PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
(21 May 2026)

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants were deemed LCWRA via the substantial risk provisions in each of the last 15 financial years expressed in (a) numerical terms and (b) as a proportion of the caseload.

Asked by:
Sir Mel Stride (Conservative)

The available requested information for Universal Credit (UC) limited capability for work and work-related activity (LCWRA) Work Capability Assessment (WCA) decisions where claimants qualified for LCWRA due to 'substantial risk arising from work-related activity' is provided in the table below.

Financial Year	Volume of UC LCWRA Substantial Risk decisions	Total volume of UC LCWRA decisions	Proportion
2019/20	81,240	246,040	33%
2020/21	52,990	186,250	28%
2021/22	55,780	273,180	20%
2022/23	48,870	327,230	15%
2023/24	56,130	357,190	16%
2024/25	53,670	397,370	14%
2025/26 (to Nov 25)	26,280	229,020	11%

• Based on UC WCA decision data to November 2025, the latest currently available
• UC LCWRA decision volumes exclude ESA transitions (further information can be found at Universal Credit Work Capability Assessment statistics, April 2019 to December 2025 - GOV.UK)
• Numbers are rounded to the nearest 10

Information prior to April 2019 is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Information on UC WCA decisions and on UC LWCRA caseload is published and can be found on Stat-Xplore.

For time periods prior to the introduction of UC, information on ESA WCA decisions broken down by reason for allocation (including substantial risk) can also be found on Stat-Xplore.

Answered by:
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