Home / Sources / Select Committees / Work and Pensions Committee / Benefit levels in the UK
Index live · Last sync 22 May 2026
Select Committee · Work and Pensions Committee

Benefit levels in the UK

Status: Closed Opened: 30 Mar 2023 Closed: 23 May 2024 11 recommendations 8 conclusions 2 reports

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 findings”. The Government responded that …

Clear

Reports

2 reports
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

2 items
3 Recommendation Second Report - Benefit levels in the UK Deferred

Outline principles to guide benefit policy design and inform benefit level setting after consultation

Discussion on the adequacy of benefit levels can often be sidetracked by debate on whether it is possible to define essential costs or needs. We agree that it would be a useful first measure for the Government to set out a framework of principles to underpin the design and delivery …

Government response. The government defers its response to be considered in conjunction with its response to recommendation 4.
Department for Work and Pensions
9 Conclusion Second Report - Benefit levels in the UK Deferred

Introduce further levels of support for PIP and Universal Credit's Health Element.

There is a persuasive case that there should be a greater number of levels of support provided through PIP—both higher and lower—to reflect more accurately the experiences of claimants. The Department should introduce further levels of support through PIP and the new Health Element of Universal Credit in time for …

Government response. The government deflected the recommendation, stating that a recently published Green Paper on modernising support for independent living is considering how to effectively support people with long-term health conditions and disabilities.
Department for Work and Pensions

Oral evidence sessions

7 sessions
Date Witnesses
6 Dec 2023 Katherine Green · Department for Work and Pensions, Katie Farrington · Department for Work and Pensions, Rt Hon Mel Stride · Department for Work and Pensions View ↗
13 Sep 2023 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 View ↗
19 Jul 2023 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 View ↗
28 Jun 2023 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 View ↗
14 Jun 2023 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 View ↗
17 May 2023 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 View ↗
8 Mar 2023 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 View ↗

Correspondence

4 letters
DateDirectionTitle
21 Feb 2024 — Correspondence with the Secretary of State relating to Benefit levels in the UK
14 Dec 2023 — Correspondence with the Secretary of State relating to Benefit levels in the UK
15 Nov 2023 — Correspondence with the Secretary of State relating to benefit deductions
25 Oct 2023 — Correspondence to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and the Chancell…