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1420483

registered interest
date	07/02/2022
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, what proactive steps Jobcentre Plus is taking to ensure claimants are in receipt of their full entitlement.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
uin	119669
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/02/2022 answer text <p>The Department works hard to ensure that people are in receipt of their full entitlement, communicating with the public about benefits through paid advertising, stakeholder and employer engagement and no cost campaigns to help people understand their entitlement and the support we can provide as a safety net and in times of need.</p><p> </p><p>During the pandemic this has been of particular importance. We increased the frequency of our stakeholder engagement to effectively convey the rapidly changing environment particularly as many people needed to claim benefits for the first time. We have made additional use of digital media such as YouTube videos, particularly British Sign Language videos to widely promote DWP benefits.</p><p>DWP staff in Jobcentres provide support and advice about entitlement to benefits and will signpost citizens to appropriate information to help them. The Department provides telephone service lines that citizens can call to make their claims to benefit and to operate their claims as well as a visiting service which can help vulnerable customers with their claims. Jobcentres have internet terminals for use by the public, and staff will signpost citizens to other community resources (libraries and Citizens Advice) which can also provide advice and internet access points.</p><p>The Government’s website, GOV.UK provides guidance on individual’s rights and entitlements to benefits in the UK. In particular, the website provides links to independent benefits calculators that can be used to find out what benefits an individual could get, how to claim and how these benefits will be affected if an individual starts work.</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/benefits-calculators" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/benefits-calculators</a></p><p> </p><p>The independent benefits calculators we endorse are intended to provide useful estimations of what people could be entitled to in certain circumstances, based on the information that is entered on the calculators themselves.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 10/02/2022 14:25:34 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1330077

registered interest
date	07/06/2021
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 May 2021 to Question 3996 on Social Security Benefits, what steps the Government has taken to ensure that maintaining the benefit cap policy represents value for money to the public purse; and if she will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Slough
tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
uin	11622
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/06/2021 answer text <p>The benefit cap restores fairness between those receiving working age benefits and taxpayers in employment. Households can still receive benefits up to the equivalent salary of £24,000, or £28,000 in London. Outside London, around 4 in 10 households have net earnings from employment of less than £20,000. In London, around 4 in 10 households earn less than £23,000.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 11/06/2021 13:31:55 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

1330078

registered interest
date	07/06/2021
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 May 2021 to Question 3996 on Social Security Benefits, whether her Department has undertaken a cost/benefit analysis of the benefit cap (a) in general and (b) which has included (i) police costs in responding to domestic abuse reports, (ii) local authority costs for temporary housing, (iii) the administration costs of Discretionary Housing Payments and (iv) additional costs to other public services; and whether there are any other policies and programmes which are delivered by her Department where the associated annual costs to the public purse are unknown.
tabling member constituency	Slough
tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
uin	11623
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/06/2021 answer text <p>(a) DWP has published four impact assessments of the benefit cap, each one including a cost/benefit analysis. The first two relate to the introduction of the benefit cap. The second two relate to the introduction of a lower, tiered cap. They can all be found here:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.parliament.uk/globalassets/documents/impact-assessments/IA12-003.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.parliament.uk/globalassets/documents/impact-assessments/IA12-003.pdf</a></p><p> </p><p><a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/220178/benefit-cap-wr2011-ia.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/220178/benefit-cap-wr2011-ia.pdf</a></p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.parliament.uk/globalassets/documents/impact-assessments/IA15-006.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.parliament.uk/globalassets/documents/impact-assessments/IA15-006.pdf</a></p><p> </p><p><a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/548741/welfare-reform-and-work-act-impact-assessment-for-the-benefit-cap.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/548741/welfare-reform-and-work-act-impact-assessment-for-the-benefit-cap.pdf</a></p><p> </p><p>(b) These cost benefit analyses do not include the specific costs listed in (i) to (iv). The funding of all DWP policies is set out at the time they are introduced and, where relevant, updated at subsequent fiscal events. Documentation on all past fiscal events is set out at Gov.uk, and by the Office for Budget Responsibility where relevant. The most recent documentation can be found at <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/965777/Budget_2021_policy_costings_.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/965777/Budget_2021_policy_costings_.pdf</a> and <a href="https://obr.uk/efo/economic-and-fiscal-outlook-march-2021/" target="_blank">https://obr.uk/efo/economic-and-fiscal-outlook-march-2021/</a> respectively.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 11/06/2021 13:21:09 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

1329822

registered interest
date	04/06/2021
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, what customer feedback procedures are used in assessing departmental performance in the administration of (a) universal credit, (b) jobseekers allowance and (c) employment support allowance.
tabling member constituency	East Renfrewshire
tabling member printed	Kirsten Oswald
uin	10431
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/06/2021 answer text <p>The national customer experience survey is the vehicle DWP uses to assess customers’ experiences with the services they receive from DWP. The survey seeks feedback from a range of DWP customers including ESA and UC customers. The last published survey can be found on DWP’s research publication page:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-claimant-service-and-experience-survey-2018-to-2019--2" target="_blank"><strong>https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-claimant-service-and-experience-survey-2018-to-2019--2</strong></a><strong>  </strong></p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 09/06/2021 16:47:08 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4413 label Biography information for Kirsten Oswald

1316669

registered interest
date	20/05/2021
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, what assessment she has made of the effect of the benefit cap on the ability of families affected by that cap to afford to food, heating, clothing and personal care items.
tabling member constituency	Slough
tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
uin	4667
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/05/2021 answer text <p>The Department published its evaluation of the original benefit cap levels “Benefit cap: Analysis of Outcomes of capped claimants” in December 2014. This included in-depth interviews with people affected by the benefit cap, about the impact of the benefit cap on their income and wellbeing.</p><p> </p><p>The evaluation can be accessed via the following link:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/benefit-cap-evaluation" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/benefit-cap-evaluation</a></p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 27/05/2021 15:00:04 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

1316139

registered interest
date	19/05/2021
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, what the annual cost to the public purse is of retaining the benefit cap; and whether that figure includes (a) police costs in responding to domestic abuse reports, (b) local authority costs for temporary housing, (c) the administration costs of Discretionary Housing Payments and (d) additional costs on other public services.
tabling member constituency	Slough
tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
uin	3996
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/05/2021 answer text <p>This information is not readily available, and to provide it would incur disproportionate costs.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 27/05/2021 15:03:59 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

1315554

registered interest
date	18/05/2021
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, how many people have been (a) placed into financial hardship, (b) become destitute or (c) become homeless while subject to the benefit cap in (i) Slough and (ii) England.
tabling member constituency	Slough
tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
uin	3103
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/05/2021 answer text <p>This information is not available.</p><p> </p><p>Getting our claimants back into work remains our primary concern and returning to employment will significantly increase the likelihood of a household not being affected by the cap.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 26/05/2021 16:54:52 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

1314414

registered interest
date	13/05/2021
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, whether plans to increase the benefit cap.
tabling member constituency	Slough
tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
uin	1172
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/05/2021 answer text <p>There is a statutory duty to review the levels of the cap at least once in each Parliament and this will happen at the appropriate time. The current unusual economic period with potentially counter intuitive and shifting trends, will need be considered in the context of any decision regarding a review.</p><p>Claimants can approach their Local Authority for a Discretionary Housing Payment if they need additional support to meet rental costs.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 19/05/2021 13:03:50 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

1282984

registered interest
date	02/02/2021
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, how many mandatory reconsideration requests her Department received from claimants affected by the benefit cap in each month of 2020.
tabling member constituency	Feltham and Heston
tabling member printed	Seema Malhotra
uin	147858
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/02/2021 answer text <p>The available information is in the table. It shows the total number of Universal Credit Mandatory Reconsiderations requested by people in households where the benefit cap applies, and the reconsideration may not be related to the application of the benefit cap.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Month</p></td><td><p>Mandatory Reconsiderations requested from UC benefit cap cases</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Jan-20</strong></p></td><td><p>280</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Feb-20</strong></p></td><td><p>210</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Mar-20</strong></p></td><td><p>300</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Apr-20</strong></p></td><td><p>210</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>May-20</strong></p></td><td><p>310</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Jun-20</strong></p></td><td><p>320</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Jul-20</strong></p></td><td><p>280</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Table covers Great Britain only</p><p>Mandatory Reconsiderations by month requested</p><p>Answers are rounded to the nearest 10</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 10/02/2021 17:52:01 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4253 label Biography information for Seema Malhotra

1279196

registered interest
date	21/01/2021
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, what steps she is taking to support people on legacy benefits.
tabling member constituency	Dulwich and West Norwood
tabling member printed	Helen Hayes
uin	141546
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/01/2021 answer text <p>In April 2020, legacy benefits were increased by £600m (1.7%). This Government will ensure that benefits retain their value by guaranteeing that for a consecutive year, benefits will increase by further £100m (0.5%) from April, in line with CPI, as part of the Government’s annual up-rating exercise.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, last year, to support those on low incomes through the outbreak, we introduced a package of temporary welfare measures.</p><p> </p><p>For example; we increased the Local Housing Allowance rates for Universal Credit and Housing Benefit claimants, so they now cover the lowest 30% of local rents. This increase, costing almost £1 billion, will mean 1.5 million households see an increase, on average, of £600 in 2020/21. We also increased the additional earnings disregard in Housing Benefit to ensure increases in the maximum rate of the basic element of Working Tax Credit did not impact on a claimant’s Housing Benefit award.</p><p> </p><p>We also legislated to allow access to Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) from day one of a claim for Covid-19 related cases and we have made it easier to access ESA by launching a portal for new style ESA online claims.</p><p> </p><p>Claimants on legacy benefits can make a claim for Universal Credit if they believe that they will be better off. Those in receipt of the Severe Disability Premium will be able to make a new claim to Universal Credit from January 2021.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 28/01/2021 15:45:46 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4510 label Biography information for Helen Hayes