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1138284

	registered interest
	date	10/07/2019
	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: Fraud
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to prevent fraudulent applications for Universal Credit, in particular for loans, other than issuing warnings about keeping personal details secret.
	tabling member printed	Lord Hylton
	uin	HL17081
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/09/2019 answer text <p>The Department takes the prevention of fraud extremely seriously. Part of its strategy includes ensuring Universal Credit transactions are secure, including tackling loopholes fraudsters may seek to exploit, which sadly can target some of our most vulnerable claimants.</p><p> </p><p>It is, however, important to recognise that the vast majority of advances on Universal Credit are legitimate and ensure those in need of financial support get the help they need during their transition to Universal Credit.</p><p> </p><p>All claims where fraud may have been committed are investigated. We are committed to the use of penalties such as prosecutions and tough financial penalties, where appropriate, to discourage this fraudulent behaviour. The Department considers all cases on their own merits and decisions are made on the strength of the evidence provided.</p><p> </p><p>Additionally, we have a dedicated team of investigators to address this issue, and are working with Social Media sites to shut down posts which promote this fraud. The Department also operates a policy of explicit consent to help reduce the risk of fraud by ensuring that our claimants’ data is kept safe from unscrupulous organisations and individuals.</p><p> </p><p>The Department is also raising awareness of this issue through a campaign being run on social media to remind people of the importance of safeguarding their identity. We have also been working to further improve knowledge and awareness of advances fraud amongst Jobcentre and Service Centre staff and guidance has been issued to ensure that staff are aware how to refer cases of suspected fraud to the Department’s Counter-fraud team.</p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott grouped question UIN HL17082 question first answered 05/09/2019 11:37:06 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott
	tabling member	2018 label Biography information for Lord Hylton

1138285

	registered interest
	date	10/07/2019
	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: Fraud
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government to what extent bona fide applicants for Universal Credit suffer penalties, if fraudulent applications are made in respect of them.
	tabling member printed	Lord Hylton
	uin	HL17082
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/09/2019 answer text <p>The Department takes the prevention of fraud extremely seriously. Part of its strategy includes ensuring Universal Credit transactions are secure, including tackling loopholes fraudsters may seek to exploit, which sadly can target some of our most vulnerable claimants.</p><p> </p><p>It is, however, important to recognise that the vast majority of advances on Universal Credit are legitimate and ensure those in need of financial support get the help they need during their transition to Universal Credit.</p><p> </p><p>All claims where fraud may have been committed are investigated. We are committed to the use of penalties such as prosecutions and tough financial penalties, where appropriate, to discourage this fraudulent behaviour. The Department considers all cases on their own merits and decisions are made on the strength of the evidence provided.</p><p> </p><p>Additionally, we have a dedicated team of investigators to address this issue, and are working with Social Media sites to shut down posts which promote this fraud. The Department also operates a policy of explicit consent to help reduce the risk of fraud by ensuring that our claimants’ data is kept safe from unscrupulous organisations and individuals.</p><p> </p><p>The Department is also raising awareness of this issue through a campaign being run on social media to remind people of the importance of safeguarding their identity. We have also been working to further improve knowledge and awareness of advances fraud amongst Jobcentre and Service Centre staff and guidance has been issued to ensure that staff are aware how to refer cases of suspected fraud to the Department’s Counter-fraud team.</p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott grouped question UIN HL17081 question first answered 05/09/2019 11:37:06 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott
	tabling member	2018 label Biography information for Lord Hylton

1140016

	registered interest
	date	17/07/2019
	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	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that Universal Credit payments begin within a week of a person registering for that benefit.
	tabling member printed	Lord Hylton
	uin	HL17251
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/09/2019 answer text <p>Universal Credit payments are available on the first day of a claim in the form of an advance payment of benefit. Advances of up to 100 per cent of a claimant’s expected Universal Credit award are available from day one of their claim, if required. Advances are paid back over a maximum of 12 months and in the Autumn Budget 2018, we announced that from October 2021, the payback period for these advances will be extended further, to 16 months.</p><p> </p><p>This is just one of a number of measures the Department has put in place to support claimants during their first assessment period, such as removing waiting days and paying those claimants moving from Housing Benefit onto Universal Credit a two week ‘transitional housing payment’. We are also introducing a two-week run on for eligible claimants of Income Support, Jobseeker’s Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance from July 2020.</p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott question first answered 02/09/2019 15:49:10 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott
	tabling member	2018 label Biography information for Lord Hylton

1140484

	registered interest
	date	18/07/2019
	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	Housing Benefit: Private Rented Housing
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how much has been paid in housing benefit to those in private rented accommodation in each year since 2004.
	tabling member printed	Baroness McDonagh
	uin	HL17317
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/08/2019 answer text <p>The information you have requested can be found in the following table:</p><p><strong> </strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="5"><p><strong>Housing Benefit Expenditure </strong></p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="5"><p>Private Rented Sector tenants (£ million, nominal terms)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2004/05</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2005/06</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2006/07</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2007/08</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2008/09</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>3,354</p></td><td><p>3,716</p></td><td><p>4,276</p></td><td><p>4,698</p></td><td><p>5,624</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2009/10</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2010/11</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2011/12</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2012/13</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2013/14</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>7,572</p></td><td><p>8,672</p></td><td><p>9,216</p></td><td><p>9,272</p></td><td><p>9,275</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2014/15</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2015/16</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2016/17</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2017/18</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>9,098</p></td><td><p>8,783</p></td><td><p>8,291</p></td><td><p>7,709</p></td></tr></tbody></table> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott question first answered 05/08/2019 15:06:57 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott
	tabling member	3701 label Biography information for Baroness McDonagh

1140485

	registered interest
	date	18/07/2019
	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	Social Security Benefits: Medical Examinations
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what controls and penalties are in place to ensure that providers of medical assessors for social security benefits maintain high standards of accuracy and integrity; and on how many occasions any such controls or penalties have been used since June 2018.
	tabling member printed	The Countess of Mar
	uin	HL17318
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/08/2019 answer text <p>The department is committed to ensuring claimants receive high quality assessments. We set our assessment providers challenging targets and monitor performance closely against a range of measures including through independent audit to improve accuracy and decision making. Contractual remedies are in place if assessment providers fail to deliver against the service standards.</p><p>Contractual remedies for underperformance against a range of service levels are recovered through service credit mechanisms and through deductions of payments (a ‘No Pay’ mechanism). The extent of underperformance and application of related mechanisms varies significantly and the regularity of such remedies should not be seen as a measure of overall performance.</p><p>In relation to the HDAS contract covering Work Capability Assessments, service credits (the contractual remedy for SC1 – Quality) have been applied in 12 out of the 14 months from June 2018 to July 2019 (the date of the most recent statistical information available).</p><p>In relation to the Personal Independence Payment contracts, “No Pay” (the contractual remedy for SC1 – Quality) has been applied in one or more Lots in each month from June 18 to June 19 (the date of the most recent statistical information available).</p><p>Below is the breakdown of the totals by Lot:</p><p>Lot 1 – No pay was applied to SC1 in 8 of those months</p><p>Lot 2 – No pay was applied to SC1 in 5 of those months</p><p>Lot 3 – No pay was applied to SC1 in 11 of those months.</p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott question first answered 12/08/2019 15:58:29 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott
	tabling member	1861 label Biography information for The Countess of Mar

1141521

	registered interest
	date	23/07/2019
	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	Formaldehyde: Industrial Health and Safety
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government when the Health and Safety Executive will revisit its current work place exposure limits for formaldehyde.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Crawley
	uin	HL17389
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/08/2019 answer text <p>The EU has recently reviewed the occupational exposure limit value for formaldehyde, and in the Phase 3 amendment to the Carcinogens and Mutagens Directive 2004/37/EC, introduced a new binding occupational exposure limit value (BOELV) of 0.3ppm, which came into force on 11 July 2019. The current GB work place exposure limit (WEL) is 2ppm.</p><p> </p><p>Member States have two years to transpose the new BOELV (i.e. by 11 July 2021). Because of differences in cultural practices; cost of embalming and greater capacity in the facilities available; and the limited use of embalming in other Members States, the UK negotiated an additional 3-year transitional period (until July 2024) for the funeral and embalming sector, during which time an interim BOELV of 0.5ppm will apply. This is to allow the UK funeral and embalming sector to comply with the Directive without incurring disproportionate costs.</p><p> </p><p>The Health and Safety Executive is currently working to implement the revised exposure limits for formaldehyde.</p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott grouped question UIN HL17390 question first answered 05/08/2019 15:23:53 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott
	tabling member	3386 label Biography information for Baroness Crawley

1141522

	registered interest
	date	23/07/2019
	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	Formaldehyde: Industrial Health and Safety
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of occupational exposure limits and maximum exposure limits for formaldehyde in the UK being higher than those of France, Germany and several other European member states.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Crawley
	uin	HL17390
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/08/2019 answer text <p>The EU has recently reviewed the occupational exposure limit value for formaldehyde, and in the Phase 3 amendment to the Carcinogens and Mutagens Directive 2004/37/EC, introduced a new binding occupational exposure limit value (BOELV) of 0.3ppm, which came into force on 11 July 2019. The current GB work place exposure limit (WEL) is 2ppm.</p><p> </p><p>Member States have two years to transpose the new BOELV (i.e. by 11 July 2021). Because of differences in cultural practices; cost of embalming and greater capacity in the facilities available; and the limited use of embalming in other Members States, the UK negotiated an additional 3-year transitional period (until July 2024) for the funeral and embalming sector, during which time an interim BOELV of 0.5ppm will apply. This is to allow the UK funeral and embalming sector to comply with the Directive without incurring disproportionate costs.</p><p> </p><p>The Health and Safety Executive is currently working to implement the revised exposure limits for formaldehyde.</p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott grouped question UIN HL17389 question first answered 05/08/2019 15:23:53 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott
	tabling member	3386 label Biography information for Baroness Crawley

1141922

	registered interest
	date	24/07/2019
	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	Poverty
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the National School Breakfast Programme feeding an estimated 280,000 children, (2) the number of pupils receiving Free School Meals, (3) the incidence of food banks, food pantries and similar help in kind, throughout England and Wales; and what consideration they are giving, as a result of any such assessment, to reviewing their policies to address destitution, food and fuel poverty and ensure sufficient services to prevent poverty.
	tabling member printed	Lord Hylton
	uin	HL17466
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/08/2019 answer text <p>The Government is committed to tackling poverty in all its forms by building a strong economy and a benefit system that supports employment and higher pay. A child growing up in a home where all adults are working is around 5 times less likely to be in poverty than a child in a household where nobody works. Since 2010, there are around 1 million fewer workless households and 667,000 fewer children in such households.</p><p>To help make sure every child gets the best start in life, the Department for Education is investing up to £26 million in a programme to establish or improve breakfast clubs in over 1,700 schools, targeting most disadvantaged areas. The programme’s effectiveness will be reviewed once it concludes next year. Additionally, over 1.2 million of the most disadvantaged children receive a free school meal.</p><p>The Government has not made an assessment of the incidence of food banks or similar charity-based provision in England and Wales. However, new questions have been added to the Family Resources Survey to develop a food insecurity measure from 2021 to help better understand the drivers of food insecurity and identify which groups are most at risk.</p><p>This Government spend more on family benefits than any other country in the G7, at 3.5% of GDP (OECD, 2015 data), demonstrating a commitment to providing a strong safety net for those that need it.</p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott question first answered 05/08/2019 15:49:45 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott
	tabling member	2018 label Biography information for Lord Hylton

1141929

	registered interest
	date	24/07/2019
	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: Pilot Schemes
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the statement by Baroness Buscombe on 23 July (HL Deb, cols 680–691), what plans they have to ensure that Parliament will debate the report of the evaluation of the pilot to move existing welfare claimants to Universal Credit before regulations are laid concerning the full roll-out of managed migration; and how long that pilot is scheduled to last.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Lister of Burtersett
	uin	HL17473
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/09/2019 answer text <p>We have already said that following the pilot we will report back to Parliament on progress and findings, and at that point will determine the process for bringing forward further legislation to move claimants beyond the pilot phase.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The Universal Credit (Managed Migration Pilot and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2019 introduced in July 2019 allow the Department to pilot moving no more than 10,000 claimants across to Universal Credit from legacy benefits and is expected to last until November 2020.</p><p>Draft regulations were sent for scrutiny to the independent Social Security Advisory Committee (SSAC) in 2018. The Committee submitted them for a formal public consultation, receiving 455 responses - the Government accepted, in whole or in part, all but one of the Committee’s recommendations.</p><p>The revised regulations mean claimants, who are potentially eligible for Severe Disability Premium (SDP) transitional payments, can now start receiving payment. As the recently published statistics show we have paid over 6,300 claims worth over £16 million<strong>. </strong>Eligible claimants may receive up to an additional £405 per month on top of their existing Universal Credit award, depending on their specific circumstances. The Department estimates that by 2024-25, approximately 45,000 of the most vulnerable claimants will benefit from this package of support for those former SDP recipients, worth an estimated £600 million over the next six years.</p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott question first answered 02/09/2019 15:49:50 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott
	tabling member	4234 label Biography information for Baroness Lister of Burtersett

1144092

	registered interest
	date	03/09/2019
	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	Poverty
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, following the report by the Social Metrics Commission Measuring Poverty 2019, published in July, and the appointment of the new Prime Minister on 24 July, what plans they have to revise their strategy for tackling poverty.
	tabling member printed	Lord Bird
	uin	HL17580
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p><del class="ministerial">It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.</del><ins class="ministerial">The Government is committed to delivering a sustainable, long-term solution to poverty through reforming the welfare system so that it works with the tax system and the Labour market to support employment and higher pay. Promoting full-time work through work incentives are a key feature of this approach, reinforced by the National Living Wage and the rising Personal Tax Allowance, which work together to promote independence from benefits.</ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial">Universal Credit, which is now reaching over 2 million households, has already shown that it is more effective in getting people into work than the legacy benefits it replaces. Nine months into a UC claim, 40% of claimants are working for an employer in a paid role, compared with only 23% at the start of their claim. </ins><br /> <br /><ins class="ministerial"> The number of people in employment has increased by over 3.7 million since 2010. Three-quarters of the growth in employment has been in full-time work which substantially reduces the chances of being in poverty.</ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial">The Government is working with the Social Metrics Commission, and other experts in the field, to develop new experimental statistics which will help us to find new and better ways to analyse poverty in this country. These will be published in 2020 and, in the long-run, could help us target support more effectively.</ins></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott question first answered 09/09/2019 15:23:29 question first ministerially corrected 30/09/2019 14:54:43 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott previous answer version 134826 answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott
	tabling member	4564 label Biography information for Lord Bird