PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Social Security Benefits: Disability (25 January 2021)

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has made an assessment of the implications for her policies of the Disability Benefits Consortium report on the benefit losses that disabled people experienced during the benefit freeze.

Asked by:
Karin Smyth (Labour)

The benefit freeze was in place for 4 tax years from 2016/17 and ended in April 2020. During the freeze we excluded benefits and payments relating to the additional costs of disability and for carers. In April 2020 these rates were increased by 1.7% in line with inflation.

The Department is bringing forward the Health and Disability Support Green Paper which will explore how the welfare system can better meet the needs of disabled people and people with health conditions now and in the future. We will be considering the range of feedback we have had from stakeholders and disabled people through our engagement events whilst developing the Green Paper.

Answered by:
Justin Tomlinson (Conservative)
1 February 2021