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1138379

	registered interest
	date	11/07/2019
	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: Children
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has been made of the number of children living in poverty that have at least one parent in work.
	tabling member constituency	York Central
	tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
	uin	276232
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/07/2019 answer text <p>National statistics on the number of children in low income households are published annually in the “Households Below Average Income” publication. The latest statistics show that 1.7m children in households where at least one adult works are in 'before housing cost absolute poverty', and 2.5m are in 'after housing cost absolute poverty'.</p><p> </p><p>These statistics can be found using the link below, in table 4.20ts, in the file “children-hbai-timeseries-1994-95-2017-18-tables”.</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/households-below-average-income-199495-to-201718" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/households-below-average-income-199495-to-201718</a></p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 19/07/2019 12:30:00 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1138380

	registered interest
	date	11/07/2019
	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: Children
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the effect of the increase in the gig economy on levels of child poverty.
	tabling member constituency	York Central
	tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
	uin	276233
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/07/2019 answer text <p>National statistics on child poverty are published annually in the “Households Before Average Income” publication. These statistics do not separate households based on their employment in the gig economy and therefore do not make an assessment of the effect of the gig economy on levels of child poverty.</p><p> </p><p>Overall, 18 percent of children are in 'before housing costs absolute poverty' and 26 percent of children are in after housing costs absolute poverty. 'Before housing cost absolute poverty' is down by 1 percentage point since 2009/10 and after housing costs absolute poverty is down by 2 percentage points since 2009/10. The number of children in 'before housing cost absolute poverty' is unchanged since 2009/10 and has fallen by 100,000 for after housing cost absolute poverty.</p><p> </p><p>These statistics can be found using the link below, in table 4.2ts, in the file “children-rends-hbai-1994-95-2017-18-tables.ods”.</p><p /><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/households-below-average-income-199495-to-201718" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/households-below-average-income-199495-to-201718</a></p><p> </p><p>Advances in technology and the rise of the gig economy have increased opportunities for people to work more flexibly. While we welcome these opportunities, they cannot be at the expense of workers’ rights. That is why the Prime Minister commissioned Matthew Taylor to undertake his review of Modern Working Practices, and why the Government is taking the decisive action set out in the Good Work Plan to address his recommendations.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 19/07/2019 12:39:19 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1138414

	registered interest
	date	11/07/2019
	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	Independent Case Examiner
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many complaints to the Independent Complaints Commissioner are (a) allocated to a caseworker and (b) awaiting allocation to a caseworker as at 11 July 2019.
	tabling member constituency	East Ham
	tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
	uin	276137
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/07/2019 answer text <p>When the Independent Case Examiner’s (ICE) office accepts a complaint for investigation, it will initially attempt to broker a solution between the complainant and the relevant business area or supplier, without having to request evidence to inform an investigation – this is known as “resolution”. If it’s not possible to resolve the complaint, the evidence will be requested and the case will await allocation to an Investigation Case Manager (ICM). The majority of complaints that are referred to ICE are complex and require a full investigation.</p><p> </p><p>Complaint investigations are dealt with by dedicated teams and complaints are usually brought into investigation in strict date order. The time complaints wait to be allocated for investigation varies depending on the volume and complexity of cases on hand and the available investigative resource. Productivity within the ICE Office increased during the 2018-19 reporting year, with the Office clearing 1,246 complaints, compared to 955 during the 2017-18 reporting year.</p><p> </p><p>As at 11 July 2019, there were 488 complaints under investigation (allocated to an ICM), and 1,377 complaints were awaiting allocation to an ICM.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 16/07/2019 13:47:47 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

1138415

	registered interest
	date	11/07/2019
	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	Independent Case Examiner
	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 time taken is between a case being accepted by the Independent Complaints Commissioner and being allocated to a caseworker in the most recent period for which figures are available; and if she will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	East Ham
	tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
	uin	276138
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/07/2019 answer text <p>Complaint investigations are dealt with by dedicated teams and complaints are usually brought into investigation in strict date order. The time complaints wait to be allocated to an Investigation Case Manager (ICM) varies depending on the volume and complexity of cases on hand and the available investigative resource. Productivity within the ICE Office increased during the 2018-19 reporting year, with the Office clearing 1,246 complaints, compared to 955 during the 2017-18 reporting year.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>As at 11 July 2019, the average time taken for a complaint which requires investigation to be allocated to an ICM was 52 weeks.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 16/07/2019 14:01:36 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

1138418

	registered interest
	date	11/07/2019
	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	Independent Case Examiner
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many complaints for the Independent Complaints Commissioner were received in 2018; and how many of those complaints have been allocated to a caseworker.
	tabling member constituency	East Ham
	tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
	uin	276139
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/07/2019 answer text <p>The Independent Case Examiner’s (ICE) Office received 5,307 complaints in 2018 of which 1,943 were accepted for examination. Of those complaints accepted, 567 have been allocated to Case Managers.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 16/07/2019 13:45:25 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

1138459

	registered interest
	date	11/07/2019
	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: Payments
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of claims for universal credit were made using the bank account details of the main carer in each of the last 12 months.
	tabling member constituency	High Peak
	tabling member printed	Ruth George
	uin	276273
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/07/2019 answer text <p>The information requested can only be provided at disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 19/07/2019 11:25:22 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4662 label Biography information for Ruth George

1138809

	registered interest
	date	15/07/2019
	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	Department for Work and Pensions: Termination of Employment
	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 Office for National Statistics Public Sector Employment data, what assessment she has made of the effect on the performance of her Department of the loss of over 20,000 staff since 2013.
	tabling member constituency	Hove
	tabling member printed	Peter Kyle
	uin	277229
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/07/2019 answer text <p>Since 2013, through using a range of tools, we have improved the Department’s efficiency without dropping our performance levels. Our latest published figures show that we:</p><ul><li>delivered the lowest unemployment rate since 1974, getting on average 1,000 people into work every day since 2010</li><li>processed 78% of new claims within planned timescales and achieved customer satisfaction of 81%</li><li>processed Universal Credit (UC) faster - UC Full Service claimants for households with new claims receiving full payment on time had increased to around 86% in February 2019</li></ul> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 18/07/2019 14:31:43 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4505 label Biography information for Peter Kyle

1138864

	registered interest
	date	15/07/2019
	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 assessment he has made of the potential benefits of enabling childcare costs to be paid directly to providers through universal credit.
	tabling member constituency	Hampstead and Kilburn
	tabling member printed	Tulip Siddiq
	uin	277240
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/07/2019 answer text <p>The Government recently submitted its response to the Work and Pensions Select Committee’s follow-up report into Universal Credit: Childcare which sets out an assessment of the position in relation to payments direct to childcare providers. The response will be published in due course.</p><p> </p><p>Universal Credit is paid in a single monthly amount directly into people’s bank accounts, giving them control over their own money and making the move into work easier.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is committed to supporting parents with moving into work and, as part of this, we have increased the level of support for childcare costs from 70 per cent in legacy benefits to up to 85 per cent in Universal Credit. The Universal Credit childcare policy aligns with the wider government childcare offer, which includes free childcare hours and tax free childcare. This offer means that reasonable childcare costs should not form a barrier to work.</p><p> </p><p>Where upfront childcare costs or deposits may prevent a claimant from starting work, jobcentres will use the Flexible Support Fund to support the transition into work. When parents have good reason for late reporting of their childcare costs, the Department is piloting a more flexible approach to enable parents to be reimbursed at a later point.</p><p> </p><p>Since February 2018, Universal Credit claimants have been able to upload digital copies of their childcare cost receipts or invoices through their online Universal Credit account.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 18/07/2019 15:39:49 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4518 label Biography information for Tulip Siddiq

1138926

	registered interest
	date	15/07/2019
	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: Social Rented Housing
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have received under-occupancy penalty charges in each year since the introduction of those charges.
	tabling member constituency	Cardiff Central
	tabling member printed	Jo Stevens
	uin	277204
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/07/2019 answer text <p>Figures on the number of households receiving Housing Benefit affected by the Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy are publically available through the DWP Stat Xplore website:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/jsf/login.xhtml" target="_blank">https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/jsf/login.xhtml</a></p><p> </p><p>Guidance for users is available at:</p><p><a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html" target="_blank">https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html</a></p><p> </p><p>Figures on DWP Stat Xplore do not include claimants on Universal Credit with a Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy deduction, as this data is not currently available.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 18/07/2019 14:23:51 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4425 label Biography information for Jo Stevens

1138944

	registered interest
	date	15/07/2019
	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, how many full-time enforcement case managers are employed by the child maintenance service.
	tabling member constituency	Linlithgow and East Falkirk
	tabling member printed	Martyn Day
	uin	277219
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/07/2019 answer text <p>Child Maintenance Service employs 104 full-time Enforcement Case Managers. Enforcement Case Managers are those caseworkers who do court action rather than administrative enforcement action or financial investigation.</p><p> </p><p>For context the overall head count i.e. people (part-time or full-time) who are Enforcement Case Managers number 269. This equates to an overall resource, referred to as Full–time equivalent of 220.91.</p><p> </p><p>This is correct as of 30<sup>th</sup> June 2019.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 18/07/2019 15:39:45 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4488 label Biography information for Martyn Day

1139248

	registered interest
	date	16/07/2019
	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: Day Care
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to increase the (a) provision and (b) affordability of childcare for children of working parents in school summer holidays.
	tabling member constituency	Coventry South
	tabling member printed	Mr Jim Cunningham
	uin	277637
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2019 answer text <p>I refer the Hon. Member to the answer to Question 273325, answered on 9 July 2019 -</p><p>The Government recognises that childcare costs can affect parents’ decisions to both obtain and maintain employment and is committed to removing barriers that prevent parents moving into work.</p><p>To overcome this barrier to employment, Universal Credit claimants are able to claim up to 85 per cent of their childcare costs, compared to 70 per cent on the legacy system. This can be worth up to £13,000 a year for families with two children.</p><p>We recognise the difficulty that some claimants might have in paying childcare costs over the summer holidays and have undertaken significant work to increase work coach awareness, understanding and promotion of both the Universal Credit childcare offer and the wider government childcare offer. This is to ensure that parents who are eligible for the 15 hours of free childcare for disadvantaged families with 2-year-old children, and 30 hours of free childcare for working families, take these up. These free childcare offers can be used in combination with Universal Credit support for childcare.</p><p>In addition to this, budgeting advances are available for eligible claimants that can be used to cover the cost of paying additional upfront childcare costs or a deposit that might be needed during the school holidays.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 22/07/2019 16:01:09 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	308 label Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham

1139323

	registered interest
	date	16/07/2019
	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, whether the liability for the whole rent of a property is reflected in the calculation of universal credit in cases where a claimant of universal credit in a joint tenancy remains after a partner leaves; and if she will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	East Ham
	tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
	uin	277617
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2019 answer text <p>The Universal Credit regulations provide that a claimant is to be treated as liable to make rent payments - where the person who is liable to make the payments is not doing so, the payments are required in order to continue occupation, and it would be unreasonable to expect them to make other arrangements. Therefore, in the example described, it would be possible for the whole liability to be considered as part of the UC calculation, subject to any usual restrictions such as the Local Housing Allowance or removal of the spare room subsidy.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 22/07/2019 13:01:27 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

1139324

	registered interest
	date	16/07/2019
	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, what steps his Department is taking to ensure people liable under the Child Maintenance Service's Direct Pay category pay (a) in full and (b) on time.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	277773
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2019 answer text <p>The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) provides support to all Direct Pay clients. Those who do not receive their maintenance in full and on time, should contact the CMS straight away, so the case can be moved into the Collect &amp; Pay service to enforce regular payments of ongoing maintenance and arrange collection of arrears.</p><p> </p><p>For clients using the Direct Pay service a payment schedule is issued, detailing the maintenance and arrears due to be paid. It is clearly explained to both parents that they will be responsible for managing their payments and keeping appropriate records of the child maintenance payments made.</p><p> </p><p>At the start of every case, and at each annual review, parents are notified what to do if their arrangement breaks down. The CMS sends SMS messages to parents using Direct Pay three months after they set up their arrangement to remind them to contact the Service if their arrangement is not working.</p><p> </p><p>The importance of full and on time payments is emphasised to clients by CMS caseworkers and Child Maintenance Options call handlers. Receiving parents are advised to contact us if payments are not received.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 22/07/2019 15:40:24 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1139325

	registered interest
	date	16/07/2019
	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	Child Maintenance Service: Staff
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many members of staff worked (a) for the Child Maintenance Service and (b) in the financial investigations unit of that Service in each year since 2013.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	277774
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2019 answer text <p>We have provided figures from 2017. This is because prior to 2017, figures showing Child Maintenance Service as a separate department to Child Maintenance Group are not available.</p><p> </p><p>These figures are a snapshot taken in the month of June only for each year, as figures fluctuate from month to month.</p><p> </p><p>Please see table below:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>FIU</p></td><td><p>CMS</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>June 19</p></td><td><p>86</p></td><td><p>5684</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>June 18</p></td><td><p>19</p></td><td><p>5433</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>June 17</p></td><td><p>19</p></td><td><p>5238</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 22/07/2019 15:47:32 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1139355

	registered interest
	date	16/07/2019
	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: Forms
	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 his Department has taken to simplify the forms used to claim benefits.
	tabling member constituency	Newcastle-under-Lyme
	tabling member printed	Paul Farrelly
	uin	277676
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2019 answer text <p>The Department for Work and Pensions is committed to ensuring its claim forms are as simple and easy to use as possible. We have simplified over 180 forms in the last six months by making changes to the layout, style, wording and accessibility. We carry out usability testing on new and revised forms with claimants.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 23/07/2019 11:10:32 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	1436 label Biography information for Paul Farrelly

1139814

	registered interest
	date	17/07/2019
	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: Domestic Abuse
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information her Department collects on needs of claimants of universal credit that are survivors of domestic abuse.
	tabling member constituency	Rotherham
	tabling member printed	Sarah Champion
	uin	278515
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2019 answer text <p>The Department is sensitive to the fact that it can be difficult for any victim of domestic abuse to come forward and disclose this. Universal Credit claimants are assigned to a single Work Coach, with whom they can build a trusting relationship. All of our work coaches have received mandatory training, developed with input from domestic abuse charities in order to help them recognise the signs of abuse. If it becomes apparent that a claimant has been, or is a victim of domestic abuse, as soon as they feel able to disclose this personal and sensitive information, a discussion should take place about their circumstances to enable their work coach to tailor the support they provide to their needs. This includes signposting the claimant to expert organisations. Almost all Jobcentres have private rooms available so that individuals can discuss these sensitive issues in private.</p><p> </p><p>With the permission of the claimant, their Work Coach is able to record the information they disclose, in a free text format, through the use of pinned notes, which supports staff in identifying and managing relevant experiences and circumstances of individual claimants.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 23/07/2019 11:31:20 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4267 label Biography information for Sarah Champion

1139815

	registered interest
	date	17/07/2019
	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: Domestic Abuse
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress she has made on the development of universal credit management systems to enable the collation of the number of domestic violence easements.
	tabling member constituency	Rotherham
	tabling member printed	Sarah Champion
	uin	278516
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2019 answer text <p>We are continuing to develop our approach to capture accurate, aggregate data on vulnerable claimants, including those who are victims of domestic and economic abuse. This work is ongoing and has been prioritised for the current Universal Credit development phase. This involves us meeting with claimants and expert users such as third parties and Work Coaches to see how people will respond to being asked about their circumstance and support they may require. We are also working on how we can use the Claimant Commitment to capture information about when easements have been applied for claimants.</p><p> </p><p>We are also implementing other improvements across our service for victims and survivors of domestic abuse and in response to one of the Joint Committee’s recommendations on the Domestic Abuse Bill, we have committed to review and evaluate the effectiveness of a new feature to encourage payments of UC to the main carer and the introduction of domestic abuse specialists in every Jobcentre.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 23/07/2019 11:53:32 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4267 label Biography information for Sarah Champion

1139874

	registered interest
	date	17/07/2019
	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	Unemployment
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Transport on the effect of the price of commuting on unemployment.
	tabling member constituency	Wansbeck
	tabling member printed	Ian Lavery
	uin	278511
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2019 answer text <p>The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has not had any recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Transport on the effect of the price of commuting on unemployment.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 23/07/2019 15:54:20 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4139 label Biography information for Ian Lavery

1140235

	registered interest
	date	18/07/2019
	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: Day Care
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of providing upfront financial support for childcare to parents claiming universal credit.
	tabling member constituency	Liverpool, West Derby
	tabling member printed	Stephen Twigg
	uin	278894
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2019 answer text <p>Universal Credit (UC) is paid in a single monthly amount directly into people’s bank accounts, giving them control over their own money and making the move into work easier.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is committed to supporting parents with moving into work and, as part of this, we increased the level of support for childcare costs from 70 per cent in legacy benefits to up to 85 per cent in UC. The UC childcare policy aligns with the wider government childcare offer, which includes free childcare hours and tax free childcare. UC claimants can utilise both the free childcare entitlement and UC childcare costs in conjunction with each other for relevant hours. This offer means that reasonable childcare costs should not form a barrier to work.</p><p> </p><p>We have made other changes to ease the burden on claimants and encourage work. We recognise that upfront childcare costs or deposits may prevent a claimant from starting work so Jobcentres can now use the Flexible Support Fund to support the transition into work. When parents have good reason for late reporting of their childcare costs, the Department is piloting a more flexible approach for reimbursing these costs.</p><p> </p><p>Since February 2018, Universal Credit claimants have been able to upload digital copies of their childcare cost receipts or invoices through their online Universal Credit account.</p><p /> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 23/07/2019 11:17:08 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	167 label Biography information for Stephen Twigg

1140519

	registered interest
	date	19/07/2019
	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 assessment her Department has made of the implications for her Department's policies of the statement in the press release by Save the Children on 3 July 2019, that 30,000 families on universal credit face paying up to £800 in childcare costs this summer.
	tabling member constituency	Liverpool, West Derby
	tabling member printed	Stephen Twigg
	uin	279359
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2019 answer text <p>The Department listens to a range of stakeholders and considers recommendations, such as those from Save the Children’s recent report, that may improve support for our claimants. We have already improved Universal Credit’s (UC) childcare support; for example, our Work Coaches are already providing increased support through the Flexible Support Fund to help eligible claimants who need help with paying upfront childcare costs, as well as allowing greater flexibility in when claimants can report their childcare costs.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>As UC is paid as a single monthly amount directly into people’s bank accounts, it helps families have control over their own budget and making the move into work easier. However, we recognise that childcare costs can affect parents’ decisions to both obtain and maintain employment and we are committed to removing barriers that prevent parents moving into work.</p><p> </p><p>Claimants are able to claim up to 85% of their childcare costs on UC, compared to 70% on the legacy system. This can be worth up to £13,000 a year for families with two children. The UC childcare policy aligns with the wider government childcare offer, which includes free childcare hours and tax free childcare and, during 2019/20, a record amount of £6 billion is being spent on childcare support overall. This offer means that reasonable childcare costs should not form a barrier to work.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>We are aware of the difficulty that some claimants might have in paying childcare costs over the summer holidays and our work coaches are able to discuss this with them and explain and promote both the UC childcare offer and the wider government childcare offer. In addition to this, budgeting advances are available for eligible claimants that can be used to cover the cost of paying additional upfront childcare cost or a deposit that might be needed during the school holidays.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 23/07/2019 11:10:11 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	167 label Biography information for Stephen Twigg