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947127

	registered interest
	date	23/07/2018
	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 what are their plans to address payment errors and delays for people attempting to claim Universal Credit.
	tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
	uin	HL9817
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/07/2018 answer text <p>Around 80 per cent of new claims are paid in full and on time. In many cases, where full payment is not made on time by the end of the first assessment period, this is as a result of unresolved issues such as: some claimants have not signed their Claimant Commitment or passed identity checks, and the others have outstanding verification issues, such as for housing and self-employed earnings. Whilst their verification is on-going, many of these claimants receive a part payment for those elements of the claim that have been resolved. Within five weeks of the payment due date, 95 per cent of claims are paid in full.</p><p>DWP continues to monitor payment timeliness and we have made changes to improve payment timeliness. For example, we have built processes into the system to make it easier and quicker for people to verify information such as their housing costs.</p><p> </p><p>Advances are available to provide financial support until the first payment and these can now be repaid over a course of 12 months and can consist of up to 100 per cent of the indicative monthly award. We have also abolished waiting days and now provide 2 weeks of housing support to claimants moving to Universal Credit from Housing Benefit.</p><p> </p><p>If a claim has been delayed due to error, DWP can also consider awarding an ex-gratia payment, as set out in the guide of Financial Redress for Maladministration, available on gov.uk, and which is attached.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 31/07/2018 13:50:40 question first ministerially corrected 31/07/2018 14:41:10 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe attachment 1 file name HL9817 Financial Redress for Maladministration FR.PDF title Financial Redress for Maladministration previous answer version 72633 answering member printed Baroness Buscombe answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

947586

	registered interest
	date	24/07/2018
	answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept id	201
	answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	hansard heading	Motor Vehicles: Manufacturing Industries
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the current health of the UK car industry.
	tabling member printed	Lord Kennedy of Southwark
	uin	HL9862
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/07/2018 answer text <p>The UK’s automotive industry is world leading and global demand for UK designed, engineered, and manufactured vehicles is strong. We are determined to ensure that the UK continues to be one of the most competitive locations in the world for automotive and other advanced manufacturing. Ministers regularly meet senior automotive executives, both through the Automotive Council and individually, to discuss a wide range of matters.</p> answering member printed Lord Henley question first answered 31/07/2018 12:16:01 answering member 2616 label Biography information for Lord Henley
	tabling member	4153 label Biography information for Lord Kennedy of Southwark

947537

	registered interest
	date	24/07/2018
	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	Poverty: Children
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made, or intend to make, of the report of the Resolution Foundation, Living Standards Audit 2018, published on 24 July, and its conclusion that the proportion of children in poverty has risen by 21 per cent in the five years to 2016, rather than their estimate of 11 per cent.
	tabling member printed	Lord Bird
	uin	HL9830
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/07/2018 answer text <p>Benefit under-reporting in household surveys is a well-known, long standing issue. To date it has not been possible to accurately resolve this. The Resolution Foundation’s report published on 24 July attempts to correct this issue. However, they do not have accurate information on which households are under-reporting. Consequently, they use a series of assumptions to select a number of households in the survey, allocating them additional income from benefits. This means the conclusions in the report will be sensitive to the households selected; different assumptions will give different results.</p><p> </p><p>DWP is currently working towards a more accurate solution to correct this issue, whereby survey records are combined with administrative data to improve the quality of the survey data. Making this correction is likely to reduce the number of individuals classed as being in low income.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 31/07/2018 13:51:06 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	4564 label Biography information for Lord Bird

947108

	registered interest
	date	23/07/2018
	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	Local Housing Allowance: Care Leavers
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to implement the recommendation in the Social Security Advisory Committee’s report Young People Living Independently, published in May, to extend the exemption for care leavers from the Shared Accommodation Rate of Local Housing Allowance until they reach age 25.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Lister of Burtersett
	uin	HL9798
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/07/2018 answer text <p>The Government has no plans at present to implement the recommendation in the Social Security Advisory Committee’s report “Young People Living Independently” to extend the exemption for care leavers from the Shared Accommodation Rate until age 25. We will, however, keep this under review as the current lack of data means we are unable to be clear about the size of the problem. We continue to work with the Department for Education to develop the evidence base and consider evidence from stakeholders on the impact that the shared accommodation has on care leavers.</p><p> </p><p>Since 2011 the Government has provided around £1 billion in Discretionary Housing Payment funding to local authorities to help support vulnerable people, including care leavers, mitigate rent shortfalls.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 31/07/2018 13:50:06 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	4234 label Biography information for Baroness Lister of Burtersett

947081

	registered interest
	date	23/07/2018
	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
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Buscombe on 19 July (HL9263), on what evidence they determined that gender is relevant to the needs arising from long-term health conditions or disabilities while ethnicity is not; and whether they will place a copy of that evidence in the Library of the House.
	tabling member printed	Lord Boateng
	uin	HL9771
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/07/2018 answer text <p>Whilst designing Personal Independence Payment (PIP), the Department considered the relevance of what data should be collected and recorded to support the good management of a PIP claim. PIP is based on needs arising from a long-term health condition or disability so gender is not a factor in the decision making process in PIP.</p><p> </p><p>However, the collection of data on gender supports the good management of PIP claims as it supports our communications with claimants.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 31/07/2018 13:49:29 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	147 label Biography information for Lord Boateng

947080

	registered interest
	date	23/07/2018
	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
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Buscombe on 19 July (HL9263), whether they will publish the outcome of their consideration of how to give assurance that the assessment process for Personal Independent Payments does not disproportionately affect BAME communities.
	tabling member printed	Lord Boateng
	uin	HL9770
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/07/2018 answer text <p>We are currently considering the approach we will take to this work and will decide on the most suitable method of disseminating the outcomes as part of that activity.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 31/07/2018 13:49:04 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	147 label Biography information for Lord Boateng

945623

	registered interest
	date	20/07/2018
	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: Ethnic Groups
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they conduct ethnic monitoring of social security benefits, including Universal Credit; and if so, whether this system collects data on the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Lister of Burtersett
	uin	HL9752
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/07/2018 answer text <p>Claimants, including Universal Credit claimants, are given the option to provide their ethnicity for monitoring purposes. We have published volumes of claimants broken down by ethnicity for some benefits. This is publically available and can be accessed using DWP’s Stat-Xplore function on the gov.uk website, or the Nomis service provided by the Office for National Statistics.</p><p> </p><p>The data is not broken down to Gypsy, Roma and Travellers. These individuals are captured in the larger ethnic group they identify with.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 31/07/2018 13:48:38 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	4234 label Biography information for Baroness Lister of Burtersett

945620

	registered interest
	date	20/07/2018
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Legal Aid Scheme: Immigration
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the removal of non-asylum immigration cases from the scope of legal aid on young migrants with limited leave to remain.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Lister of Burtersett
	uin	HL9749
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/07/2018 answer text <p>The Government is currently undertaking a post-implementation review of the impact of the legal aid changes made under the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012. An assessment of the impact of recent changes to the provision of legal aid for non-asylum immigration cases will be made as part of the review process.</p><p> </p><p>We have recently announced our intention to amend the scope of legal aid for unaccompanied and separated migrant children. This scope change will be informed by evidence gathered as a result of the review and delivered with the help of a consultative group.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 31/07/2018 12:00:52 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
	tabling member	4234 label Biography information for Baroness Lister of Burtersett

945619

	registered interest
	date	20/07/2018
	answering body	Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	Treasury
	hansard heading	Government Securities
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what UK Treasury Bills are available for purchase on any given day.
	tabling member printed	Lord Kennedy of Southwark
	uin	HL9748
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/07/2018 answer text <p>Treasury bills are typically sold by the UK Debt Management Office (DMO) via regular tenders each Friday morning. Maturities currently offered for sale are one-month, three-month and six-month bills. Alongside the results of each Friday morning’s tender, the DMO also announces the amounts for sale via tender for the following Friday.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, on any business day, the DMO can sell either new or existing Treasury bills (which match those previously sold at a tender) bilaterally on request from its counterparties, provided that such issuance is consistent with the DMO’s cash management operational requirements.</p><p> </p><p>Finally, Treasury Bill Primary Participants (banks) may also offer a market-making service in all Treasury bills to their own counterparties on any business day.</p> answering member printed Lord Bates question first answered 31/07/2018 12:07:57 answering member 1091 label Biography information for Lord Bates
	tabling member	4153 label Biography information for Lord Kennedy of Southwark

945608

	registered interest
	date	20/07/2018
	answering body	Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	Treasury
	hansard heading	Infrastructure
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government when they will respond to the National Infrastructure Commission's National Infrastructure Assessment 2018, published in July.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Featherstone
	uin	HL9737
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/07/2018 answer text <p>The government welcomed the publication of the National Infrastructure Assessment (NIA), and is considering the recommendations.</p><p> </p><p>As set out in the National Infrastructure Commission’s Framework Document, the government will respond to the NIC’s recommendations as soon as practical, and endeavour to respond within 6 months, and no longer than a year.</p> answering member printed Lord Bates question first answered 31/07/2018 12:07:17 answering member 1091 label Biography information for Lord Bates
	tabling member	1531 label Biography information for Baroness Featherstone

945601

	registered interest
	date	20/07/2018
	answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept id	16
	answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	hansard heading	UN Security Council
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they support calls for the introduction of a code of conduct that would restrain the veto power of the permanent members of the UN Security Council in cases of mass atrocities such as genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes; and what assessment they have made of the likelihood that such a code will be introduced.
	tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
	uin	HL9730
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/07/2018 answer text <p>​The UK wholeheartedly supports the principle that the Security Council must act to stop mass atrocities. That is why the UK signed up to the Accountability, Coherence and Transparency Group's Code of Conduct in 2015. The Code of Conduct calls on all Council members not to vote against a credible draft resolution on timely and decisive action to end, or prevent, the commission of genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes. As of 1 June 2018 the Code of Conduct has been signed by 115 UN member states and 2 observers.</p> answering member printed Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon question first answered 31/07/2018 15:09:22 answering member 4210 label Biography information for Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
	tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool

945600

	registered interest
	date	20/07/2018
	answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept id	16
	answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	hansard heading	Nigeria: Violence
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 19 July (HL9364), in what ways President Buhari has "strongly condemned" the killing of Nigerian Christians by Fulani militia; and whether any people have been (1) charged with, and (2) prosecuted for, those killings.
	tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
	uin	HL9729
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/07/2018 answer text <p>​President Buhari has repeatedly condemned the violence and expressed his concern for the lives lost. This year, he has made public statements in February, when he ordered the arrest of those carrying illegal arms, announced the deployment of additional security, and offered his condolences to the victims. In April, addressing the congregation at a Catholic Church, he described as &quot;vile, evil and satanic&quot; the killing of worshippers and two priests at a Catholic church in Benue State. He called on Nigerians to refrain from reprisal attacks. In June, he spoke about the killings in Plateau State, and reiterated his Government's determination to bring those responsible to justice. We are not aware of anyone having been charged. We call on communities not to take the law into their own hands but to work with security forces and the authorities to bring those responsible to justice in accordance with the rule of law.</p> answering member printed Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon question first answered 31/07/2018 15:08:50 answering member 4210 label Biography information for Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
	tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool

944945

	registered interest
	date	19/07/2018
	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	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Baroness Buscombe on 19 July, stating that "on underpayments, I should be clear that no one suffered a cash loss", what is their definition of a cash loss; what term a claimant should use to describe an underpayment; what is the difference between an underpayment, a payment in full and an overpayment; and whether they consider an overpayment to be a cash benefit to the recipient.
	tabling member printed	Lord Touhig
	uin	HL9728
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/07/2018 answer text <p>No-one suffered a cash loss when they were converted from incapacity benefits to Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) because where the amount of ESA they were entitled to was lower than the previous incapacity benefit award, it was ‘topped up’ to match their previous award by a transitional addition.</p><p> </p><p>We are unable to say whether someone has been underpaid on conversion from incapacity benefit to ESA and is due arrears of benefit until we have gathered the necessary financial information (by way of an ESA3 form) and reviewed their award.</p><p> </p><p>Overpayments are when a claimant is paid more in benefit than they are entitled to. Underpayments are when a claimant is paid less than they are entitled to. The Department seeks to recover overpayments of benefit in accordance with the appropriate legislation.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 31/07/2018 12:22:19 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	542 label Biography information for Lord Touhig

944944

	registered interest
	date	19/07/2018
	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 what improvements in payment timelines they expect to achieve for claimants of Universal Credit in 2018.
	tabling member printed	Lord Touhig
	uin	HL9727
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/07/2018 answer text <p>Around 80 per cent of new claims are paid in full and on time. In many cases, where full payment is not made on time by the end of the first assessment period, this is as a result of unresolved issues such as: some claimants have not signed their Claimant Commitment or passed identity checks, and the others have outstanding verification issues, such as for housing and self-employed earnings. Whilst their verification is on-going, many of these claimants receive a part payment for those elements of the claim that have been resolved. Within five weeks of the payment due date, 95 per cent of claims are paid in full.</p><p>DWP continues to monitor payment timeliness and we have made changes to improve payment timeliness. For example, we have built processes into the system to make it easier and quicker for people to verify information such as their housing costs.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 31/07/2018 12:22:38 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	542 label Biography information for Lord Touhig

944943

	registered interest
	date	19/07/2018
	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 what plans they have to reduce the number of Universal Credit claimants experiencing financial difficulties from four in 10, as reported in their Universal Credit Full Source Survey, published in June.
	tabling member printed	Lord Touhig
	uin	HL9726
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/07/2018 answer text <p>We have introduced a number of measures to support and reduce the number of claimants facing financial difficulties.</p><p>We are investing up to £200 million into budgeting and digital support, to help claimants with the transition to Universal Credit and our work coaches work closely with claimants, ensuring they can identify any vulnerabilities or specific needs, such as financial difficulties, at an early stage. We have also invested £1.5 billion in a package of measures to support claimants financially in the first assessment period.</p><p>From 3 January, claimants have been getting advances of up to 100 per cent of their indicative monthly entitlement within a few days. From 14 February, waiting days were removed, and from 11 April, claimants transitioning to Universal Credit from Housing Benefit have been getting an additional 2 weeks of housing cost payments.</p><p>In June, we announced additional protection for people who receive Severe Disability Premium – they will stay on legacy benefits until Transitional Protection applies and we will introduce protection for those who have already moved on to Universal Credit.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 31/07/2018 12:21:49 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	542 label Biography information for Lord Touhig

944942

	registered interest
	date	19/07/2018
	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 whether they measure the number of claimants of Universal Credit who are experiencing financial hardship; and if so, how many such claimants there are.
	tabling member printed	Lord Touhig
	uin	HL9725
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/07/2018 answer text <p>For many people who do experience financial difficulties, these pre-date their claim to Universal Credit. For example, in their report published on 11 July 2018, the National Federation of Arms-Length Management Organisations (ALMOs) of Social Housing providers found that of those Universal Credit households in rent arrears, 76 per cent had arrears prior to moving onto Universal Credit.</p><p> </p><p>In the Universal Credit Claimant survey, published in June 2018, 4 in 10 claimants reported they were having difficulties keeping up with bills. In 2011/12 in the report “Work and the welfare system: a survey of benefits and tax credits recipients” from 2011/12, one in three main claimants said they run out of money before the end of the week/month always or most of the time, and a further third said this happens more often than not or sometimes. Both surveys are available on gov.uk.</p><p> </p><p>Unlike in the legacy system, we are investing around £200 million over the Universal Credit implementation period into Universal Support to help claimants with budget management and digital support. Our work coaches work closely with claimants, ensuring they can identify any vulnerabilities such as financial hardship at an early stage. They can then tailor support according to claimants’ individual needs and help to address these issues.</p><p> </p><p>We also have a system of advances and budgeting support to help people with the transition to Universal Credit. From 3 January 2018, we increased the repayment period of Universal Credit advances to 12 months, with claimants able to get up to 100 per cent of their estimated monthly entitlement upfront. These advances are available to claimants interest-free, and from July 2018, can be applied for online.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 31/07/2018 12:18:44 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	542 label Biography information for Lord Touhig

944941

	registered interest
	date	19/07/2018
	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 they (1) identify, and (2) measure the number of, people having difficulties with claiming Universal Credit.
	tabling member printed	Lord Touhig
	uin	HL9724
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/07/2018 answer text <p>The Department is continually working to improve the claimant journey for Universal Credit. The Universal Credit Full Service Claimant Survey found that 98 per cent of claims are made online, and that nearly half of claimants had help from others or from their jobcentre adviser to do so, demonstrating that those who need it are accessing the support available to them.</p><p> </p><p>The survey also found that 31 per cent of claimants said they need more on-going support with using their Universal Credit digital account. To address this, we are investing up to £200 million into budgeting and digital support, to help claimants with the transition to Universal Credit. This is delivered by the Department and through partners such as local authorities and other third party organisations.</p><p> </p><p>All jobcentres across the country have free Wi-Fi, and there are more than 8,000 computers available to support customers who need help with making their claim digitally and applying for jobs online. Work coaches will also assist anyone who needs assistance. If people cannot get online we have also a freephone helpline available.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 31/07/2018 12:17:53 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	542 label Biography information for Lord Touhig

944940

	registered interest
	date	19/07/2018
	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 what success they have had in identifying and tracking claimants of Universal Credit whom they deem vulnerable.
	tabling member printed	Lord Touhig
	uin	HL9723
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/07/2018 answer text <p>Where notified by a Local Authority or a claimant, DWP staff currently updates the claimant profile with any temporary or long term complex needs and how that affects the claimant’s ability to use the service. This enables Universal Credit agents and work coaches to provide individuals with appropriate personalised support.</p><p>Underlying this approach is the principle that not all individuals with a disability, health condition or other set of personal circumstances will necessarily require support, while some will only need support for a period of time. Our work coaches deliver a personalised journey based on individual claimant needs.</p><p>The Department is looking to further improve our system to better identify vulnerable claimants with the use of a new ‘pinning’ function. This involves testing methods to extract data on information recorded in the claimant profile using text matching techniques. We have plans to introduce a function to ‘pin’ key profile notes so they are instantly visible to all staff helping a claimant. The Department is beginning wider work to examine how claimants tell us about their complex needs, how we record them and how we can extract data which can help us monitor and improve support.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 31/07/2018 12:19:38 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	542 label Biography information for Lord Touhig

944934

	registered interest
	date	19/07/2018
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Corruption
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether closed courts are being used for settlements and penalties relating to financial corruption where a trial has not taken place; and if so, why.
	tabling member printed	Lord Rooker
	uin	HL9717
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/07/2018 answer text <p>Where a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) is reached for an economic crime, it must include a declaration in open court that the DPA is in the interests of justice and its terms are fair, reasonable and proportionate. The SFO has entered into 4 DPA’s to date: in each case the final hearing was held in public.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 31/07/2018 11:56:43 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
	tabling member	302 label Biography information for Lord Rooker

944929

	registered interest
	date	19/07/2018
	answering body	Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	Treasury
	hansard heading	Public Sector Debt
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their calculation of what the cumulative cost of debt interest would be by 2045/46 if they only balanced the current budget.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Neville-Rolfe
	uin	HL9712
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/07/2018 answer text <p>The Managing Fiscal Risks document, published by the Treasury on the 17<sup>th</sup> July, projects that if the government only balanced the Current Budget every year from 2021-22, then after taking account of economic shocks, annual debt interest costs in 2045-46 would rise to 4.3% of Gross Domestic Product.</p><p> </p><p>The cumulative cost of these interest payments from the current financial year to 2045-46 is projected to be £3.7 trillion.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Bates question first answered 31/07/2018 12:06:48 answering member 1091 label Biography information for Lord Bates
	tabling member	4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe

944925

	registered interest
	date	19/07/2018
	answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept id	201
	answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	hansard heading	Fire Resistant Materials
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they take to ensure that all flame retardants are safe (1) in normal use, (2) during fires, and (3) at the end of life when they are disposed of.
	tabling member printed	The Countess of Mar
	uin	HL9708
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/07/2018 answer text <p>Manufacturers and distributors must ensure all consumer products are safe before they are placed on the UK market, including those that use flame retardants. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs have lead responsibility for environmental policy and restrictions on chemicals.</p> answering member printed Lord Henley question first answered 31/07/2018 12:15:26 answering member 2616 label Biography information for Lord Henley
	tabling member	1861 label Biography information for The Countess of Mar

944910

	registered interest
	date	19/07/2018
	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 what assessment they have made of whether the level of identity verification required to sign up to Universal Credit is adequate; what reviews, if any, they have undertaken to ensure that online applications do not require a higher standard of identity assurance than is applied elsewhere; and how they are trying to clear the current backlog of face-to-face interview appointments.
	tabling member printed	Lord Freyberg
	uin	HL9693
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/07/2018 answer text <p>DWP takes the security of Universal Credit very seriously, this includes verifying who our claimants are; we continue to work to maintain the high standards of our identity verification processes. There are various ways in which a claimant can verify their identity for Universal Credit purposes: online using the gov.uk verify service; in person using primary and secondary ID verification or; by using biographical questions.</p><p><em> </em></p><p>In line with advice from the National Cyber Security Centre and best practice, we treat identity proofing as just one of many defences that combine to mitigate attempted fraud. In line with our “test and learn” approach to delivering Universal Credit, we continuously assess the levels of security and fraud risk to both Government and our users, as it is critical that we strike the right balance between making the service as smooth as possible for claimants and protecting the taxpayer against fraud. We reviewed the level of identity required to strike this balance prior to the introduction of gov.uk Verify as an option for users to prove their identity online into the service and found that it, in combination with the other defences against fraud built into the service, gave a sufficiently strong level of proof. As Universal Credit continues to roll out, we are again reviewing the level of identity and the options available to further improve claimants’ experience while protecting DWP against fraud as part of wider efficiency improvements.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 31/07/2018 12:17:15 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	2593 label Biography information for Lord Freyberg

944900

	registered interest
	date	19/07/2018
	answering body	Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	Treasury
	hansard heading	Poverty
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to end the poverty premium.
	tabling member printed	Lord Bird
	uin	HL9683
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/07/2018 answer text <p>Since 2010 there are 1,000,000 fewer people, including 300,000 fewer children, in absolute low income (before housing costs), both record lows.</p><p> </p><p>The government has a range of policies to support households with their energy bills such as the Warm Home Discount, Energy Company Obligation and Winter Fuel Payment schemes. The government is also committed to ensuring that individuals, regardless of their background or income, have access to useful and affordable financial products and services, and has established a Financial Inclusion Policy Forum, which provides leadership and ensures collaboration across government and with the sector in tackling financial exclusion.</p> answering member printed Lord Bates question first answered 31/07/2018 12:06:00 answering member 1091 label Biography information for Lord Bates
	tabling member	4564 label Biography information for Lord Bird

944443

	registered interest
	date	18/07/2018
	answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept id	16
	answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	hansard heading	British Overseas Territories
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have received any proposals from the governments of any of the British Overseas Territories to alter the status of those Territories' relationships with the United Kingdom.
	tabling member printed	Viscount Waverley
	uin	HL9677
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/07/2018 answer text <p>As I have stated previously, and as set out in the 2012 White Paper, we believe that the fundamental structure of our constitutional relationship with the Overseas Territories is the right one. However, we are happy to consider any proposals on changes to constitutions put forward by any of the Overseas Territories. Officials are currently reviewing two such proposals.</p> answering member printed Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon question first answered 31/07/2018 14:54:27 answering member 4210 label Biography information for Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
	tabling member	1744 label Biography information for Viscount Waverley

944437

	registered interest
	date	18/07/2018
	answering body	Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	Treasury
	hansard heading	NHS: Finance
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the findings of the Office for Budget Responsibility, 2018 Fiscal Sustainability Report, published in July, that there will not be a Brexit dividend to fund their spending pledges for the health service.
	tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
	uin	HL9672
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/07/2018 answer text <p>The OBR Fiscal Sustainability Report (FSR) stated that “there will be direct savings from the net contributions to the EU budget that the UK will no longer have to make” after leaving the EU. These savings can be allocated to domestic priorities.</p><p> </p><p>As the Prime Minister set out, the NHS is the government’s number one spending priority. The announcement stated that the government’s commitment to the NHS will be partly funded by money that we will no longer spend on our annual membership subscription to the European Union after we have left. In addition, taxpayers will need to contribute a bit more in a fair and balanced way. The Chancellor will set out further details at a future fiscal event.</p> answering member printed Lord Bates question first answered 31/07/2018 12:04:56 answering member 1091 label Biography information for Lord Bates
	tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick