Written questions by Waugh.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the five-week wait for Universal Credit on (a) debt and (b) poverty levels.

We are reviewing Universal Credit, to make sure it is doing the job we want it to. We are committed to considering how we can support people during the Initial Assessment Period, often referred to as the 5-week wait, before they receive their first payment as part of the review and will provide an update in due course. Published research on debt whilst on UC can be found here: Impacts of external debt for indebted Universal Credit claimants - GOV.UK; DWP ad hoc research - GOV.UK and the latest Universal Credit deductions statistics are published here Universal Credit statistics, 29 April 2013 to 10 April 2025 - GOV.UK

What recent estimate she has made of the number of people in receipt of the (a) enhanced and (b) standard PIP who were awarded less than four points in all 10 of the daily living activities in the assessment criteria in Rochdale constituency.

For the volume of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claimants in Rochdale who scored less than four points in all 10 daily living activities in their most recent assessment by award see Table 1 below. After the reforms PIP expenditure is forecast to rise from £29 billion this financial year to £35 billion in 2029/30, but would be £4 billion higher without these reforms. After taking account of behavioural changes, OBR predict 370,000 claimants at the point of implementation will be affected by 2029/30, equating to 1 in 10 of the PIP caseload in November 2026. Table 1: Volume of PIP claimants in Rochdale Parliamentary Constituency who scored less than four points in all 10 daily living activities by award rate (January 2025 caseload)Daily Living Award RateVolume of PIP claimantsStandard3,300Enhanced500 Notes:Figures are rounded to the nearest 100.These figures include claims made under normal rules and include new claims and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) to PIP reassessments.Figures include those with Special Rules for End of Life (SREL)There will be no immediate changes. Changes to PIP eligibility and rebalancing of UC aren’t coming into effect immediately. Our intention is these changes will start to come into effect from April 2026 for UC and November 2026 for PIP, subject to parliamentary approval.PIP changes will only apply at the next award review after November 2026. The average award review period is about three years. At the award review, claimants will be seen by a trained assessor or healthcare professional and assessed on individual needs and circumstances.We are consulting on how best to support those who are affected by the new eligibility changes, including how to make sure health and eligible care needs are met. PIP is not based on condition diagnosis but on functional disability as the result of one or more conditions, and is awarded as a contribution to the additional costs which result.We also intend to launch a wider review of the PIP assessment which I will lead, and we will bring together a range of experts, stakeholders and people with lived experience to consider how best to do this and to start the process as part of preparing for a review. We will provide further details as plans progress.