Show Search Form

Search Results

registered interest	true false
date	exactly: or between: and
answering body
answering dept id
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
hansard heading
house id
legislature	pref label
question text
tabling member constituency
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member constituency answering member printed question first answered answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

1713866

	registered interest
	date	25/04/2024
	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: Carers
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department takes to ensure that single household payments of Universal Credit are paid into the main caregiver’s account.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow East
	tabling member printed	David Linden
	uin	23785
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/05/2024 answer text <p>A prompt on the online Universal Credit application form, suggests that the customer uses the bank, building society or credit union account details for the carer who spends the most time looking after the children.</p> answering member constituency Bury St Edmunds answering member printed Jo Churchill question first answered 02/05/2024 16:52:05 answering member 4380 label Biography information for Jo Churchill
	tabling member	4640 label Biography information for David Linden

1713582

	registered interest
	date	24/04/2024
	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	Employment: Poverty
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to reduce levels of in-work poverty in (a) Lanark and Hamilton East constituency, (b) Scotland and (c) the UK.
	tabling member constituency	Lanark and Hamilton East
	tabling member printed	Angela Crawley
	uin	23514
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/05/2024 answer text <p>The latest available statistics show that working age adults living in workless households were around 7 times more likely to be in absolute poverty after housing costs than working age adults in households where all adults work.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is committed to supporting individuals who are stuck in low paid work to progress, helping them increase their earnings. We have introduced a voluntary In-Work progression offer for low-paid Universal Credit customers which focuses on removing barriers to progression, such as considering skills gaps and overcoming practical barriers such as childcare costs.</p><p> </p><p>To deliver effective progression support to customers, Jobcentres are being supported by a network of 37 District Progression Leads across Great Britain who work with key partners to develop local opportunities.</p><p> </p><p>To help parents on Universal Credit who are moving into work or increasing their hours, the Government is providing additional support with upfront childcare costs and, from April 2024, we will increase the childcare costs that parents on Universal Credit can claim back to over £1,000 a month for one child and to over £1,700 a month for two or more children.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is also increasing the number of people on Universal Credit who receive intensive support to help them earn more by raising the Administrative Earnings Threshold (AET). At the Spring Budget we announced that the AET would increase to the equivalent of 18 hours at the National Living Wage from 13 May.</p><p> </p><p>From April 2024, the Government increased the National Living Wage for workers aged 21 years and over by 9.8% to £11.44 representing an increase of over £1,800 to the gross annual earnings of a full-time worker on the National Living Wage.</p> answering member constituency Bury St Edmunds answering member printed Jo Churchill question first answered 02/05/2024 16:50:12 answering member 4380 label Biography information for Jo Churchill
	tabling member	4469 label Biography information for Angela Crawley

1713410

	registered interest
	date	24/04/2024
	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: Disability
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he is taking steps to ensure that single claimants with long-term disabilities receive the same benefits under Universal Credit as under the legacy system.
	tabling member constituency	Strangford
	tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
	uin	23483
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/05/2024 answer text <p>Universal Credit provides more generous support for disabled people than it does for people in similar circumstances who are not disabled.</p><p> </p><p>Based on the outcome of a work capability assessment, it may be decided that a claimant has limited capability for work and work-related activity, and may be awarded an additional amount of benefit, currently £416.19 per calendar month from (2024/25 rates).</p><p> </p><p>Additionally, where it is decided that claimants have limited capability for work or limited capability for work and work-related activity, they are eligible for a work allowance.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has given a commitment that no eligible claimants who are invited to move to Universal Credit (UC), from legacy benefits, by the Department for Work and Pensions, and whose circumstances remain the same, will have a lower entitlement to UC than they had entitlement to their legacy benefits at the point of moving. Where necessary, eligible claimants will be awarded Transitional Protection (TP) in the form of a Transitional Element (TE) to ensure this commitment is met.</p><p> </p><p>Severe disability premium (SDP) transitional payments are available to claimants who became entitled to Universal Credit (UC) within a month of being entitled to severe disability premium (SDP) within a legacy benefit. In a case where the legacy benefit had terminated within that month the claimant must have continued to satisfy the eligibility conditions for SDP up to and including the first day of their UC award. The relevant legacy benefits are:</p><p> </p><ul><li>Income Support.</li><li>Jobseeker’s Allowance (income based).</li><li>Employment and Support Allowance (income related); or</li><li>Housing Benefit</li></ul><p> </p><p>New regulations came into force on 14<sup>th</sup> February 2024 and provide newly eligible claimants additional transitional protection where they are entitled to the transitional SDP element.</p><p>The claimants must also have been previously entitled to other disability premia in the month preceding their claim to UC, and continue to satisfy the eligibility conditions up to and including the first day of their UC award, to one or more of the following:</p><ul><li>Enhanced disability premium</li><li>Disability premium</li><li>disabled child premium or the disabled child element (in child tax credits) -and are now receiving the lower rate disabled child addition in Universal Credit.</li></ul> answering member constituency Bury St Edmunds answering member printed Jo Churchill question first answered 02/05/2024 16:48:38 answering member 4380 label Biography information for Jo Churchill
	tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1713531

	registered interest
	date	24/04/2024
	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 alerts from the Verified Earnings and Pensions service informing his Department of carers’ earnings information were (a) passed and (b) not passed on to carers in each of the last five years; and whether he has made an assessment of the effectiveness of VEPs in preventing large value overpayments for Carer's Allowance.
	tabling member constituency	Brighton, Pavilion
	tabling member printed	Caroline Lucas
	uin	23456
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/05/2024 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 CA cases identified through the VEP 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 reviewed by CA</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><p>Overpayments are recoverable from the Carer where there is evidence that the Carer failed to timeously inform the Department of changes in circumstances. The annual benefit uprating letter issued highlights the need to report changes such and changes in earnings. The Department also uses data from HMRC to indicate where the customer may have had a change in income and failed to inform us.</p><p> </p><p>The Department also takes steps to avoid large scale overpayments that are not recoverable. This includes managing workloads at appropriate levels so changes in circumstance are processed timeously.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Caveats</strong></p><ul><li>Numbers are rounded to the nearest 1,000.</li><li>The above 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.</li><li>Data for October, November, and December 2023 is not held.</li></ul> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 02/05/2024 16:25:10 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
	tabling member	3930 label Biography information for Caroline Lucas

1714502

	registered interest
	date	29/04/2024
	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
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much the full basic State Pension increased in cash terms between (a) 1997 and 2010 and (b) 2010 and 2024.
	tabling member constituency	Gloucester
	tabling member printed	Richard Graham
	uin	24019
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/05/2024 answer text <p>Between April 1997 and April 2010, the basic State Pension increased from £62.45 per week to £97.65 per week– representing an increase of £35.20 or 56 per cent in cash terms. The full yearly amount of the basic State Pension increased by £1,837.</p><p> </p><p>Between April 2010 and April 2024 the basic State Pension increased from £97.65 per week to £169.50 – representing an increase of £71.85 per week or 74 per cent in cash terms. The full yearly amount of the basic State Pension increased by £3,749.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 02/05/2024 16:18:54 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
	tabling member	3990 label Biography information for Richard Graham

1713694

	registered interest
	date	24/04/2024
	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	Support for Mortgage Interest
	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 reverting Support for Mortgage Interest from an interest-bearing loan to (a) an interest free loan and (b) a grant.
	tabling member constituency	Cynon Valley
	tabling member printed	Beth Winter
	uin	23657
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/05/2024 answer text <p>Support in the form of loans meets the policy objective of averting the threat of repossession but in a way that provides a fairer balance between the needs of the individual and the burden on taxpayers, many of whom are unable to afford a mortgage of their own. Interest is charged at the gilt rate as this represents the cost to Government of providing the loans.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 02/05/2024 16:17:22 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	4809 label Biography information for Beth Winter

1713464

	registered interest
	date	24/04/2024
	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
	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 his Department has made of the potential merits of extending the eligibility criteria for Carers Allowance for carers with overpayments of National Insurance contributions.
	tabling member constituency	Midlothian
	tabling member printed	Owen Thompson
	uin	23529
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/05/2024 answer text <p>Entitlement to Carer’s Allowance is not based on having paid, or been credited with, National Insurance contributions, or on passing a means test. Rather, the basic entitlement conditions largely relate to the care being provided; whether the carer is in gainful employment or studying full-time; and residency tests.</p><p> </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 02/05/2024 16:16:53 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	4482 label Biography information for Owen Thompson

1713693

	registered interest
	date	24/04/2024
	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	Support for Mortgage Interest
	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 increasing the maximum amount of any mortgage on which Support for Mortgage Interest can be claimed.
	tabling member constituency	Cynon Valley
	tabling member printed	Beth Winter
	uin	23656
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/05/2024 answer text <p>There are no current plans to increase the maximum amount of mortgage on which SMI can be claimed.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 02/05/2024 16:16:23 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	4809 label Biography information for Beth Winter

1713461

	registered interest
	date	24/04/2024
	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
	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 his Department has of the potential merits of extending the eligibility criteria for Carers Allowance for carers with overlapping benefits.
	tabling member constituency	Midlothian
	tabling member printed	Owen Thompson
	uin	23528
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/05/2024 answer text <p>I refer the Hon. Member to the answer to question UIN <a href="https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2024-04-12/21151" target="_blank">21151</a> given on 22 April 2024.</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 02/05/2024 16:15:01 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	4482 label Biography information for Owen Thompson

1713465

	registered interest
	date	24/04/2024
	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
	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 merits of increasing the weekly earning limits for Carer’s Allowance.
	tabling member constituency	Midlothian
	tabling member printed	Owen Thompson
	uin	23530
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/05/2024 answer text <p>I refer the Hon. Member to the answer to question UIN <a href="https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2024-04-12/21148" target="_blank">21148</a> given on 22 April 2024.</p><p> </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 02/05/2024 16:13:25 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	4482 label Biography information for Owen Thompson