Source · Select Committees · Work and Pensions Committee
Recommendation 7
7
Accepted
Concerns remain about serious mental health conditions not covered by severe conditions criteria.
Conclusion
We are pleased the Government has provided some clarity about how those with the most severe, lifelong conditions will be protected, at least until the removal of the Work Capability Assessment, and we look forward to the publication of the White Paper in the autumn, which will set out the Government’s long-term plans for protecting this group. We also welcome the fact that those in this group will benefit from the decision not to freeze UC health for the rest of the Parliament. However, we have some concerns about those conditions, especially serious mental health conditions, that might not be caught under the severe conditions criteria and about the extent to which the Government consulted with stakeholders on those eligibility criteria. (Conclusion, Paragraph 100)
Government Response Summary
The government clarified that Severe Conditions Criteria (SCC) have been in use since 2017 with stakeholder engagement, and detailed further conversations held in July 2025 regarding eligibility for protected UC health rates.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The Severe Conditions Criteria (SCC) has been in use since September 2017 to reduce unnecessary disruption to customers with the most severe, lifelong conditions, for whom reassessment is unlikely to provide further new information or lead to a change in the outcome of their benefit application. A range of stakeholders were engaged in 2017 and involved in the development of the criteria. Conversations about the eligibility criteria in relation to the protected rate of UC health were held with representatives from Scope, Parkinson’s UK, Disability Benefits Consortium and Inclusion Barnet, Mencap, Multiple Sclerosis Society, Carers UK, Citizen’s Advice and Disability Rights UK on the 2nd and 3rd July 2025 after the UC Bill passed second and third reading in the House of Commons. Any customer who has functional LCWRA advised during a WCA will automatically be considered for SCC, irrespective of their diagnosis or medical condition. If they have a lifelong health condition, they have undergone clinical investigation and formal medical diagnosis by an appropriately qualified healthcare professional in the course of the provision of NHS services and there is no realistic prospect of recovery of function, then SCC would be advised.