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1124271

	registered interest
	date	01/05/2019
	answering body	Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	Treasury
	hansard heading	Social Security Benefits
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the amount of (a) tax credits and (b) child benefit to which claimants were entitled but did not claim in each year since 2010.
	tabling member constituency	East Ham
	tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
	uin	249808
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/05/2019 answer text <p>Estimates of the amounts of tax credit which have not been claimed by eligible households are published annually in “Child Benefit, Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit Take-up rates” on the gov.uk website. The latest publication relating to 2016-17 is here: <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/763597/Child_Benefit__Child_Tax_Credit_and_Working_Tax_Credit_take-up_rates_2016_to_2017.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/763597/Child_Benefit__Child_Tax_Credit_and_Working_Tax_Credit_take-up_rates_2016_to_2017.pdf</a></p><p> </p><p>The table below show estimates of the total amount of tax credit expenditure unclaimed since 2010-11.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>Central estimate of expenditure unclaimed (£bn)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010-11</p></td><td><p>4.6</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011-12</p></td><td><p>4.1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012-13</p></td><td><p>4.0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013-14</p></td><td><p>3.7</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014-15</p></td><td><p>4.1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015-16</p></td><td><p>5.1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016-17</p></td><td><p>4.4</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Variations in the amounts unclaimed are related to changes in the rates and thresholds in the tax credit system. The proportion of Child Tax Credit expenditure which is claimed has remained at 90 per cent or above since 2010-11, and the proportion of Working Tax Credit expenditure which is claimed has remained at between 83 and 86 per cent over the same period.</p><p> </p><p>The proportion of eligible children who have Child Benefit claimed on their behalf is included in the publication referenced above and remains high at 93 per cent in 2016-17. Information relating to the amounts of Child Benefit unclaimed can only be provided at disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency South West Norfolk answering member printed Elizabeth Truss question first answered 08/05/2019 08:47:04 answering member 4097 label Biography information for Elizabeth Truss
	tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

1625175

	registered interest
	date	02/05/2023
	answering body	Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	Treasury
	hansard heading	Social Security Benefits
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the the value of (a) suspected benefit fraud in the last 12 months and (b) unpaid benefits in the last 12 months.
	tabling member constituency	Leeds East
	tabling member printed	Richard Burgon
	uin	183503
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/05/2023 answer text <p>Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) estimates on the value of both fraud and error in the benefit system can be found in their annually published statistical report on the Monetary Value of Fraud and Error, the latest version of which can be found at <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fraud-and-error-in-the-benefit-system-financial-year-2021-to-2022-estimates" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fraud-and-error-in-the-benefit-system-financial-year-2021-to-2022-estimates</a>. The estimates for 2022-23 are due to be published by DWP on 11 May.</p> answering member constituency Salisbury answering member printed John Glen question first answered 10/05/2023 14:44:03 answering member 4051 label Biography information for John Glen
	tabling member	4493 label Biography information for Richard Burgon

1453710

	registered interest
	date	23/03/2022
	answering body	Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	Treasury
	hansard heading	Social Security Benefits
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the rationale is for his Department's policy not to increase social security in the Spring Statement.
	tabling member constituency	York Central
	tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
	uin	145918
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/03/2022 answer text <p>The government is required to review the rates of benefits annually to determine whether they have kept pace with price inflation. CPI has been the default inflation measure for the government’s statutory annual review of benefits since 2011 and it is standard practice for the government to uprate in line with September CPI, which was 3.1% in 2021.</p><p> </p><p>September CPI is the latest available figure confirmed by the ONS prior to the annual review and allows sufficient time for the legislative and complex delivery process to take place.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is already taking steps that will help families with the cost of living. We have cut the Universal Credit taper rate and increased the work allowances by £500 per year and we are increasing the National Living Wage to £9.50 an hour in April 2022. We have also announced a package of support to help households with rising energy bills, which will provide millions of households with up to £350 to help with rising energy bills. At the Spring Statement, the Chancellor went further, announcing an increase to the annual National Insurance Primary Threshold and Lower Profits Limit to £12,570, a cut to fuel duty, and an additional £500m to help the most vulnerable with the cost of essentials through the Household Support Fund.</p> answering member constituency Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland answering member printed Mr Simon Clarke grouped question UIN 145919 question first answered 29/03/2022 10:45:28 answering member 4655 label Biography information for Sir Simon Clarke
	tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1453712

	registered interest
	date	23/03/2022
	answering body	Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	Treasury
	hansard heading	Social Security Benefits
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of a mid-year review of social security payments.
	tabling member constituency	York Central
	tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
	uin	145919
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/03/2022 answer text <p>The government is required to review the rates of benefits annually to determine whether they have kept pace with price inflation. CPI has been the default inflation measure for the government’s statutory annual review of benefits since 2011 and it is standard practice for the government to uprate in line with September CPI, which was 3.1% in 2021.</p><p> </p><p>September CPI is the latest available figure confirmed by the ONS prior to the annual review and allows sufficient time for the legislative and complex delivery process to take place.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is already taking steps that will help families with the cost of living. We have cut the Universal Credit taper rate and increased the work allowances by £500 per year and we are increasing the National Living Wage to £9.50 an hour in April 2022. We have also announced a package of support to help households with rising energy bills, which will provide millions of households with up to £350 to help with rising energy bills. At the Spring Statement, the Chancellor went further, announcing an increase to the annual National Insurance Primary Threshold and Lower Profits Limit to £12,570, a cut to fuel duty, and an additional £500m to help the most vulnerable with the cost of essentials through the Household Support Fund.</p> answering member constituency Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland answering member printed Mr Simon Clarke grouped question UIN 145918 question first answered 29/03/2022 10:45:28 answering member 4655 label Biography information for Sir Simon Clarke
	tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1219785

	registered interest
	date	01/07/2020
	answering body	Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	Treasury
	hansard heading	Social Security Benefits
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of extending (a) child benefit and (b) tax credits.
	tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
	tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
	uin	67542
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/07/2020 answer text <p>The Government is committed to helping families through the unprecedented impact of the Covid-19 outbreak. That is why at Budget 2020, and in the Chancellor’s announcement on 20 March, we committed to a targeted, multi-billion-pound package of support for families this year.</p><p> </p><p>We have announced measures that can be quickly and effectively operationalised, and that benefit as many disadvantaged families as possible. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and HM Revenue and Customs are experiencing significant increased demand and the Government must prioritise both implementing the changes we have already announced and the safety and stability of the benefits system overall.</p><p> </p><p>The measures announced on 20 March include a £20 per week increase to the Universal Credit standard allowance and Working Tax Credit basic element, a relaxation of earnings rules for self-employed Universal Credit claimants, and an increase in the Local Housing Allowance rates for Universal Credit and Housing Benefit claimants to the 30<sup>th</sup> percentile of market rents.</p><p> </p><p>This is in addition to measures announced at Budget, which included widening the scope of Statutory Sick Pay and making accessing benefits easier for those most affected by Covid-19. The Budget also announced that the Government will provide Local Authorities in England with £500 million of new grant funding to support economically vulnerable people and households in their local area.</p><p> </p><p>Whilst we keep measures under review as we analyse the impact of Covid-19 on vulnerable groups, we do not plan on making any further changes as we must focus all our efforts on delivering this package.</p> answering member constituency North East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Steve Barclay question first answered 10/07/2020 13:30:37 answering member 4095 label Biography information for Steve Barclay
	tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

1147509

	registered interest
	date	01/10/2019
	answering body	Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	Treasury
	hansard heading	Social Security Benefits
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the benefit freeze will be lifted in 2020.
	tabling member constituency	Battersea
	tabling member printed	Marsha De Cordova
	uin	293002
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/10/2019 answer text <p>The Government has no intention of repeating or prolonging the current freeze on working age benefits. From 2020, the Government expects increases in benefits will resume in line with CPI.</p> answering member constituency Richmond (Yorks) answering member printed Rishi Sunak question first answered 07/10/2019 06:57:36 answering member 4483 label Biography information for Rishi Sunak
	tabling member	4676 label Biography information for Marsha De Cordova

1237855

	registered interest
	date	25/09/2020
	answering body	Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	Treasury
	hansard heading	Social Security Benefits
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on changes to the benefit cap.
	tabling member constituency	East Renfrewshire
	tabling member printed	Kirsten Oswald
	uin	95676
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/10/2020 answer text <p>In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of ministerial discussions are not normally disclosed. Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery.</p><p> </p><p>The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has a statutory obligation to review the levels of the benefit cap at least once in each Parliament unless an early election is called, as it was last year. A review will take place at an appropriate point in the future.</p> answering member constituency North East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Steve Barclay question first answered 02/10/2020 13:59:32 answering member 4095 label Biography information for Steve Barclay
	tabling member	4413 label Biography information for Kirsten Oswald

1289559

	registered interest
	date	24/02/2021
	answering body	Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	Treasury
	hansard heading	Social Security Benefits
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make available funding to abolish the household benefit cap.
	tabling member constituency	East Renfrewshire
	tabling member printed	Kirsten Oswald
	uin	158086
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/03/2021 answer text <p>The Government firmly believes that there has to be a limit on working-age benefits the state should provide to households. It is not reasonable or fair for taxpayers to pay for people to live on out of work benefits at higher incomes than they themselves receive from work. Exemptions to the cap apply for those in work and the most vulnerable claimants. £180 million has been made available for Local Authorities in 2020/21 to use Discretionary Housing Payments to address shortfalls arising from the benefit cap where they deem this justified.</p><p> </p><p>DWP Secretary of State has a statutory obligation to review the levels of the benefit cap at least once in each Parliament unless an early election is called, as in 2019. A review will take place at an appropriate point in the future.</p> answering member constituency North East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Steve Barclay question first answered 02/03/2021 09:55:17 answering member 4095 label Biography information for Steve Barclay
	tabling member	4413 label Biography information for Kirsten Oswald

1125013

	registered interest
	date	07/05/2019
	answering body	Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	Treasury
	hansard heading	Social Security Benefits
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the annual cost of recognising family responsibility in the welfare system has been in each financial year since 2010.
	tabling member constituency	Congleton
	tabling member printed	Fiona Bruce
	uin	251263
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/05/2019 answer text <p>The Government supports families in a number of ways, including through the welfare system.</p><p> </p><p>For instance, every year the Government spends more than £11bn on Child Benefit in recognition of the costs to families of raising children. In addition to this, at the last Budget, the Chancellor put an additional £1.7bn per year into the Universal Credit Work Allowances for families with children and those where someone has a disability.</p> answering member constituency South West Norfolk answering member printed Elizabeth Truss question first answered 13/05/2019 12:00:33 answering member 4097 label Biography information for Elizabeth Truss
	tabling member	3958 label Biography information for Fiona Bruce

1523532

	registered interest
	date	18/10/2022
	answering body	Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	Treasury
	hansard heading	Social Security Benefits
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an estimate of the number of people who may be reliant on benefits as a result of the loan charge and associated activity since it was launched.
	tabling member constituency	Romford
	tabling member printed	Andrew Rosindell
	uin	65646
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/10/2022 answer text <p>The impact of the Loan Charge was assessed and set out in the November 2017 Tax Information and Impact Note. While the impact on individuals, households and families was considered, no estimate was made of the number of individuals who would be made reliant on benefits.</p><p><br> HMRC has a well-established approach to helping taxpayers who are struggling to pay their liabilities in full, which takes full account of their financial circumstances. HMRC will agree a sustainable and manageable payment plan to spread the tax liability for anyone who is unable to pay in full. HMRC will not ask people to pay more than 50 per cent of their disposable income per month, unless they have a very high level of disposable income.</p><p> </p><p>These Time to Pay arrangements are flexible and can be amended over time to take account of changes in a taxpayer's circumstances.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency North East Bedfordshire answering member printed Richard Fuller question first answered 26/10/2022 13:07:16 answering member 3912 label Biography information for Richard Fuller
	tabling member	1447 label Biography information for Andrew Rosindell