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1140519

	registered interest
	date	19/07/2019
	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	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the implications for her Department's policies of the statement in the press release by Save the Children on 3 July 2019, that 30,000 families on universal credit face paying up to £800 in childcare costs this summer.
	tabling member constituency	Liverpool, West Derby
	tabling member printed	Stephen Twigg
	uin	279359
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2019 answer text <p>The Department listens to a range of stakeholders and considers recommendations, such as those from Save the Children’s recent report, that may improve support for our claimants. We have already improved Universal Credit’s (UC) childcare support; for example, our Work Coaches are already providing increased support through the Flexible Support Fund to help eligible claimants who need help with paying upfront childcare costs, as well as allowing greater flexibility in when claimants can report their childcare costs.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>As UC is paid as a single monthly amount directly into people’s bank accounts, it helps families have control over their own budget and making the move into work easier. However, we recognise that childcare costs can affect parents’ decisions to both obtain and maintain employment and we are committed to removing barriers that prevent parents moving into work.</p><p> </p><p>Claimants are able to claim up to 85% of their childcare costs on UC, compared to 70% on the legacy system. This can be worth up to £13,000 a year for families with two children. The UC childcare policy aligns with the wider government childcare offer, which includes free childcare hours and tax free childcare and, during 2019/20, a record amount of £6 billion is being spent on childcare support overall. This offer means that reasonable childcare costs should not form a barrier to work.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>We are aware of the difficulty that some claimants might have in paying childcare costs over the summer holidays and our work coaches are able to discuss this with them and explain and promote both the UC childcare offer and the wider government childcare offer. In addition to this, budgeting advances are available for eligible claimants that can be used to cover the cost of paying additional upfront childcare cost or a deposit that might be needed during the school holidays.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 23/07/2019 11:10:11 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	167 label Biography information for Stephen Twigg

1140533

	registered interest
	date	19/07/2019
	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	Welfare Assistance Schemes
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of local authorities that no longer provide local welfare assistance schemes.
	tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne North
	tabling member printed	Catherine McKinnell
	uin	279418
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/07/2019 answer text <p>The reforms to the Social Fund in 2013 allowed local authorities in England, and the devolved administrations in Scotland and Wales, to deliver their own local provision for people who are in need of urgent help. We passed funding over to local authorities and devolved administrations (from April 2013) on a non-ring-fenced basis, with no statutory duties or monitoring requirements attached. Local authorities are best placed to decide how to target flexible help to support local welfare needs. The Government has no plans to alter policy on LWP or to review this provision at this time.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 279420 question first answered 29/07/2019 14:39:47 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4125 label Biography information for Catherine McKinnell

1140534

	registered interest
	date	19/07/2019
	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	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make it her policy to extend the eligibility for budgeting loans to all families in receipt of universal credit.
	tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne North
	tabling member printed	Catherine McKinnell
	uin	279419
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/09/2019 answer text <p>This Government is committed to providing a strong safety-net for those who need it and continues to spend over ￡95 billion a year on working age welfare benefits. This includes a well-established system of hardship payments, benefit advances and budgeting loans for those who need extra support. The Government also provides a range of additional financial support to families and this includes free school meals, Healthy Start vouchers and help with health costs.</p><p>Budgeting Advances have replaced Budgeting Loans for those in receipt of Universal Credit helping to provide additional assistance for emergency household costs, such as replacing a broken cooker, getting a job or staying in work or funeral costs. Eligibility for a Budgeting Advance is explained on GOV.UK and can be accessed at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/universal-credit/other-financial-support" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/universal-credit/other-financial-support</a></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 02/09/2019 14:24:22 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4125 label Biography information for Catherine McKinnell

1140535

	registered interest
	date	19/07/2019
	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	Welfare Assistance Schemes: Migrants
	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 make it her policy to extend eligibility for local welfare assistance to families with dependent children that have no recourse to public funds conditions attached to their leave to remain in the UK.
	tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne North
	tabling member printed	Catherine McKinnell
	uin	279420
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/07/2019 answer text <p>The reforms to the Social Fund in 2013 allowed local authorities in England, and the devolved administrations in Scotland and Wales, to deliver their own local provision for people who are in need of urgent help. We passed funding over to local authorities and devolved administrations (from April 2013) on a non-ring-fenced basis, with no statutory duties or monitoring requirements attached. Local authorities are best placed to decide how to target flexible help to support local welfare needs. The Government has no plans to alter policy on LWP or to review this provision at this time.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 279418 question first answered 29/07/2019 14:39:47 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4125 label Biography information for Catherine McKinnell

1140594

	registered interest
	date	19/07/2019
	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: Telephone Services
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the (a) average and (b) longest response time was to answer universal credit freephone numbers; and how many complaints about telephone response times for those numbers have been made in the last six months for which figures are available.
	tabling member constituency	Newport East
	tabling member printed	Jessica Morden
	uin	279395
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/09/2019 answer text <p>Universal Credit is a 24 hour, seven days a week, digital service that allows claimants to manage their own data and account online at a time which is convenient for them. Via their account, claimants can check their Universal Credit benefit payments, notify us of changes and record notes via an online journal facility. In addition, established claimants who call the Freephone Universal Credit helpline are connected directly to the person or team who are dealing with the case.</p><p> </p><p>For June 2019 the average speed of answer for a call to the Universal Credit helpline was 2 minutes 39 seconds. The longest response time was 55 minutes 33 seconds. In June we answered 1.2 million calls. The longest response time refers to a single caller and is not reflective of the experience of the majority of our customers.</p><p> </p><p>The average speed of answer measure is the average customer wait time from the point of entering a queue to connection to an agent. This excludes any time spent in pre-queue messaging and any wait time for calls ultimately abandoned by callers prior to answer.</p><p> </p><p>The information requested about telephony complaints is not available in the format requested and doing so could only be provided at disproportionate cost. We do not capture data specifically on complaints about response times for answering the Universal Credit helpline.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 03/09/2019 16:18:26 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	1548 label Biography information for Jessica Morden

1140598

	registered interest
	date	19/07/2019
	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	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when she plans to start the universal credit managed migration pilot.
	tabling member constituency	Newport East
	tabling member printed	Jessica Morden
	uin	279396
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/09/2019 answer text <p>The Department commenced the Move to Universal Credit pilot in the area served by Harrogate Jobcentre on 24 July 2019. Following the pilot, we will report back to Parliament on our 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> </p><p>The regulations also allowed for people potentially eligible for Severe Disability Premium transitional awards to start receiving payments. Statistics published on 2 September 2019 show over 6,300 claims worth over £16 million have been paid.</p><p> </p><p>The Secretary of State delivered an Oral Statement to the House on 22 July 2019 to announce the commencement of the Universal Credit managed migration pilot (also known as the Move to Universal Credit pilot), which can be viewed here - <a href="https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2019-07-22/debates/8111667B-E194-41D6-9496-FE1E870225E6/UniversalCreditManagedMigration" target="_blank">https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2019-07-22/debates/8111667B-E194-41D6-9496-FE1E870225E6/UniversalCreditManagedMigration</a></p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 03/09/2019 15:41:34 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	1548 label Biography information for Jessica Morden

1140603

	registered interest
	date	19/07/2019
	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	Child Maintenance Service
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many times the Child Maintenance Service registered the maintenance debt of a non-resident parent with credit rating agencies in the last year.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	279455
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/07/2019 answer text <p>This information is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 280279 question first answered 29/07/2019 14:18:24 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1140583

	registered interest
	date	19/07/2019
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Home Office: Credit Unions
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 9 July 2019 to Question 271345, for what reasons his Department does not offer a payroll deduction service to enable employees to join a credit union; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Harrow West
	tabling member printed	Gareth Thomas
	uin	279371
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/07/2019 answer text <p>The Home Office will be looking at Financial Wellbeing and the possibility of providing more financial education services for their staff over the next 12-18 month period. This will include considering the option of providing access to payroll deduction schemes for our staff to be able to use credit unions.</p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins question first answered 24/07/2019 15:13:21 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
	tabling member	177 label Biography information for Gareth Thomas

1140601

	registered interest
	date	19/07/2019
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Youth Endowment Fund
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which local authorities have applied for a grant from the youth endowment fund.
	tabling member constituency	Lewisham, Deptford
	tabling member printed	Vicky Foxcroft
	uin	279453
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/07/2019 answer text <p>The Youth Endowment Fund has been established to operate independently of Government and publishes information about its activities here: <a href="https://impetus.org.uk/youth-endowment-fund.%20" target="_blank">https://impetus.org.uk/youth-endowment-fund. </a><br>The Youth Endowment Fund has launched a first call for proposals.</p><p>This is an open call, to fund and evaluate interventions primarily targeting young people aged 10-14 who are at risk of being drawn into crime and violence.</p><p>This first funding round is due to close on the 23 July. Once closed, the Youth Endowment Fund will collate and release figures on the number of applicants and will include breakdowns for geography and the different categories of applicants. These will be published on their website at the end of this week</p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins question first answered 24/07/2019 15:14:24 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
	tabling member	4491 label Biography information for Vicky Foxcroft

1140540

	registered interest
	date	19/07/2019
	answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
	answering dept id	17
	answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
	answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
	hansard heading	Clinical Commissioning Groups: North East
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential effect on public engagement in the NHS of the proposed merger of five clinical commissioning groups in the North East.
	tabling member constituency	Easington
	tabling member printed	Grahame Morris
	uin	279425
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/07/2019 answer text <p>The clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are currently looking at different options as to how they can work together in the future to consolidate their current collaborative working arrangements. The emerging preferred option from the public, member, staff, partner and stakeholder engagement so far, is a single CCG in Durham, which would be co-terminus with the local authority and a single CCG in the Tees Valley (covering the Tees Combined Authority area) with a shared management arrangement.</p><p>The CCGs in Durham have been working together for some time with joint appointments since 2014 and ‘in-common’ meetings since May 2017. NHS Durham Dales, Easington and Sedgefield CCG and NHS North Durham CCG also have a shared lay member for patient and public participation.</p><p>Should the CCGs decide to progress the merger application at the end of August, a Communication and Engagement Strategy, which is currently in development, will be submitted with the application.</p> answering member constituency Wimbledon answering member printed Stephen Hammond question first answered 25/07/2019 14:28:03 answering member 1585 label Biography information for Stephen Hammond previous answer version 131081 answering member constituency Wimbledon answering member printed Stephen Hammond answering member 1585 label Biography information for Stephen Hammond
	tabling member	3973 label Biography information for Grahame Morris