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1505467

	registered interest
	date	06/09/2022
	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	Pensioners: Poverty
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the number of pensioners living in poverty in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England; what recent assessment she has made of the effect of the rising cost of living on the levels of pensioner poverty in those areas; and what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the welfare system in helping to alleviate levels of pensioner poverty in those areas.
	tabling member constituency	Coventry North East
	tabling member printed	Colleen Fletcher
	uin	48379
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/09/2022 answer text <p>National Statistics on the number of pensioners in low income in West Midlands and England are published annually in the “Households Below Average Income” publication. Statistics, covering up until 2019/20, can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/households-below-average-income-for-financial-years-ending-1995-to-2020" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/households-below-average-income-for-financial-years-ending-1995-to-2020</a>. Data for Coventry and the Coventry North East constituency is unavailable due to insufficient sample size.</p><p> </p><p>Given the impact of the pandemic on the size and quality of sample data additional breakdowns for regions in 2020/21 were not reliable enough to be published as part of the annual statistics.</p><p> </p><p>No such assessments have been made.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is committed to action that helps to alleviate levels of pensioner poverty.</p><p> </p><p>In 2020/21 there were 400,000 fewer pensioners in absolute poverty in the UK (both before and after housing costs) than in 2009/10.</p><p> </p><p>We are forecast to spend over £134 billion on benefits for pensioners in 2022/23. This amounts to 5.4% of GDP. This includes spending on the State Pension which is forecast to be over £110bn in 2022/23.</p><p> </p><p>The government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living and has taken further decisive action to support people with their energy bills. The new “Energy Price Guarantee” will mean a typical UK household will now pay up to an average £2,500 a year on their energy bill for the next two years from 1 October, saving the average household in Great Britain at least £1,000 from October. This is in addition to the over £37bn of cost of living support announced earlier this year which includes the £400 non-repayable discount to eligible households provided through the Energy Bills Support Scheme.</p><p> </p><p>This includes a £650 cost of living payment (paid in 2 lump sums of £326 and £324) which has been designed to target support at more than 8 million low-income households on means-tested benefits. The payment of £326 was paid between the 14 July and the 31 July for most people and the payment of £324 will be made in the Autumn. In addition, 6 million eligible disabled people will receive a one-off disability Cost of Living Payment of £150 from 20 September and pensioner households will receive a one-off payment of £300 through and as an addition to the Winter Fuel Payment from November.</p><p> </p><p>The government is providing an additional £500 million to help households with the cost of household essentials, on top of what we have already provided since October 2021, bringing total funding for this support to £1.5 billion. In England this will take the form of an extension to the Household Support Fund backed by £421m. Devolved administrations will receive £79 million through the Barnett formula.</p><p> </p><p>The current Household Support Fund runs from 1 April to 30 September, with Coventry City Council allocated £3,224,222.30 for this period. During this period, a total of £49,520,715.25 has been allocated to West Midlands Local Authorities, which takes their total funding under both Household Support Funds to £99,041,430.50. Local Authorities have the discretion to design their own funds, within the parameters of the guidance and the grant determination.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart question first answered 21/09/2022 16:49:48 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart
	tabling member	4378 label Biography information for Colleen Fletcher

1001922

	registered interest
	date	05/11/2018
	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 steps the Government is taking to ensure that a claimant will not receive less money in benefits as a result of moving to universal credit under the managed migration process.
	tabling member constituency	Torfaen
	tabling member printed	Nick Thomas-Symonds
	uin	188120
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/11/2018 answer text <p>Welfare claimants whose circumstances remain the same will not see their benefit entitlement reduced as a direct result of being moved on to Universal Credit through managed migration, as they will receive transitional protection. This will ensure that claimants who are managed migrated will have total entitlement to Universal Credit that is at least as great had been their total entitlement to existing benefits at the point they are migrated, so safeguarding their benefit entitlement until their circumstances change.</p><p> </p><p>Claimants whose entitlement is less in Universal Credit than their legacy entitlement will receive transitional protection to ensure their benefit allowance remains the same at the point of transition. The other claimants who are migrated onto Universal Credit as part of managed migration will receive the same or an increased entitlement as they receive on legacy benefits.</p><p> </p><p>Additionally, we have announced that Tax Credits claimants with capital in excess of the £16,000 capital threshold will now receive a 12-month grace period during which they can receive transitional protection if eligible.</p><p> </p><p>We have also announced that, from 16 January 2019, we will prevent those claimants who are, or have been within the past month entitled to an award of an existing benefit that includes a Severe Disability Premium (SDP), from naturally migrating to Universal Credit following a change of circumstances. These claimants will continue to receive the relevant legacy benefit(s) appropriate to their change of circumstance and will only move to Universal Credit via managed migration (and therefore be eligible to transitional protection), safeguarding their existing benefit entitlement.</p><p> </p><p>We will also provide both an on-going monthly payment to eligible claimants who have already lost the SDP as a consequence of moving to Universal Credit and an additional monthly payment to cover the period since they moved. Eligibility for these payments will depend on a number of criteria being satisfied, which include whether the basic qualifying conditions for SDP continue to be met.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 16/11/2018 14:33:47 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	4479 label Biography information for Nick Thomas-Symonds

1002002

	registered interest
	date	05/11/2018
	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: Separation
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether there is provision in place to equalise universal credit entitlement when a couple separates.
	tabling member constituency	Hemsworth
	tabling member printed	Jon Trickett
	uin	188012
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/11/2018 answer text <p>When a couple separates and still require the support of Universal Credit they will claim separately and as such the two claimants will be treated as entirely separate claims and will have their entitlements and therefore award amounts treated accordingly.</p><p> </p><p>If an advance has been awarded to a couple and the couple subsequently separate, they will be equally liable to repay the advance.</p><p> </p><p>When a couple separates, and an advance has not been recovered from the associated benefit claim because the claim ends or there was no entitlement to that benefit, the outstanding balance is treated as if it were an overpayment. This would then be recoverable (as per Section 71 of the Social Security Administration Act 1992) at the standard overpayment rate.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>After separation, if a couple have an overpayment for which they are both equally liable, the debt is apportioned equally. Once this apportionment has been done we will not reverse the split liability decision. Any debt for which only one member of a couple is liable will follow that person on separation.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma grouped question UIN 188013 188014 question first answered 16/11/2018 14:20:06 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	410 label Biography information for Jon Trickett

1002003

	registered interest
	date	05/11/2018
	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: Separation
	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 takes to ensure that there is a fair division when recovering advance payments when a couple separate.
	tabling member constituency	Hemsworth
	tabling member printed	Jon Trickett
	uin	188013
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/11/2018 answer text <p>When a couple separates and still require the support of Universal Credit they will claim separately and as such the two claimants will be treated as entirely separate claims and will have their entitlements and therefore award amounts treated accordingly.</p><p> </p><p>If an advance has been awarded to a couple and the couple subsequently separate, they will be equally liable to repay the advance.</p><p> </p><p>When a couple separates, and an advance has not been recovered from the associated benefit claim because the claim ends or there was no entitlement to that benefit, the outstanding balance is treated as if it were an overpayment. This would then be recoverable (as per Section 71 of the Social Security Administration Act 1992) at the standard overpayment rate.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>After separation, if a couple have an overpayment for which they are both equally liable, the debt is apportioned equally. Once this apportionment has been done we will not reverse the split liability decision. Any debt for which only one member of a couple is liable will follow that person on separation.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma grouped question UIN 188012 188014 question first answered 16/11/2018 14:20:06 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	410 label Biography information for Jon Trickett

1002004

	registered interest
	date	05/11/2018
	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: Separation
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department take steps to ensures that the remaining claimant of universal credit is not held fully responsible for unpaid advance payments when a couple separates.
	tabling member constituency	Hemsworth
	tabling member printed	Jon Trickett
	uin	188014
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/11/2018 answer text <p>When a couple separates and still require the support of Universal Credit they will claim separately and as such the two claimants will be treated as entirely separate claims and will have their entitlements and therefore award amounts treated accordingly.</p><p> </p><p>If an advance has been awarded to a couple and the couple subsequently separate, they will be equally liable to repay the advance.</p><p> </p><p>When a couple separates, and an advance has not been recovered from the associated benefit claim because the claim ends or there was no entitlement to that benefit, the outstanding balance is treated as if it were an overpayment. This would then be recoverable (as per Section 71 of the Social Security Administration Act 1992) at the standard overpayment rate.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>After separation, if a couple have an overpayment for which they are both equally liable, the debt is apportioned equally. Once this apportionment has been done we will not reverse the split liability decision. Any debt for which only one member of a couple is liable will follow that person on separation.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma grouped question UIN 188012 188013 question first answered 16/11/2018 14:20:06 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	410 label Biography information for Jon Trickett

1002030

	registered interest
	date	05/11/2018
	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: Scotland
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Government news release of 1 October 2018 entitled Citizens Advice to provide support to Universal Credit claimants, how much funding she plans to allocate to Citizens Advice in Scotland to provide that support; and what plans she has to provide funding for areas that do not have a Citizens Advice office.
	tabling member constituency	Inverclyde
	tabling member printed	Ronnie Cowan
	uin	188154
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/11/2018 answer text <p>For Citizens Advice Scotland the grant award is £1,323,412 in 2018/19 and £4,085,919 in 2019/20. Citizens Advice Scotland is committed to providing a Universal Support service across Scotland</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 16/11/2018 14:42:10 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	4465 label Biography information for Ronnie Cowan

1002035

	registered interest
	date	05/11/2018
	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: West Midlands
	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 her Department plans to migrate from employment support allowance to universal credit in (a) the West Midlands and (b) Birmingham, Edgbaston in (i) 2019-20, (ii) 2020-21, (iii) 2021-22 and (iv) 2022-23.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Edgbaston
	tabling member printed	Preet Kaur Gill
	uin	188158
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/11/2018 answer text <p>The requested information is not available by constituency or region.</p><p /><p /> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 16/11/2018 14:37:06 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	4603 label Biography information for Preet Kaur Gill

1002036

	registered interest
	date	05/11/2018
	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 hours of training is planned to be given to her Department's decision-makers to identify people who may be vulnerable or have complex needs for the purposes of the universal credit managed migration.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Edgbaston
	tabling member printed	Preet Kaur Gill
	uin	188159
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/01/2019 answer text <p>All DWP staff working with customers complete training that prepares them for their role. This includes developing the skills they need to support and communicate with a diverse range of customers, and specific training is provided for working with different vulnerable groups.</p><p> </p><p>We are taking a slow, measured approach to managed migration and this will allow for on-going evaluation of the process to ensure that it is working successfully, which will enable us to refine our methods to support claimants.</p><p> </p><p>The revised draft regulations now before Parliament provide that we must give claimants a minimum of three months in which to make a claim for Universal Credit and sets no maximum period in which a claim must be made. With unlimited flexibility to extend claim periods we will work with representative groups to produce guidance that will ensure adequate support for each individual claimant’s needs.</p><p> </p><p>Decision makers and all our customer facing staff undertake learning related to supporting vulnerable claimants. Decision Makers receive 19.5 hours of training on dealing with vulnerable groups and line managers review whether there is a need to refresh the knowledge / learning with individuals where appropriate.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 07/01/2019 16:15:59 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	4603 label Biography information for Preet Kaur Gill

1002123

	registered interest
	date	05/11/2018
	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 representations she has received from (a) trades union and (b) the Trade Union Congress in relation to the managed migration of universal credit.
	tabling member constituency	High Peak
	tabling member printed	Ruth George
	uin	188268
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/12/2018 answer text <p>No meetings have been held by DWP with trade unions or the Trade Union Congress regarding Managed Migration specifically. However, the Trade Union Congress and some individual trade unions responded to the Social Security Advisory Committee report on the draft Universal Credit Managed Migration Regulations 2018, published on 5 November 2018 which can be accessed at:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/draft-universal-credit-managed-migration-regulations-2018-ssac-report-and-government-statement" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/draft-universal-credit-managed-migration-regulations-2018-ssac-report-and-government-statement</a></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma grouped question UIN 188269 question first answered 10/12/2018 17:06:16 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma previous answer version 84616 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

1002124

	registered interest
	date	05/11/2018
	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 meetings held by her Department (a) trades unions and (b) the Trade Union Congress on the managed migration of universal credit in 2018; and if she will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	High Peak
	tabling member printed	Ruth George
	uin	188269
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/12/2018 answer text <p>No meetings have been held by DWP with trade unions or the Trade Union Congress regarding Managed Migration specifically. However, the Trade Union Congress and some individual trade unions responded to the Social Security Advisory Committee report on the draft Universal Credit Managed Migration Regulations 2018, published on 5 November 2018 which can be accessed at:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/draft-universal-credit-managed-migration-regulations-2018-ssac-report-and-government-statement" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/draft-universal-credit-managed-migration-regulations-2018-ssac-report-and-government-statement</a></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma grouped question UIN 188268 question first answered 10/12/2018 17:06:16 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma previous answer version 84617 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