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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

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

1144092

	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	Poverty
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, following the report by the Social Metrics Commission Measuring Poverty 2019, published in July, and the appointment of the new Prime Minister on 24 July, what plans they have to revise their strategy for tackling poverty.
	tabling member printed	Lord Bird
	uin	HL17580
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p><del class="ministerial">It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.</del><ins class="ministerial">The Government is committed to delivering a sustainable, long-term solution to poverty through reforming the welfare system so that it works with the tax system and the Labour market to support employment and higher pay. Promoting full-time work through work incentives are a key feature of this approach, reinforced by the National Living Wage and the rising Personal Tax Allowance, which work together to promote independence from benefits.</ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial">Universal Credit, which is now reaching over 2 million households, has already shown that it is more effective in getting people into work than the legacy benefits it replaces. Nine months into a UC claim, 40% of claimants are working for an employer in a paid role, compared with only 23% at the start of their claim. </ins><br /> <br /><ins class="ministerial"> The number of people in employment has increased by over 3.7 million since 2010. Three-quarters of the growth in employment has been in full-time work which substantially reduces the chances of being in poverty.</ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial">The Government is working with the Social Metrics Commission, and other experts in the field, to develop new experimental statistics which will help us to find new and better ways to analyse poverty in this country. These will be published in 2020 and, in the long-run, could help us target support more effectively.</ins></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott question first answered 09/09/2019 15:23:29 question first ministerially corrected 30/09/2019 14:54:43 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott previous answer version 134826 answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott
	tabling member	4564 label Biography information for Lord Bird

1144129

	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	Pension Credit
	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 22 July (HL16979), whether they will provide details of the funding for charities that work with older people to support the take-up of Pension Credit in each of the three years specified in the original question.
	tabling member printed	Lord Foulkes of Cumnock
	uin	HL17617
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p><del class="ministerial">It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.</del><ins class="ministerial">The Government works with a wide range of stakeholders including charitable organisations to promote the take-up of Pension Credit. However, the DWP does not provide specific funding to such organisations for Pension Credit take-up related activities. Support is available through a variety of information resources including the Pension Credit toolkit, which is an on-line tool for organisations to use in order to encourage people to claim Pension Credit.</ins></p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott question first answered 09/09/2019 15:36:02 question first ministerially corrected 02/10/2019 14:06:45 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott previous answer version 134866 answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott
	tabling member	579 label Biography information for Lord Foulkes of Cumnock

1144138

	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	Sanitation
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether there is a statutory requirement for public buildings and offices to provide appropriate disposal bins for the disposal of stoma and other continence products and personal care products in (1) female, and (2) male toilets.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Greengross
	uin	HL17626
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p><del class="ministerial">It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.</del></p><p><ins class="ministerial">The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 cover a wide range of basic health, safety and welfare issues and apply to most workplaces. These Regulations require for suitable and sufficient sanitary conveniences to be available at readily accessible places. The attached documents the <em>Workplace Health Safety and Welfare Approved Code of Practice and Guidance</em> (L24) and <em>Welfare at Work – Guidance for employers</em> (INDG293), which are guidance to help dutyholders comply with the regulations, say:</ins></p><ul><li><ins class="ministerial">provision must be made for any worker with a disability to enable them to have access to facilities which are adjusted for their use as necessary; and</ins></li></ul><p><ins class="ministerial"> </ins></p><ul><li><ins class="ministerial">that toilets used by women should be provided with suitable means for the disposal of sanitary dressings.</ins></li></ul><p><ins class="ministerial"> </ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial">There are no equivalent requirements for men.</ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial"> </ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial">These regulations do not apply to non-workplaces; however, the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government’s building regulations are applicable to public buildings and the advice is:</ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial"> </ins></p><ul><li><ins class="ministerial">Statutory guidance supporting Part M of the building regulations, includes a sanitary waste disposal bin in accessible toilets. All building other than dwellings in scope, including offices and all public buildings would require as a minimum one accessible toilet where a stoma bag can be safely disposed of.</ins></li></ul><p><ins class="ministerial"> </ins></p><ul><li><ins class="ministerial">Building Regulations come with statutory guidance on the layout of wheelchair-accessible unisex toilets. These toilets offer private space for anyone needing to attend to a medical need and are not exclusively for use by ambulant disabled people. The guidance for accessible WCs includes a sanitary waste disposal bin with a lid and a wash hand basin. The layout and content of these spaces are controlled in all newly built offices and public buildings.</ins></li></ul><p><ins class="ministerial"> </ins></p><ul><li><ins class="ministerial">The statutory guidance given in Approved Document M (Access to and use of buildings) also points to the British Standard BS8300-2:2018 “Design of an accessible and inclusive built environment. Buildings. Code of practice”. This independent best practice standard was updated in January 2018 with further information describing best practice in a range of toilets for people treating a medical condition.</ins></li></ul><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott attachment 1 file name HL17626 attachment 1 Workplace health and safety regulations.pdf title Workplace Health, Safety and Welfare 2 file name HL17626 attachment 2 Welfare at work.pdf title Welfare at Work question first answered 09/09/2019 15:38:19 question first ministerially corrected 30/09/2019 11:58:41 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott previous answer version 134882 answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott
	tabling member	2518 label Biography information for Baroness Greengross

1144160

	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	Housing Benefit
	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 case for increasing the (1) scope, and (2) total amount, of housing benefit, including any resulting savings on temporary accommodation and other costs.
	tabling member printed	Lord Hylton
	uin	HL17648
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p><del class="ministerial">It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.</del></p><p><strong><ins class="ministerial">No assessment has been made of the case for increasing the scope of housing support. Housing support in the private rented sector is based on the Local Housing Allowance and decisions on the uprating of Local Housing Allowance from April 2020 will form part of the discussions in support fiscal events later this year.</ins></strong></p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott question first answered 09/09/2019 15:39:15 question first ministerially corrected 30/09/2019 12:02:40 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott previous answer version 134928 answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott
	tabling member	2018 label Biography information for Lord Hylton

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

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

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