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1241859

registered interest
date	08/10/2020
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	Social Security Benefits: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support her Department is providing to people classed as clinically extremely vulnerable and who are unable to safely visit job centres or other assessment locations.
tabling member constituency	Ealing, Southall
tabling member printed	Mr Virendra Sharma
uin	100923
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/10/2020 answer text <p>Jobcentre Work Coaches are trusted and empowered to engage with claimants by the best and most appropriate channel, giving careful consideration to a claimant’s personal circumstances and needs, such as any health conditions, and the local situation to determine whether or not this should be by phone, digital or face-to-face.</p><p> </p><p>In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Department made a number of changes to health and disability benefits to safeguard the health of claimants and staff and to prioritise new claims and continuity of awards. The changes included the suspension of all face-to-face assessments and the introduction of telephone-based assessments where suitable, in addition to paper-based assessments (paper-based assessments were in place for some claims prior to the Covid-19 pandemic).</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 13/10/2020 13:10:58 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	1604 label Biography information for Mr Virendra Sharma

1241177

registered interest
date	07/10/2020
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	Universal Credit: Coronavirus
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 17 September 2020 to Question 89694, what steps she is taking to ensure that people who received support through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) will be able to have their eligibility for universal credit assessed promptly at the end of that scheme; and what assessment she has made of the effect of including those people's final CJRS payments in their eligibility assessment for universal credit on those people's financial security over Christmas 2020.
tabling member constituency	Belfast South
tabling member printed	Claire Hanna
uin	100554
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/10/2020 answer text <p>The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is a HMRC-led initiative providing a grant to help employers pay the wages of their employee. When the scheme ends, any employee who sees their income reduced may be eligible to apply for Universal Credit. The Department ensures all claimants are supported in both making and maintaining a claim. For those claimants who are particularly affected by any loss of income and need urgent support, new claims advances are available during the first assessment period to provide upfront support – meaning the claimant will receive their first year’s entitlement over 13 payments instead of 12. Where a payment from the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is used to fund earnings, the earnings of the employee will be taken into account in the calculation of entitlement to Universal Credit in the usual way. The intention being that payments to employees should mirror the way equivalent income is treated in Universal Credit.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 12/10/2020 17:08:09 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4827 label Biography information for Claire Hanna

1241179

registered interest
date	07/10/2020
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	Industrial Accidents: Death
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many investigations the Health and Safety Executive has carried out into fatal accidents in workplaces since 1 January 2010; and what the average time taken was to complete those investigations.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Ladywood
tabling member printed	Shabana Mahmood
uin	100341
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/10/2020 answer text <p>The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has completed 1485 investigations into fatal accidents in workplaces since 1 January 2010.</p><p> </p><p>The average time taken in days to complete those investigations is given in the table 1.</p><p>Table 1</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Based on/Years</p></td><td><p><strong>2010 to 2014</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2015 - 2020</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2010 to 2020</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Incident Date to Closed Date</strong></p></td><td><p>654</p></td><td><p>428</p></td><td><p>547</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Records with Primacy* Date recorded until Closed Date</strong></p></td><td><p>463</p></td><td><p>345</p></td><td><p>409</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>* Primacy is when the lead for investigating the incident passes to HSE from the police.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>Notes</p><p> </p><p>The average completion time analysis is based on the difference in days between the incident/primacy date and the date that the investigation case was closed on its operational database rather than the date the investigation was concluded which is not recorded. The administrative practice of closing investigation cases has changed over the past 10 years and has not always been as soon as possible after the completion of the investigation. This explains the difference in the reduction in the time taken to complete an investigation as highlighted in Table 1 in addition to the operational improvements that have been made to reduce the time taken.</p><p> </p><p>The figures were extracted from HSE’s live operational database and provide the picture on the date of extraction i.e. 8 October 2020.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 12/10/2020 16:56:10 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	3914 label Biography information for Shabana Mahmood

1241233

registered interest
date	07/10/2020
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	Universal Credit: Self-employed
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when the temporary removal of the minimum income floor for all self employed universal credit claimants that has applied since April 6 2020 will end.
tabling member constituency	Midlothian
tabling member printed	Owen Thompson
uin	100476
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/10/2020 answer text <p>These easement regulations are due to expire on 12/11/20. We are monitoring the situation and carefully considering next steps. Universal credit claimants will be informed before the Minimum Income Floor is reinstated.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 12/10/2020 16:51:12 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4482 label Biography information for Owen Thompson

1241234

registered interest
date	07/10/2020
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	Universal Credit: Self-employed
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 financial effect of ending the removal of the minimum income floor for all self-employed universal credit claimants.
tabling member constituency	Midlothian
tabling member printed	Owen Thompson
uin	100477
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/10/2020 answer text <p>The government announced an unprecedented package of measures to protect millions of people’s jobs and incomes, including the temporary relaxation of the Minimum Income Floor (MIF) for all self-employed UC claimants affected by the COVID-19, for the duration of the outbreak.</p><p> </p><p>This means a drop in earnings due to sickness or self-isolation or as a result of the economic impact of the outbreak is reflected in claimants’ awards. It ensures that the self-employed are supported by the benefit system so that they can follow Public Health England guidance on social distancing and self-isolation.</p><p> </p><p>The Office for Budget Responsibility will be publishing its assessment of this in due course as part of its Autumn forecast.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 12/10/2020 16:51:21 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4482 label Biography information for Owen Thompson

1241281

registered interest
date	07/10/2020
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	Department for Work and Pensions: Maladministration
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much her Department has paid out in response to findings of maladministration in each financial year since 2009-10.
tabling member constituency	Bermondsey and Old Southwark
tabling member printed	Neil Coyle
uin	100422
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/10/2020 answer text <p>DWP provides a high quality service to around 20 million people, and of those, less than 1% complain or receive redress for service failing. In instances where issues with payments arise, DWP operates a discretionary special payments scheme, which can provide financial redress if our maladministration has caused a customer hardship or injustice.</p><p> </p><p>The table provides the special payment expenditure from April 2009 to March 2020. Information about payments for maladministration is also contained in DWP’s Annual Report and Accounts. The most recent published report can be found here:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/896268/dwp-annual-report-and-accounts-2019-2020.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/896268/dwp-annual-report-and-accounts-2019-2020.pdf</a></p><p> </p><p>We do not record data in respect of the number of people who have been awarded a special payment by DWP. Instead, we record the number of special payments we have <em>authorised</em>. The number of authorised payments will not necessarily equate to the number of customers because an individual might be awarded redress under different categories (financial loss or a consolatory payment) or receive more than one payment.</p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="3"><p><strong>Special Payment Expenditure</strong> <strong> </strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Reporting Year </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Number of payments authorised </strong> <strong> </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Total amount paid* </strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2009 – 2010</p></td><td><p>18, 820</p></td><td><p>£5.3m</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010 – 2011</p></td><td><p>16, 280</p></td><td><p>£5.1m</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011 – 2012</p></td><td><p>12, 527</p></td><td><p>£3.1m</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012 – 2013</p></td><td><p>13, 628</p></td><td><p>£2.3m</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013 – 2014</p></td><td><p>13,382</p></td><td><p>£2m</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014 – 2015</p></td><td><p>9,197</p></td><td><p>£1.6m</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015 – 2016</p></td><td><p>6,671</p></td><td><p>£1.3m</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016 - 2078</p></td><td><p>7, 447</p></td><td><p>£1.1m</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017 – 2018</p></td><td><p>7, 079</p></td><td><p>£0.86m</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018 – 2019</p></td><td><p>6, 946**</p></td><td><p>£1.2m**</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2019 - 2020</p></td><td><p>6, 708***</p></td><td><p>£0.98m</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong><em>*</em></strong><em>The special payment figures exclude financial redress paid for Loss of Statutory Entitlement (LOSE), a special payment which can be made if maladministration has caused a claimant to lose entitlement to statutory benefit payments. LOSE is excluded as it is not an extra cost arising from maladministration, but payment that should have been made anyway. </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><strong><em>**</em> </strong><em>The special payment figures reported in the Departmental Report 2018/19 (24,175 payments totalling £2.496m) included 17,345 ex gratia payments totalling £1,674,770 (£1.7m). These were for support for mortgage interest and were paid to claimants whose benefit payments were not converted to a loan by 7 May 2019. There were 6,946 payments made for maladministration, totalling £1,221,070 (£1.2m)</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><strong><em>***</em></strong><em>The figure in respect of the number of payments authorised in 2019/20 was not included in the 2019/20 Departmental Report, as that aspect of the special payment data had yet to be finalised prior to the report’s publication</em></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies grouped question UIN 100423 question first answered 12/10/2020 17:16:07 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4368 label Biography information for Neil Coyle

1241282

registered interest
date	07/10/2020
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	Department for Work and Pensions: Maladministration
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 qualified for a payment from her Department following a finding of maladministration in each financial year since 2009-10.
tabling member constituency	Bermondsey and Old Southwark
tabling member printed	Neil Coyle
uin	100423
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/10/2020 answer text <p>DWP provides a high quality service to around 20 million people, and of those, less than 1% complain or receive redress for service failing. In instances where issues with payments arise, DWP operates a discretionary special payments scheme, which can provide financial redress if our maladministration has caused a customer hardship or injustice.</p><p> </p><p>The table provides the special payment expenditure from April 2009 to March 2020. Information about payments for maladministration is also contained in DWP’s Annual Report and Accounts. The most recent published report can be found here:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/896268/dwp-annual-report-and-accounts-2019-2020.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/896268/dwp-annual-report-and-accounts-2019-2020.pdf</a></p><p> </p><p>We do not record data in respect of the number of people who have been awarded a special payment by DWP. Instead, we record the number of special payments we have <em>authorised</em>. The number of authorised payments will not necessarily equate to the number of customers because an individual might be awarded redress under different categories (financial loss or a consolatory payment) or receive more than one payment.</p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="3"><p><strong>Special Payment Expenditure</strong> <strong> </strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Reporting Year </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Number of payments authorised </strong> <strong> </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Total amount paid* </strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2009 – 2010</p></td><td><p>18, 820</p></td><td><p>£5.3m</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010 – 2011</p></td><td><p>16, 280</p></td><td><p>£5.1m</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011 – 2012</p></td><td><p>12, 527</p></td><td><p>£3.1m</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012 – 2013</p></td><td><p>13, 628</p></td><td><p>£2.3m</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013 – 2014</p></td><td><p>13,382</p></td><td><p>£2m</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014 – 2015</p></td><td><p>9,197</p></td><td><p>£1.6m</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015 – 2016</p></td><td><p>6,671</p></td><td><p>£1.3m</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016 - 2078</p></td><td><p>7, 447</p></td><td><p>£1.1m</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017 – 2018</p></td><td><p>7, 079</p></td><td><p>£0.86m</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018 – 2019</p></td><td><p>6, 946**</p></td><td><p>£1.2m**</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2019 - 2020</p></td><td><p>6, 708***</p></td><td><p>£0.98m</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong><em>*</em></strong><em>The special payment figures exclude financial redress paid for Loss of Statutory Entitlement (LOSE), a special payment which can be made if maladministration has caused a claimant to lose entitlement to statutory benefit payments. LOSE is excluded as it is not an extra cost arising from maladministration, but payment that should have been made anyway. </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><strong><em>**</em> </strong><em>The special payment figures reported in the Departmental Report 2018/19 (24,175 payments totalling £2.496m) included 17,345 ex gratia payments totalling £1,674,770 (£1.7m). These were for support for mortgage interest and were paid to claimants whose benefit payments were not converted to a loan by 7 May 2019. There were 6,946 payments made for maladministration, totalling £1,221,070 (£1.2m)</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><strong><em>***</em></strong><em>The figure in respect of the number of payments authorised in 2019/20 was not included in the 2019/20 Departmental Report, as that aspect of the special payment data had yet to be finalised prior to the report’s publication</em></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies grouped question UIN 100422 question first answered 12/10/2020 17:16:07 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4368 label Biography information for Neil Coyle

1241297

registered interest
date	07/10/2020
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	Universal Credit: Fraud
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 support victims of universal credit scams.
tabling member constituency	Coventry North East
tabling member printed	Colleen Fletcher
uin	100430
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/10/2020 answer text <p>The Department takes this issue very seriously and we continue to look across government and beyond to tackle benefit fraud.</p><p> </p><p>In June, the Department launched a new process for claimants who allege that without their participation or knowledge, their identity has been used to make a fraudulent claim for Universal Credit. Where this is found to be the case, the Department will consider reinstatement of relevant legacy benefits and/or tax credits.</p><p> </p><p>The Department considers each case on its own merits and decisions are made on the strength of the evidence provided.</p><p> </p><p>If a claimant has been the victim of a scam, and has not benefited from it in any way, they will not be held liable for any debt. In these cases, we will seek to recover any losses from the perpetrator of any fraud.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 12/10/2020 15:51:32 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4378 label Biography information for Colleen Fletcher

1240758

registered interest
date	06/10/2020
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	Social Security Benefits: Carmarthen East and Dinefwr
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many families with children are affected by the benefit cap in Carmarthen East and Dinefwr constituency.
tabling member constituency	Carmarthen East and Dinefwr
tabling member printed	Jonathan Edwards
uin	99585
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/10/2020 answer text <p>The available information on the number of households, receiving Housing Benefit or Universal Credit, who are subject to the Benefit Cap, by Family Type and Parliamentary Constituency, is published and can be found at:</p><p><a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/" target="_blank">https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/</a></p><p>Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:</p><p><a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html" target="_blank">https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html</a></p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 12/10/2020 16:57:22 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	3943 label Biography information for Jonathan Edwards

1240860

registered interest
date	06/10/2020
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	Universal Credit: Coronavirus
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 potential merits of retaining the weekly £20 increase to universal credit payments beyond April 2021; and if she will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Carmarthen East and Dinefwr
tabling member printed	Jonathan Edwards
uin	99587
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/10/2020 answer text <p>The Government introduced a package of temporary welfare measures worth around £9.3 billion this year to help with the financial consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. The £20 weekly increase to the Universal Credit Standard Allowance rates was introduced as a temporary measure for the 20/21 tax year, in recognition of these consequences.</p><p>Future decisions on spending will be made at the next appropriate fiscal event and Parliament will be updated accordingly.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 12/10/2020 15:46:02 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	3943 label Biography information for Jonathan Edwards