Benefit levels in the UK

Work and Pensions Committee Closed Inquiry
Opened: 30 Mar 2023 Closed: 23 May 2024 Parliament page
In our July 2022 report, The cost of living , we heard evidence which suggested that a root cause of the financial challenges households faced “lay in the fundamental inadequacy of social security support”. We therefore recommended that the Government should “review the adequacy of benefit levels and publish its … Read more
11 Recommendations
8 Conclusions
2 Reports
7 Oral sessions
4 Letters
7 Events
Activity timeline 21 events
23 May
2024
Report published
21 Mar
2024
Report published
21 Mar
2024
Report published
21 Feb
2024
Correspondence
14 Dec
2023
Correspondence
6 Dec
2023
Oral evidence
6 Dec
2023
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 6, Palace of Westminster
15 Nov
2023
Correspondence
25 Oct
2023
Correspondence
13 Sep
2023
Oral evidence
13 Sep
2023
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 16, Palace of Westminster
19 Jul
2023
Oral evidence
Oral evidence sessions 7 sessions
6 Dec 2023
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Work and Pensions Committee
Katherine Green · Department for Work and Pensions Katie Farrington · Department for Work and Pensions Rt Hon Mel Stride · Department for Work and Pensions
13 Sep 2023
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Work and Pensions Committee
Adam Butler · StepChange Brian Dow · Rethink Mental Illness Duncan Shrubsole · Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales Emily Holzhausen OBE · Carers UK Jane Tully · Money Advice Trust Katherine Hill Tom Pollard · New Economics Foundation
19 Jul 2023
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Work and Pensions Committee
Andrew Harrop · Fabian Society Céline Jaeggy · UNEDIC Emily Farchy · Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Iain Mansfield · Policy Exchange Kristoffer Lundberg · Ministry of Health and Social Affairs, Sweden Mike Brewer · Resolution Foundation Rebecca Deegan · Association of British Insurers
28 Jun 2023
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Work and Pensions Committee
Balbir Chatrik · Centrepoint Ben Beadle · National Residential Landlords' Association Ben Twomey · Generation Rent Dr Carin Tunåker · University of Kent Francesca Albanese · Crisis Prof Peter Kemp · Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford Sheila Haig · City of Edinburgh Council Timothy Douglas · Propertymark
14 Jun 2023
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Work and Pensions Committee
Deven Ghelani · Policy in Practice Dr Stephen Brien · Social Security Advisory Committee Matthew Oakley · Social Metrics Commission Peter Whiteford · Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University Rt Hon Sir Iain Duncan Smith MP
17 May 2023
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Work and Pensions Committee
Ciara Fitzpatrick · Northern Ireland Cliff Edge Coalition David Stickland · Benefits Training Company Dr Steffan Evans · Bevan Foundation James Taylor · Scope Ken Butler · Disability Rights UK Kirsty McHugh · Carers Trust UK Professor Stephen Sinclair · Scottish Poverty and Inequality Research Unit (SPIRU) Tom Lee · Child Poverty Action Group
8 Mar 2023
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Work and Pensions Committee
Ashwin Kumar · Manchester Metropolitan University Donald Hirsch · abrdn Financial Fairness Trust Iain Porter · Joseph Rowntree Foundation Nicholas Timmins · Institute for Government Peter Kelly · The Poverty Alliance Robert Joyce · Institute for Fiscal Studies Ryan Shorthouse · Bright Blue
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Second Report - Benefit levels in the UK HC 142 21 Mar 2024 19 Responded
EasyRead Report - Benefit levels in the UK 21 Mar 2024 0
Recommendations & Conclusions
6 results
Clear
1 Recommendation Accepted
Second Report - Benefit levels in …
Set out clear timeline for concluding review of research on carers' experiences
The Department should set out when it intends to conclude its review of research on the experience of carers.
Government Response
The government has confirmed its intention to publish the research into the experiences of claiming Carer’s Allowance and states the Department will set out timescales for this publication shortly.
Department for Work and Pensions
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6 Conclusion Accepted
Second Report - Benefit levels in …
Personal Independence Payment support proves insufficient, frequently diverted to cover basic living costs.
Support provided through Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is not operating as intended. Evidence suggests that insufficient means-tested benefits frequently necessitate PIP recipients to use their extra costs benefits to cover day-to-day living costs. (Paragraph 98) Benefit levels in the U … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees that Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is not operating as intended and refers to its recently published 'Modernising Support for Independent Living: The Health and Disability Green Paper,' which explores ways to improve support for disabled people.
Department for Work and Pensions
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7 Conclusion Accepted
Second Report - Benefit levels in …
DWP fails to clarify PIP's intended contribution to disabled claimants' extra costs.
DWP has not clearly stated the extent to which PIP should contribute towards the extra costs incurred by claimants with a health condition or disability. We heard that for some claimants, the shortfall in support provided was significant enough to … Read more
Government Response
The government clarifies that Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is intended to provide a contribution towards extra costs, giving recipients flexibility, and highlights significant spending on PIP and additional Cost of Living Payments for disabled people.
Department for Work and Pensions
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8 Conclusion Accepted
Second Report - Benefit levels in …
Require DWP to use Extra Costs Taskforce findings to benchmark PIP coverage.
We welcome the Government’s recommitment in its February 2024 Disability Action Plan to take forward plans to set up an Extra Costs Taskforce to understand the extra costs disabled people face in their daily lives. DWP should be part of … Read more
Government Response
The government is restarting work on the Extra Costs Taskforce, with the Disability Unit working on a project plan and engaging DWP and other departments. However, it states that setting a benchmark for PIP coverage using the Taskforce's findings would be premature until the ongoing consultation on PIP has concluded and its response published.
Department for Work and Pensions
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12 Recommendation Accepted
Second Report - Benefit levels in …
Introduce an ‘Uprating Guarantee’ for annual, consistent benefit increases from 2025–26.
There remains uncertainty for some benefits each year as to whether they will be uprated. We agree with the assessment of the Secretary of State that it is important that “there is an element of fairness to the consistency” of … Read more
Government Response
The government did not commit to a new 'Uprating Guarantee', explaining that existing law mandates price-linked increases for certain benefits and, by convention, discretionary benefits are typically increased annually in line with CPI.
Department for Work and Pensions
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19 Conclusion Accepted
Second Report - Benefit levels in …
Include Work Coach numbers, average caseloads, DEAs, and DEALs in quarterly statistics releases.
We are concerned that there is not sufficient capacity in the system to absorb the number of claimants who will be made subject to conditionality, or increased conditionality, following announcements made in the 2023 Spring Budget and 2023 Autumn Statement, … Read more
Government Response
The Department committed to publishing quarterly full-time equivalent (FTE) statistics for Work Coaches, Disability Employment Advisers, and Disability Employment Adviser Leaders. However, it rejected publishing average Work Coach caseload sizes, stating it would not provide clarity on support levels.
Department for Work and Pensions
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Government Response AI assessment · 19 of 11 classified
Accepted 6
Acknowledged 2
Deferred 2
Rejected 9
Total 11 recs + 8 conclusions
Correspondence 4 letters
21 Feb 2024 Correspondence with the Secretary of State relating to Benefit levels in the UK
Parliament page
14 Dec 2023 Correspondence with the Secretary of State relating to Benefit levels in the UK
Parliament page
15 Nov 2023 Correspondence with the Secretary of State relating to benefit deductions
Parliament page
25 Oct 2023 Correspondence to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and the Chancellor of the Exchequer relating to uprating decisions: Working age benefits
Parliament page