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1111027

	registered interest
	date	10/04/2019
	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	Local Housing Allowance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much funding was reinvested in the targeted affordability fund for local housing allowance rates in 2019-20.
	tabling member constituency	Westminster North
	tabling member printed	Ms Karen Buck
	uin	243313
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/04/2019 answer text <p>In 2019/2020 we have invested £210m in the Targeted Affordability Fund, this is based on 50% of the [forecast] savings from the freeze to Local Housing Allowance rates.</p><p /><p>The funding is being used to increase LHA rates in areas where there are the greatest divergences between rates and local rents.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 23/04/2019 14:00:01 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	199 label Biography information for Ms Karen Buck

1111029

	registered interest
	date	10/04/2019
	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	Local Housing Allowance: Greater London
	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 shared accommodation rate in the central London broad rental market area will not receive the three per cent uplift through targeted affordability funding in 2019-20.
	tabling member constituency	Westminster North
	tabling member printed	Ms Karen Buck
	uin	243314
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>Targeted affordability funding is allocated to those rates that have diverged the furthest from local rents. All 960 Local Housing Allowance rates are ranked according to the share of the market they afford, starting with the most divergent and the funding is then applied.</p><p> </p><p>The shared accommodation rate in the central London Broad Rental Market Area was increased via targeted affordability funding in both 2017/18 and 2018/19. In 2019/20 this rate was not eligible for targeted affordability funding as it no longer fell within the range of rates that have diverged the most from local rents.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 15/04/2019 14:33:31 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	199 label Biography information for Ms Karen Buck

1111031

	registered interest
	date	10/04/2019
	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	Local Housing Allowance: Greater London
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants are in receipt of the shared accommodation rate of local housing allowance in the central London broad rental market area.
	tabling member constituency	Westminster North
	tabling member printed	Ms Karen Buck
	uin	243315
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>As of November 2018, 380 households were in receipt of the shared accommodation rate of local housing allowance in the Central London BRMA. This does not include households who are in receipt of the housing element of Universal Credit.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 15/04/2019 14:51:37 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	199 label Biography information for Ms Karen Buck

1111033

	registered interest
	date	10/04/2019
	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
	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 the 192 shared accommodation rates of local housing allowance have been uprated as a result of the targeted affordability fund in each year since this was introduced.
	tabling member constituency	Westminster North
	tabling member printed	Ms Karen Buck
	uin	243316
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p><strong>The information requested is in the table below.</strong></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Shared Accommodation Rates</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Proportion</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2017/2018</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>22 </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>11%</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2018/2019</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>60</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>31%</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2019/2020</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>87</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>45%</strong></p></td></tr></tbody></table> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 15/04/2019 14:47:10 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	199 label Biography information for Ms Karen Buck

1111037

	registered interest
	date	10/04/2019
	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	Local Housing Allowance: Greater London
	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 direct the Valuation Office Agency to undertake research into the reasons why low numbers of rooms in London are available for letting (a) at and (b) below the shared accommodation rate of local housing allowance.
	tabling member constituency	Westminster North
	tabling member printed	Ms Karen Buck
	uin	243317
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>There are no plans to ask the Valuation Office Agency to undertake any research in this area.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 15/04/2019 14:55:01 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	199 label Biography information for Ms Karen Buck

1111043

	registered interest
	date	10/04/2019
	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
	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 Impact Assessment for the extension of the Shared Accommodation Rate to 25-34 year-olds, how many claimants were affected; and what assessment she has made of the effect of that extension on the average weekly income since January 2012.
	tabling member constituency	Westminster North
	tabling member printed	Ms Karen Buck
	uin	243318
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/04/2019 answer text <p>The number of households aged 25-34 who are entitled to the Shared Accommodation Rate is available on Stat-Xplore from January 2013 onwards.</p><p> </p><p>An independent evaluation of the 2011/12 Local Housing Allowance reforms including the changes to the Shared Accommodation Rate was published in 2014 - <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-housing-allowance-monitoring-the-impact-of-changes" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-housing-allowance-monitoring-the-impact-of-changes</a></p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 23/04/2019 12:13:52 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	199 label Biography information for Ms Karen Buck

1110190

	registered interest
	date	08/04/2019
	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	Universal Credit: Housing
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of tenants that will experience a financial shortfall as a result of 2019-20 being a 53-week rent year and universal Credit being a 52 week rent year.
	tabling member constituency	Wentworth and Dearne
	tabling member printed	John Healey
	uin	242021
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/04/2019 answer text <p>Neither tenants or landlords lose a week’s rent in a 53 weekly rent payment year as has been alleged; no year contains 53 weeks. The problem is alignment between weekly and monthly cycles. Each month the UC housing element is a constant figure but claimants with weekly tenancy agreements will be required to make either four or five rent payments within this period. If the claimant always pays their rent on time, in five payment months they are effectively making payment for part of the following month. That month will always be a four rent payment month, so the combination of the advance payment and the ‘overpayment’ of housing support during that month will get the claimant back on track</p><p> </p><p>Where a landlord charges rent weekly on a Monday, because of the way the calendar falls every 5 or 6 years, they will seek 53 rent payments in a year, with the 53rd payment in part covering the tenancy for the first few days of the following year. The effect of this is that, over the course of the next housing association rental year, a tenant’s UC payments will accurately reflect their liability, irrespective of the 53 payment weeks.</p><p> </p><p>There is a separate issue with respect to the way the calculation in the Universal Credit regulations converts a weekly liability into a monthly allowance. The conversion is achieved by multiplying the weekly rent by 52 and then dividing by 12. This effectively means one day’s rent a year (two days in a leap years) are not covered by UC. We are currently considering whether this formulation around weekly rents, and potentially other weekly amounts in the UC calculation, should be amended.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 11/04/2019 15:59:06 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	400 label Biography information for John Healey

1109209

	registered interest
	date	02/04/2019
	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	Support for Mortgage Interest
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the effectiveness of replacing the Support for Mortgage Interest scheme with a loans-based system from April 2018.
	tabling member constituency	Weaver Vale
	tabling member printed	Mike Amesbury
	uin	240106
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/04/2019 answer text <p>Support for Mortgage Interest is designed to provide protection against the threat of repossession. The new loans system provides exactly the same level of support and provides exactly the same level of protection from repossession as the previous system. We continue to work closely with the lending industry to ensure the scheme delivers its intended aim. The conversion of SMI from a benefit to a loan is estimated to save around £140m in welfare spending.</p><p> </p><p>The Department is using evidence from a number of sources to assess the impact of the conversion to a loan on an on-going basis, including management information on claimant take up and feedback from stakeholder groups, including via our regular liaison with UK Finance, to assess whether there are unintended consequences for particular groups.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 08/04/2019 12:59:13 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4667 label Biography information for Mike Amesbury

1109364

	registered interest
	date	03/04/2019
	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	Children: Maintenance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether section 69A of the Child Support (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2018 defines cash as an asset which can be factored into a paying parent's assessment.
	tabling member constituency	Vauxhall
	tabling member printed	Kate Hoey
	uin	240472
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/04/2019 answer text <p>Section 69A of the Child Support (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2018 specifies money, whether deposited or in cash, should be treated as an asset for the purposes of calculating notional income. The maintenance liability will then be adjusted where a notional annual income of £2,500 or more has been identified.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 09/04/2019 10:38:24 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	210 label Biography information for Baroness Hoey

1109365

	registered interest
	date	03/04/2019
	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	Children: Maintenance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Child Maintenance Service's Financial Investigations Unit has the power in cases where the paying parent's assets and/ or income are outside the UK to investigate foreign (a) tax returns and (b) bank accounts.
	tabling member constituency	Vauxhall
	tabling member printed	Kate Hoey
	uin	240473
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/04/2019 answer text <p>The Child Maintenance Service Financial Investigations Unit in either scenario (a) or (b) has no powers where paying parents are outside of the UK. In terms of tax returns we do ask Paying Parents that we believe are overseas for their tax status and details of tax payments. The Department has no powers to compel if a response is not received. However, rigorous checks are undertaken to confirm that the Paying Parent is not resident in the UK.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 09/04/2019 10:44:07 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	210 label Biography information for Baroness Hoey