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780319

	registered interest
	date	30/10/2017
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Universal Credit
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government by what methods they make it generally known that Universal Credit applicants can ask for 50 per cent advances, or other forms of emergency assistance, when faced with serious cash problems.
	tabling member printed	Lord Hylton
	uin	HL2683
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/11/2017 answer text <p>Any need for an advance payment or other financial or budgeting support is established at the outset of a claim for Universal Credit. In the initial new claim interview, work coaches are trained to offer personal budgeting support and assess whether claimants need help to manage until their first Universal Credit payment. We have taken steps to increase awareness of this support by amending guidance to ensure that claimants are aware at the start of their claim of the maximum amount they can receive and repayment period as an advance.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 13/11/2017 14:57:43 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	2018 label Biography information for Lord Hylton

1036898

	registered interest
	date	07/01/2019
	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
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how are the salaries of employees on Universal Credit who are paid twice within a month, in particular over the Christmas period, being treated for the purposes of benefits payments; and what steps are being taken to prevent such employees being disadvantaged.
	tabling member printed	Lord McNicol of West Kilbride
	uin	HL12540
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/01/2019 answer text <p>Universal Credit payments reflect, as closely as possible, the actual circumstances of a household during each monthly assessment period. Assessment periods allow for Universal Credit awards to be adjusted on a monthly basis, ensuring that if a claimant’s income falls, they do not have to wait several months for a rise in their Universal Credit award.</p><p> </p><p>Some claimants receive earnings from work multiple times within an assessment period if they are paid via four-weekly, fortnightly, or weekly patterns. This in turn may reduce, or in some cases, nil the Universal Credit award the claimant receives that month. Claimants can always discuss the implications of this with their case managers and work coaches and can be referred to Personal Budgeting Support to help them manage their budgeting.</p><p> </p><p>If a claimant’s Universal Credit claim is closed due to this, claimants can re-claim the following month via a more simplified process than for an initial claim. We have produced guidance to help ensure claimants, staff and representatives are aware of the importance of reporting accurate dates and the impact on payment cycles, which is attached with this reply.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is working with employers to ensure that they use the most appropriate payment practices and comply with RTI guidelines in order to minimise the incidence of erroneous or late reporting by employers. HMRC have recently updated guidance to reiterate to employers the importance of reporting accurate dates and the impact on payment cycles; the Financial Secretary to the Treasury is working closely with HMRC and employers to do this.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 21/01/2019 15:36:52 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe attachment 1 file name gov.uk UC earnings patterns.pdf title UC Earning Patterns
	tabling member	4702 label Biography information for Lord McNicol of West Kilbride

1017033

	registered interest
	date	28/11/2018
	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	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Universal Credit claimants have additional support needs; and how are such claimants identified, monitored and supported.
	tabling member printed	Lord Beecham
	uin	HL11878
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/12/2018 answer text <p>The information requested is not currently held in a consistent format by the Department.</p><p> </p><p>We are continuously reviewing and improving the service for vulnerable people who claim Universal Credit to ensure that it is accessible and responsive to their needs.</p><p> </p><p>To assist identification and claimant support, each Jobcentre Plus site has a complex needs toolkit in place. These are maintained and reviewed locally and contain a named single point of contact for areas such as Homelessness, Care leavers and Prison leavers.</p><p> </p><p>Work coaches receive training to help them identify and support vulnerable claimants, building a relationship to encourage claimants to openly discuss any concerns or problems as they emerge. We have introduced a function to ‘pin’ key profile notes so they are instantly visible to all staff helping a claimant.</p><p> </p><p>To help claimants who may struggle using online services or managing a monthly payment, Universal Support is available. This is advice, assistance or support to help Universal Credit claimants with managing their claim or award of Universal Credit administered by Citizen’s Advice following our brand new partnership.</p><p> </p><p>We have also increased the numbers of Disability Employment Advisers who now provide additional support to the work coaches so they can better personalise support as we continuously improve the offer available.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 12/12/2018 14:56:09 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	4181 label Biography information for Lord Beecham

1127016

	registered interest
	date	15/05/2019
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Universal Credit
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many applicants for Universal Credit have made their application by means other than the online application system since its introduction; and what are the available methods for doing so.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Sherlock
	uin	HL15777
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/05/2019 answer text <p>The Universal Credit Full Service Claimant Survey found that 98 per cent of claimants claimed online.</p><p> </p><p>For those claimants who are unable to access or use our digital services, assistance to make and maintain their claim is available via the Freephone Universal Credit helpline. Face-to-face support is also available in Jobcentres. In exceptional circumstances, a home visit can be arranged to support a claimant in making and maintaining their claim.</p><p> </p><p>Furthermore, the Citizens Advice Help to Claim service offers tailored, practical support to help people make a Universal Credit claim and receive their first full correct payment on time. It is available online, over the phone and face to face through local Citizens Advice services across Great Britain.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 29/05/2019 13:36:32 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	4147 label Biography information for Baroness Sherlock

1064215

	registered interest
	date	19/02/2019
	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	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many applications for Universal Credit Split Payments in the last 12 months were (1) made, and (2) declined.
	tabling member printed	Lord Fink
	uin	HL13862
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/03/2019 answer text <p>The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 05/03/2019 14:52:31 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	4219 label Biography information for Lord Fink

778080

	registered interest
	date	26/10/2017
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Universal Credit
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many couple households in the UK were in receipt of Universal Credit, and in how many of those households both partners were in paid work for at least 16 hours per week, in (1) 2014–15, (2) 2015–16, and (3) 2016–17.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Sherlock
	uin	HL2625
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/11/2017 answer text <p>The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.</p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 02/11/2017 14:55:21 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	4147 label Biography information for Baroness Sherlock

1087534

	registered interest
	date	12/03/2019
	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	Universal Credit
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many couples (1) with, and (2) without, dependent children are receiving Universal Credit in (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales, and (d) Northern Ireland.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Lister of Burtersett
	uin	HL14457
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/03/2019 answer text <p>The Department does not hold information on persons claiming Universal Credit in Northern Ireland. The available data is published at Stat Xplore.</p><p>The table below shows the number of couples in England, Wales and Scotland, with and without child dependants who are receiving Universal Credit.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p><strong>Couple, no child dependant</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Couple, with child dependant(s)</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>England</strong></p></td><td><p>39,798</p></td><td><p>105,955</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Wales</strong></p></td><td><p>2,502</p></td><td><p>5,511</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Scotland</strong></p></td><td><p>4,683</p></td><td><p>9,914</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Great Britain</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>46,987</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>121,385</strong></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p><strong>Source:</strong> Households on Universal Credit</p><p> </p><p><strong>Notes:</strong></p><ol><li>Statistical disclosure control has been applied to this table to avoid the release of confidential data. Totals may not sum due to the disclosure control applied.</li><li>A count date of the second Thursday of the month is used when calculating the statistics for the people on Universal Credit.</li><li>Further information on the background and methodology can be accessed via our latest statistical release.</li><li>These figures are provisional. These figures will be subject to revision in subsequent releases. It is expected that overall provisional figures will be within two per cent of their revised figure in future releases. Figures relating to the employment breakdown will be also be subject to revision.</li><li>The DWP does not hold this information for Northern Ireland. The responsibility for statistics in Northern Ireland lies with the Department for Communities.</li></ol> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 25/03/2019 12:03:12 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	4234 label Biography information for Baroness Lister of Burtersett

897073

	registered interest
	date	02/05/2018
	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	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many families claiming Universal Credit incur childcare costs above £760.42 per month for one child or £1303.57 for two or more children.
	tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of Durham
	uin	HL7497
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/05/2018 answer text <p>The information on childcare costs incurred by families claiming Universal Credit is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p>DWP has not carried out an assessment of the effect on childcare providers of payment in arrears of Universal Credit.</p><p> </p><p>Where claimants start work or increase their working hours, we offer extra support to enable them to pay upfront childcare costs: for example, claimants may be eligible to receive an advance of their future Universal Credit entitlement, which is interest free and can be repaid over a period of 12 months. Work coaches work with our claimants to ensure that where this is taken up, that repayments are manageable.</p><p> </p><p>For claimants ineligible to receive a budgeting advance, the Flexible Support Fund may also offer assistance. This fund allows us to provide flexible and discretionary non-repayable support to claimants in financial need to move into work and can be used to help claimants to meet upfront childcare costs so that they can accept offers of work.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe grouped question UIN HL7498 HL7499 question first answered 17/05/2018 12:08:51 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	4312 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of Durham

988435

	registered interest
	date	15/10/2018
	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	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many families in receipt of Universal Credit affected by any reductions in income caused by the managed migration roll out they estimate have children of school age.
	tabling member printed	Lord Bassam of Brighton
	uin	HL10634
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/10/2018 answer text <p>The regulations to enact managed migration will come before Parliament this autumn and are subject to parliamentary approval.</p><p> </p><p>These regulations include transitional protection for claimants which will mean that no one will have a reduced benefit entitlement at the point that they move over to Universal Credit as a result of managed migration. They also provide additional protection to claimants receiving a Severe Disability Premium, to ensure they are not moved onto Universal Credit ahead of managed migration, and to provide financial protection to those claimants who have already moved over.</p><p>In the legacy system there are £2.4bn of unclaimed benefits not taken up by people who need them, because they do not know about them. These regulations will ensure that 700,000 more people will get paid their full entitlement under Universal Credit, worth an average of £285 per month.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe grouped question UIN HL10632 HL10633 question first answered 29/10/2018 16:19:10 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	3504 label Biography information for Lord Bassam of Brighton

1029612

	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	Universal Credit
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people who begin to apply for Universal Credit do not complete the process; and what assessment they have made of the possible reasons why those people do not complete that process.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Donaghy
	uin	HL12498
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/01/2019 answer text <p>Based on our internal data for March 2018, in total 28 per cent of claims do not complete the process.</p><p> </p><p>Of this figure around 8 per cent of claims were closed due to non-entitlement, for example because of capital or not passing the Habitual Residence Test. The remainder (around 19 per cent<strong><em>*</em></strong>) were closed due to non-compliance with the process, for example failure to sign a Claimant Commitment and failing to provide evidence to support their claim.</p><p> </p><p><strong><em>*</em></strong> percentages do not add up to 28 per cent due to rounding</p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 10/01/2019 17:11:54 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	4166 label Biography information for Baroness Donaghy