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1349801

registered interest
date	22/07/2021
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	Statutory Sick Pay: OECD Countries
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government why the rate of statutory sick pay in the UK of £95.85 per week is lower than the average of other countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development; and when they plan they address this issue.
tabling member printed	Lord Beecham
uin	HL2286
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/07/2021 answer text <p>Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) provides a minimum level of income for employees when they are sick or incapable of work. It is paid by employers at £96.35 per week for up to 28 weeks in any one period of entitlement. Employers are legally required to pay SSP to eligible employees who are off work sick or incapable of work, where employees meet the qualifying conditions. Some employers may also decide to pay more, and for longer, through Occupational Sick Pay.</p><p> </p><p>The costs of SSP are met in full by employers. It is therefore important to strike a balance between ensuring employees receive financial support when they are sick or incapable of work with the costs to employers of providing such support.</p><p> </p><p>SSP is just one part of our welfare safety net and our wider government offer to support people in times of need. Where an individual’s income is reduced while off work sick and they require further financial support, they may be able to claim Universal Credit and new style Employment and Support Allowance, depending on their personal circumstances.</p><p> </p><p>The government has previously consulted on reform to SSP, and as we learn to live with a new virus there is space to take a broader look at the role of SSP. The government maintains that SSP provides an important link between the employee and employer but that now is not the right time to introduce changes to the sick pay system.</p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott question first answered 29/07/2021 14:54:09 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott
tabling member	4181 label Biography information for Lord Beecham

1311692

registered interest
date	22/04/2021
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	Food Banks
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by the Trussell Trust End of Year Statistics, published this month, and in particular, its finding that the Trust distributed a record 2.5 miliion food parcels in 2020/21; what estimate they have made of the total number of food parcels that were distributed during the 2020/21 financial year; and what steps they intend to take to reduce the number of households which are reliant on the provision of such parcels.
tabling member printed	Lord Beecham
uin	HL15202
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/04/2021 answer text <p>No such assessment has been made. Foodbanks are independent charitable organisations and there are no official statistics relating to either the number of people using food banks or the number of food parcels distributed.</p><p> </p><p>This Government is committed to supporting those on low incomes, injecting an additional £7.4 billion to strengthen the welfare safety net in 2020/21. We also introduced the Covid Winter Grant, now the Covid Local Support Grant, together totalling £269 million, to enable Local Authorities to help the most vulnerable children and families with essential costs.</p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott question first answered 29/04/2021 10:07:48 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott
tabling member	4181 label Biography information for Lord Beecham

1288384

registered interest
date	22/02/2021
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	Universal Credit
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to maintain the additional £20 per week to recipients of Universal Credit while the restrictions to address the COVID-19 pandemic remain in place; and, if they have no such plans, why not.
tabling member printed	Lord Beecham
uin	HL13360
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/02/2021 answer text <p>The £20 per week uplift to Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit was announced by the Chancellor as a temporary measure in March 2020 to support those facing the most financial disruption as a result of the public health emergency. This measure remains in place until March 2021. As the Government has done throughout this pandemic, it will continue to assess how best to support low-income families, which is why we will look at the economic and health context before making any decisions.</p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott question first answered 24/02/2021 17:05:36 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott
tabling member	4181 label Biography information for Lord Beecham

1243591

registered interest
date	14/10/2020
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	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by End Child Poverty Child poverty in your area 2014/15 – 2018/19, published n October, which found that more children are living in poverty.
tabling member printed	Lord Beecham
uin	HL9170
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/10/2020 answer text <p>We have examined, from what has been published, Loughborough University’s methodology for estimating housing costs by constituency. We are unable to assess how robust the method for modelling local housing costs is and we do not know the process used for calibrating the local measures with regional level statistics on child poverty from Households Below Average Income.</p><p> </p><p>National Statistics on the number and percentage of children in low income are published annually in the “Households Below Average Income” publication. These remain the most accurate published measurements of low income. The latest HBAI statistics (2018/19) show that since 2009/10, 100,000 children have been lifted out of absolute poverty (both before and after housing costs) and levels of combined material deprivation and low income for children are at their joint lowest level.</p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott question first answered 26/10/2020 17:25:32 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott
tabling member	4181 label Biography information for Lord Beecham

1104645

registered interest
date	25/03/2019
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	Pensioners: Social Security Benefits
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what guidance they have issued, or intend to issue, to advise mixed age couples to claim (1) pension credit, and (2) pension age housing benefit before 15 May.
tabling member printed	Lord Beecham
uin	HL14770
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/04/2019 answer text <p>The Government announced on 14 January that the mixed age couple policy change legislated for in the Welfare Reform Act 2012 will come into force on 15 May, following the roll out of Universal Credit.</p><p> </p><p>Information was placed on GOV.UK regarding the change and how people could be affected for the purposes of claiming Pension Credit and Housing Benefit for pensioners. This sets out that mixed age couples already claiming Pension Credit or Housing Benefit for pensioners at the point of change will not be affected for as long as they remain entitled to either benefit. It also makes clear that mixed age couples who would be eligible for either benefit on 14 May but who have not yet claimed will have until 13 August to make a backdated claim from that date.</p><p> </p><p>Following the announcement, we are implementing comprehensive plans to raise awareness of the change among people who may be affected. We have written directly to mixed-age couples who are already in receipt of Pension Credit or Housing Benefit for pensioners to ensure they know about the change and how they could be affected if their circumstances change on or after 15 May. The Department has also engaged with a number of relevant organisations, including Age UK, Citizen’s Advice and Local Authority representatives. A factsheet about the change has been provided, to help ensure that accurate information is available in the places where people are most likely to seek information.</p><p> </p><p>DWP staff in Pension Centres and Jobcentres will be able to provide information and advice, as will staff in Local Authorities who administer Housing Benefit.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 04/04/2019 16:34:12 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
tabling member	4181 label Biography information for Lord Beecham

1017032

registered interest
date	28/11/2018
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	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to undertake a comprehensive review of the impact of Universal Credit on vulnerable groups; and if so, what are their plans.
tabling member printed	Lord Beecham
uin	HL11877
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/12/2018 answer text <p>We routinely publish reviews of Universal Credit. Testing of managed migration will commence in July 2019, before taking on larger volumes from 2020. In the first year of managed migration, we expect to only move 10,000 people. In our response the Social Security Advisory Committee on the 5th November we committed to conducting detailed Equality Assessments of migration plans. This is an iterative process and will be fully evaluated with equality impacts reassessed in accordance with the evaluation. We will publish an assessment of the impacts of managed migration prior to increasing the scale.</p><p> </p><p>These include the Universal Credit Impact Assessment (December 2012) and the Universal Credit Programme Full Business Case Summary (June 2018), which sets out the rationale for Universal Credit as well as the financial impacts it is expected to have.</p><p> </p><p>I will also take this opportunity to draw attention to a recent comparison between Universal Credit and the social welfare system in Finland. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report concludes that their universal credit approach for Finland would outperform their existing system and their proposed universal basic income, in terms of reducing poverty, providing a safety net, better targeting of finite resources and improved incentives to work. The OECD report is attached to this answer.</p><p> </p><p>We plan to publish a full evaluation of Universal Credit when it has been fully implemented.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe grouped question UIN HL11879 HL11880 HL11881 question first answered 12/12/2018 14:44:50 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe attachment 1 file name OECD article 28 Feb 18.pdf title OECD Article 28.2.18
tabling member	4181 label Biography information for Lord Beecham

1017033

registered interest
date	28/11/2018
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	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Universal Credit claimants have additional support needs; and how are such claimants identified, monitored and supported.
tabling member printed	Lord Beecham
uin	HL11878
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/12/2018 answer text <p>The information requested is not currently held in a consistent format by the Department.</p><p> </p><p>We are continuously reviewing and improving the service for vulnerable people who claim Universal Credit to ensure that it is accessible and responsive to their needs.</p><p> </p><p>To assist identification and claimant support, each Jobcentre Plus site has a complex needs toolkit in place. These are maintained and reviewed locally and contain a named single point of contact for areas such as Homelessness, Care leavers and Prison leavers.</p><p> </p><p>Work coaches receive training to help them identify and support vulnerable claimants, building a relationship to encourage claimants to openly discuss any concerns or problems as they emerge. We have introduced a function to ‘pin’ key profile notes so they are instantly visible to all staff helping a claimant.</p><p> </p><p>To help claimants who may struggle using online services or managing a monthly payment, Universal Support is available. This is advice, assistance or support to help Universal Credit claimants with managing their claim or award of Universal Credit administered by Citizen’s Advice following our brand new partnership.</p><p> </p><p>We have also increased the numbers of Disability Employment Advisers who now provide additional support to the work coaches so they can better personalise support as we continuously improve the offer available.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 12/12/2018 14:56:09 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
tabling member	4181 label Biography information for Lord Beecham

1017034

registered interest
date	28/11/2018
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	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Equality Impact Assessment of Universal Credit will be updated to include lessons learned from the areas in which full service has been rolled out; and if so, when.
tabling member printed	Lord Beecham
uin	HL11879
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/12/2018 answer text <p>We routinely publish reviews of Universal Credit. Testing of managed migration will commence in July 2019, before taking on larger volumes from 2020. In the first year of managed migration, we expect to only move 10,000 people. In our response the Social Security Advisory Committee on the 5th November we committed to conducting detailed Equality Assessments of migration plans. This is an iterative process and will be fully evaluated with equality impacts reassessed in accordance with the evaluation. We will publish an assessment of the impacts of managed migration prior to increasing the scale.</p><p> </p><p>These include the Universal Credit Impact Assessment (December 2012) and the Universal Credit Programme Full Business Case Summary (June 2018), which sets out the rationale for Universal Credit as well as the financial impacts it is expected to have.</p><p> </p><p>I will also take this opportunity to draw attention to a recent comparison between Universal Credit and the social welfare system in Finland. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report concludes that their universal credit approach for Finland would outperform their existing system and their proposed universal basic income, in terms of reducing poverty, providing a safety net, better targeting of finite resources and improved incentives to work. The OECD report is attached to this answer.</p><p> </p><p>We plan to publish a full evaluation of Universal Credit when it has been fully implemented.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe grouped question UIN HL11877 HL11880 HL11881 question first answered 12/12/2018 14:44:50 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe attachment 1 file name OECD article 28 Feb 18.pdf title OECD Article 28.2.18
tabling member	4181 label Biography information for Lord Beecham

1017035

registered interest
date	28/11/2018
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	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to secure an independent full cost benefit analysis of Universal Credit; and if so, when.
tabling member printed	Lord Beecham
uin	HL11880
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/12/2018 answer text <p>We routinely publish reviews of Universal Credit. Testing of managed migration will commence in July 2019, before taking on larger volumes from 2020. In the first year of managed migration, we expect to only move 10,000 people. In our response the Social Security Advisory Committee on the 5th November we committed to conducting detailed Equality Assessments of migration plans. This is an iterative process and will be fully evaluated with equality impacts reassessed in accordance with the evaluation. We will publish an assessment of the impacts of managed migration prior to increasing the scale.</p><p> </p><p>These include the Universal Credit Impact Assessment (December 2012) and the Universal Credit Programme Full Business Case Summary (June 2018), which sets out the rationale for Universal Credit as well as the financial impacts it is expected to have.</p><p> </p><p>I will also take this opportunity to draw attention to a recent comparison between Universal Credit and the social welfare system in Finland. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report concludes that their universal credit approach for Finland would outperform their existing system and their proposed universal basic income, in terms of reducing poverty, providing a safety net, better targeting of finite resources and improved incentives to work. The OECD report is attached to this answer.</p><p> </p><p>We plan to publish a full evaluation of Universal Credit when it has been fully implemented.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe grouped question UIN HL11877 HL11879 HL11881 question first answered 12/12/2018 14:44:50 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe attachment 1 file name OECD article 28 Feb 18.pdf title OECD Article 28.2.18
tabling member	4181 label Biography information for Lord Beecham

1017036

registered interest
date	28/11/2018
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	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to monitor (1) the monetary, and (2) any other, impact of Universal Credit on (a) the wider health and social care systems, and (b) voluntary and community organisations.
tabling member printed	Lord Beecham
uin	HL11881
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/12/2018 answer text <p>We routinely publish reviews of Universal Credit. Testing of managed migration will commence in July 2019, before taking on larger volumes from 2020. In the first year of managed migration, we expect to only move 10,000 people. In our response the Social Security Advisory Committee on the 5th November we committed to conducting detailed Equality Assessments of migration plans. This is an iterative process and will be fully evaluated with equality impacts reassessed in accordance with the evaluation. We will publish an assessment of the impacts of managed migration prior to increasing the scale.</p><p> </p><p>These include the Universal Credit Impact Assessment (December 2012) and the Universal Credit Programme Full Business Case Summary (June 2018), which sets out the rationale for Universal Credit as well as the financial impacts it is expected to have.</p><p> </p><p>I will also take this opportunity to draw attention to a recent comparison between Universal Credit and the social welfare system in Finland. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report concludes that their universal credit approach for Finland would outperform their existing system and their proposed universal basic income, in terms of reducing poverty, providing a safety net, better targeting of finite resources and improved incentives to work. The OECD report is attached to this answer.</p><p> </p><p>We plan to publish a full evaluation of Universal Credit when it has been fully implemented.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe grouped question UIN HL11877 HL11879 HL11880 question first answered 12/12/2018 14:44:50 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe attachment 1 file name OECD article 28 Feb 18.pdf title OECD Article 28.2.18
tabling member	4181 label Biography information for Lord Beecham