Written questions by Harding.

What assessment he has made of the impact of the continued freeze on Local Housing Allowance on (a) Elmbridge Borough Council and (b) other high-cost rental areas.

The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions reviewed Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates and confirmed in his written ministerial statement on 26th November 2025 that rates would be maintained at their current levels for 2026/27. Renters facing a shortfall in meeting their housing costs can apply for discretionary support through the Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF) Housing Payments from local authorities in England.

If he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his Department's policies of the report by Christians Against Poverty entitled 'Barriers to work: Challenges, support and solutions, published on 25th February 2026; and what steps his Department is taking to help support people with (a) mental health conditions and (b) disabilities into employment.

Good work is good for health, so we want everyone to get work and get on in work, whoever they are and wherever they live. In our Pathways to Work Green Paper we set out our Pathways to Work offer, backed by £1 billion a year of new funding by the end of the decade. Disabled people and people with health conditions are a diverse group so access to the right work and health support, in the right place, at the right time, is key. The Government is committed to supporting disabled people and people with health conditions, including people with mental health conditions, with their employment journey. We therefore have a range of specialist initiatives to support individuals to stay in work and get back into work, including those that join up employment and health systems. Existing measures include support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres and Access to Work grants. Through Pathways to Work we are building towards a guaranteed offer of personalised work, health and skills support for all disabled people and people with health conditions on out of work benefits, building on and bringing together initiatives such as Connect to Work, WorkWell and Employment Advisers in Talking Therapies. The 10 Year Health Plan, published in July, builds on existing work to better integrate health with employment support and incentivise greater cross-system collaboration, recognising good work is good for health. The Plan states our intention to break down barriers to opportunity by delivering the holistic support that people need to access and thrive in employment by ensuring a better health service for everyone, regardless of condition or service area. It outlines how the neighbourhood health service will join up support from across the work, health and skills systems to help address the multiple complex challenges that often stop people finding and staying in work.