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1350824

registered interest
date	18/08/2021
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	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 potential merits of changing the universal credit childcare payments system to allow parents looking for work to claim costs upfront.
tabling member constituency	Waveney
tabling member printed	Peter Aldous
uin	40868
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/09/2021 answer text <p>No assessment has been made. There is currently an on-going Judicial Review on Universal Credit childcare and the payment of upfront costs. An appeal hearing took place in the Court of Appeal in July and a decision is awaited. It is therefore not appropriate to comment directly on this matter at this time. It should be noted there are no changes to the current processes and the legislation remains the same.</p><p>Childcare costs should not be a barrier to getting into work – this Government is committed to helping parents into work. Universal Credit pays up to 85% of childcare costs for working parents, compared to 70% in legacy benefits, and childcare costs can be claimed up to a month before starting a job.</p><p>In cases where people need to pay for childcare upfront, prior to starting work, Work Coaches may be able to use the Flexible Support Fund for eligible claimants to meet these costs until their first wage is received. Budgeting advances are also available to eligible claimants who require help with upfront costs, for example when altering hours worked or changing childcare providers. Claimants on Universal Credit are encouraged to manage their own finances and budgets to better mirror the world of work and the majority of claimants can, and do, manage their childcare payments effectively.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 10/09/2021 12:39:25 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4069 label Biography information for Peter Aldous

1350825

registered interest
date	18/08/2021
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: Deductions
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 universal credit claimants had deductions made to their monthly payment (a) in March 2020 and (b) in the most recent month for which figures are available, by (i) categories of third party debt deductions, (ii) advance payments and (iii) benefit overpayments and (iv) other types of deductions.
tabling member constituency	Waveney
tabling member printed	Peter Aldous
uin	40869
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/09/2021 answer text <p>We carefully balance our duty to the taxpayer to recover overpayments, with support for claimants. Safeguards are in place to ensure deductions are manageable. From 12 April 2021, we further reduced the cap on deductions from Universal Credit awards to 25 per cent and lengthened the period from 12 to 24 months, meaning in effect someone can receive 25 payments over 24 months, giving them more flexibility over the payments of their Universal Credit award. This will also allow claimants to retain more of their award, giving additional financial security, and follows a previous change in October 2019 that reduced the cap from 40% to 30%.</p><p> </p><p>Customers can contact the Department if they are experiencing financial hardship to discuss a reduction in their rate of repayment, depending on their financial circumstances, whilst work coaches can also signpost claimants to other financial support.</p><p> </p><p>The information requested is provided in the attached spreadsheet.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 10/09/2021 12:50:22 question first ministerially corrected 15/10/2021 12:33:48 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince attachment 1 file name Spreadsheet 40869.xlsx title Spreadsheet previous answer version 20231 answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4069 label Biography information for Peter Aldous

1350859

registered interest
date	18/08/2021
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	State Retirement Pensions: Females
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 plans to take in response to the findings of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman's report, Women's State Pension age: our findings on the Department for Work and Pensions' communication of changes, printed on 19 July 2021, HC 444.
tabling member constituency	Plymouth, Moor View
tabling member printed	Johnny Mercer
uin	41034
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/09/2021 answer text <p>The Ombudsman’s investigation is ongoing and section 7(2) of the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967 states that Ombudsman investigations “shall be conducted in private”. It is not appropriate to comment on the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman's report of 19 July 2021 on stage 1 of their investigation.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 08/09/2021 12:54:49 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4485 label Biography information for Johnny Mercer

1350877

registered interest
date	18/08/2021
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	Carer's Allowance: Eligibility
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has plans to extend eligibility for carer's allowance to enable people who claim personal independence payments to appoint registered providers to provide care services using that allowance.
tabling member constituency	Gateshead
tabling member printed	Ian Mearns
uin	40857
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/09/2021 answer text <p>The principal purpose of Carer's Allowance is to provide a measure of financial support and recognition for people who give up the opportunity of full-time work in order to provide regular care for a severely disabled person. It is not now, nor was it ever intended to be, a carer's wage nor a payment for the services of caring.</p><p> </p><p>Entitlement to Carer's Allowance depends on certain conditions relating to the circumstances of both the disabled person and the carer being satisfied. The carer must provide a minimum of 35 hours care a week for the disabled person who must be receiving a qualifying disability benefit, such as the daily living component of Personal Independence Payment. The carer must be aged 16 or over; should not be in full-time education; or receiving earnings above £128 a week, net after the deduction of certain allowances.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 06/09/2021 12:44:51 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4000 label Biography information for Ian Mearns

1350917

registered interest
date	18/08/2021
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: Eligibility
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has plans to review the tariff income system.
tabling member constituency	Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle
tabling member printed	Emma Hardy
uin	41172
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/09/2021 answer text <p>There are no plans to change the tariff income rule which is a long-standing principle of means-tested benefits.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 10/09/2021 12:27:32 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4645 label Biography information for Emma Hardy

1350923

registered interest
date	18/08/2021
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: Disability
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what representations her Department has received from (a) welfare and (b) disability groups on her Department's public sector equality duty as set out in the Equality Act 2010 to those people claiming disability benefits.
tabling member constituency	Newport East
tabling member printed	Jessica Morden
uin	40782
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/09/2021 answer text <p>DWP take our Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) seriously and are absolutely committed to ensuring our services are accessible to all.</p><p> </p><p>We focus on being a learning organisation and are keen to capture the voice of the customer. A key part of this role is working with a number of representative groups from welfare and disability organisations through regular stakeholder forums.</p><p> </p><p>They comprise of a range of organisations of and for disabled customers and through them we hear the voice of our customers. They let us know where we can improve the reasonable adjustments we offer and our processes for providing them, and they assist us by testing new products and procedures</p><p>One example is the Taskforce on Accessible Information which works at strategic level and meets three to four times a year.</p><p>Another is the Reasonable Adjustments Forum who work at an operational level and meet every two months.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 06/09/2021 11:25:55 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	1548 label Biography information for Jessica Morden

1350960

registered interest
date	18/08/2021
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	State Retirement Pensions: Age
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of reducing the state pension age to 60.
tabling member constituency	Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle
tabling member printed	Emma Hardy
uin	41173
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/09/2021 answer text <p>People in the UK continue to live longer lives, and the proportion of adults that are over State Pension age is increasing. Raising State Pension age in line with life expectancy changes has been the policy of successive administrations over the years.</p><p> </p><p>We committed in legislation to undertake a review of State Pension age every six years, which means that the statutory deadline for the publication of the next Government review is 2023. The purpose of the review is to ensure that the State Pension system is affordable, sustainable and fair to future tax payers.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 08/09/2021 12:52:59 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4645 label Biography information for Emma Hardy

1350996

registered interest
date	18/08/2021
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	Personal Independence Payment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average back payment was to personal independence payment claimants where the claimant has been awarded that benefit at a tribunal for the most recent period for which figures are available.
tabling member constituency	East Ham
tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
uin	40575
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/09/2021 answer text <p>The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 06/09/2021 11:19:27 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

1350997

registered interest
date	18/08/2021
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	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, in 2019-20, how many claimants received between zero and six points in their Work Capability Assessment and then subsequently had that benefit awarded on (a) mandatory assessment or (b) appeal.
tabling member constituency	East Ham
tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
uin	40576
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/09/2021 answer text <p>The specific information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.</p><p>The available information on Mandatory Reconsiderations (MRs) and appeals in relation to Employment Support Allowance Work Capability Assessments is published here:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/employment-and-support-allowance-outcomes-of-work-capability-assessment" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/employment-and-support-allowance-outcomes-of-work-capability-assessment</a></p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 06/09/2021 11:16:32 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

1351004

registered interest
date	18/08/2021
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	State Retirement Pensions: Windrush Generation
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the Government’s frozen pensions policy on members of the Windrush generation.
tabling member constituency	Halifax
tabling member printed	Holly Lynch
uin	41026
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/09/2021 answer text <p>The policy on up-rating UK state pensions overseas is a long-standing one of successive post-war Governments. The UK State Pension is payable worldwide and is up-rated where there is a legal requirement to do so. There are no plans to change this.</p><p> </p><p>No assessment has been made.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 08/09/2021 12:49:53 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4472 label Biography information for Holly Lynch