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1135479

	registered interest
	date	28/06/2019
	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: Young People
	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 the roll-out of universal credit on young people who are (a) homeless and (b) experiencing mental health issues.
	tabling member constituency	South Northamptonshire
	tabling member printed	Andrea Leadsom
	uin	270746
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/07/2019 answer text <p>This Government is committed to supporting vulnerable claimants, such as those with mental health conditions or experiencing homelessness. We understand that these claimants may face extra challenges in their lives. Universal Credit is designed to target resources at those that need them most and to provide support for people who cannot work or need help moving towards the labour market.</p><p>We recognise the importance of understanding how a mental health condition impacts someone’s ability to prepare for and look for work. That is why we have developed a range of specialised mental health training for work coaches and increased the number of Disability Employment Advisers who can provide additional support where needed. Furthermore, we have a number of Community Partners recruited specifically for their expertise in mental health issues, that can provide advice that is often based on lived experience.</p><p>In the case of homeless claimants, it is our priority to ensure that people experiencing homelessness get the appropriate support they need to improve their lives and move into work. For example, we are able to put job-seeking requirements on hold temporarily whilst claimants find accommodation or stabilise their housing situation, as well as priority access to the Work and Health Programme.</p><p>We are supporting the manifesto commitment to halve rough sleeping by 2022 and eradicate it altogether by 2027 through the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Reduction Taskforce, and commitments set out in the recent Rough Sleeping Strategy. Furthermore, work coaches in England are legally bound to offer a voluntary referral to claimants they consider may be homeless or threatened with homelessness to a Local Housing Authority of the claimant’s choice.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 270747 question first answered 03/07/2019 12:51:18 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4117 label Biography information for Andrea Leadsom

1135480

	registered interest
	date	28/06/2019
	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: Young People
	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 homeless young people with mental health issues on universal credit are (a) supported into employment and (b) have adequate income.
	tabling member constituency	South Northamptonshire
	tabling member printed	Andrea Leadsom
	uin	270747
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/07/2019 answer text <p>This Government is committed to supporting vulnerable claimants, such as those with mental health conditions or experiencing homelessness. We understand that these claimants may face extra challenges in their lives. Universal Credit is designed to target resources at those that need them most and to provide support for people who cannot work or need help moving towards the labour market.</p><p>We recognise the importance of understanding how a mental health condition impacts someone’s ability to prepare for and look for work. That is why we have developed a range of specialised mental health training for work coaches and increased the number of Disability Employment Advisers who can provide additional support where needed. Furthermore, we have a number of Community Partners recruited specifically for their expertise in mental health issues, that can provide advice that is often based on lived experience.</p><p>In the case of homeless claimants, it is our priority to ensure that people experiencing homelessness get the appropriate support they need to improve their lives and move into work. For example, we are able to put job-seeking requirements on hold temporarily whilst claimants find accommodation or stabilise their housing situation, as well as priority access to the Work and Health Programme.</p><p>We are supporting the manifesto commitment to halve rough sleeping by 2022 and eradicate it altogether by 2027 through the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Reduction Taskforce, and commitments set out in the recent Rough Sleeping Strategy. Furthermore, work coaches in England are legally bound to offer a voluntary referral to claimants they consider may be homeless or threatened with homelessness to a Local Housing Authority of the claimant’s choice.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 270746 question first answered 03/07/2019 12:51:18 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4117 label Biography information for Andrea Leadsom

1135490

	registered interest
	date	28/06/2019
	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
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 27 June 2019 to Question 268402, if she will place in the Library a copy of the dataset from which the median balance per debtor was calculated.
	tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
	tabling member printed	Frank Field
	uin	270706
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/09/2019 answer text <p>A copy of the relevant dataset* will be placed in the Library.</p><p> </p><p>In order to comply with the General Data Protection Regulations 2018, the dataset contains values only.</p><p> </p><p>The data set shows all balances held on our systems for the relevant period. It includes ‘minus’ figures, which reflect changes made as a result of successful appeals.</p><p> </p><p>The data does not include any Universal Credit overpayments. It includes debts accrued in a number of ways including Working Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit overpayments built up under HMRC as well as fraud and error overpayments.</p><p> </p><p>Working Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit were introduced in 2003, with some people then accruing debts over many years.</p><p> </p><p>We do not want people to face undue financial hardship as a result of repaying overpayments. If people do struggle, adjustments can be made and will be based on an individual’s circumstance.</p><p> </p><p>The overall maximum amount that can be deducted from a claimant’s Universal Credit each month to recover a benefit overpayment is an amount equal to 40% of their Universal Credit standard allowance.</p><p> </p><p>The vast majority of benefit payments are made correctly; this stock of debts equates to around 0.6% of current annual welfare expenditure. The legacy welfare system is complex in its structure and administration and in the way that qualifying conditions interact with each other. UC provides a single system of means-tested support for working-age households who are in or out of work and we expect this to reduce overpayments.</p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><em>*The data provided has been sourced from internal management information and was not intended for public release. It should therefore not be compared to any other, similar data subsequently released by the Department.</em></p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 03/09/2019 16:11:32 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

1135497

	registered interest
	date	28/06/2019
	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: Children
	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 childcare element of universal credit is not an economic barrier to work.
	tabling member constituency	Dulwich and West Norwood
	tabling member printed	Helen Hayes
	uin	270813
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/07/2019 answer text <p>The Government recognises that childcare costs can affect parents’ decisions to take up paid work or increase their working hours. We are committed to helping parents into work.</p><p> </p><p>To overcome this barrier to employment, Universal Credit claimants are able to claim up to 85 per cent of their childcare costs, compared to 70% on the legacy system. This can be claimed up to a month before starting a job, and can be worth up to £13,000 a year for families with two children.</p><p> </p><p>We recognise the difficulty that some claimants might have in paying upfront childcare costs. Where the initial month’s childcare costs may prevent a claimant from starting work, Jobcentres will use the Flexible Support Fund to help claimants in the first instance. This is a non-repayable award, which can be used to meet the upfront childcare costs to help support a claimant into work. For claimants who are in work and need help with upfront childcare costs, budgeting advances are available that can be used to cover the cost of paying upfront childcare costs or a deposit.</p><p> </p><p>We have piloted a more flexible approach to claimants reporting childcare costs, which will allow people, including lone parents, to be reimbursed for childcare when, with good reason, they are not able to provide evidence within their assessment period. We are now looking to implement this nationally.</p><p> </p><p>We have undertaken significant work to increase work coach awareness and understanding of the Universal Credit childcare offer through improved training and guidance and communications.</p><p> </p><p>The Universal Credit childcare policy also aligns with the wider government childcare offer, which includes free childcare hours and tax free childcare.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 270814 question first answered 03/07/2019 12:18:32 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4510 label Biography information for Helen Hayes

1135498

	registered interest
	date	28/06/2019
	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: Children
	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 find a long-term solution for upfront costs in childcare under universal credit.
	tabling member constituency	Dulwich and West Norwood
	tabling member printed	Helen Hayes
	uin	270814
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/07/2019 answer text <p>The Government recognises that childcare costs can affect parents’ decisions to take up paid work or increase their working hours. We are committed to helping parents into work.</p><p> </p><p>To overcome this barrier to employment, Universal Credit claimants are able to claim up to 85 per cent of their childcare costs, compared to 70% on the legacy system. This can be claimed up to a month before starting a job, and can be worth up to £13,000 a year for families with two children.</p><p> </p><p>We recognise the difficulty that some claimants might have in paying upfront childcare costs. Where the initial month’s childcare costs may prevent a claimant from starting work, Jobcentres will use the Flexible Support Fund to help claimants in the first instance. This is a non-repayable award, which can be used to meet the upfront childcare costs to help support a claimant into work. For claimants who are in work and need help with upfront childcare costs, budgeting advances are available that can be used to cover the cost of paying upfront childcare costs or a deposit.</p><p> </p><p>We have piloted a more flexible approach to claimants reporting childcare costs, which will allow people, including lone parents, to be reimbursed for childcare when, with good reason, they are not able to provide evidence within their assessment period. We are now looking to implement this nationally.</p><p> </p><p>We have undertaken significant work to increase work coach awareness and understanding of the Universal Credit childcare offer through improved training and guidance and communications.</p><p> </p><p>The Universal Credit childcare policy also aligns with the wider government childcare offer, which includes free childcare hours and tax free childcare.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 270813 question first answered 03/07/2019 12:18:32 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4510 label Biography information for Helen Hayes

1135593

	registered interest
	date	28/06/2019
	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	Housing Benefit: Young People
	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 potential merits of extending the exemption from the Shared Accommodation Rate to people under the age of 25 who have been in homeless accommodation for more than three months.
	tabling member constituency	West Lancashire
	tabling member printed	Rosie Cooper
	uin	270740
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/07/2019 answer text <p>There is an exemption from the shared accommodation rate for those aged 25-34 who have previously spent 3 months (which doesn’t have to be continuous) in a homeless hostel/hostels specialising in rehabilitation and resettlement. There are no plans to extend this exemption to those under the age of 25.</p><p> </p><p>For other individuals who may require more support and whose circumstances may make it difficult for them to share accommodation, Discretionary Housing Payments are available.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 03/07/2019 12:52:45 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	1538 label Biography information for Rosie Cooper

1135516

	registered interest
	date	28/06/2019
	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	Shared Housing: Greater London
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 24 June 2019 to Question 266836 on Shared Accommodation Rate, what standard deduction rent officers make for fuel from the advertised rents for rooms in shared accommodation in the (a) Central London, (b) Inner East London, (c) Inner North London, (d) Inner South East London, (e) Inner South West London and (f) Inner West London Broad Rental Market Areas.
	tabling member constituency	Bethnal Green and Bow
	tabling member printed	Rushanara Ali
	uin	270764
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/07/2019 answer text <p>There are no standard deductions for ineligible services for the specific Broad Rental Market Areas listed. In order to ensure a consistent approach, Rent Officers have a national guide to service deductions which has been arrived at following research of utility company pricing. The Rent Officer refers to the standard deductions and decides whether it is appropriate to apply them, however ultimately each case will be looked at on an individual basis.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 03/07/2019 13:04:57 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4138 label Biography information for Rushanara Ali

1135518

	registered interest
	date	28/06/2019
	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	Shared Housing: Utilities
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 24 June 2019 to Question 266836 on Shared Housing: Utilities, if she will place in the Library the Valuation Office Agency’s guidance for Rent Officers in making deductions for services and facilities from the local rents used to determine the 30th percentile of the Shared Accommodation Rate.
	tabling member constituency	Bethnal Green and Bow
	tabling member printed	Rushanara Ali
	uin	270765
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/07/2019 answer text <p>There is no current plan to place the guidance in the House of Commons library as The Rent Officer Handbook is already available online via <a href="http://www.gov.uk" target="_blank">www.gov.uk</a>.</p><p> </p><p>Specific guidance for Rent officers in relation to these deductions is accessible under the heading ‘Ineligible services’ in the following location:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/rent-officer-handbook-lettings-research/lettings-research-recording" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/guidance/rent-officer-handbook-lettings-research/lettings-research-recording</a>.</p><p> </p><p>The full Rent Officer Handbook can be found at:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/valuation-office-agency-rent-officer-handbook" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/valuation-office-agency-rent-officer-handbook</a>.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 08/07/2019 11:51:29 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4138 label Biography information for Rushanara Ali

1135478

	registered interest
	date	28/06/2019
	answering body	Women and Equalities
	answering dept id	31
	answering dept short name	Women and Equalities
	answering dept sort name	Women and Equalities
	hansard heading	Civil Partnership Act 2004 (Amendment) (Sibling Couples) Bill (HL)
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of the Government supporting the Civil Partnership Act 2004 (Amendment) (Sibling Couples) Bill [HL] 2017-19.
	tabling member constituency	Ealing Central and Acton
	tabling member printed	Dr Rupa Huq
	uin	270808
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2019 answer text <p>The Government is very clear that there is a significant difference between an intimate partner relationship (for which civil partnerships are intended) and a relationship between siblings or other family members.</p><p>We have no intention of extending civil partnerships to siblings, and are not supporting the Civil Partnership Act 2004 (Amendment) (Sibling Couples) [HL] 2017-19 Private Members Bill.</p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins question first answered 23/07/2019 14:49:43 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
	tabling member	4511 label Biography information for Dr Rupa Huq

1135561

	registered interest
	date	28/06/2019
	answering body	Women and Equalities
	answering dept id	31
	answering dept short name	Women and Equalities
	answering dept sort name	Women and Equalities
	hansard heading	Civil Partnership Act 2004 (Amendment) (Sibling Couples) Bill (HL)
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether an estimate has been made of the number of sibling couples who will be affected by the provisions of the Civil Partnership Act 2004 (Amendment) (Sibling Couples) Bill [HL] 2017-19; and if se will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Ealing Central and Acton
	tabling member printed	Dr Rupa Huq
	uin	270818
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/10/2019 answer text <p>The Government has made no estimate of the number of siblings who would be affected by the provisions of the Civil Partnership Act 2004 (Amendment) (Sibling Couples) Bill [HL] 2017-19.</p><p>The Government is very clear that there is a significant difference between an intimate partner relationship (for which civil partnerships are intended) and a relationship between siblings or other family members and has no intention of extending civil partnerships to siblings.</p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins question first answered 02/10/2019 10:08:08 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
	tabling member	4511 label Biography information for Dr Rupa Huq