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1135215

	registered interest
	date	27/06/2019
	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	Pension Credit
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much funding the Government allocated to charities that work with older people to support them in promoting the take-up of pension credit in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17 and (c) 2017-18.
	tabling member constituency	Portsmouth South
	tabling member printed	Stephen Morgan
	uin	270400
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/07/2019 answer text <p>The Government is committed to ensuring that older people receive the support they are entitled to. We work with a wide range of stakeholders, including charities to ensure that accurate information about benefits including Pension Credit is available in the places where people are most likely to go to seek information.</p><p> </p><p>The DWP knows that one of the best ways to reach eligible customers is through trusted stakeholder organisations working in the community and that is why we have developed and resourced the Pension Credit toolkit, as an on-line tool for agencies and welfare rights organisations to use in order to encourage Pension Credit take-up. It can be found at:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pension-credit-toolkit" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pension-credit-toolkit</a></p><p> </p><p>The toolkit contains resources for anyone working with pensioners and includes guides to Pension Credit. It also contains publicity material and guidance designed to help older people understand how they could get Pension Credit and help organisations support someone applying for Pension Credit as well as ideas for encouraging take-up. The toolkit also provides links to information about disability and carers benefits.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>Stakeholders and potential customers alike can use the Pension Credit calculator at <a href="https://www.gov.uk/pension-credit-calculator" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/pension-credit-calculator</a> to check if they are likely to be eligible and get an estimate of what they may receive.</p><p> </p><p>Most recently we have provided to relevant stakeholders a fact sheet about Pension Credit and the changes introduced on 15 May for mixed age couples to ensure they are able to communicate the most up-to-date information to potential claimants.</p><p> </p><p>DWP staff in Pension Centres and Jobcentres including visiting officers are able to provide help and advice about entitlement to benefits, as are staff in Local Authorities who administer Housing Benefit.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 03/07/2019 14:07:54 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman previous answer version 126660 answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	4653 label Biography information for Stephen Morgan

1135298

	registered interest
	date	27/06/2019
	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	Pensions
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether it is her Department's policy that pension schemes can already invest in funds with performance fees.
	tabling member constituency	Wallasey
	tabling member printed	Ms Angela Eagle
	uin	270297
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/07/2019 answer text <p>Private Pension schemes which are not used for automatic enrolment are free to invest in funds with performance fees.</p><p> </p><p>To protect savers who are automatically enrolled into a pension scheme and make no choice of investment fund, the Government introduced a charge cap on 6 April 2015. Performance fees have always been subject to the charge cap. However, the way that schemes used for automatic enrolment verify compliance with the charge cap limits the use of most performance fees.</p><p> </p><p>Earlier this year DWP consulted on proposals to extend the ways that pension schemes verify compliance with the charge cap to accommodate performance fees (<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/defined-contribution-pensions-investments-and-consolidation" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/defined-contribution-pensions-investments-and-consolidation</a>), as long as members invested over the whole year were not charged more than 0.75% of their funds under management or an equivalent combination charge.</p><p> </p><p>Our consultation met with broad support. We are considering next steps, but we do not intend to remove performance fees – in any form – from the automatic enrolment charge cap.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 03/07/2019 14:05:10 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman previous answer version 126653 answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	491 label Biography information for Dame Angela Eagle

1134522

	registered interest
	date	25/06/2019
	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, how many civil penalties relating to failure to undertake tasks required for universal credit compliance have been issued in each of the last 12 months.
	tabling member constituency	High Peak
	tabling member printed	Ruth George
	uin	269119
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/07/2019 answer text <p>A £50 Civil Penalty may be imposed by both Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and Local Authorities where an individual incurs a recoverable overpayment as a result of failing to provide accurate information as part of their benefit claim or in connection with an award of benefit, and has not taken reasonable steps to correct the error.</p><p> </p><p>The table below shows the volume of Civil Penalties applied to UC Overpayments in the last 12 months along with the value of recoveries in the last 12 months where a Civil Penalty was imposed on a UC debt. *</p><p> </p><p>Note that there is no correlation between the number applied and the value of recovery for the associated month. Civil Penalties issued in a 12-month period will not necessarily be recovered in that same 12-month period as debts will be repaid over different timeframes, in accordance with a debtor’s particular commitments.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Month</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Number applied to UC overpayment </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Value of </strong> <strong>Recovery </strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Jun-18</strong></p></td><td><p>140</p></td><td><p>£4,300</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Jul-18</strong></p></td><td><p>120</p></td><td><p>£4,700</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Aug-18</strong></p></td><td><p>190</p></td><td><p>£8,100</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Sep-18</strong></p></td><td><p>130</p></td><td><p>£5,800</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Oct-18</strong></p></td><td><p>80</p></td><td><p>£8,600</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Nov-18</strong></p></td><td><p>20</p></td><td><p>£5,700</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Dec-18</strong></p></td><td><p>Fewer than 5</p></td><td><p>£5,400</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Jan-19</strong></p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>£4,800</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Feb-19</strong></p></td><td><p>20</p></td><td><p>£3,700</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Mar-19</strong></p></td><td><p>20</p></td><td><p>£3,800</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Apr-19</strong></p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>£2,300</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>May-19</strong></p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>£1,600</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>When recovering overpayments, DWP ensures that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect claimants from any undue financial hardship. Like the Department, private collection agencies will look to establish sustainable repayment arrangements.</p><p> </p><p><em>*The data provided in this response has been sourced from internal management information and was not intended for public release. It should therefore not be compared to any other, similar data subsequently released by the Department. All figures have been rounded to the nearest 100. </em></p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma grouped question UIN 269120 question first answered 03/07/2019 15:34:36 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma previous answer version 126281 answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	4662 label Biography information for Ruth George

1134524

	registered interest
	date	25/06/2019
	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, how much revenue has been received from civil penalties relating to failure to undertake tasks required for universal credit compliance in each of the last 12 months.
	tabling member constituency	High Peak
	tabling member printed	Ruth George
	uin	269120
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/07/2019 answer text <p>A £50 Civil Penalty may be imposed by both Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and Local Authorities where an individual incurs a recoverable overpayment as a result of failing to provide accurate information as part of their benefit claim or in connection with an award of benefit, and has not taken reasonable steps to correct the error.</p><p> </p><p>The table below shows the volume of Civil Penalties applied to UC Overpayments in the last 12 months along with the value of recoveries in the last 12 months where a Civil Penalty was imposed on a UC debt. *</p><p> </p><p>Note that there is no correlation between the number applied and the value of recovery for the associated month. Civil Penalties issued in a 12-month period will not necessarily be recovered in that same 12-month period as debts will be repaid over different timeframes, in accordance with a debtor’s particular commitments.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Month</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Number applied to UC overpayment </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Value of </strong> <strong>Recovery </strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Jun-18</strong></p></td><td><p>140</p></td><td><p>£4,300</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Jul-18</strong></p></td><td><p>120</p></td><td><p>£4,700</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Aug-18</strong></p></td><td><p>190</p></td><td><p>£8,100</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Sep-18</strong></p></td><td><p>130</p></td><td><p>£5,800</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Oct-18</strong></p></td><td><p>80</p></td><td><p>£8,600</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Nov-18</strong></p></td><td><p>20</p></td><td><p>£5,700</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Dec-18</strong></p></td><td><p>Fewer than 5</p></td><td><p>£5,400</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Jan-19</strong></p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>£4,800</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Feb-19</strong></p></td><td><p>20</p></td><td><p>£3,700</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Mar-19</strong></p></td><td><p>20</p></td><td><p>£3,800</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Apr-19</strong></p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>£2,300</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>May-19</strong></p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>£1,600</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>When recovering overpayments, DWP ensures that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect claimants from any undue financial hardship. Like the Department, private collection agencies will look to establish sustainable repayment arrangements.</p><p> </p><p><em>*The data provided in this response has been sourced from internal management information and was not intended for public release. It should therefore not be compared to any other, similar data subsequently released by the Department. All figures have been rounded to the nearest 100. </em></p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma grouped question UIN 269119 question first answered 03/07/2019 15:34:36 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma previous answer version 126278 answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	4662 label Biography information for Ruth George

1134870

	registered interest
	date	26/06/2019
	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, pursuant to the Answer of 25 June 2019 to Question 267343 on Universal Credit, if her Department will (a) investigate the practice of loansharks applying on behalf of an individual for a universal credit advance payment which is then issued as a loan to the individual and (b) review the application process for universal credit advance payments to tackle such practices.
	tabling member constituency	Leigh
	tabling member printed	Jo Platt
	uin	269775
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/07/2019 answer text <p>The Department is committed to reducing fraud and error and considers information from a range of sources to progress our investigations. We work hard to identify perpetrators of fraud and ensure we take appropriate prosecution action.</p><p> </p><p>We routinely gather intelligence to assist our understanding of anyone seeking to abuse the safety net that Universal Credit offers. Any exploitation of advance payments is not acceptable, and we are seeking to identify the perpetrators and ensure we take appropriate prosecution action. We have a dedicated team of investigators working on this issue and we regularly raise awareness with our front line staff who understand the risks and raise concerns as appropriate through referrals to Fraud colleagues.</p><p> </p><p>We are committed to keeping all Universal Credit services and processes, including advance payments, under review and will make improvements to address any vulnerabilities in the system. The protection of our most vulnerable claimants remains of paramount importance to us.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 03/07/2019 15:23:34 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma previous answer version 126277 answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	4673 label Biography information for Jo Platt

1134471

	registered interest
	date	25/06/2019
	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: Veterans
	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 her Department has made of the effect of universal credit on armed forces veterans.
	tabling member constituency	Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill
	tabling member printed	Hugh Gaffney
	uin	269108
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/07/2019 answer text <p>The Department has put in place special arrangements under the Armed Forces Covenant to support veterans and to take account of their needs and circumstances, such as ensuring War Disablement Pensions and guaranteed income payments made under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme are not taken into account in the assessment of Universal Credit entitlement.</p><p>Universal Credit is a tailored service and it is important that we support those claimants, including veterans, who may find the application process for Universal Credit challenging. The Citizens Advice Help to Claim service offers tailored, practical support to help people to make their Universal Credit claim. This service is available online, over the phone and face-to-face, so that claimants can access support in the way that is most suitable for them.</p><p>Every Jobcentre Plus District has an Armed Forces Champion who ensures that any concerns and issues raised which affect Service Personnel and their families are integrated within the wider work of Jobcentre Plus. These Armed Forces Champions ensure that Work Coaches and other DWP staff can effectively support serving personnel, service leavers, veterans and their families.</p><p /> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 03/07/2019 11:24:44 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4614 label Biography information for Hugh Gaffney

1134485

	registered interest
	date	25/06/2019
	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 she will publish the changes in a claimant's circumstances that would result in natural migration from legacy benefits to universal credit.
	tabling member constituency	Alyn and Deeside
	tabling member printed	Mark Tami
	uin	268991
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/07/2019 answer text <p>Currently people only move to Universal Credit because they have had a significant change in their circumstances which would previously have led them to make a new claim to a legacy benefit.</p><p> </p><p>Claimant circumstances within the legacy system are diverse and interact with a range of benefits in different ways. Eligibility for Universal Credit is dependent on individuals’ circumstances, the specific nature of the change and rules for access to legacy benefits.</p><p>Therefore, it is not possible to give a definitive list as each will depend on the individual circumstances of the claimants involved and the specific nature of the change.</p><p>However, some specific examples of changes which would cause a claimant to move on to Universal Credit are:</p><ul><li>A single Jobseeker’s Allowance claimant starts working for more than 16 hours per week;</li><li>A Housing Benefit claimant moves to new rented accommodation in a different local authority area;</li><li>An Income Support claimant wishes to claim support for their first child;</li><li>A Working Tax Credits claimant’s only employment ends and they wish to claim support because they have insufficient income (whether during or at the end of the WTC run-on period);</li><li>The child (or youngest child) of an Income Support claimant reaches the age of five (and the claimant does not belong to any other prescribed category for continuing to receive Income Support);</li><li>A Child Tax Credit claimant moves to new accommodation, and they need support with rent costs for the first time.</li></ul><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 03/07/2019 11:45:03 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	1383 label Biography information for Mark Tami

1134486

	registered interest
	date	25/06/2019
	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: Alyn and Deeside
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many unsuccessful claims for universal credit there were in Alyn and Deeside constituency in each of the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Alyn and Deeside
	tabling member printed	Mark Tami
	uin	268992
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/07/2019 answer text <p>The requested information is not available.</p><p>The Department supports claimants to make a successful claim to Universal Credit where they wish to do so. For example, those claimants who are unable to access or use our digital services, assistance to make and maintain their claim is available via the Freephone Universal Credit helpline. Face-to-face support is also available in Jobcentres. In exceptional circumstances, a home visit can be arranged to support a claimant in making and maintaining their claim.</p><p>From 1 April 2019 Citizens Advice (England and Wales) and Citizens Advice Scotland are delivering the new ‘Help to Claim’ support to claimants making a new Universal Credit (UC) claim or moving from a legacy benefit to UC because of a change of circumstances. The Citizens Advice Help to Claim offers tailored, practical support to help people make a UC claim up to receiving their first full correct payment on time. It is available online, through web-chat, through a Freephone number and face to face through local Citizens Advice services.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 03/07/2019 11:52:06 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	1383 label Biography information for Mark Tami

1134487

	registered interest
	date	25/06/2019
	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 proportion of unsuccessful claims for universal credit were as a result of (a) a claimant's lack of digital skills and (b) inadequate support for that claimant.
	tabling member constituency	Alyn and Deeside
	tabling member printed	Mark Tami
	uin	268993
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/07/2019 answer text <p>Data on the proportion of unsuccessful claims to Universal Credit which were a result of (a) a claimant's lack of digital skills and (b) inadequate support for that claimant is not gathered by the Department.</p><p> </p><p>The Universal Credit Full Service Claimant Survey found that 98 per cent of claimants claimed online. This can be accessed at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-full-service-claimant-survey" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-full-service-claimant-survey</a></p><p> </p><p>For those claimants who are unable to access or use our digital services, there is assistance available to make and maintain their claim using the Freephone Universal Credit helpline. Face-to-face support is also available in all Jobcentres. In exceptional circumstances, a home visit can be arranged to support a claimant in making and maintaining their claim.</p><p> </p><p>Running alongside the national Jobcentre offer from 1 April 2019 is the Citizens Advice Help to Claim which support claimants in making a new Universal Credit claim or moving from a legacy benefit to Universal Credit because of a change of circumstances. Help to Claim offers tailored, practical support to help people make their claim up to receiving their first full correct payment on time. It is widely available online, through a Freephone number and face to face through local Citizens Advice services.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 03/07/2019 11:59:14 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	1383 label Biography information for Mark Tami

1134488

	registered interest
	date	25/06/2019
	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, how many and what proportion of natural migrations to universal credit from legacy benefits were as a result of (a) a trigger for natural migration, (b) claimant error, (c) official error, (d) incorrect advice from staff or contractors and (e) inadequate advice from third party advisers.
	tabling member constituency	Alyn and Deeside
	tabling member printed	Mark Tami
	uin	268994
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/07/2019 answer text <p>The requested information is not available.</p><p> </p><p>Currently people only move to Universal Credit (UC) because they have had a significant change in their circumstances which would previously have led them to make a new claim to a legacy benefit. It has always been the case that in such circumstances, new claims would be assessed based upon their new circumstances and under the rules of the new benefit.</p><p> </p><p>Claimant circumstances within the legacy system are diverse and interact with a range of benefits in different ways. Eligibility for UC is dependent on individuals’ circumstances, the specific nature of the change and rules for access to legacy benefits.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 03/07/2019 12:05:46 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	1383 label Biography information for Mark Tami