Thank you for contacting me about social security and support for disabled people. With food prices and rents increasing, heating bills going up and taxes rising, I know this is a very difficult time for many, especially people who are facing extra costs purely because they are disabled. This is disgraceful.

I can assure you I regularly meet with disabled people and their representatives such as Sheffield Voices to hear their concerns and feed them back to the government. The Government should do much more to listen to the voices of disabled people and ensure their experience feeds into their policies so at the very least they are not disadvantaged by them. For example, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) should urgently publish a plan for consulting with disabled people on its Strategy and allocate enough time for debate in Parliament to ensure that robust scrutiny can take place.

I have been calling on Ministers to offer real help to people who need it. Therefore, I welcome the Government’s announcement, in the Autumn Statement of 17 November 2022, that most in-work and disability benefits will rise by 10%. However, this is still less than the rate of inflation recorded in October 2022, and so is not the real terms increase that many charities have called for. The rise will also not take effect until April 2023, despite many charities requesting it be implemented immediately.

Prior to the Autumn Statement, the Government had already announced one off cost of living payments for people on benefits, with people on disability benefit receiving an extra £150. Nevertheless, I know that disability charities have argued that the Statement did not sufficiently recognise the fact that many disabled people have particularly high energy needs because of managing conditions and running specialist equipment. I will write to Ministers to ensure they consider these arguments.

The Chancellor also confirmed a pause in the continuing migration of working-age claimants of disability living allowance (DLA) onto personal independence payment (PIP), which has been ongoing since October 2013. I welcome this pause but I am concerned that the Government has not ruled out introducing means testing for a range of benefits including PIP, Carers Allowance, Attendance Allowance and DLA for children. In my view, people on low incomes and disabled people should not be paying the price for the failure of the mini-Budget and the resulting economic upheaval that it caused.

I note that this year has seen benefits sanctions rise to record highs. In my view sanctions should only be used as a last resort and such high rates should be seen as an indication that the present system is not working. I believe we must overhaul the current Universal Credit system, which the Labour Party has committed to doing. We must treat people with dignity, not burden them with impossible debts and protect people’s financial independence in our social security system.

More widely, I believe we need a social security system that tackles the poverty and inequality disabled people face, including the increased costs they have to deal with, compared to non-disabled people. Especially in the light of the COVID-19, which has further exposed the failure in the current system to properly support people in need.

I believe that the future of disability benefits should also provide appropriate support to those who can’t work and help those who can into high-quality jobs and good training opportunities thus allowing everyone to fulfil their potential.

At this time of rising inflation, I also voted in favour of cutting VAT on household energy bills from 5% to 0% for this year. I regret that this proposal was rejected because Government MPs voted against it. The poorest households in the UK spend a higher proportion of their income on gas and electricity bills, with pensioners spending the highest proportion of all, so the biggest beneficiaries of a VAT cut would have been the people who need support more than anyone.

I assure you that I will continue to press the Government to take meaningful action to address the rising cost of living.