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1713008

registered interest
date	23/04/2024
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, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of adjusting the minimum income floor for Universal Credit for (a) farmers and (b) other people whose income and expenditure varies during the year.
tabling member constituency	Dunfermline and West Fife
tabling member printed	Douglas Chapman
uin	23204
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/04/2024 answer text <p>The Department does not intend to assess the potential merits of adjusting the Minimum Income Floor (MIF). Relaxing or removing the MIF risks trapping customers indefinitely in very low-earning self-employment and dependency on the welfare system - a situation that is unfair to the taxpayer, and unhelpful for customers and their families.</p><p> </p><p>We are working with the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) to ensure a smooth transition from the old legacy benefits to Universal Credit, as well as providing transitional protection when applicable.</p> answering member constituency Bury St Edmunds answering member printed Jo Churchill question first answered 26/04/2024 11:29:27 answering member 4380 label Biography information for Jo Churchill
tabling member	4402 label Biography information for Douglas Chapman

1713030

registered interest
date	23/04/2024
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: Children
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the two-child limit in Universal Credit applies to households caring for an additional child under a special guardianship order.
tabling member constituency	South Shields
tabling member printed	Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck
uin	23201
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/04/2024 answer text <p><strong> </strong></p><p>Since 6 April 2017, families can claim support for up to two children, and there may be further entitlement for other children if they were born before April 2017 or if an exception applies. One of these exceptions is any child in a household who is living long-term with friends or family who would otherwise be at risk of entering the care system, which includes a child being cared for under a Special Guardianship Order.</p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Bury St Edmunds answering member printed Jo Churchill question first answered 26/04/2024 11:32:19 answering member 4380 label Biography information for Jo Churchill
tabling member	4277 label Biography information for Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck

1713034

registered interest
date	23/04/2024
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	State Retirement Pensions: Women
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his planned timetable is for responding to the findings and recommendations from the Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman report into the changes to Women’s State Pension Age, published on 21 March 2024.
tabling member constituency	Portsmouth South
tabling member printed	Stephen Morgan
uin	23268
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/05/2024 answer text <p>In laying the report before Parliament at the end of March, the Ombudsman has brought matters to the attention of this House, and a further update to the House will be provided once the report's findings have been fully considered.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 01/05/2024 14:36:18 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
tabling member	4653 label Biography information for Stephen Morgan

1713035

registered interest
date	23/04/2024
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	State Retirement Pensions: Women
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he last met with the Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman to discuss the findings and recommendations of its report on changes to Women’s State Pension Age, published on 21 March 2024.
tabling member constituency	Portsmouth South
tabling member printed	Stephen Morgan
uin	23269
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/05/2024 answer text <p>The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has not met with the Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman since the report into Women’s State Pension age was published on 21 March 2024.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 01/05/2024 10:56:21 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
tabling member	4653 label Biography information for Stephen Morgan

1713079

registered interest
date	23/04/2024
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	Carer's Allowance: Overpayments
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many full time equivalent staff in his Department worked on investigation of earnings alerts for carer’s allowance in (a) 2019-20, (b) 2020-21, (c) 2022-23, (d) 2022-23 and (e) 2023-24.
tabling member constituency	Midlothian
tabling member printed	Owen Thompson
uin	23249
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/05/2024 answer text <p>The Department allocated the following resources to full time equivalent to the investigation of earnings alerts for carer’s allowance as outlined below;</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p><strong>FTE </strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>19/20</p></td><td><p>46.43</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>20/21</p></td><td><p>55.20</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>21/22</p></td><td><p>80.92</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>22/23</p></td><td><p>59.75</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>23/24</p></td><td><p>48.70</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Data is correct as of March for each of the following Financial Years: <strong>(a) 2019/20, (b) 2020/21, (c) 2021/22, (d) 2022/23 and (e) 2023/24.</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>Figures were derived from the Department’s Activity Based Model (ABM), which provides Full Time Equivalent (FTE) figures based on point in time estimate by Line Managers. They cover only FTE of staff with paid employment.</p><p> </p><p>The number of colleagues employed in these directorates is unpublished management information, collected and intended for internal departmental use and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. As the Department holds the information, we have released it.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 01/05/2024 14:41:43 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
tabling member	4482 label Biography information for Owen Thompson

1713082

registered interest
date	23/04/2024
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	Carer's Allowance: Overpayments
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how frequently HM Revenue and Customs provides his Department with earnings alerts on potential overpayments of carer’s allowance.
tabling member constituency	Midlothian
tabling member printed	Owen Thompson
uin	23250
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/05/2024 answer text <p>HMRC provides DWP with 4 daily alerts to changes of earnings, based off a set of business logic/rules which covers Carers Allowance, Housing Benefit and Pension Credit. The earnings notified do not take account of allowable expenses which people in receipt of Carer’s Allowance may wish to deduct.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 01/05/2024 16:46:29 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4482 label Biography information for Owen Thompson

1713083

registered interest
date	23/04/2024
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	Carer's Allowance: Overpayments
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many potential cases of overpayments of carer’s allowance were flagged by the Verified Earnings and Pensions service system in each of the last five financial years; and how many such cases were investigated in each of those years.
tabling member constituency	Midlothian
tabling member printed	Owen Thompson
uin	23251
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/05/2024 answer text <table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong> Rounded</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2019/20</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2020/21</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2021/22</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2022/23</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2023/24</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>The number of cases flagged as potentially in need of investigation by the VEPs system</p></td><td><p>91,000</p></td><td><p>73,000</p></td><td><p>96,000</p></td><td><p>107,000</p></td><td><p>67,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>The number of cases investigated</p></td><td><p>35,000</p></td><td><p>38,000</p></td><td><p>46,000</p></td><td><p>50,000</p></td><td><p>35,000</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 01/05/2024 14:22:48 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
tabling member	4482 label Biography information for Owen Thompson

1713085

registered interest
date	23/04/2024
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	Carer's Allowance: Overpayments
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many carer’s allowance overpayments over (a) £5,000 and (b) £20,000 there were in (i) 2022-23 and (ii) 2023-24.
tabling member constituency	Midlothian
tabling member printed	Owen Thompson
uin	23252
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/05/2024 answer text <p>We recognise the significant contribution of carers to supporting those most in need, which is why we have increased Carer's Allowance by almost £1,500 since 2010.</p><p> </p><p>As with all DWP benefits, claimants have a responsibility to ensure they are entitled to the benefit they claim and to inform the DWP of any changes in their circumstances that could impact their award. For Carer’s Allowance, eligibility is partly dependent upon claimants earning £151 or less a week after tax, National Insurance and allowable expenses. This is set out at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/carers-allowance/eligibility" target="_blank">Carer's Allowance: Eligibility - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)</a></p><p> </p><p>Where overpayments do occur due to not being entitled to the benefit, the Department has a duty to the taxpayer to protect public funds and to ask for money to be paid back. We remain committed to working with anyone who is struggling with their repayment terms and will always look to negotiate sustainable and affordable repayment plans.</p><p> </p><p>Our most recent statistics show that Carer's Allowance overpayments relating to earnings/employment represents 2.1% of our £3.3bn Carer’s Allowance expenditure.</p><p> </p><p>The information requested has been provided in the table below.</p><p /><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Carer’s Allowance Overpayment Value Grouping</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2022/23</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2023/24</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>£5000.00 - £20,000.00</p></td><td><p>1,310</p></td><td><p>1,300</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Over £20,000.00</p></td><td><p>60</p></td><td><p>40</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Total</strong></p></td><td><p>1,370</p></td><td><p>1,340</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The data has been sourced from internal DWP management information, which is intended only to help the Department to manage its business. It is not intended for publication and has not been subject to the same quality assurance checks applied to our published official statistics.</p><p> </p><p>Note that the year relates to when the debt was raised on Debt Manager, and therefore not necessarily the period as to when Carer’s Allowance was overpaid. The overpayments may span periods of many years.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 01/05/2024 15:36:42 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
tabling member	4482 label Biography information for Owen Thompson

1713126

registered interest
date	23/04/2024
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	Carer's Allowance: Overpayments
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the highest value overpayment has been for Carer’s Allowance in the (a) 2021-22, (b) 2022-23 and (c) 2023-24 financial years.
tabling member constituency	Linlithgow and East Falkirk
tabling member printed	Martyn Day
uin	23253
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/05/2024 answer text <p>Claimants have a responsibility to ensure they are entitled to benefits they claim and to inform the DWP of any changes in their circumstances that could impact their award.</p><p> </p><p>Where overpayments do occur due to not being entitled to the benefit, the Department has a duty to the taxpayer to protect public funds and to ask for money to be paid back. We remain committed to working with anyone who is struggling with their repayment terms and will always look to negotiate sustainable and affordable repayment plans.</p><p> </p><p>Our most recent statistics show that Carer's Allowance overpayments relating to earnings/employment represents just 2.1% of our £3.3bn Carer’s Allowance expenditure.</p><p> </p><p>The information requested has been provided in the table below. To avoid potentially disclosing personal information, we have bucketed the values requested.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong> Highest Value Carer’s Allowance Overpayment</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2021/22</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2022/23</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2023/24</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Total</strong></p></td><td><p>£60-70k</p></td><td><p>£30-40k</p></td><td><p>£40-50k</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The data has been sourced from internal DWP management information, which is intended only to help the Department to manage its business. It is not intended for publication and has not been subject to the same quality assurance checks applied to our published official statistics.</p><p> </p><p>Note that the values represent the original overpayment amount when raised on Debt Manager. As the year relates to when the overpayment was raised as a debt for recovery, it does not necessarily relate to the period as to when benefit was overpaid. The overpayments above all span periods of many years.</p><p> </p><p>Note that the data provided is for all categories of overpayment. It is not necessarily the case that these overpayments arose due to claimants breaching the earnings limit.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 01/05/2024 15:33:32 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
tabling member	4488 label Biography information for Martyn Day

1713127

registered interest
date	23/04/2024
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	Carer's Allowance: Students
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of removing the 21 hour study rule from the eligibility criteria for Carer’s Allowance.
tabling member constituency	Linlithgow and East Falkirk
tabling member printed	Martyn Day
uin	23254
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/05/2024 answer text <p>This Government recognises and appreciates the vital contribution made by informal carers. With respect to full-time education, the Government believes that this should be supported by the educational maintenance system. That is why, as a general principle, full-time students are precluded from entitlement to income-related and income-maintenance benefits, including Carer’s Allowance.</p><p>Educational institutions decide which young people receive bursaries or other support and determine the level of financial support they receive. They develop their own eligibility criteria for access to the discretionary bursary fund, including setting a household income threshold appropriate to their area, and must publish this information for their students. Arrangements may differ across the United Kingdom.</p><p>In England, for example, over £160 million of bursary funding has been allocated in the 2023/24 academic year to institutions to help disadvantaged 16- to 19-year-olds with the costs of taking part in education. This is nearly 12% higher than published allocations for last year. The Department for Education has also made available £20 million each year in England specifically to support students in defined vulnerable groups.</p><p>Carer’s Allowance is a devolved benefit in Scotland.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 01/05/2024 16:44:16 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4488 label Biography information for Martyn Day