PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
(28 August 2026)

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will provide an update on his Department's work to abolish the Work Capability Assessment as outlined in the 'Pathways to Work' Green Paper 2025.

Asked by:
Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat)

The Pathways to Work Green Paper outlined our plan to end the link between capacity to work and additional financial support and the binary categorisation of claimants as “can or can’t work” by abolishing the Work Capability Assessment (WCA). Instead, any extra financial support for health conditions in Universal Credit will be assessed via a single assessment – the PIP assessment (in England and Wales) – and be based on the impact of disability on daily living, not on capacity to work.

Due to its link with the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessment, Work Capability Assessment abolition will not take place until after the Timms Review into PIP has reported. We are currently considering how the future system will operate and will provide further information in due course.

Answered by:
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