Sir Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Trussell document entitled Guarantee Our Essentials, published in June 2025, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential implications for her policies of the report's estimates of the total amount needed to afford essentials for adults in a household of (a) £120 for a single adult and (b) £205 for a couple.  [61479]

[Due for Answer on 25 June]

ANSWER

The Minister of State for Social Security and Disability (Sir Stephen Timms): No assessments has been made. Subject to Parliamentary approval, the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill legislates for the first sustained above inflation rise in the basic rate of Universal Credit since it was introduced. This increase will be for new and existing customers and will benefit millions of households.

This will build on the Fair Repayment Rate for Universal Credit, introduced on 30 April 2025, reducing the overall deductions cap from 25% to 15% of a customer’s standard allowance. This will help approximately 1.2 million of the poorest households retain more of their benefit award by an average of £420 a year.

We also uprated benefit rates for 2025/26 in line with inflation, with 5.7 million Universal Credit households forecast to gain by an average of £150 annually.