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1247052

	registered interest
	date	30/10/2020
	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	Funeral Payments
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether there was a backlog of applications for funeral expenses payments prior to the implementation of covid-19 lockdown restrictions on 23 March 2020.
	tabling member constituency	Swansea East
	tabling member printed	Carolyn Harris
	uin	109493
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/11/2020 answer text <p>Prior to the implementation of COVID-19 restrictions on 23 March there was a backlog of Funeral Expense Payments (FEP) claims. In response to this and the COVID-19 outbreak, steps have been taken to significantly speed up the processing of Funeral Expense Payment claims in support of those who need it most.</p><p /><p /> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 09/11/2020 17:46:57 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	4480 label Biography information for Carolyn Harris

1247057

	registered interest
	date	30/10/2020
	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	Funeral Payments
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claims for funeral expenses payments were received in (a) 2019-20 and (b) the first six months of 2020-21.
	tabling member constituency	Swansea East
	tabling member printed	Carolyn Harris
	uin	109497
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/11/2020 answer text <p>The number of Funeral Expenses Payment applications received, in Great Britain, is reported annually in Appendix 1 of the Social Fund Annual Report:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/social-fund-annual-report-2017-to-2018" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/social-fund-annual-report-2017-to-2018</a></p><p /><p>The information requested for 2019/20 will be published in due course, and so cannot be released ahead of publication.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>In the period April 2020 - September 2020, there were approximately 23,900 applications received for Funeral Expenses Payments in Great Britain.</p><p> </p><p>This figure is drawn from the Social Fund Policy, Budget, and Management Information System. It is not quality assured to the same extent as Official / National statistics.</p><p>Notes</p><p>The figure is rounded to the nearest 100.</p><ul><li>The figure relates to applications received by DWP, not applications processed. Some applications may have been withdrawn before a decision was made.</li><li>The number of applications made is not equal to the number of people who made applications, as individuals may make multiple applications in a given time period.</li><li>Differences between any comparisons made of applications received, initial decisions, awards and initial refusals are due to applications being withdrawn; applicants rejecting or not responding to loan offers; and decisions outstanding at the time of the count.</li></ul> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 09/11/2020 18:06:24 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	4480 label Biography information for Carolyn Harris

1247060

	registered interest
	date	30/10/2020
	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	Funeral Payments
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many funeral expenses payment claims were accepted at initial decision in (a) 2019-20 and (b) the first six months of 2020-21.
	tabling member constituency	Swansea East
	tabling member printed	Carolyn Harris
	uin	109498
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/11/2020 answer text <p>We do not publish the number of claims awarded, at initial decision, as requested. The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p>However, a variant on the data requested is in the public domain. Applications that were initially unsuccessful may have resulted in an award after review, reconsideration or appeal. These cases are included in the final awards in the Social Fund Annual Report.</p><p /><p>The number of Funeral Expenses Payment awards, in Great Britain, is reported annually in Appendix 1 of the Social Fund Annual Report:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/social-fund-annual-report-2017-to-2018" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/social-fund-annual-report-2017-to-2018</a></p><p /><p>The number of awards for 2019/20 will be published in due course, and so cannot be released ahead of publication.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 09/11/2020 18:03:33 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	4480 label Biography information for Carolyn Harris

1247061

	registered interest
	date	30/10/2020
	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	Funeral Payments
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many funeral expenses payments claims were rejected at initial decision in (a) 2019-20 and (b) the first six months of 2020-21.
	tabling member constituency	Swansea East
	tabling member printed	Carolyn Harris
	uin	109499
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/11/2020 answer text <p>The number of Funeral Expenses Payment applications refused at initial decision, in Great Britain, is reported annually in Appendix 1 of the Social Fund Annual Report:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/social-fund-annual-report-2017-to-2018" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/social-fund-annual-report-2017-to-2018</a></p><p /><p>The information requested for 2019/20 will be published in due course, and so cannot be released ahead of publication.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>In the period April 2020 - September 2020, there were approximately 8,500 applications refused, at initial decision, for Funeral Expenses Payments in Great Britain.</p><p> </p><p>This figure is drawn from the Social Fund Policy, Budget, and Management Information System. It is not quality assured to the same extent as Official / National statistics.</p><p>Notes</p><p>The figure is rounded to the nearest 100.</p><ul><li>Due to the timing of application processing, figures on initial refusals may relate to applications received in the previous year.</li><li>The number of initially unsuccessful applications is not equal to the number of people who unsuccessfully apply for a Funeral Expenses Payment, as individuals may make multiple applications in a given time period.</li><li>The number of initial refusals gives the number of initially unsuccessful applications and not those that are unsuccessful after appeal. An application will only be unsuccessful if it does not meet the qualifying criteria. These include, amongst other criteria, being in receipt of relevant benefits and meeting rules regarding relationship with the deceased. The full qualifying criteria are outlined in section 7 of “The Social Fund: Technical Guidance” publication. (<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-social-fund-technical-guidance/the-social-fund-technical-guidance" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-social-fund-technical-guidance/the-social-fund-technical-guidance</a>)</li><li>Differences between any comparisons made of applications received, initial decisions, awards and initial refusals are due to applications being withdrawn; applicants rejecting or not responding to loan offers; and decisions outstanding at the time of the count.</li></ul> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 09/11/2020 18:03:35 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	4480 label Biography information for Carolyn Harris

1247062

	registered interest
	date	30/10/2020
	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	Funeral 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 funeral expenses payments claims made in 2019-20 were cleared in (a) 15 working days, (b) 15 working days plus 2 days and (c) 15 working days plus 5 days.
	tabling member constituency	Swansea East
	tabling member printed	Carolyn Harris
	uin	109500
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/11/2020 answer text <p>The information requested, in Great Britain, is reported annually in Appendix 1 of the Social Fund Annual Report, up to 2017/18:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/social-fund-annual-report-2017-to-2018" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/social-fund-annual-report-2017-to-2018</a></p><p /><p>The information requested for 2019/20 will be published in due course, and so cannot be released ahead of publication.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 09/11/2020 17:49:36 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	4480 label Biography information for Carolyn Harris

1247063

	registered interest
	date	30/10/2020
	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	Funeral 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 funeral expenses payments claims made in the first six months of 2020-21 were cleared in (a) 15 working days, (b) 15 working days plus 2 days and (c) 15 working days plus 5 days.
	tabling member constituency	Swansea East
	tabling member printed	Carolyn Harris
	uin	109501
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/11/2020 answer text <p>The proportion of Funeral Expenses Payments made in the first 6 months of 2020-21 (April 20 to September 20) which were cleared in (a) 15 working days was 46%.</p><p>In April to September 2020 there was a backlog of claims which had built up over a period of months due to the closure of the Funeral Expenses Payments main processing centre in Balham in December 2019, and activity prior to closure to support staff through redeployment options. In March 2020 processing was impacted by colleagues shielding with health conditions under COVID.</p><p>We have since improved our processing and productivity times with a combination of additional processing support on loan, deployment of IT kit to colleagues at home and the introduction of process easements. These have been instrumental in improving the service to customers and the department are working with HMT and Ministers to seek permanent process changes.</p><p>We now have an Actual Average Clearance Time of 11.8 days in September 2020 compared to 34.7 days in September 2019.</p><p>Extract taken from RPT data store on 3<sup>rd</sup> November 2020.</p><p>Source: Departmental MISP from Social Fund Funeral Payment System</p><p>Please note that the data supplied is derived from unpublished management information which was collected for internal Departmental use only and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. The data should therefore be treated with caution.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 13/11/2020 14:46:23 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	4480 label Biography information for Carolyn Harris

1304314

	registered interest
	date	19/03/2021
	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	Funeral Payments
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 8 March 2021 to Question 162619, what plans she has to improve (a) awareness of and (b) access to the funeral expenses payment scheme.
	tabling member constituency	Swansea East
	tabling member printed	Carolyn Harris
	uin	172096
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/03/2021 answer text <p>We regularly review and take action to improve the awareness and accessibility of the Funeral Expenses Payment scheme, working with a range of stakeholders.</p><p>This includes refreshing the ‘Get help with funeral costs’ information on GOV.UK. We have also revised the Department leaflet ‘What to do when someone dies’ to provide a clear step-by-step guide that signposts to available financial support including Funeral Expenses Payment. This has been shared extensively. We also plan to attend a number of funeral industry events in 2021 to raise awareness and understanding of the Funeral Expenses Payment scheme.</p><p> </p><p>We have taken steps to improve access to the Funeral Expenses Payment scheme. The Bereavement Service helpline operates a Freephone service to report a death and to initiate a Funeral Expenses Payment claim. The Department has worked closely with voluntary groups, hospitals, Registrars and Funeral Directors to ensure that the bereaved are signposted to the helpline for further support. Funeral Directors are able to submit evidence electronically to support a Funeral Expenses Payment claim and we continue to work on identifying a secure digital solution to extend this option to applicants.</p><p>Telephone: 0800 731 0469<br>Welsh language: 0800 731 0453</p><p>Textphone: 0800 731 0464<br>Welsh language: 0800 731 0456</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 26/03/2021 13:58:24 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	4480 label Biography information for Carolyn Harris

1283626

	registered interest
	date	03/02/2021
	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	Funeral Payments
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applications for social fund funeral expenses payments her Department has received since April 2020.
	tabling member constituency	Putney
	tabling member printed	Fleur Anderson
	uin	148937
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/02/2021 answer text <p>In the period 1 April 2020 to 31 December 2020, there were approximately 34,000 applications received for Funeral Expenses Payments, in England and Wales.</p><p> </p><p>This figure is drawn from the Social Fund Policy, Budget, and Management Information System. It is not quality assured to the same extent as Official / National statistics.</p><p /><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 10/02/2021 14:48:09 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	4788 label Biography information for Fleur Anderson

1283628

	registered interest
	date	03/02/2021
	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	Funeral Payments
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applications for social fund funeral expenses her Department has approved since April 2020.
	tabling member constituency	Putney
	tabling member printed	Fleur Anderson
	uin	148938
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/02/2021 answer text <p>In the period 1 April 2020 to 31 December 2020, there were approximately 25,800 applications awarded for Funeral Expenses Payments, in England and Wales.</p><p> </p><p>This figure is an estimate using unaudited internal DWP figures on the number of FEP loans. It is not quality assured to the same extent as Official / National statistics.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 11/02/2021 13:57:17 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	4788 label Biography information for Fleur Anderson

1288870

	registered interest
	date	23/02/2021
	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	Funeral Payments
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if the Government will increase the capped portion of the social fund funeral expenses payment.
	tabling member constituency	Putney
	tabling member printed	Fleur Anderson
	uin	157318
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/02/2021 answer text <p>On the 8 April 2020, the value of the capped portion of the Social Fund Funeral Expenses Payment rose by 43 per cent, from £700 to £1000. There are no current plans to increase this.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 26/02/2021 14:50:30 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	4788 label Biography information for Fleur Anderson