Written questions by Savage.

What guidance her Department provides to ensure that people impacted by the Post Office Horizon scandal are aware that compensation payments are exempt from Universal Credit means testing; and whether a review is underway to help support people who have not received their benefit entitlement due to a lack of awareness.

Payments of compensation from the Post Office compensation scheme have been indefinitely disregarded as capital and income from the calculation of Universal Credit. Please see guidance below for customers relating to special compensation payments.Universal Credit: money, savings and investments - GOV.UKThe Department has added this scheme to internal guidance for staff and decisionmakers to make them aware that payments should be disregarded.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the Pathways to Work Green Paper proposals on people living with (a) Multiple Sclerosis and (b) other progressive neurological conditions; and what steps she plans to take to ensure that people with fluctuating or invisible disabilities do not lose access to Personal Independence Payment or other essential support.

The proposals outlined in our Green Paper, Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working aim to make the system fit to support people who need it now and in the future. Some information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper was published alongside the Spring Statement and can be found at this link: Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper - GOV.UK. More information on the impacts will be published in due course, a further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.With regards to the changes to the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) eligibility criteria, it is important to note that the PIP assessment considers the needs arising from a long-term health condition or disability, not the health condition or disability itself. Therefore, the impact of the PIP changes will depend on an individual’s circumstances.There will be no immediate changes to PIP eligibility. Our intention is that the changes will apply to new claims and award reviews from November 2026, subject to parliamentary approval. For those already on PIP, the changes will only apply at their next award review. The average award review is about three years. When people are reassessed, they will be reviewed by a trained assessor or healthcare professional and assessed on their individual needs and circumstances.We are consulting on how best to support those who are no longer eligible for PIP and linked entitlements, including how to make sure health and eligible care needs are met.In the Green Paper, we also announced that we are looking at recording assessments as standard to build greater trust in the system. The aim is to create greater transparency, using recordings as a learning opportunity to consider potential improvements to the quality of the assessment process, including improving our assessment of fluctuating conditions.

How many children are living in (a) absolute and (b) relative poverty in South Cotswolds constituency.

The latest statistics show that in 2022/23, there were 1,557 children living in absolute poverty and 2,215 children living in relative poverty in South Cotswolds constituency. Figures are provided for all children (including 16- to 19-year-olds) and on a before housing costs basis, available on Stat-Xplore. Figures on an after housing costs basis are not available below region level. Source: Stat-Xplore (Children in Low Income Families Statistics)

If her Department will take steps to provide financial support for pension-age carers providing full-time care but no longer eligible for Carer's Allowance.

Although there is no upper age limit to claiming Carer’s Allowance, it cannot normally be paid with the State Pension. It has been a long-held feature of the UK’s benefit system, under successive Governments, that where someone is entitled to two benefits for the same contingency, then whilst there may be entitlement to both benefits, only one will be paid to avoid duplication for the same need. Although entitlement to State Pension and Carer’s Allowance arise in different circumstances they are nevertheless designed for the same contingency – as an income replacement. Carer’s Allowance replaces income where the carer is unable to undertake full time employment due to their caring responsibilities, while State Pension replaces income in retirement. For this reason, social security rules operate to prevent them being paid together, to avoid duplicate provision for the same need. However, if a carer’s State Pension is less than Carer's Allowance, State Pension is paid and topped up with Carer's Allowance to the basic weekly rate of Carer's Allowance which is currently £81.90. Where Carer’s Allowance cannot be paid, the person will keep underlying entitlement to the benefit. This gives access to the additional amount for carers in Pension Credit of £45.60 a week and potentially other means-tested support. Around 125,000 people are receiving the Carer Premium with their Pension Credit. It is paid to recognise the additional contribution and responsibilities associated with caring. And even if a pensioner’s income is above the limit for Pension Credit, they may still be able to receive Housing Benefit.

Whether her Department has provided support to (a) Wiltshire and (b) Gloucestershire County Council to enable them to encourage pensioners in South Cotswolds constituency to check their eligibility for Pension Credit.

All local authorities in England have received bulletins from both DWP and MHCLG. The bulletins contained information about Pension Credit along with links to DWP’s online stakeholder toolkit which contains a range of materials to help promote Pension Credit to pensioners and their friends and family. The bulletins also invited local authorities to request printed promotional materials to support their local activity. The Department also shares extensive data with all local authorities for a variety of purposes. Local authorities are allowed to re-use that data under the terms of a data sharing Memorandum of Understanding, subject to them seeking their own legal advice and subject to them notifying the Department of their intent. Through this process, local authorities can re-use the data originating from DWP to help identify people eligible for Pension Credit. Since 16 September, the Department has also been running national paid marketing activity, including radio (Greatest Hits Radio and Smooth Radio air in Wiltshire and Gloucestershire); national and regional press (including the Swindon Evening Advertiser); paid social media; and GP and Post Office Screens (including six medical centres and nine Post Offices in Wiltshire and Gloucestershire).