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1489176

registered interest
date	14/07/2022
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	Universal Credit
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the financial implications for the recipients of Universal Credit of incorrect wage payments by large employers of low paid workers.
tabling member constituency	East Renfrewshire
tabling member printed	Kirsten Oswald
uin	36797
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/07/2022 answer text <p>No assessment has been made.</p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 19/07/2022 14:27:15 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
tabling member	4413 label Biography information for Kirsten Oswald

1489202

registered interest
date	14/07/2022
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	Poverty: Children
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the number of children living in poverty in Lancaster and Fleetwood constituency.
tabling member constituency	Lancaster and Fleetwood
tabling member printed	Cat Smith
uin	36804
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/07/2022 answer text <p>The latest statistics on the number and proportion of children who are in low income families by local area, covering the seven years, 2014/15 to 2020/21, can be found in the annual publication: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-in-low-income-families-local-area-statistics-2014-to-2021" target="_blank">Children in low income families: local area statistics 2014 to 2021 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)</a>.</p><p> </p><p>This Government is committed to reducing child poverty and supporting low-income families, and believes work is the best route out of poverty.  With a record 1.3 million vacancies across the UK, our focus is firmly on supporting people to move into and progress in work. This approach is based on clear evidence about the importance of parental employment - particularly where it is full-time – in substantially reducing the risks of child poverty and in improving long-term outcomes for families and children.</p><p> </p><p>The latest available data on in-work poverty shows that in 2019/20, children in households where all adults were in work were around six times less likely to be in absolute poverty (before housing costs) than children in a household where nobody works. Compared with 2010, there are nearly 1 million fewer workless households and almost 540,000 fewer children living in workless households in the UK. In 2020/21, there were 200,000 fewer children in absolute poverty before housing costs than in 2009/10.</p><p /><p>To help parents into work, our Plan for Jobs is providing broad ranging support for all jobseekers with our Sector Based Work Academy Programmes (SWAP), Job Entry Targeted Support and Restart scheme. Our plan for jobs is providing results. As of 6 July, we estimate that at least 520,400 unemployed Universal Credit claimants and Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) claimants have moved into work during the Way to Work Campaign between 31 January and the end of 30 June 2022.</p><p /><p>We are also extending the support Jobcentres provide to people in work and on low incomes. Through a staged roll-out, which started in April 2022, around 2.1m low-paid benefit claimants will be eligible for support to progress into higher-paid work. This is on top of the support we have already provided by increasing the National Living Wage to £9.50 per hour and giving nearly 1.7 million families an extra £1,000 (on average) a year through our changes to the Universal Credit taper and work allowances.</p><p /><p>To further support parents to move into and progress in work, eligible UC claimants can claim back up to 85% of their registered childcare costs each month up to a maximum of £646.35 per month for one child and £1,108.04 per month for two or more children. This is on top of the free childcare offer in England which provides 15 hours a week of free childcare for all 3- and 4-year-olds and disadvantaged 2-year-olds, doubling for working parents of 3- and 4-year-olds to 30 hours a week.</p><p /><p>Around 1.9 million of the most disadvantaged pupils are eligible for and claiming a free school meal, saving families around £450 per year. In addition, around 1.25 million more infants enjoy a free, healthy and nutritious meal at lunchtime as well as over 90,000 disadvantaged further education students. We are also investing £200 million a year to continue the Holiday Activities and Food Programme, which benefitted over 600,000 children last summer, and we have increased the value of the Healthy Start Vouchers by a third to £4.25 a week.</p><p> </p><p>On top of this, the government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living. These are global challenges, that is why the government is providing over £15bn in further support, targeted particularly on those with the greatest need. This package is in addition to the over £22bn announced previously, with government support for the cost of living now totalling over £37bn this year.</p><p> </p><p>This includes an additional £500 million to help households with the cost of essentials, on top of what we have already provided since October 2021, bringing the total funding for this support to £1.5 billion. In England, the current Household Support Fund is already providing £421m of support for the period 1 April – 30 September 2022, at least a third (£140m) will be spent on families with children. Lancashire County Council has been allocated £9,678,235.22.</p><p /> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley grouped question UIN 36805 36806 question first answered 21/07/2022 16:53:30 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
tabling member	4436 label Biography information for Cat Smith

1489203

registered interest
date	14/07/2022
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	Poverty: Children
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment her Department has made of the level of child poverty in Lancaster and Fleetwood constituency.
tabling member constituency	Lancaster and Fleetwood
tabling member printed	Cat Smith
uin	36805
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/07/2022 answer text <p>The latest statistics on the number and proportion of children who are in low income families by local area, covering the seven years, 2014/15 to 2020/21, can be found in the annual publication: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-in-low-income-families-local-area-statistics-2014-to-2021" target="_blank">Children in low income families: local area statistics 2014 to 2021 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)</a>.</p><p> </p><p>This Government is committed to reducing child poverty and supporting low-income families, and believes work is the best route out of poverty.  With a record 1.3 million vacancies across the UK, our focus is firmly on supporting people to move into and progress in work. This approach is based on clear evidence about the importance of parental employment - particularly where it is full-time – in substantially reducing the risks of child poverty and in improving long-term outcomes for families and children.</p><p> </p><p>The latest available data on in-work poverty shows that in 2019/20, children in households where all adults were in work were around six times less likely to be in absolute poverty (before housing costs) than children in a household where nobody works. Compared with 2010, there are nearly 1 million fewer workless households and almost 540,000 fewer children living in workless households in the UK. In 2020/21, there were 200,000 fewer children in absolute poverty before housing costs than in 2009/10.</p><p /><p>To help parents into work, our Plan for Jobs is providing broad ranging support for all jobseekers with our Sector Based Work Academy Programmes (SWAP), Job Entry Targeted Support and Restart scheme. Our plan for jobs is providing results. As of 6 July, we estimate that at least 520,400 unemployed Universal Credit claimants and Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) claimants have moved into work during the Way to Work Campaign between 31 January and the end of 30 June 2022.</p><p /><p>We are also extending the support Jobcentres provide to people in work and on low incomes. Through a staged roll-out, which started in April 2022, around 2.1m low-paid benefit claimants will be eligible for support to progress into higher-paid work. This is on top of the support we have already provided by increasing the National Living Wage to £9.50 per hour and giving nearly 1.7 million families an extra £1,000 (on average) a year through our changes to the Universal Credit taper and work allowances.</p><p /><p>To further support parents to move into and progress in work, eligible UC claimants can claim back up to 85% of their registered childcare costs each month up to a maximum of £646.35 per month for one child and £1,108.04 per month for two or more children. This is on top of the free childcare offer in England which provides 15 hours a week of free childcare for all 3- and 4-year-olds and disadvantaged 2-year-olds, doubling for working parents of 3- and 4-year-olds to 30 hours a week.</p><p /><p>Around 1.9 million of the most disadvantaged pupils are eligible for and claiming a free school meal, saving families around £450 per year. In addition, around 1.25 million more infants enjoy a free, healthy and nutritious meal at lunchtime as well as over 90,000 disadvantaged further education students. We are also investing £200 million a year to continue the Holiday Activities and Food Programme, which benefitted over 600,000 children last summer, and we have increased the value of the Healthy Start Vouchers by a third to £4.25 a week.</p><p> </p><p>On top of this, the government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living. These are global challenges, that is why the government is providing over £15bn in further support, targeted particularly on those with the greatest need. This package is in addition to the over £22bn announced previously, with government support for the cost of living now totalling over £37bn this year.</p><p> </p><p>This includes an additional £500 million to help households with the cost of essentials, on top of what we have already provided since October 2021, bringing the total funding for this support to £1.5 billion. In England, the current Household Support Fund is already providing £421m of support for the period 1 April – 30 September 2022, at least a third (£140m) will be spent on families with children. Lancashire County Council has been allocated £9,678,235.22.</p><p /> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley grouped question UIN 36804 36806 question first answered 21/07/2022 16:53:30 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
tabling member	4436 label Biography information for Cat Smith

1489204

registered interest
date	14/07/2022
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	Poverty: Children
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what specific policies her Department has in place to support families with children in poverty.
tabling member constituency	Lancaster and Fleetwood
tabling member printed	Cat Smith
uin	36806
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/07/2022 answer text <p>The latest statistics on the number and proportion of children who are in low income families by local area, covering the seven years, 2014/15 to 2020/21, can be found in the annual publication: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-in-low-income-families-local-area-statistics-2014-to-2021" target="_blank">Children in low income families: local area statistics 2014 to 2021 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)</a>.</p><p> </p><p>This Government is committed to reducing child poverty and supporting low-income families, and believes work is the best route out of poverty.  With a record 1.3 million vacancies across the UK, our focus is firmly on supporting people to move into and progress in work. This approach is based on clear evidence about the importance of parental employment - particularly where it is full-time – in substantially reducing the risks of child poverty and in improving long-term outcomes for families and children.</p><p> </p><p>The latest available data on in-work poverty shows that in 2019/20, children in households where all adults were in work were around six times less likely to be in absolute poverty (before housing costs) than children in a household where nobody works. Compared with 2010, there are nearly 1 million fewer workless households and almost 540,000 fewer children living in workless households in the UK. In 2020/21, there were 200,000 fewer children in absolute poverty before housing costs than in 2009/10.</p><p /><p>To help parents into work, our Plan for Jobs is providing broad ranging support for all jobseekers with our Sector Based Work Academy Programmes (SWAP), Job Entry Targeted Support and Restart scheme. Our plan for jobs is providing results. As of 6 July, we estimate that at least 520,400 unemployed Universal Credit claimants and Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) claimants have moved into work during the Way to Work Campaign between 31 January and the end of 30 June 2022.</p><p /><p>We are also extending the support Jobcentres provide to people in work and on low incomes. Through a staged roll-out, which started in April 2022, around 2.1m low-paid benefit claimants will be eligible for support to progress into higher-paid work. This is on top of the support we have already provided by increasing the National Living Wage to £9.50 per hour and giving nearly 1.7 million families an extra £1,000 (on average) a year through our changes to the Universal Credit taper and work allowances.</p><p /><p>To further support parents to move into and progress in work, eligible UC claimants can claim back up to 85% of their registered childcare costs each month up to a maximum of £646.35 per month for one child and £1,108.04 per month for two or more children. This is on top of the free childcare offer in England which provides 15 hours a week of free childcare for all 3- and 4-year-olds and disadvantaged 2-year-olds, doubling for working parents of 3- and 4-year-olds to 30 hours a week.</p><p /><p>Around 1.9 million of the most disadvantaged pupils are eligible for and claiming a free school meal, saving families around £450 per year. In addition, around 1.25 million more infants enjoy a free, healthy and nutritious meal at lunchtime as well as over 90,000 disadvantaged further education students. We are also investing £200 million a year to continue the Holiday Activities and Food Programme, which benefitted over 600,000 children last summer, and we have increased the value of the Healthy Start Vouchers by a third to £4.25 a week.</p><p> </p><p>On top of this, the government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living. These are global challenges, that is why the government is providing over £15bn in further support, targeted particularly on those with the greatest need. This package is in addition to the over £22bn announced previously, with government support for the cost of living now totalling over £37bn this year.</p><p> </p><p>This includes an additional £500 million to help households with the cost of essentials, on top of what we have already provided since October 2021, bringing the total funding for this support to £1.5 billion. In England, the current Household Support Fund is already providing £421m of support for the period 1 April – 30 September 2022, at least a third (£140m) will be spent on families with children. Lancashire County Council has been allocated £9,678,235.22.</p><p /> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley grouped question UIN 36804 36805 question first answered 21/07/2022 16:53:30 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
tabling member	4436 label Biography information for Cat Smith

1489205

registered interest
date	14/07/2022
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	Universal Credit
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to understand the impact of the total amount deducted from universal credit on families living in poverty (a) at a constituency level in general and (b) in Lancaster and Fleetwood constituency.
tabling member constituency	Lancaster and Fleetwood
tabling member printed	Cat Smith
uin	36807
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/07/2022 answer text <p>The standard deductions cap of 25% of a claimant’s Standard Allowance strikes the right balance of ensuring priority debts are repaid whilst ensuring claimants retain most of their award to meet day-to-day needs.</p><p> </p><p>In recent years, the standard deductions cap has been reduced twice – from 40% to 30% of the Standard Allowance in October 2019, and down to 25% in April 2021. Reducing the threshold further would risk key social obligations such as Child Maintenance not being met.</p><p> </p><p>For DWP Debt deductions, if a claimant is struggling financially, they can contact DWP Debt Management to discuss a reduction in their repayment, or temporary suspension, depending on financial circumstances.</p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 21/07/2022 14:17:13 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
tabling member	4436 label Biography information for Cat Smith

1489209

registered interest
date	14/07/2022
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	Work Capability Assessment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of Work Capability Assessments were carried out (a) face-to-face, (b) remotely and (c) on paper between March 2018 to February 2022.
tabling member constituency	Orpington
tabling member printed	Gareth Bacon
uin	36914
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/07/2022 answer text <p>The number and proportion of Work Capability Assessments (WCA) that have been carried out (a) face to face, (b) remotely, including telephone and video, and (c) paper based between March 2018 and February 2022, can be found in the tables below.</p><p> </p><p>The contractual performance in relation to assessments by channel over the period March 2018 to February 2022 is:</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>Mar 2018 - Feb 19</p></td><td><p>Mar 2019 - Feb 20</p></td><td><p>Mar 2020 - Feb 21</p></td><td><p>Mar 2021 - Feb 22</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Face-to-Face</p></td><td><p>761,000</p></td><td><p>762,000</p></td><td><p>31,000</p></td><td><p>27,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Remote</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>337,000</p></td><td><p>487,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Paper-Based</p></td><td><p>257,000</p></td><td><p>292,000</p></td><td><p>128,000</p></td><td><p>83,000</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>With Channel proportion as:</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>Mar 2018 - Feb 19</p></td><td><p>Mar 2019 - Feb 20</p></td><td><p>Mar 2020 - Feb 21</p></td><td><p>Mar 2021 - Feb 22</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Face-to-Face</p></td><td><p>74.8%</p></td><td><p>72.3%</p></td><td><p>6.3%</p></td><td><p>4.5%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Remote</p></td><td><p>0.0%</p></td><td><p>0.0%</p></td><td><p>67.9%</p></td><td><p>81.6%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Paper-Based</p></td><td><p>25.2%</p></td><td><p>27.7%</p></td><td><p>25.8%</p></td><td><p>13.9%</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p><strong>Please Note:</strong></p><ul><li>All volumes have been rounded to the nearest 1,000</li><li>Proportions are based on actual values</li><li>The above data is derived from unpublished management information which is collected for internal Departmental use only and has not been quality assured to Official Statistics Publication standards</li></ul> answering member constituency Norwich North answering member printed Chloe Smith question first answered 19/07/2022 14:45:47 answering member 1609 label Biography information for Chloe Smith
tabling member	4798 label Biography information for Gareth Bacon

1489210

registered interest
date	14/07/2022
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	Work Capability Assessment: Standards
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how performance compared with Work Capability Assessment contractual targets in relation to (a) quality of assessment, (b) claimant satisfaction, (c) speed of clearance for initial referrals, (d) percentage of outstanding initial referrals over 60 days old and (e) speed of clearance for end-of-life cases over the period of March 2018 to February 2022.
tabling member constituency	Orpington
tabling member printed	Gareth Bacon
uin	36915
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/07/2022 answer text <p>Provider performance is measured across a range of service level agreements setting out the department's expectations for service delivery. These include quality, performance delivery targets and customer experience.</p><p> </p><p>The monthly performance measures against contractual targets between March 2018 and February 2022 can be found in the attached PDF document.</p> answering member constituency Norwich North answering member printed Chloe Smith grouped question UIN 36916 question first answered 19/07/2022 14:49:16 answering member 1609 label Biography information for Chloe Smith attachment 1 file name SLAs 2018 2022.pdf title SLAs 2018-2022
tabling member	4798 label Biography information for Gareth Bacon

1489211

registered interest
date	14/07/2022
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	Work Capability Assessment: Standards
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how performance compared to Work Capability Assessment contractual targets in relation to (a) average speed of answering telephone calls, (b) percentage of telephone calls answered, (c) face-to-face consultation waiting times and (d) percentage of claimants sent home unseen over the period March 2018 to February 2022.
tabling member constituency	Orpington
tabling member printed	Gareth Bacon
uin	36916
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/07/2022 answer text <p>Provider performance is measured across a range of service level agreements setting out the department's expectations for service delivery. These include quality, performance delivery targets and customer experience.</p><p> </p><p>The monthly performance measures against contractual targets between March 2018 and February 2022 can be found in the attached PDF document.</p> answering member constituency Norwich North answering member printed Chloe Smith grouped question UIN 36915 question first answered 19/07/2022 14:49:16 answering member 1609 label Biography information for Chloe Smith attachment 1 file name SLAs 2018 2022.pdf title SLAs 2018-2022
tabling member	4798 label Biography information for Gareth Bacon

1489242

registered interest
date	14/07/2022
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	In-work Progression Commission
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when the Government plans to publish its response to the independent review of the In-Work Progression Commission.
tabling member constituency	Wirral South
tabling member printed	Alison McGovern
uin	36755
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/07/2022 answer text <p>We aim to publish our response to the In-work Progression Commission's report in due course.</p><p>This Government is committed to ensuring that everyone, no matter their background, has the opportunity to start, stay in and progress in work. That is why we are extending the support Jobcentres provide to people in work and on low incomes to help them to increase their earnings and move into better paid quality jobs.</p><p>Through a staged roll-out which started in April 2022, around 2.1m low-paid benefit claimants will be eligible for support to progress into higher-paid or better quality work. This support is being provided by Work Coaches and focuses on removing barriers to progression and providing advice, such as considering skills gaps and identifying training, or looking for progression opportunities for individuals in their current role or supporting them into a new role.  Jobcentres will be supported in this new role by a new network of 37 Progression Champions across Great Britain who will spearhead the scheme.  Progression Champions will work with key partners, including local government, employers, and skills providers to identify and develop local progression opportunities. They will also work with partners to address local barriers that limit progression such as childcare and transport.</p> answering member constituency Hertford and Stortford answering member printed Julie Marson question first answered 19/07/2022 14:53:14 answering member 4768 label Biography information for Julie Marson
tabling member	4083 label Biography information for Alison McGovern

1489295

registered interest
date	14/07/2022
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	Universal Credit: Veterans
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Universal Credit claimants have been identified as previously serving in the Armed Forces for the assessment periods ending in May 2022.
tabling member constituency	Wentworth and Dearne
tabling member printed	John Healey
uin	36699
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/07/2022 answer text <p>For assessment period ending in May 2022, we held a response of “previously served”, “currently serving”, “never served”, or “prefer not to say” for approximately 46% of the GB UC caseload. From this data we have identified around 35,100 UC claimants who have previously served in the Armed Forces.</p><p> </p><p>Notes:</p><p>1. Percentage rounded to the nearest percent</p><p>2. Number rounded to the nearest 100</p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 21/07/2022 14:14:58 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
tabling member	400 label Biography information for John Healey