This Capital DEL focus also supports the Chancellor’s mission to boost growth, enabling greater spending on novel and innovative technologies.The allocation of this uplift and the MOD budget will be confirmed as part of the Spending Review 2025, which will conclude on 11 June 2025.

What the net impact of (a) Government policies since 4 July 2024, (b) the Autumn Budget 2024 and (c) the Spring Statement 2025 has been on the Office for Budget Responsibility's forecasts for real household disposable income per person in each financial year between 2024-25 and 2029-30.

HM Treasury does not prepare forecasts for the UK economy. Forecasts, including for real household disposable income per person, are the responsibility of the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). These forecasts are published by the OBR as part of their Economic and Fiscal Outlook (EFO). The OBR’s assessment of policy decisions at the 2024 Autumn Budget can be found in their October 2024 EFO, available here: https://obr.uk/efo/economic-and-fiscal-outlook-october-2024/ The OBR’s assessment of policy decisions at the 2025 Spring Statement can be found in their March 2025 EFO, available here: https://obr.uk/efo/economic-and-fiscal-outlook-march-2025/ In their March forecast, after accounting for the effects of policy at both events, the OBR forecast was for RHDI per capita to rise by an annual average of 0.5% over this parliament (Q3 2024 – Q2 2029).

In which financial year the current budget was last in surplus.

The last financial year for which the current budget was in surplus was 2018-19, when there was a surplus of £0.8 billion. This was the only surplus since 2001-02, when the current budget was in surplus by £6.9 billion. The OBR has today forecast that the current budget will be in surplus by £6.0 billion in 2027-28, £7.1 billion in 2028-29, and £9.9 billion in 2029-30. This information is available in the Public Sector Finances publication, published by the Office for National Statistics and the Office for Budget Responsibility’s March Economic and Fiscal Outlook published on 26 March.

Whether the £13.4 billion for the armed forces was calculated based on NATO-qualifying spending; and what his Departmental budget will be in the 2027-28 financial year.

The £13.4 billion increase relates to total NATO qualifying defence spend. This is the increase in cash terms between defence spending in 2027-28 and what the UK spends today. HMT is currently undertaking the second phase of the Spending Review, which will be announced on 11 June 2025. This will set Departmental budgets for three years from 2026-27 for RDEL and four years for CDEL, including for the Ministry of Defence.

With reference to the Prime Minister’s oral statement on Defence and Security of 25 February 2025, Official Report, column 631, what the level of defence spending was due to be in the 2027-28 financial year prior to that announcement.

Departmental budgets from 2026-27 to 2028-29 will be determined as part of the ongoing Spending Review, details of which will be announced on 11 June 2025.

What assessment her Department has made of whether real-terms or nominal figures provide the most accurate metric for evaluating an increase in defence spending.

£13.4bn represents the increase in total NATO qualifying defence spending from 2024-25 to 2027-28 based on OBR forecasts. As the Prime Minister has announced, defence spending will reach 2.5% GDP in 2027-28. Our GDP percentage spent on defence is the key metric used in reference to defence spending, in line with our NATO commitments.

Whether the Overseas Development Assistance budget will remain the only funding source for the increase in defence spending throughout this Parliament.

On 25 February 2025 the Prime Minister announced that NATO qualifying defence spending will increase to 2.5% GDP by 2027-28, with Official Development Assistance reducing from 0.5% GNI to 0.3% GNI by the same time point, meaning the uplift is fully funded and that additional funding will be sourced by a reduction in ODA. The final budgets for departments will be announced when the Spending Review concludes on 11 June 2025

With reference to the Prime Minister’s oral statement on Defence and Security of 25 February 2025, Official Report, column 631, how much and what proportion of the £13.4 billion increase in defence spending is new money.

£13.4bn represents the forecast increase in total NATO qualifying defence spending between 2024-25 to 2027-28. This increase comprises the reallocated ODA funding, as well as forecast increases to existing NATO qualifying spend based on OBR forecasts, over that timeframe.

If she will provide a breakdown by department of the additional capital expenditure announced at the October Budget for each financial year up to 2029-30.

At Autumn Budget 2024 the government announced over £100 billion of additional capital investment over the next five years compared to the plans the government inherited. In 2025-26, this amounts a £13 billion increase compared to Spring Budget 2024 plans. Allocations of departmental capital spending in 2025-26 can be found in Table C.4 of the Autumn Budget Document. Allocations from 2026-27 to 2029-30 will be announced at the conclusion of the ongoing Spending Review in June 2025.

Whether the estimated economic impact of additional public investment within the Office for Budget Responsibility’s forecasts reflects the composition of that investment spending in each year of the forecast period.

The independent Office for Budget Responsibility produces comprehensive economic and fiscal forecasts twice a year. This includes a judgement on how public investment levels impact the economy. This judgement is based on the Public Investment and Potential Output framework the OBR published in the summer of 2024, with the OBR providing further information on how it assessed the Autumn Budget 2024 increase in public investment in Chapter 3 of its Economic and Fiscal Outlook. In both, the OBR outline how they use impacts of aggregate measures of investment, rather than the decomposition of investment spending. The OBR makes this assessment on the basis of the government’s headline capital spending plans. The government has allocated capital budgets by department up to 2025-26. Allocations for future years will be published as part of the ongoing Spending Review, set to conclude in June 2025.

Whether it remains her Department's policy to begin the rollout of the abolition of the Work Capability Assessment and the categories of Limited Capability for Work and Limited Capability for Work Related Activity from April 2026.

We’ve been clear that WCA isn’t working and needs to be reformed or replaced. We are working to develop proposals for reform to the system of health and disability benefits and will set them out in a green paper in the spring. As part of the Get Britain Working plan, we will support more disabled people and those with health conditions 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.

With reference to the Tables in the document entitled Work Capability Assessment Reform: update to estimated number of claimants affected, dated 18 April 2024, what her Department's estimate is of the number of claimants moved into each of those categories in the 2029-30 financial year.

The figures requested can be found in the table below: Note – This reform was planned and made by the previous Government, but the figures reflect the latest OBR forecasts and assumptions. Number of claimants affected by Work Capability Assessment Reform, Great Britain Moved from LCWRA to LCW2029-30Totals448,000Total moved due to removing the LCWRA ‘mobilising’ descriptor282,000Total moved due to amending the LCWRA ‘risk’ descriptor136,000 Moved from LCW to IWS2029-30Total moved34,000Total moved due to amending the LCW ‘getting about’ descriptor34,000 Source: Internal Work Capability Assessment Reform Policy Costing model Notes to tables:LCWRA, LCW and IWS are three groups within Universal Credit with different levels of labour market conditionalityLCWRA refers to the ‘limited capability for work and work-related activity’ group. LCW refers to the ‘limited capability for work’ group. IWS refers to the ‘intensive work search’ groupthe number of claimants is rounded to the nearest 1,000. Figures may not sum due to rounding

What her Department's timetable is for abolishing the couple's administrative earnings threshold; and what estimate she has made of the potential impact of the abolition of the couple's administrative earnings threshold on the number of people entering the Intensive Work Search regime.

The previous administration planned to abolish the Couples AET to increase compliance and conditionality requirements on working households, without clear evidence that this would be cost-effective. The Government’s plans for supporting working households towards sustainable good quality jobs are set out in the Get Britain Working white paper.

What the forecast level of (a) public sector net debt, (b) public sector net debt excluding Bank of England and (c) public sector net financial liabilities was at the time of the Autumn Budget 2024 in (i) cash terms, (ii) real terms and (iii) as a proportion of GDP on a (A) pre and (B) post measures basis in each financial year to 2029-30.

At Autumn Budget 2024, the government put the public finances on a sustainable path by strengthening the fiscal framework, including announcing new fiscal rules, and taking difficult decisions on tax, welfare and spending. The information requested is all published explicitly, or calculable from information published, in the AB24 Economic and Fiscal Outlook and the OBR’s Public Sector Finances aggregates databank , with the exception of the information related to public sector net debt excluding Bank of England on a pre-measures basis, which is not published by the OBR.

With reference to page 3 of the Autumn Budget 2024, published on 30 October, whether self-employed people are classed as working.

A working person is someone who goes out to work and works for their income. The government has committed to not increase taxes on working people, which is why it is not increasing the basic, higher or additional rates of Income Tax, National Insurance co...

With reference to page 3 of the Autumn Budget 2024, published on 30 October, what her definition is of working people.

A working person is someone who goes out to work and works for their income. The government has committed to not increase taxes on working people, which is why it is not increasing the basic, higher or additional rates of Income Tax, National Insurance co...

With reference to the oral answer of 7 October 2024 from the Minister for Employment, Official Report, column 6, what changes have been made to the Access to Work Scheme since the beginning of this Parl

Since the beginning of this Parliament the Department for Work and Pensions has taken steps to improve operational guidance and process to ensure Access to Work grants are awarded consistently and as quickly as possible. Since July 2024, twenty-three addi...

What information her Department holds on the local government (a) area and (b) ward of individual pensioners who (i) are and (ii) are not in receipt of Pension Credit.

The department holds information on individual pensioners who do claim Pension Credit broken down geographically by ward, Local Authority, region, country, and also Westminster Parliamentary Constituencies 2010 and 2024. The department does not hold infor...