Universal Credit: Severe Disability Premium
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what consideration his department has made of the potential merits of introducing an equivalent to Severe Disability Premium in Universal Credit.
Answered by Sir Stephen Timms
In the legacy benefits (e.g. Employment & Support Allowance (ESA), Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) and Income Support (IS)) there were multiple disability premia (e.g. Disability Premium, Enhanced Disability Premium and Severe Disability Premium). These were complex, fragmented and often underpaid, each with differing and often overlapping rules that made administration difficult and confusing for claimants.
Universal Credit replaces these with a single structure and clearer elements (e.g. disability and caring support), reducing complexity and improving consistency and claimant understanding.
The Universal Credit rate for people who have Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity (LCWRA) and meet the Severe Conditions Criteria (SCC) or the Special Rules for End of Life (SREL) is more than double the equivalent rate of the ESA support group and provides financial support to those with the most severe disabilities and health conditions.
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