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1024057

	registered interest
	date	12/12/2018
	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	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have had deductions from their universal credit of (a) 40 per cent and (b) 30 per cent for the repayment of advances on that benefit.
	tabling member constituency	Makerfield
	tabling member printed	Yvonne Fovargue
	uin	201678
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/12/2018 answer text <p>Of the eligible Universal Credit Full Service claims due a payment in October 2018 (990,000 claims – rounded to the nearest 10,000):</p><ul><li>11,000 (rounded to the nearest 1,000) were repaying advances at 40% of their Standard Allowance. This is 1% of eligible claims and 3% of claims that were repaying an advance.</li><li>4,000 (rounded to the nearest 1,000) were repaying advances at 30% of their Standard Allowance. This is less than 0.5% of eligible claims and 1% of claims that were repaying an advance.</li></ul><p> </p><p>The claim count figures in this text will not match the official statistics due to methodological differences.</p><p> </p><p>At Autumn Budget 2018 we announced that from October 2019, we will reduce the maximum rate at which deductions can be made from a Universal Credit award from 40% to 30% of the standard allowance. The total saving for claimants is £25 million in 2019/20, increasing to £65 million in 2023/24.</p><p> </p><p>This is detailed in Table 1.8 in the Budget 2018 which can be accessed at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/budget-2018-documents/budget-2018" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/budget-2018-documents/budget-2018</a></p><p> </p><p>This will ensure that those on Universal Credit are supported to repay debts in a more sustainable and manageable way. Additionally, from October 2021, the government will also increase the period over which advances will be recovered, from 12 to 16 months.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 20/12/2018 15:51:24 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	4034 label Biography information for Yvonne Fovargue

1024058

	registered interest
	date	12/12/2018
	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	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have had deductions from their universal credit of (a) 20 per cent for a single debt as a result of (i) a utility company bill, (ii) council tax arrears and (iii) other liabilities and (b) 30 per cent for two such debts.
	tabling member constituency	Makerfield
	tabling member printed	Yvonne Fovargue
	uin	201679
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/12/2018 answer text <p>The Department does not have access to data outlining third party deductions by deduction type. As such, to provide this data would incur disproportionate cost.</p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma grouped question UIN 201680 question first answered 20/12/2018 15:29:53 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	4034 label Biography information for Yvonne Fovargue

1024059

	registered interest
	date	12/12/2018
	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	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have had more than 40 per cent deducted from their universal credit payment to repay a combination of (a) advance payments of that benefit and (b)(i) utility debts and (ii) council tax arrears.
	tabling member constituency	Makerfield
	tabling member printed	Yvonne Fovargue
	uin	201680
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/12/2018 answer text <p>The Department does not have access to data outlining third party deductions by deduction type. As such, to provide this data would incur disproportionate cost.</p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma grouped question UIN 201679 question first answered 20/12/2018 15:29:53 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	4034 label Biography information for Yvonne Fovargue

1024077

	registered interest
	date	12/12/2018
	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	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many universal credit claimants have had their payments reduced as a result of being paid two consecutive months salaries in a single assessment period as a result of their payment dates.
	tabling member constituency	Clwyd South
	tabling member printed	Susan Elan Jones
	uin	201684
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/12/2018 answer text <p>The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 17/12/2018 17:41:16 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	3956 label Biography information for Susan Elan Jones

1024070

	registered interest
	date	12/12/2018
	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	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of universal credit advance payments have been paid on the day on which they have been applied for.
	tabling member constituency	High Peak
	tabling member printed	Ruth George
	uin	201746
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/12/2018 answer text <p>The data requested is not held. We aim to pay advances on Universal Credit within 72 hours. However, an advance can be paid on the same day the claimant applies if they or their household would suffer genuine hardship if they had to wait 72 hours for the payment.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 17/12/2018 17:45:38 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	4662 label Biography information for Ruth George

1024071

	registered interest
	date	12/12/2018
	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	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people who have applied for a universal credit advance payment have been unsuccessful in that application.
	tabling member constituency	High Peak
	tabling member printed	Ruth George
	uin	201747
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/12/2018 answer text <p>The data requested is not held for unsuccessful applications for Universal Credit advances made in person or by telephone. For applications made online, to provide the data would incur disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 21/12/2018 11:29:52 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma previous answer version 92377 answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	4662 label Biography information for Ruth George

1024072

	registered interest
	date	12/12/2018
	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	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information his Department holds on what proportion of universal credit advance payments for (a) childcare, (b) housing and (c) childcare and housing costs.
	tabling member constituency	High Peak
	tabling member printed	Ruth George
	uin	201748
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/12/2018 answer text <p>The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.</p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 17/12/2018 17:44:35 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	4662 label Biography information for Ruth George

1024039

	registered interest
	date	12/12/2018
	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	Interserve: Pensions
	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 her Department has had with representatives of (a) The Pensions Regulator and (b) the Pension Protection Fund on Interserve plc.
	tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
	tabling member printed	Frank Field
	uin	201588
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/12/2018 answer text <p>The independent Pensions Regulator has a range of powers to regulate and protect pension schemes and it works closely with all those involved.</p><p> </p><p>The Pension Protection Fund is also independent of Government and protects members of defined benefit occupational pension schemes, if their employer becomes insolvent.</p><p> </p><p>The Department for Work and Pensions is in regular contact with both the Pensions Regulator and the Pension Protection Fund. The Government does not comment on individual cases.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 17/12/2018 15:12:48 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

1024023

	registered interest
	date	12/12/2018
	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: Self-employed
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the effect of the minimum income floor on self-employed people.
	tabling member constituency	Blackburn
	tabling member printed	Kate Hollern
	uin	201726
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/12/2018 answer text <p>The aim of the Minimum Income Floor (MIF) is to encourage gainfully self-employed claimants to grow their business. It addresses flaws in Working Tax Credits and Housing Benefit that provided full support to claimants reporting persistently low (or zero) earnings from self-employment. Only Universal Credit claimants with a work expectation will have a MIF applied to their Universal Credit. A claimant’s expected hours of work depends on their circumstances. Where a claimant has limitations on the hours they can reasonably be expected to work, their MIF level is reduced. This ensures the level of the MIF matches the work expectations of other claimants in similar circumstances.</p><p> </p><p>One of the announcements in Autumn Budget 2018 was that the 12-month start-up period, where claimants are exempt from the MIF, will be extended to all gainfully self-employed claimants, new to Universal Credit, or new to self-employment. We plan to introduce this from July 2019 with full implementation from September 2020. This will provide time for self-employed claimants to establish and grow their business, and strikes a balance between support for new business, not trapping claimants in poverty, and protecting public funds.</p><p> </p><p>Plans are in place for an evaluation of the MIF and a large-scale tracking survey of self-employed Universal Credit claimants with a MIF applied to their claim</p><p> </p><p>Universal Credit encourages all claimants with a work expectation to find and progress in work. To support those already in, or considering self-employment, we are also extending the New Enterprise Allowance (NEA) scheme from April 2019 onwards. The NEA provides support and mentoring for claimants who are looking to start or develop their business.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 17/12/2018 18:29:33 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	4363 label Biography information for Kate Hollern

1024025

	registered interest
	date	12/12/2018
	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	Employment: Poverty
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of trends in the level of in-work poverty; and if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of the December 2018 Joseph Rowntree Foundation report conclusion that in-work poverty is rising faster than employment.
	tabling member constituency	Blackburn
	tabling member printed	Kate Hollern
	uin	201727
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/12/2018 answer text <p>The figures quoted by the Joseph Rowntree Trust in this report are taken from official national statistics on the number and proportion of people in relative low income published by the Department for Work in March 2018. These statistics show that the risk of being in relative poverty (before housing costs) has remained broadly stable over time; there is a 10% chance of working adults being in relative poverty (before housing costs), which has not varied by more than 1 percentage point since 2005. The data also shows that the majority of those in relative in-work poverty are those with part-time work only, single earner couples, or those in full-time self-employment. Universal Credit is designed to help by offering smooth incentives to increase hours, setting a general expectation that lone parents and partners should work (if not caring for young children or a disabled person) and by offering generous childcare subsidies.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 17/12/2018 15:01:29 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4363 label Biography information for Kate Hollern