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1105461

	registered interest
	date	27/03/2019
	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 support her Department provides to families who have been reunited through refugee family reunion to access the social security system.
	tabling member constituency	Bristol West
	tabling member printed	Thangam Debbonaire
	uin	237691
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/04/2019 answer text <p>Those who have joined a family member in the UK through refugee family reunion are entitled to the same support as any other person. As with anyone else, they will be assessed to ascertain whether they have complex needs and whether they require additional support to access DWP services.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 05/04/2019 11:10:01 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4433 label Biography information for Thangam Debbonaire

1124268

	registered interest
	date	01/05/2019
	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 steps she is taking to promote the use of benefits calculators to help ensure that people claim the benefits to which they are entitled.
	tabling member constituency	East Ham
	tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
	uin	249806
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/05/2019 answer text <p>The independent benefits calculators we endorse are intended to provide useful estimations of what people can get in certain circumstances, based on what information is entered on the calculators themselves. This is to allow people to safely explore what help they may receive from Universal Credit before they apply, or based on potential changes of circumstances.</p><p> </p><p>Information on accessing independent benefit calculators is readily available via the gov.uk website. This includes links to three independent calculators and advice on the type of information required to complete a calculation.</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/benefits-calculators" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/benefits-calculators</a></p><p> </p><p>In addition, DWP staff will signpost post people to independent benefit calculators and websites which provide additional advice and guidance.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 08/05/2019 15:40:26 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

1124577

	registered interest
	date	02/05/2019
	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, with reference to the recommendation to exempt claimants in temporary accommodation from the benefit cap on page 7 of the report of the Work and Pensions Committee, The Benefit Cap, published on 12 March 2019, HC 1477, if she will ask local authorities to publish the number of households that are currently affected by the cap in their area; and how much Discretionary Housing Payment funding has been used to cover their rent shortfalls in the most recent period for which figures are available.
	tabling member constituency	Bethnal Green and Bow
	tabling member printed	Rushanara Ali
	uin	250474
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/05/2019 answer text <p>The latest official statistics for households capped under Housing Benefit and Universal Credit were published on 2<sup>nd</sup> May 2019, and contain data on households capped to February 2019, published here:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/benefit-cap-number-of-households-capped-to-february-2019" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/benefit-cap-number-of-households-capped-to-february-2019</a>.</p><p>Statistics by Local Authority are available in Tables 2 and 9, respectively. The number of households who have had their Housing Benefit award capped by local authorities are also published on the DWP Stat Xplore portal (<a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/" target="_blank">https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/</a>).</p><p> </p><p>Statistics on the use of Discretionary Housing Payments (for local authorities in England and Wales) are provided by local authorities on a voluntary basis and as such may not correspond exactly to the total Discretionary Housing Payment funds allocated. In addition, Discretionary Housing Payment awards can be recorded against a combination of welfare reform categories including households affected by the benefit cap.</p><p> </p><p>The latest statistics on spend by local authorities, covering the period April to September 2018, are published here:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/use-of-discretionary-housing-payments-april-to-september-2018" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/use-of-discretionary-housing-payments-april-to-september-2018</a>.</p><p>Statistics relating to the specific welfare reform category can be found in Table 7.</p><p> </p><p>The latest full year of statistics available are for the 17/18 financial year and are published here:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/use-of-discretionary-housing-payments-financial-year-2017-to-2018" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/use-of-discretionary-housing-payments-financial-year-2017-to-2018</a>.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 14/05/2019 11:28:26 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4138 label Biography information for Rushanara Ali

1126897

	registered interest
	date	15/05/2019
	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 estimate her Department has made of the average real terms losses of families affected by the four year freeze to social security payments in the total period of the operation of that freeze.
	tabling member constituency	Bootle
	tabling member printed	Peter Dowd
	uin	254833
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/05/2019 answer text <p>An estimate of the notional loss to household income as a result of the benefit freeze can be found at: <a href="https://www.parliament.uk/documents/impact-assessments/IA15-006C.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.parliament.uk/documents/impact-assessments/IA15-006C.pdf</a>.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 20/05/2019 11:43:35 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4397 label Biography information for Peter Dowd

168737

	registered interest
	date	08/12/2014
	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, if he will make it his policy for his Department to collect information on the length of time taken for benefit payments to be made; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	East Ham
	tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
	uin	217673
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/12/2014 answer text <p>The department uses a range of metrics to track and manage timeliness of payments within the benefits system. I refer the Rt.Hon. Member to the reply I gave to his previous Parliamentary Question UIN<a href="http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-questions-answers/?page=1&amp;max=20&amp;questiontype=AllQuestions&amp;house=commons,lords&amp;use-dates=True&amp;answered-from=2014-10-29&amp;answered-to=2014-10-29&amp;dept=29&amp;uin=211860" target="_blank">211860,</a>on the 29<sup>th</sup> October 2014.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Steve Webb question first answered 11/12/2014 15:36:58 answering member 220 label Biography information for Steve Webb
	tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

169919

	registered interest
	date	11/12/2014
	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, how many people received (a) housing benefit but not council tax benefit, (b) council tax benefit but not housing benefit and (c) housing benefit and council tax benefit in (i) Suffolk, (ii) Bedfordshire, (iii) Cambridgeshire, (iv) Essex, (v) Hertfordshire, (vi) Norfolk and (vii) England in each year since 2010.
	tabling member constituency	Bury St Edmunds
	tabling member printed	Mr David Ruffley
	uin	218404
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/12/2014 answer text <p /> <p>The information we have up to February 2013, by local authority area within each of the geographies requested, is published and available from Table 1of the publications found at:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/housing-benefit-and-council-tax-benefit-caseload-statistics--2" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/housing-benefit-and-council-tax-benefit-caseload-statistics--2</a></p><p> </p><p>Council Tax Benefit (CTB) was replaced in April 2013 by the Local Council Tax Reduction Scheme and in England the Department for Communities and Local Government is now responsible for these statistics. The Scottish and Welsh Governments have similar responsibility.</p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Steve Webb question first answered 16/12/2014 12:37:11 answering member 220 label Biography information for Steve Webb
	tabling member	133 label Biography information for Mr David Ruffley

174828

	registered interest
	date	20/01/2015
	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, how many recipients of (a) pension credit, (b) winter fuel allowance and (c) Christmas Bonus there were in each of the last five years up to the most recent period for which figures are available in (i) the UK, (ii) Scotland, (iii) England, (iv) Wales and (v) Northern Ireland.
	tabling member constituency	Airdrie and Shotts
	tabling member printed	Pamela Nash
	uin	221474
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/01/2015 answer text <p>Latest available statistics for Pension Credit recipients in Great Britain are published on the Department’s website at:</p><p> </p><p><a href="http://tabulation-tool.dwp.gov.uk/100pc/pc/tabtool_pc.html" target="_blank">http://tabulation-tool.dwp.gov.uk/100pc/pc/tabtool_pc.html</a></p><p> </p><p>Guidance for users is available at:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-tabulation-tool-guidance" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-tabulation-tool-guidance</a></p><p> </p><p>Latest available statistics for Winter Fuel Payments in Great Britain are published on the Department’s website at:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/winter-fuel-payments-caseload-and-household-figures" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/winter-fuel-payments-caseload-and-household-figures</a></p><p> </p><p>Available statistics for Christmas bonus payments are in the table</p><p> </p><p><strong>Recipients of Christmas Bonus(*) by Geographical Area (Thousands)</strong></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td> </td><td><p><strong>All (GB and Overseas)</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Airdrie and Shotts</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>North Lanarkshire</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>England</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Scotland</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Wales</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013/14</p></td><td><p>15,468</p></td><td><p>22</p></td><td><p>84</p></td><td><p>12,777</p></td><td><p>1,351</p></td><td><p>858</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012/13</p></td><td><p>15,586</p></td><td><p>22</p></td><td><p>85</p></td><td><p>12,873</p></td><td><p>1,370</p></td><td><p>870</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011/12</p></td><td><p>15,547</p></td><td><p>23</p></td><td><p>86</p></td><td><p>12,841</p></td><td><p>1,374</p></td><td><p>876</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010/11</p></td><td><p>15,466</p></td><td><p>23</p></td><td><p>86</p></td><td><p>12,773</p></td><td><p>1,373</p></td><td><p>878</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2009/10</p></td><td><p>15,370</p></td><td><p>23</p></td><td><p>87</p></td><td><p>12,693</p></td><td><p>1,374</p></td><td><p>878</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>(*) To get a Christmas Bonus a person must be present or ‘ordinarily resident’ in the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man, Gibraltar, any European Economic Area (EEA) country, or Switzerland during the qualifying week.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Responsibility for these benefits in Northern Ireland is a matter for the Northern Ireland Executive Minister for Social Development.</p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Steve Webb grouped question UIN 221475 question first answered 23/01/2015 11:46:50 answering member 220 label Biography information for Steve Webb
	tabling member	3909 label Biography information for Pamela Nash

58448

	registered interest
	date	05/06/2014
	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 he has made of the potential effects of removing dedicated funding for local welfare assistance; and if he will review the current local welfare assistance arrangements introduced in 2013 before any such change is made.
	tabling member constituency	Wentworth and Dearne
	tabling member printed	John Healey
	uin	199275
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/06/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>In the next spending round period, from April 2015, central government will continue to provide support to local authorities through general funds, as part of the coalition Government's commitment to reducing ring-fencing and ending top-down Whitehall control.</p><p> </p><p>It was always the intention that 2014-15 would be the last year of separate funding for local welfare provision from the Department for Work and Pensions. Councils will continue to provide support to those in their community who face financial difficulties or who find themselves in unavoidable circumstances.</p><p> </p><p>In contrast to a centralised grant system that was poorly targeted, councils can now choose how to best support local welfare needs within their areas. As this is an administrative change only no assessment has been made of the effects. However we are carrying out a review of the current arrangements, working with the Local Government Association and the Department for Communities and Local Government. Once completed it is our intention to place a copy of the findings in the House Library. <br></p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Steve Webb question first answered 11/06/2014 11:23:55 answering member 220 label Biography information for Steve Webb
	tabling member	400 label Biography information for John Healey

66220

	registered interest
	date	07/07/2014
	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 representations he has received in support of maintaining the local welfare provision grant to local authorities; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	East Ham
	tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
	uin	204263
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/07/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>I refer the Rt. Hon. Member to my previous answer to the hon. Member for Torbay, Mr Adrian Sanders, <em>Official Report</em>, 13 March 2014, column 318W. Our position has not changed.</p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Steve Webb question first answered 10/07/2014 14:26:11 answering member 220 label Biography information for Steve Webb
	tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

90233

	registered interest
	date	01/09/2014
	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 estimate he has made of the difference between changes in (a) carers' benefits, (b) disability benefits and (c) older people's benefits and the rate of inflation in each of the last three years.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow North West
	tabling member printed	John Robertson
	uin	207636
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/09/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>Carers’ and disability benefits, and the additional State pension, must by statute be up-rated in line with prices. So the increase in those benefits over the last three years has reflected the increase in the Consumer Price Index.</p><p>The basic State pension has been increased with the triple lock (by the highest of average earnings, CPI or 2.5%), and the Standard Minimum Guarantee in Pension Credit has been up-rated in line with the cash increase in the basic State pension. In each of the last three years, this means that the Standard Minimum Guarantee has increased by more than the minimum requirement of the increase in average earnings. The resulting over-indexation of the Standard Minimum Guarantee has been funded through an increase in the savings credit threshold and the associated reduction in the Savings Credit maximum.</p><p>The table indicates the percentage increases in CPI; basic State Pension; average earnings; and the Standard Minimum Guarantee in each of the past three years.</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>2012/13</p></td><td><p>2013/14</p></td><td><p>2014/15</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>CPI</p></td><td><p>5.2%</p></td><td><p>2.2%</p></td><td><p>2.7%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Basic State pension</p></td><td><p>5.2%</p></td><td><p>2.5%</p></td><td><p>2.7%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Average earnings</p></td><td><p>2.8%</p></td><td><p>1.6%</p></td><td><p>1.2%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Pension Credit Standard Minimum Guarantee</p></td><td><p>3.9%</p></td><td><p>1.9%</p></td><td><p>2.0%</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Steve Webb question first answered 05/09/2014 12:59:01 answering member 220 label Biography information for Steve Webb
	tabling member	605 label Biography information for John Robertson