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1143378

	registered interest
	date	02/09/2019
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Universal Credit
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions she has had with local authority leaders on the effect of the roll-out of universal credit on the level of demand for councils’ Local Welfare Provision schemes.
	tabling member constituency	Kingston upon Hull North
	tabling member printed	Diana Johnson
	uin	284844
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p>The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has regular contact with a range of partner organisations concerning Universal Credit including representatives from local government.</p><p>The reforms to the Social Fund in 2013 allowed local authorities in England and the devolved administrations in Scotland and Wales to deliver their own local provision for people who are in need of urgent help. Local authorities are best placed to decide how to target flexible help to support local welfare needs.</p><p>We passed funding over to local authorities and devolved administrations from April 2013. This gave them maximum flexibility to deliver services as they see fit according to local needs.</p><p>New Burdens funding has been provided to councils to cover additional costs associated with Universal Credit. In 2017/18 the Department paid £13m in New Burdens funding and paid £14m in New Burdens for 2018/19. Last year we worked with a number of Local Authorities to refresh these costs resulting in £18m in New Burdens being paid in 2019/20. 67 Local Authorities received a total of £4.7m in extra payments to recognise alleged additional costs caused in the early stages of roll out.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 09/09/2019 15:40:52 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	1533 label Biography information for Dame Diana Johnson

1144372

	registered interest
	date	03/09/2019
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Universal Credit
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what options her Department is considering to reduce the five week waiting time for universal credit claimants.
	tabling member constituency	East Ham
	tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
	uin	286082
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p>Nobody has to wait for five weeks for a payment following an application for Universal Credit (UC).</p><p> </p><p>UC new claim advances provide access to a payment for those in financial need, which can be accessed urgently, until their first regular UC payment is due. Claimants can access up to 100% of the total expected monthly award, for which they can pay back over a period of up to 12 months.</p><p> </p><p>The Department has taken a number of steps to ensure that advances meet the needs of claimants and that recovery arrangements are personalised and reasonable. The maximum rate of deductions cannot normally exceed 40 per cent of the UC standard allowance and does not reduce other components of an award, such as money paid for children, housing or when someone is caring for a severely disabled person. From October 2019 this will be reduced to 30 per cent and from October 2021 we are increasing the maximum recovery period for advances from 12 to 16 months.</p><p> </p><p>This is just one of a number of measures the Department has put in place to support claimants such as paying those claimants moving from Housing Benefit to UC a two week ‘transitional housing payment’. We are also introducing a two-week run on for eligible claimants of Income Support, Jobseeker’s Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance from July 2020.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 09/09/2019 15:32:16 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

1144373

	registered interest
	date	03/09/2019
	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, what assessment has been made of the affordability of (a) one and (b) two bedroom properties for Local Housing Allowance claimants in each region of England and Wales.
	tabling member constituency	East Ham
	tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
	uin	286083
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p>The proportion of private market rents that are at or below the LHA rate for (a) one and (b) two bedroom accommodation for each region in England and Wales are set out below. This is based on:</p><ul><li>2019/20 LHA rates published here <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-housing-allowance-lha-rates-applicable-from-april-2019-to-march-2020" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-housing-allowance-lha-rates-applicable-from-april-2019-to-march-2020</a></li></ul><ul><li>Valuation Office Agency data <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-housing-allowance-list-of-rents" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-housing-allowance-list-of-rents</a></li></ul><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>1 Bed</p></td><td><p>2 Bed</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>East Midlands</p></td><td><p>17%</p></td><td><p>17%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Eastern</p></td><td><p>9%</p></td><td><p>9%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>London</p></td><td><p>7%</p></td><td><p>7%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>North East</p></td><td><p>26%</p></td><td><p>25%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>North West</p></td><td><p>23%</p></td><td><p>22%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>South East</p></td><td><p>10%</p></td><td><p>10%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>South West</p></td><td><p>14%</p></td><td><p>14%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>West Midlands</p></td><td><p>16%</p></td><td><p>14%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Yorks &amp; the Humber</p></td><td><p>20%</p></td><td><p>21%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Wales</p></td><td><p>22%</p></td><td><p>22%</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 09/09/2019 15:43:34 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

1143590

	registered interest
	date	02/09/2019
	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, what assessment she has made of the effect of the benefit cap on the income of families with more than two children.
	tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
	tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
	uin	285025
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p>In May 2019, 49,700 households had their Housing Benefit claim capped in Great Britain, of which 44,800 households had 2 or more dependent children. Claimants are exempt from the cap in Housing Benefit if they are entitled to Working Tax Credits. UC households are exempt if they have earnings of at least £569 per month. There are also exemptions for the most vulnerable groups such as severely disabled claimants and carers. In addition, households are exempt from the cap for 9 months (the grace period) if there is a previous consistent work history.</p><p>The average weekly cap amount for households with 2 or more dependent children deducted from the Housing Benefit award was £56 in May 2019, compared to an average cap amount of £55 for all capped households.</p><p>(Source: DWP Stat Xplore portal, ‘Benefit cap average amount by family type’ table)</p><p>In May 2019, 25,700 households had their Universal Credit claim capped in Great Britain, of which 89% (23,000) had dependent children. Statistics on the Universal Credit capped caseload, by number of dependent children in the household, will be published for the first time on the DWP Stat-Xplore portal during the w/c 9th September.</p> answering member constituency Eastleigh answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 09/09/2019 14:36:41 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield

1143766

	registered interest
	date	02/09/2019
	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: Lone Parents
	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 benefit cap on single parent households with dependent children in Scotland.
	tabling member constituency	Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill
	tabling member printed	Hugh Gaffney
	uin	285022
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p>The table below shows the number of households in Scotland that have had their Housing Benefit or Universal Credit capped between the introduction of cap and May 2019 (‘cumulative caseload’), and latest capped caseload in May 2019 (‘point in time caseload’), for all capped households and lone parents.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td rowspan="2"><p><strong>Benefit cap caseload in Scotland</strong></p></td><td colspan="2"><p><strong>Housing Benefit</strong></p></td><td colspan="2"><p><strong>Universal Credit</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Total</p></td><td><p>Lone parents</p></td><td><p>Total</p></td><td><p>Lone parents</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Cumulative capped caseload (up to May 2016)</strong></p></td><td><p>12,500</p></td><td><p>6,200</p></td><td><p>1,100</p></td><td><p>600</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>% of which are lone parents</p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>50%</p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>53%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Point-in-time capped caseload (May 2019)</strong></p></td><td><p>2,700</p></td><td><p>1,800</p></td><td><p>600</p></td><td><p>400</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>% of which are lone parents</p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>67%</p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>64%</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><strong>Source:</strong> DWP benefit cap official statistics up to May 2019, August 2019 publication</p><p> </p><p><strong>Notes: </strong></p><p>1) All figures are rounded to the nearest 100 households.</p><p>2) Lone parents are defined are single person households with dependent children.</p><p>3) For Housing Benefit claimants, the cumulative capped caseload is the number of households that have had their Housing Benefit capped between the introduction of the benefit cap on 15 April 2013 to May 2019.</p><p>4) For Universal Credit claimants, the cumulative capped caseload is the number of households that had their Universal Credit capped between October 2016 and May 2019. Universal Credit benefit cap data is only available from October 2016 onwards.</p><p> </p><p>The average weekly cap amount under Housing Benefit for lone parents in Scotland in May 2019 was £60, compared to an average of £55 for all households in Great Britain. We do not currently publish the average cap amount for Universal Credit capped households, by family type, but are planning to publish this information for the first time on the DWP Stat-Xplore portal during the w/c 9th September.</p> answering member constituency Eastleigh answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 09/09/2019 14:51:41 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	4614 label Biography information for Hugh Gaffney

1144476

	registered interest
	date	03/09/2019
	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	Older Workers
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent steps her Department has taken to support older workers.
	tabling member constituency	Woking
	tabling member printed	Mr Jonathan Lord
	uin	286217
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p>The number of older people in employment is at a record high. There are now 10.6 million workers aged 50 and over in the workforce compared to 9.1 million five years ago. In 2018/19, the employment level for 50+ individuals in the Woking constituency was estimated at 19,300 (Source: Annual Population Survey, NOMIS).</p><p> </p><p>To support older workers to remain and return to the labour market, the Government has removed the Default Retirement Age meaning most people can choose when to retire, and extended the right to request flexible working to all employees with 26 weeks’ continuous service with their employer.</p><p> </p><p>We have appointed a Business Champion for Older Workers to engage and influence employers both strategically and in terms of practical advice.</p><p> </p><p>In February 2017, the UK Government published “Fuller Working Lives: a partnership approach” to set out the role employers, individuals and Government can play in supporting fuller working lives. <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/587654/fuller-working-lives-a-partnership-approach.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/587654/fuller-working-lives-a-partnership-approach.pdf</a></p><p> </p><p>And in February this year, DWP launched an online web page which brings together money, job and health elements of the mid-life MOT. <a href="https://www.yourpension.gov.uk/mid-life-mot/" target="_blank">https://www.yourpension.gov.uk/mid-life-mot/</a></p><p> </p><p>To support employers, Business in The Community has also created MOT guides that support businesses. <a href="https://age.bitc.org.uk/tools-impact-stories/toolkits" target="_blank">https://age.bitc.org.uk/tools-impact-stories/toolkits</a></p><p> </p><p>For people who simply can’t work, our welfare system will continue to provide a strong safety net, as it does for people of all ages now. We will spend £55 billion [£55.4bn] this year (2019/20) on benefits to support disabled people and people with health conditions. This is around 2.5% of GDP, and over 6% of government spending, and as a share of GDP, the UK’s public spending is second highest in the G7, bar Germany [OECD 2015 data].</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Eastleigh answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 09/09/2019 14:25:52 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	4090 label Biography information for Mr Jonathan Lord

1144618

	registered interest
	date	04/09/2019
	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	Employment: Stress
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment the Health and Safety Executive has made of the effect of long-term trends in workplace stress on the mental and physical health of workers.
	tabling member constituency	Vale of Clwyd
	tabling member printed	Chris Ruane
	uin	286654
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p>HSE does monitor year on year statistics of work-related stress, using data gathered via the Labour Force Survey.</p><p> </p><p>The overall incidence rates have remained fairly stable over the last decade but have recently shown indications of an upward trend. This data is used as evidence to inform policy and strategy development. Within the statistics there are a series of sectors that have persistently higher than average rates of stress – education, health, local and central government.</p><p> </p><p>HSE has targeted these sectors more specifically, and its involvement has led to the development of practical tools and guidance to help support employers and employees in taking action to prevent and reduce the incidence of work-related stress and resulting mental health issues of anxiety and depression.</p> answering member constituency Eastleigh answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 09/09/2019 14:22:12 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	534 label Biography information for Chris Ruane

1144619

	registered interest
	date	04/09/2019
	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: Disqualification
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether benefit sanctions are applied in cases where parole or probation conditions have not been met satisfactorily.
	tabling member constituency	Strangford
	tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
	uin	286757
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p>Benefit sanctions are only used when people fail to meet their agreed work-related conditionality requirements without good reason.</p><p /> answering member constituency Eastleigh answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 09/09/2019 14:11:05 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1144268

	registered interest
	date	03/09/2019
	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: Dementia
	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 merits of having a designated person in job centres and social security offices to provide information to claimants with Alzheimer's disease and memory loss-related illnesses and their carers.
	tabling member constituency	Beckenham
	tabling member printed	Bob Stewart
	uin	286185
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p>DWP is committed to providing the best possible support for all our claimants, including the most vulnerable in society. We are continuously reviewing and improving the service for vulnerable people, including its claims processes, to ensure that it is accessible and responsive to their needs.</p><p> </p><p>Work coaches undergo a comprehensive learning journey which equips them with the tools, skills and behaviours required to support claimants with a range of disabilities and health conditions. This includes tailoring the support we provide to the needs of the customer, and the disabilities and health conditions they present with, and also extends to signposting to expert partner organisations for further support. Where the claimant is unable to attend the job centre due to their disability or health condition, we are able to offer a home visit from a DWP Visiting Officer.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 09/09/2019 15:33:34 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	3919 label Biography information for Bob Stewart

1144696

	registered interest
	date	04/09/2019
	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	Personal Independence Payment: Appeals
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average cost was to her Department of personal independence payment appeals which over-turned the decision of her Department over the last two years.
	tabling member constituency	South Antrim
	tabling member printed	Paul Girvan
	uin	286850
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p>The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 09/09/2019 14:11:37 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4633 label Biography information for Paul Girvan