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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 Sir Alok Sharma previous answer version 84612 answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	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 Sir Alok 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 Sir Alok 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 Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	338 label Biography information for Keith Vaz

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 Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

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

1010208

	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	Social Security Benefits
	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 applied (a) successfully and (b) unsuccessfully for short term benefit advance or advance payments in the most recent 12 months for which data are available.
	tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
	tabling member printed	Frank Field
	uin	192730
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/12/2018 answer text <p>Around 60% of eligible new claims to Universal Credit received an advance in October 2018. Subject to some fluctuation, this has been broadly consistent for every month for which the data has been requested.</p><p> </p><p>There were 98,250 Short Term Benefit Advances for Employment and Support Allowance, Incapacity Benefit, Jobseeker’s Allowance and Income Support awarded to individual national insurance numbers in Great Britain between January and December 2017. On the number of applications, this information is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 18/12/2018 17:31:51 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

1010330

	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
	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 effect of delaying managed migration of existing social security claimants to universal credit on the cost to the public purse of universal credit transitional protection; and whether those estimates constitute a saving to the public purse.
	tabling member constituency	Kensington
	tabling member printed	Emma Dent Coad
	uin	192949
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/12/2018 answer text <p>It is not possible to disaggregate the spending impact of delaying managed migration. HM Treasury did publish an overall spending impact of the budget changes, which can be accessed at:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/752208/Budget_2018_policy_costings_PDF.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/752208/Budget_2018_policy_costings_PDF.pdf</a>.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 13/12/2018 14:47:53 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	4683 label Biography information for Emma Dent Coad

1015131

	registered interest
	date	26/11/2018
	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: Payment Methods
	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 Answer of 23 November to Question 191872, how many people receiving universal credit who do not have a bank account are paid through (a) a Post Office Card account, (b) someone else's bank account, (c) the Government's payment exception service and (d) other means; and what those other means are.
	tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
	tabling member printed	Frank Field
	uin	195497
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/12/2018 answer text <p>Payment into a bank, building society or credit union is the preferred way for Universal Credit to be paid. This reflects the notion of Universal Credit mirroring the world of work. For example, an employer would usually require a bank account for a salary to be paid into. The Post Office card account and the Government Payment Exception Service cannot be used for the receipt of wages and have no direct debit facility to support payment of housing costs and other bills.</p><p> </p><p>In April 2018 3,211 claims were receiving payments in to a Post Office Card Account and 15 claims were receiving payments via the Government Payment Exception Service method.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, there are a number of claimants receiving payments into another individual’s bank account but it is not possible to disaggregate this information from a wider dataset which includes, for example, accounts held in a person’s maiden name.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 20/12/2018 11:05:49 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

1020613

	registered interest
	date	06/12/2018
	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	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 effect of universal credit being paid into a single bank account on the (a) independence of women and (b) balance of power in their relationships.
	tabling member constituency	Brent Central
	tabling member printed	Dawn Butler
	uin	199798
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/12/2018 answer text <p>I refer the hon. Member to my answer to Question <a href="https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2018-04-27/139032/" target="_blank">139032</a> on 2 May 2018.</p><p> </p><p>Additionally, research carried out for the Department suggests that only 2 per cent of married couples and 7 per cent of cohabiting couples keep their finances completely separate, so payments into a single bank account for couples fit with how the majority of couples organise their lives.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 13/12/2018 16:50:12 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	1489 label Biography information for Dawn Butler