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1135484

registered interest
date	28/06/2019
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Social Security Benefits
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 27 June 2019 to Question 268401, what information she holds on the reasons why those 156,000 claimants with deductions from universal credit for non-universal credit debts are not repaying their debts.
tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
tabling member printed	Frank Field
uin	270705
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2019 answer text <p>The table below provides information on why the specified claimants were not repaying their debts.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Zero balance**</p></td><td><p>92,776</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Business as usual/head of work (Includes future instalment confirmation)</p></td><td><p>48,196</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Awaiting Financial Reconciliation</p></td><td><p>12,452</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>In progress – Awaiting further information (e.g. customer correspondence/contact)</p></td><td><p>4,214</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Managed by external contractor (Debt collection agency)</p></td><td><p>618</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Awaiting appeal outcome</p></td><td><p>534</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Waiting for customer to call back</p></td><td><p>306</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Other</p></td><td><p>477</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p><em>*The data provided in this response has been sourced from internal management information and was not intended for public release. It should therefore not be compared to any other, similar data subsequently released by the Department.</em></p><p> </p><p><em>** The zero balance category is made up of debts that have been fully repaid, but are yet to be removed from the Debt Manager system. It is important to note that no further recovery action will be taken in these cases</em></p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 15/07/2019 15:06:25 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

1135490

registered interest
date	28/06/2019
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Social Security Benefits
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 27 June 2019 to Question 268402, if she will place in the Library a copy of the dataset from which the median balance per debtor was calculated.
tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
tabling member printed	Frank Field
uin	270706
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/09/2019 answer text <p>A copy of the relevant dataset* will be placed in the Library.</p><p> </p><p>In order to comply with the General Data Protection Regulations 2018, the dataset contains values only.</p><p> </p><p>The data set shows all balances held on our systems for the relevant period. It includes ‘minus’ figures, which reflect changes made as a result of successful appeals.</p><p> </p><p>The data does not include any Universal Credit overpayments. It includes debts accrued in a number of ways including Working Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit overpayments built up under HMRC as well as fraud and error overpayments.</p><p> </p><p>Working Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit were introduced in 2003, with some people then accruing debts over many years.</p><p> </p><p>We do not want people to face undue financial hardship as a result of repaying overpayments. If people do struggle, adjustments can be made and will be based on an individual’s circumstance.</p><p> </p><p>The overall maximum amount that can be deducted from a claimant’s Universal Credit each month to recover a benefit overpayment is an amount equal to 40% of their Universal Credit standard allowance.</p><p> </p><p>The vast majority of benefit payments are made correctly; this stock of debts equates to around 0.6% of current annual welfare expenditure. The legacy welfare system is complex in its structure and administration and in the way that qualifying conditions interact with each other. UC provides a single system of means-tested support for working-age households who are in or out of work and we expect this to reduce overpayments.</p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><em>*The data provided has been sourced from internal management information and was not intended for public release. It should therefore not be compared to any other, similar data subsequently released by the Department.</em></p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 03/09/2019 16:11:32 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

1135193

registered interest
date	27/06/2019
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
hansard heading	Unemployment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will ask the Office for National Statistics to publish tabular information on the number of people that have been unemployed (a) for up to 6 months, (b) between 6 and 12 months, and (c) longer than 12 months in each parliamentary constituency.
tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
tabling member printed	Frank Field
uin	270287
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/07/2019 answer text <p>The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.</p> answering member constituency Torbay answering member printed Kevin Foster question first answered 02/07/2019 12:44:10 answering member 4451 label Biography information for Kevin Foster attachment 1 file name PQ270287 (1).pdf title UKSA Response
tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

1135342

registered interest
date	27/06/2019
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Universal Credit: Overpayments
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 5 June 2019 to Question 257458 on Universal Credit: Overpayments, how many successful applications there were for a reduction in an overpayment repayment rate in each year from 2013 to 2018.
tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
tabling member printed	Frank Field
uin	270288
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/07/2019 answer text <p>The information requested is not available.</p><p> </p><p>Our systems do not hold data on the recovery rates that were applied to debts that have either been fully repaid, or have been written off. It is therefore not possible to give a complete figure for the total number of successful, or unsuccessful applications for a reduction in an overpayment recovery rate.</p><p> </p><p>The Department ensures that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect claimants who have deductions from their benefit to repay overpayments. If a claimant is struggling they can contact the Department’s Debt Management Team to discuss lowering their repayment rate. Any adjustment to the rate of repayment will be based on the individual circumstances of the claimant.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 02/07/2019 14:31:57 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

1135343

registered interest
date	27/06/2019
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Universal Credit: Overpayments
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 5 June 2019 to Question 257458 on Universal Credit: Overpayments, how many overpayments were waived in (a) full and (b) part as a result of applications made by (i) claimants and (ii) their representatives in 2015-16.
tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
tabling member printed	Frank Field
uin	270289
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/07/2019 answer text <p>In 2015/16 there were less than 5 applications for the full waiving of a Universal Credit overpayment and less than 5 partial waiver applications for UC overpayments.</p><p> </p><p>The Department has an obligation to ensure that public funds are administered responsibly and to abide by the principles set out in Her Majesty’s Treasury’s guidance on Managing Public Money (which can be found on gov.uk). Waivers are only granted in limited circumstances including where the recovery of an overpayment is causing substantial financial and/or medical hardship and clear supporting evidence of this is provided.</p><p> </p><p>We are unable to provide a breakdown of how many applications were made by claimants or their representatives as this information is not stored.</p><p> </p><p><em> *The figures provided in this response have been sourced from internal management information and were not intended for public release. They should therefore not be compared to any other figures subsequently released by the Department. We are not able to report exact figures that are lower than 5, therefore this has been listed as “less than 5”.</em></p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 02/07/2019 14:43:02 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

1135376

registered interest
date	27/06/2019
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she will make an assessment of the potential merits of exempting care leavers under the age of 25 from the under-occupancy penalty in the social rented sector.
tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
tabling member printed	Frank Field
uin	270290
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/07/2019 answer text <p>Care leavers up to the age of 22 are exempt from the Local Housing Allowance shared accommodation rate in the Private Rented Sector. There are no plans to extend this exemption or to introduce an exemption for care leavers to the removal of the spare room subsidy policy in the Social Rented Sector.</p><p>For those individuals who may require more support and whose circumstances may make it difficult for them to share accommodation, Discretionary Housing Payments are available.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 270291 question first answered 02/07/2019 11:19:53 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead