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100959

registered interest
date	27/10/2014
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 estimate they have made of the percentage of people using food banks who also receive benefits; and whether they have any plans to discuss the matter with the organisers of food banks or to adapt benefits to take account of the situation.
tabling member printed	Baroness Gould of Potternewton
uin	HL2415
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2014 answer text <p /> <p>DWP does not monitor or estimate the percentage of people using food banks.</p><p> </p><p>We recognise the extremely valuable work of civil society in supporting local communities. Government officials and Ministers routinely meet with a range of civil society organisations, some of which may be connected to foodbanks.</p><p> </p><p>DWP reforms are already making the benefits system simpler and helping claimants to move into work.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud question first answered 04/11/2014 14:50:14 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
tabling member	3573 label Biography information for Baroness Gould of Potternewton

100980

registered interest
date	27/10/2014
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	Jobseeker's Allowance Sanctions Independent Review
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government further to the remarks by Lord Freud on 21 October that they were "taking forward all recommendations" of the Oakley Report on Jobseeker's Allowance sanctions (HL Deb, col 547), whether they will provide an implementation date for each of the recommendations.
tabling member printed	Baroness Lister of Burtersett
uin	HL2436
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2014 answer text <p /> <p>We have already published our response to the Oakley Report and a copy can be found here:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/332137/jsa-sanctions-independent-review-government-response.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/332137/jsa-sanctions-independent-review-government-response.pdf</a></p><p> </p><p>We are considering all recommendations made by the Oakley Report and we have already implemented a number of improvements. Our response sets out a number of target completion dates for recommendations made by the Oakley Report.</p><p> </p><p>We will look at the remaining recommendations and will keep the House informed on progress and implementation.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud question first answered 04/11/2014 16:26:08 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
tabling member	4234 label Biography information for Baroness Lister of Burtersett

100915

registered interest
date	24/10/2014
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	Housing Benefit
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 initiate a review of the operation of the shared accommodation rate.
tabling member constituency	Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport
tabling member printed	Oliver Colvile
uin	221887
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/10/2014 answer text <p /> <p>The Department has no plans to review the way the Shared Accommodation Rates are calculated. The Rent Officer Services set the rates in line with the current DWP policy for uprating Local Housing Allowance and with reference to evidence of achieved rents in the local area.</p><p> </p><p>In 2014/15, 56 out of the 192 Shared Accommodation Rates have been increased by 4% in those areas where there is the greatest divergence between LHA rates and local rents.</p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Steve Webb question first answered 30/10/2014 15:58:12 answering member 220 label Biography information for Steve Webb
tabling member	4022 label Biography information for Oliver Colvile

100930

registered interest
date	24/10/2014
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
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the steps they are taking to reduce the cost of benefit fraud, what they propose to do, and how much they plan to spend, to reduce underpayments to claimants due to mistakes by officials or claimants.
tabling member printed	Lord Beecham
uin	HL2398
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/11/2014 answer text <p /> <p>The Department takes both under and overpayments seriously and has in place a number of initiatives to address the errors that cause them. These activities address fraud as well as error, and both under and overpayments. It is therefore not possible to separate out the cost of activities focused exclusively on underpayments as a result of error.</p><p> </p><p>Universal Credit will make the welfare system simpler by replacing six benefits and credits with a single monthly payment. This simplification is expected to lead to a reduction in fraud and error due to the fact that information about claimants will be held in one place and updated more frequently and easily.</p><p> </p><p>For claimants that have income taxed under PAYE, Universal Credit will be linked to HMRC’s Real Time Information system, which will provide an automatic monthly update of their income thus reducing the potential for both error and fraud.</p><p> </p><p>The Department has invested in compliance activity, so that case correctness is maintained and fraud and error entering the system are detected and resolved quickly. Across all delivery arms there is a focus on accuracy and quality, including a continuous quality checking regime to review claims and check processing accuracy.</p><p> </p><p>We constantly review claims by checking them against data coming into our systems, in order to highlight potential anomalies. We do this by using business rules which focus on potential error to identify both under and overpayments.</p><p> </p><p>The Department is taking steps to encourage claimants to ensure that the information provided to us is accurate and up-to-date. This includes a fraud and error communications campaign about driving behaviour change and emphasising that claimants must report any change of circumstances.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud question first answered 07/11/2014 13:39:35 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
tabling member	4181 label Biography information for Lord Beecham

100946

registered interest
date	24/10/2014
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 Health and Safety: Agriculture
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the latest figures they have of the number of fatal and serious accidents occurring in the farming industry.
tabling member printed	Lord Kennedy of Southwark
uin	HL2414
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2014 answer text <p>These figures are published on the Health and Safety Executive’s website: <a href="http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/industry/agriculture/index.htm" target="_blank">http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/industry/agriculture/index.htm</a>. They can also be found in the published report attached, “Health and safety in agriculture in Great Britain, 2014” on pages 6 and 7.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Freud question first answered 04/11/2014 15:42:22 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud attachment 1 file name HSE Agri Stats.pdf title Health and Safety in agriculture in Great Britain
tabling member	4153 label Biography information for Lord Kennedy of Southwark

100645

registered interest
date	23/10/2014
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	Housing Benefit
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government why housing benefit overpayments increased to £1.4 billion in 2013–14 and how they are addressing the issue.
tabling member printed	Baroness Manzoor
uin	HL2376
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2014 answer text <p /> <p>Housing Benefit is a complex benefit administered by 380 Local Authorities. It has a high proportion of in-work claimants and this caseload is more likely to undergo changes in circumstances than out-of-work claimants. If claimants fail to report changes in circumstances correctly and in a timely manner then overpayments will occur.</p><p>The rate of fraud in Housing Benefit has been stable for many years at 1.4% since 2008-09. Official error has also remained relatively stable over the last six years, currently standing at 0.6% which is the same level as in 2008-09. Claimant error has increased from 2.7% in 2008-09 to 3.8% in 2013-14.</p><p>The rise in HB claimant error is primarily earnings related and a consequence of failure to report these changes. DWP is taking action to deal with this issue through better data sharing with Local Authorities, such as the introduction of real time information (RTI) on earnings, so that local authorities are alerted to changes quickly and do not have to rely on the claimant informing them of changes.</p><p>Longer term, Housing Benefit for working age claimants will be replaced by the housing cost element of Universal Credit and will be paid as a single monthly payment with the other elements. This will reduce the opportunity for Fraud and Error and prevent overpayments from occurring.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Freud question first answered 04/11/2014 15:11:36 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
tabling member	4289 label Biography information for Baroness Manzoor

100317

registered interest
date	22/10/2014
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
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 it his policy to link an increase of the earnings threshold for carer's allowance to the rise in the National Minimum Wage.
tabling member constituency	Stockton North
tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
uin	211436
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/10/2014 answer text <p>The earnings threshold in Carer’s Allowance is regularly reviewed. It is designed to enable carers to maintain a link with the labour market and achieve greater financial independence. It is increased periodically, most recently from £100 to £102 on 20 May 2014.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Forest of Dean answering member printed Mr Mark Harper question first answered 29/10/2014 17:42:37 answering member 1520 label Biography information for Mr Mark Harper
tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

100522

registered interest
date	22/10/2014
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: Foreign Nationals
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of paying in-work benefits to non-UK citizens from (a) other EU countries and (b) the rest of the world in each of the last five years.
tabling member constituency	Christchurch
tabling member printed	Mr Christopher Chope
uin	211618
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/11/2014 answer text <p>While the Government checks the immigration status of benefit claimants to ensure the benefit is paid properly and to prevent fraud, traditionally that information has not been collected as part of the payment administrative systems.</p><p> </p><p>However, the Government is looking at ways to reform the current administrative system under Universal Credit so that it will systematically record nationality and immigration status of migrants who make a claim.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has made a radical series of changes over the last year to restrict the access by non-UK citizens from the European Economic Area to UK benefits and tax credits. This is in order to protect the UK’s benefit system and discourage people who have no established connection with the UK from moving here, unless they have a job or a genuine prospect of work, or have savings to support themselves until they do.</p> answering member constituency Wirral West answering member printed Esther McVey question first answered 20/11/2014 17:39:50 answering member 4084 label Biography information for Esther McVey previous answer version 24559 answering member constituency Wirral West answering member printed Esther McVey answering member 4084 label Biography information for Esther McVey
tabling member	242 label Biography information for Sir Christopher Chope

100525

registered interest
date	22/10/2014
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	Employment and Support Allowance: South Yorkshire
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 currently in receipt of employment and support allowance (ESA) in (a) Barnsley East constituency, (b) Barnsley local authority and (c) South Yorkshire have been waiting more than 13 weeks for an ESA reassessment.
tabling member constituency	Barnsley East
tabling member printed	Michael Dugher
uin	211630
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/10/2014 answer text <p /> <p>The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency Forest of Dean answering member printed Mr Mark Harper question first answered 29/10/2014 17:43:59 answering member 1520 label Biography information for Mr Mark Harper
tabling member	3916 label Biography information for Michael Dugher

100528

registered interest
date	22/10/2014
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, whether the approved July 2011 business case for universal credit referred to on page 32 of his Department's publication, Universal Credit at Work, published in October 2014, was approved by (a) the Major Projects Authority and (b) HM Treasury; and whether that business case was a strategic outline business case or a full business case.
tabling member constituency	Leeds West
tabling member printed	Rachel Reeves
uin	211588
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/10/2014 answer text <p>HM Treasury approved the Universal Credit Strategic Outline Business Case in July 2011 and an updated business case in September 2014, as referred to on page 32 of the publication ‘Universal Credit at Work’. HM Treasury are the sole approval authority for Departmental business cases.</p> answering member constituency Forest of Dean answering member printed Mr Mark Harper question first answered 30/10/2014 14:10:31 answering member 1520 label Biography information for Mr Mark Harper previous answer version 24592 answering member constituency Forest of Dean answering member printed Mr Mark Harper answering member 1520 label Biography information for Mr Mark Harper
tabling member	4031 label Biography information for Rachel Reeves