PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Social Security Benefits: Disability (21 September 2021)

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the impact on disabled people of (a) income-related employment support allowance, (b) universal credit and (c) other means-tested benefits, which are based on joint-income.

Asked by:
Navendu Mishra (Labour)

No assessment has been made.

Income-related Employment and Support Allowance and Universal Credit are means-tested welfare support. It is longstanding policy that income-related benefits treat all couples as a single household unit when assessing benefit entitlement. Where claimants have income available to meet their household's everyday living costs, such as through a partner's earnings or savings, their entitlement to benefit is adjusted accordingly.

These benefits are not paid to claimants who have sufficient income available from other sources to support themselves. The general principle is that income, other than earnings, which is provided to meet everyday living costs, is fully taken into account in the calculation. The Government understands disabled people may face additional cost, which is why income provided to meet additional costs through benefits such as Personal Independence Payments and Disability Living Allowance are not taken into account when determining entitlement to benefits.

The Department has brought forward a Green Paper on health and disability support, focusing on the welfare system. The Green Paper will explore how the welfare system can better meet the needs of disabled people and people with health conditions now and in the future, to build a system that enables people to live independently and move into work where possible.

Answered by:
Chloe Smith (Conservative)
29 September 2021