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1000260

	registered interest
	date	02/11/2018
	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, for what reason the taper that is applied to wages is not applied to pensions in relation to universal credit.
	tabling member constituency	Barnsley Central
	tabling member printed	Dan Jarvis
	uin	187333
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/11/2018 answer text <p>The taper is the rate at which Universal Credit is reduced to take account of earnings. It is specifically for in work claimants and linked to earnings to incentivise work, and those in work to earn more. Universal Credit has a single taper of 63 per cent so payments reduce in a transparent and predictable way as earnings increase. Universal Credit is a means tested benefit, and income other than earnings, such as pensions, is taken fully into account in the assessment of Universal Credit. This is consistent with how legacy means tested benefits such as Employment and Support Allowance, Jobseeker’s Allowance and Income Support treat pension income. Therefore it would not be consistent to extend the earnings taper to pensions income and doing so would also undermine the incentives to work for people of working age.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 12/11/2018 18:05:06 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Lord Sharma
	tabling member	4243 label Biography information for Dan Jarvis

1002759

	registered interest
	date	06/11/2018
	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 discussions she has had with representatives of staff working in job centres and service centres on difficulties experienced by such staff in (a) applying for and (b) receiving payment as claimants of universal credit.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
	tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
	uin	188874
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/11/2018 answer text <p>My officials regularly meet with trade union representatives to discuss areas of concerns that staff may have.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 12/11/2018 17:51:28 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Lord Sharma
	tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1002760

	registered interest
	date	06/11/2018
	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: 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 process is used by her Department to estimate the (a) average call duration and (b) amount of calls taken by case managers working on universal credit; and if she will publish the results of such estimates for each year for which information is available.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
	tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
	uin	188875
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/11/2018 answer text <p>Data can be extracted from the Universal Credit Full Service system to establish the average number of calls per day and the average duration.</p><p> </p><p>We have no plans to collect or publish this data routinely given the costs involved in maintaining it to official statistics standards.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 12/11/2018 18:05:10 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Lord Sharma
	tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1002761

	registered interest
	date	06/11/2018
	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: 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 estimate her Department has made of the number of case managers working on universal credit who are seconded to the national telephony team for each shift; and if she will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
	tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
	uin	188876
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/11/2018 answer text <p>We currently have 400 colleagues assigned to Universal Credit national tier telephony. We retain the flexibility to adjust the number of colleagues working on some of the core functions within Universal Credit to accommodate fluctuations in demand and the number of colleagues deployed to National Tier telephony will vary month on month as required.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 12/11/2018 18:02:05 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Lord Sharma
	tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1002762

	registered interest
	date	06/11/2018
	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 funding the Government has allocated for transitional payments for people moving onto universal credit; and by what process claimants will receive such payments.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
	tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
	uin	188877
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/12/2018 answer text <p>We recently laid the draft Universal Credit (Managed Migration) Regulations 2018 in Parliament. These will introduce a transitional payment to those eligible claimants who were in receipt of the Severe Disability Premium whilst on an existing benefit and who have already moved to Universal Credit.</p><p> </p><p>As announced in the 2018 Autumn Budget, the income related elements of Employment and Support Allowance and Jobseeker’s Allowance, and Income Support will continue for two weeks after a claim for Universal Credit has been made from July 2020. Claimants will therefore receive one two week run-on payment when being migrated to Universal Credit. Both of these measures are subject to parliamentary approval. These payments are in addition to the 2 week run-on of Housing Benefit, which we introduced in April 2018.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has also committed to ensuring that claimants who are moved onto Universal Credit as part of the managed migration process see no decrease in their benefit entitlement, providing their circumstances remain the same.</p><p> </p><p>The Government will be spending over £3bn on transitional protection over the next 10 years to ensure that claimants who are migrated onto Universal Credit as part of the managed migration process do not experience a financial loss at the point of transition.</p><p> </p><p>Transitional protection will be calculated based on the claimant’s circumstances on the last day of their entitlement to existing benefits. To do this we will make a comparison between the total amount of all relevant existing benefits to which the claimant was entitled at this point and the total amount of Universal Credit to which the claimant would be entitled as calculated based on the same set of circumstances. If the entitlement to the existing benefits is the greater amount then the difference will be awarded as a Transitional Element. When awarded, this Transitional Element will be taken into account with any other applicable Elements to determine a claimant’s Universal Credit award in each Assessment Period.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 13/12/2018 14:37:05 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Lord Sharma previous answer version 84612 answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma answering member 4014 label Biography information for Lord Sharma
	tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1007135

	registered interest
	date	14/11/2018
	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	Zero Hours Contracts: Young People
	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 her Department's press release entitled Youth unemployment down 50% since 2010, published on gov.uk on 16 October 2018, what proportion of recorded employment was under a zero-hours contract.
	tabling member constituency	Barnsley Central
	tabling member printed	Dan Jarvis
	uin	191422
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/11/2018 answer text <p>The Office for National Statistics (ONS) use the Labour Force Survey (LFS) to provide estimates for the number of people employed on zero hours’ contracts.</p><p> </p><p>The ONS figures for people in employment on zero hours’ contracts broken down by age, do not go back to 2010 and are only currently available up to April-June 2018. Therefore no directly comparable figures to the youth unemployment statistics cited are available.</p><p> </p><p>The majority of young people are not employed on zero hours’ contracts. In 2018 (Apr-Jun) there were 261,000 16-24 year olds on a zero hours’ contracts – representing only 6.9% of employed 16-24 year olds.</p><p> </p><p>This is down from 299,000 young people (7.8% of employed young people) in 2017 (Apr-Jun), but a slight increase from the first comparable data available, which shows in 2014 (Apr-Jun) there were 235,000 young people on a zero hours’ contract (or 6.3% of employed young people).</p><p> </p><p>Many people in full-time education are employed on zero hours’ contracts, in part because of the flexibility they provide. 18.5% of all people in 2018 (Apr-Jun) on zero hours’ contracts were in full-time education – compared to 2.3% of people not on a zero hours’ contract.</p><p> </p><p>The ONS data shows that the majority of people on zero hours’ contracts are happy with the hours provided by their zero hours’ contract.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 20/11/2018 16:24:01 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Lord Sharma previous answer version 85857 answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma answering member 4014 label Biography information for Lord Sharma
	tabling member	4243 label Biography information for Dan Jarvis

1010366

	registered interest
	date	19/11/2018
	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: Self-employed
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure that the calculation of universal credit for self-employed people (a) accurately reflects (i) the amount that they allocate to expenses to maintain their business and (ii) their take-home earnings and (b) leaves those people in a better financial position as a result of being in work.
	tabling member constituency	Barnsley Central
	tabling member printed	Dan Jarvis
	uin	192922
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/11/2018 answer text <p>Claimants with earnings from self-employment are required to report them to DWP on a monthly basis. These earnings are reported on a simplified 'cash accounting' basis, which asks for the total income from receipts into the business and details of payments out of the business under defined categories during the assessment period. We assess net earnings after deducting business expenses. The requirements were designed to be as simple as possible in order for self-employed claimants to easily report their earnings and monthly reporting allows Universal Credit to be adjusted on a monthly basis.</p><p> </p><p>Where claimants are in the 12-month grace period or are gainfully self-employed and earning above the Minimum Income Floor (MIF), the single taper rate acts to ensure that they are better off working and earning more under Universal Credit, removing the cliff edges from the old legacy benefits system.</p><p>We announced at Autumn Budget 2018 that all new gainfully self-employed claimants can, from September 2020, access a 12-month exemption period from the MIF. This change will assist all gainfully self-employed claimants to grow their earnings, prepare and adjust for the application of the MIF. In 2022/23 it will allow 130,000 self-employed people the space to grow a successful business when moving on to Universal Credit.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 22/11/2018 16:20:35 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Lord Sharma
	tabling member	4243 label Biography information for Dan Jarvis

1015533

	registered interest
	date	27/11/2018
	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	Personal Independence Payment: Postural Tachycardia Syndrome
	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 claimants of personal independence payment with Postural Tachyacardia Syndrome (a) did not receive an award after their first assessment and (b) received an award at tribunal.
	tabling member constituency	Barnsley Central
	tabling member printed	Dan Jarvis
	uin	196298
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/12/2018 answer text <p>In relation to part (a), statistics on Personal Independence Payment (PIP) first assessment outcomes at disability level are not readily available and have not previously been published as Official Statistics. We are producing the statistics requested and issuing them in an Official Statistics release on 11<sup>th</sup> December 2018 in accordance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.</p><p> </p><p>In relation to part (b), since PIP was introduced, 40 people with a primary disabling condition of tachycardia who were disallowed PIP after their initial assessment went on to receive an award at tribunal. The figures in (b) have been rounded to the nearest 10.</p><p> </p><p>Overall, since PIP was introduced 3.5m decisions have been made up to June 2018, of these 9% have been appealed and 4% have been overturned.</p><p> </p><p>Appeals, data is based on primary disabling condition as recorded on the PIP computer systems. Claimants may often have multiple disabling conditions upon which the decision is based but only the primary condition is shown in these statistics. The lowest level of detail available in this data allows us to identify claimants with a primary disabling condition of tachycardia, but not Postural Tachycardia Syndrome.</p><p> </p><p>The appeals may include decisions which are changed at mandatory reconsideration, and where the claimant continues to appeal for a higher PIP award, are then changed again at tribunal appeal.</p> answering member constituency Truro and Falmouth answering member printed Sarah Newton question first answered 03/12/2018 17:30:49 answering member 4071 label Biography information for Sarah Newton
	tabling member	4243 label Biography information for Dan Jarvis

1029335

	registered interest
	date	20/12/2018
	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	Department for Work and Pensions: Staff
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many staff were employed in her Department on (a) 20 December 2018 and (b) 23 June 2016.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
	tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
	uin	204533
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/01/2019 answer text <p>The Department collects and publishes its workforce management information each month. These details can be found at the following link.</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dwp-workforce-management-information" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dwp-workforce-management-information</a></p><p> </p><p>The Department’s headcount is collected and reported as at the last day of each month. On 30 June 2016 the Department’s headcount was 84,226 and on 30 November 2018 it was 82,827.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 10/01/2019 15:55:02 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1035341

	registered interest
	date	04/01/2019
	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	Department for Work and Pensions: Brexit
	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 additional staff required by her Department in the event that the UK leaves the EU (a) with and (b) without a deal.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
	tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
	uin	205309
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/01/2019 answer text <p>The Government continues undertaking planning for all EU exit scenarios, as is prudent. The Department continues to work closely with the Department for Exiting the European Union to ensure consistency of plans across government. Members of staff across the Department provide advice and analysis on EU Exit issues as required. Given the interactions between EU exit work and the Department’s other priorities, it would not be possible to give a figure for the information requested.</p><p> </p><p>The Department continually reviews workforce plans, priorities and changing needs, which includes identification and cessation of non-priority work where appropriate. We have accelerated our plans, and at the same time, the Civil Service as a whole is working to ensure that EU exit implementation is carried out to high quality without impacting public service delivery across the whole of government.</p><p> </p><p>The Department publishes its workforce management information each month. These details can be found at the following link.</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dwp-workforce-management-information#2010-to-march-2014-" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dwp-workforce-management-information#2010-to-march-2014-</a></p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 14/01/2019 17:59:17 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Lord Sharma
	tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1038460

	registered interest
	date	09/01/2019
	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: Foreign Nationals
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether non-UK citizens will be part of the test group that receive the new benefit as part of the roll-out of universal credit.
	tabling member constituency	Leicester East
	tabling member printed	Keith Vaz
	uin	206722
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/01/2019 answer text <p>We are still in the planning stages for managed migration and we have yet to agree the characteristics of those claimants who we will include in the initial pilot for managed migration. We are currently working closely with stakeholders and claimants to design our migration processes. Our focus remains on delivering a process that works well for everyone.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 17/01/2019 11:39:40 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Lord Sharma
	tabling member	338 label Biography information for Keith Vaz

1038461

	registered interest
	date	09/01/2019
	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: Asylum
	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 effect of the roll-out of universal credit on the ability of asylum seekers to claim benefits in the UK.
	tabling member constituency	Leicester East
	tabling member printed	Keith Vaz
	uin	206723
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/01/2019 answer text <p>I refer the Hon. Member to my answer to Question the response to PQ<a href="https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2018-12-18/203324/" target="_blank">203324</a> answered on 28 December 2018.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 17/01/2019 11:24:09 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Lord Sharma
	tabling member	338 label Biography information for Keith Vaz

1041379

	registered interest
	date	14/01/2019
	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	Occupational Pensions Scheme Review
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Government has plans to respond to the report entitled, Review of Survivor Benefits in Occupational Pension Schemes, published in June 2014.
	tabling member constituency	Barnsley Central
	tabling member printed	Dan Jarvis
	uin	208267
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/01/2019 answer text <p>The landscape of survivor benefits has changed significantly since the publication of the Review, not least because of the Walker judgement. Government will respond to the Review of Survivor Benefits in Occupational Pension Schemes when the assessment of the full implications of the judgement is complete.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 17/01/2019 15:55:08 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	4243 label Biography information for Dan Jarvis

1047096

	registered interest
	date	23/01/2019
	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: Refugees
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many resettled refugee families arriving in the UK since 2015 under the (a) Vulnerable Person’s Resettlement Scheme, (b) Vulnerable Children’s Resettlement Scheme and (c) Gateway Protection Programme are subject to the benefit cap.
	tabling member constituency	Stretford and Urmston
	tabling member printed	Kate Green
	uin	211734
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/01/2019 answer text <p>The Department does not hold this data on our administration system for capped households under Housing Benefit or Universal Credit.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 29/01/2019 13:13:39 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4120 label Biography information for Kate Green

1050523

	registered interest
	date	29/01/2019
	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	Work Capability Assessment: Slavery
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether victims of modern slavery are exempt from the requirement to take an annual work capability assessment; and if she will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Gedling
	tabling member printed	Vernon Coaker
	uin	213946
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/02/2019 answer text <p>Ending modern slavery is one of this Government’s top priorities, and we are sensitive to the challenges faced by victims. We have worked with the Salvation Army to improve the service provided by DWP to victims. The purpose of the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) is to assess the impact of mental and physical health conditions, including any resulting from being a victim of modern slavery on a person, so that the right level of benefit and support can be provided. There are no exemptions from being assessed for those claiming Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), or Universal Credit (UC) due to illness or disability. In addition to completing the application form or forms people or those supporting them are encouraged to provide additional evidence, including medical reports, to support their claim. If it is possible for the assessor to provide advice to the decision maker without requiring the claimant to attend a face-to-face assessment, they will do so.</p><p><br></p><p>The WCA is not an annual assessment. Re-referral dates can be up to 24 months for those found to have limited capability for work, and up to 3 years for those found to have limited capability for work-related activity. Furthermore, from 29 September 2017 those placed in ESA’s Support Group and the UC equivalent who have the most severe and lifelong health conditions or disabilities, whose level of function would always mean that they would have Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity, and be unlikely ever to be able to move into work, will no longer be routinely reassessed.</p> answering member constituency Truro and Falmouth answering member printed Sarah Newton question first answered 04/02/2019 16:42:28 answering member 4071 label Biography information for Sarah Newton
	tabling member	360 label Biography information for Lord Coaker

1051454

	registered interest
	date	30/01/2019
	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	Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the Government's timescale is for (a) acknowledging the concluding observations from the UN convention on the rights of persons with disabilities and (b) responding to that convention's recommendations.
	tabling member constituency	Bury North
	tabling member printed	James Frith
	uin	214659
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/02/2019 answer text <p><strong> </strong></p><p>The Government is committed to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and to the progressive realisation of the rights for disabled people that it sets out.</p><p> </p><p>We have provided our first report to the UN Committee as requested. We published this report on 6 September 2018. This report and accompanying ministerial letter setting out the UK's progress are available on GOV.UK website:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/disabled-peoples-rights-information-following-the-uks-first-periodic-review" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/disabled-peoples-rights-information-following-the-uks-first-periodic-review</a></p><p> </p><p>I tabled a Written Statement (HCWS938) on 6 September 2018, providing an update on the UK’s follow-up response to the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: <a href="https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2018-09-06/HCWS938" target="_blank">https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2018-09-06/HCWS938</a></p><p> </p><p>We will be responding to the recommendations in the Concluding Observations during our next periodic review, currently scheduled for 2023. In the meantime, we will be preparing in due course, as recommended by the UN Committee, a progress update on the 2016 inquiry recommendations.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Truro and Falmouth answering member printed Sarah Newton question first answered 08/02/2019 12:57:03 answering member 4071 label Biography information for Sarah Newton
	tabling member	4637 label Biography information for James Frith

1079383

	registered interest
	date	28/02/2019
	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 she has made of the adequacy of staffing levels in universal credit centres; and what proportion of fixed-term staff working in universal credit centres are on (a) permanent contracts and (b) zero-hour contracts.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
	tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
	uin	227130
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/03/2019 answer text <p>The Department regularly reviews both the numbers of people working in Universal Credit service centres and their performance to ensure we have the right number of people available to manage claimants Universal Credit claims. Services and staff training is assessed, both in real time to meet any short term peaks in demand and also reviewed for longer term improvements to ensure the service continues to meet customer service expectation.</p><p> </p><p>Our priority is to give all employees, including those delivering Universal Credit, the necessary resources, including manageable workloads, so that they can carry out their roles successfully.</p><p> </p><p>The size of a Case Manager’s caseload is dependent on a number of factors, including the complexity of the caseload and experience of the case manager.</p><p> </p><p>All staff on fixed-term contracts are employed on the basis of agreed full or part time hours. No staff are employed on zero-hour contracts.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 05/03/2019 17:53:37 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Lord Sharma
	tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1104879

	registered interest
	date	25/03/2019
	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	Children: Maintenance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure that arrears are not discarded without the permission of the parent to whom the arrears are owed when cases are migrated from the Child Support Agency to the Child Maintenance Service.
	tabling member constituency	Barnsley Central
	tabling member printed	Dan Jarvis
	uin	236438
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/04/2019 answer text <p>Under the Compliance and Arrears strategy we are writing to clients with CSA debt above certain thresholds to ask if they want us to try to collect their arrears. These thresholds provide a reasonable cut off point to ensure that we do not pursue cases at disproportionate cost to the taxpayer. They are: over £500 and the case is less than 10 years old, and over £1,000 and the case 10 years old or over.</p><p> </p><p>If correspondence is returned as the client is not known at the address held, the Service will attempt to trace a current address in order to reissue the letter.</p><p> </p><p>If a client confirms they want the Service to attempt collection, the case is checked to ensure the debt balance is accurate before arrears are transferred from the CSA IT system to the CMS one.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 02/04/2019 12:58:35 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4243 label Biography information for Dan Jarvis

1104880

	registered interest
	date	25/03/2019
	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	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to ensure the use of previous tribunal decisions in the event of (a) new assessments or (b) re-assessments.
	tabling member constituency	Barnsley Central
	tabling member printed	Dan Jarvis
	uin	236439
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/04/2019 answer text <p>Where an award which is based on a tribunal’s decision is being reviewed, that decision is considered as evidence alongside any new evidence, for example a HCP report and the claimant’s own evidence. Its relevance and the weight given to it by a decision maker will depend on the date of the decision and whether the claimant’s circumstances have changed in the meantime.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 02/04/2019 12:59:08 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4243 label Biography information for Dan Jarvis

1123703

	registered interest
	date	29/04/2019
	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	Food Poverty: Children
	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 Food Foundation's Children’s Future Food Inquiry report published on 24 April 2019, what steps the Government is taking to support children who live in food insecure households.
	tabling member constituency	Barnsley Central
	tabling member printed	Dan Jarvis
	uin	248684
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/05/2019 answer text <p>This Government is committed to helping families into work, as the best route out of poverty. We are also supporting over 1 million children with free school meals, investing up to £26 million in school breakfast clubs, providing approximately 2.3 million children aged 4-6 with a portion of fresh fruit or vegetables each day at school, and, through the Healthy Start Programme, hundreds of thousands of low income families benefit from vouchers which can be redeemed against fruit, vegetables, milk and infant formula. In 2019/20, the government will be spending more than £95 billion a year on working-age benefits. The new set of food insecurity questions introduced into the existing Family Resources Survey from April will build a better understanding of household food needs, to help ensure we’re targeting support to those most in need.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 02/05/2019 10:21:47 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4243 label Biography information for Dan Jarvis

1148774

	registered interest
	date	14/10/2019
	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, whether she plans to permit Universal Credit claimants to backdate a claim due to ill health in circumstances where medical evidence is provided by a GP.
	tabling member constituency	Barnsley Central
	tabling member printed	Dan Jarvis
	uin	168
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/10/2019 answer text <p>Universal Credit claims may be backdated, by up to one calendar month, in some circumstances for vulnerable claimants who may be delayed in claiming Universal Credit through no fault of their own. More specifically, in cases where medical evidence satisfies the Department that a claimant had an illness that prevented them from making a claim sooner, Universal Credit can be awarded from an earlier date.</p><p> </p><p>In order to provide the best possible support to our claimants it is important that the Department are able to engage with claimants at the earliest possible opportunity, whether to support them back into work or to provide other support and guidance. It is therefore important that backdating provisions are used in specific circumstances, and that all claimants are encouraged to contact us at the earliest opportunity.</p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 18/10/2019 11:06:26 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4243 label Biography information for Dan Jarvis

1151582

	registered interest
	date	22/10/2019
	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	Department for Work and Pensions: Living Wage
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many staff in her Department are paid less than the London Living Wage; and what requirements her Department places on contractors to pay the London Living Wage to London-based staff.
	tabling member constituency	Greenwich and Woolwich
	tabling member printed	Matthew Pennycook
	uin	3824
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/10/2019 answer text <p>The total number of civil servants in Department for Work and Pensions earning below the London Living Wage rate of £10.55 per hour was 13 as at 25/10/2019.</p><p /><p>This government is committed to paying people a decent living wage, which is being addressed through the statutory National Living Wage. In April 2019, the National Living Wage increased to £8.21 per hour, handing a full-time worker a further £690 annual pay rise. By 2024 the National Living Wage will rise to £10.50 per hour, reaching 66% of median UK earnings. The scope will be expanded to everyone aged 21 and over and is expected to benefit over 4 million low paid workers.</p><p> </p><p>The Government will always award contracts on the basis of the best value for money for the taxpayer.</p> answering member constituency Eastleigh answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 28/10/2019 14:03:51 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	4520 label Biography information for Matthew Pennycook

1171105

	registered interest
	date	15/01/2020
	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 amend the universal credit (a) application form and (b) online journal to enable applicants to consent to their data being used to automatically register eligible children in their household for free school meals.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
	tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
	uin	3828
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/01/2020 answer text <p>The Universal Credit system is structured around an online personal account which contains all the information relevant to the claim. This includes claimant’s bank account details, savings, capital, medical history, family relationships and address information. We need to ensure a high level of security and protection is maintained to combat unscrupulous individuals and organisations who try to access the information we hold and seek to impersonate genuine advisers. We take all reasonable steps to protect the position of claimants and their data.</p><p> </p><p>Claimants may currently be entitled to a number of other benefits because they are in receipt of Universal Credit. These are known as passported benefits and include free school meals and free prescriptions. The eligibility criteria for each passported benefit remain the responsibility of the departments and devolved administrations that own them. In Scotland and Wales, eligibility criteria for free school meals is a matter for the devolved administrations.</p><p> </p><p>The Department for Education provides an electronic eligibility checking service to all local authorities in England, which is used to confirm eligibility for free school meals.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 23/01/2020 17:27:16 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1171106

	registered interest
	date	15/01/2020
	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 new claims for universal credit were paid in full and on time by (a) child element, (b) limited capability for work element, (c) childcare element and (d) housing element in the most recent 12 months for which figures are available.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
	tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
	uin	3829
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/01/2020 answer text <p>Our latest data shows the proportion of new Universal Credit claims paid in full on time was 88.4%. In many cases where full payment is not made on time, it is due to unresolved issues such as: claimants not accepting their Claimant Commitment or passing identity checks, or having outstanding verification issues, such as housing costs and self-employed earnings.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The latest available information on payments made in full and on time to Universal Credit claimants is published and can be found at:</p><p><a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/" target="_blank">https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/</a>.</p><p> </p><p>Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:</p><p><a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html" target="_blank">https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html</a></p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 20/01/2020 14:16:58 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1171399

	registered interest
	date	16/01/2020
	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	Department for Work and Pensions: Climate Change
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the effect of climate change on the work of her Department; and what steps she is taking in response to that effect.
	tabling member constituency	Bristol North West
	tabling member printed	Darren Jones
	uin	4447
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/01/2020 answer text <p>The Department for Work and Pensions assesses climate change as a potential risk to its operational responsibilities.</p><p>The UK Government recognises climate change as a material risk to most if not all pension schemes. Therefore, we have clarified trustees’ investment duties in legislation to consider all financially material considerations – including climate change. Trustees have to document a policy on how they take account of climate change. Defined contribution and hybrid benefit schemes are required to publish their policy and defined benefit schemes will be required to publish from 1 October.</p><p>With respect to its own operations, the Department applies criteria that considers the effect of climate change, such as flood risk, when deciding on future site strategy.</p><p>The Department also undertakes regular reviews of their location specific emergency planning, disaster recovery and business continuity plans.</p><p>The Department’s estate supply chain is undertaking site visits which include an assessment of climate change risk with recommendations on investment. Investment in the Departmental estate is focused upon its core assets, with the level of criticality of those assets a key measure. This helps to ensure that its buildings are as resilient as possible. By using data, asset management principles and specialist knowledge we are able to identify assets most at risk of failure and to mitigate accordingly.</p><p>The DWP has a dedicated Estates Sustainability and Environment Team. Their purpose is to oversee that from an estate perspective: -</p><p>• Our effects on sustainability and the environment from appropriately managed and</p><p>• That risks from the environment are proportionately managed.</p><p>In terms of sustainability, the Department is committed to tackling climate change and delivering against the Government’s sustainability targets. We are currently exceeding our carbon reduction targets under the Greening Government Commitments (GGC). The GGC requires the Department to reduce carbon emissions by 51% by 2020 against a 2009/10 baseline. As of June 2019, we are currently at a 56% reduction.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 23/01/2020 17:39:52 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	4621 label Biography information for Darren Jones