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1083635

	registered interest
	date	07/03/2019
	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	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 the process is for her Department when it considers an application for an advance payment for universal credit.
	tabling member constituency	Arfon
	tabling member printed	Hywel Williams
	uin	229666
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/05/2019 answer text <p>If a claimant meets the conditions for an advance we aim to make the payment 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><p>Applications for a Universal Credit advance payment can be made in person, by telephone or online depending on the claimant’s circumstances. Depending on the type of advance payment application, we will consider whether the claimant satisfies the eligibility conditions for receiving the advance. If the claimant is eligible we will agree the amount of the advance and the period over which the advance will be recovered from their future Universal Credit payments. The outcome of the application is explained to the claimant and their online journal updated.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 22/05/2019 13:37:44 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	1397 label Biography information for Hywel Williams

1125630

	registered interest
	date	09/05/2019
	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	Universal Credit: Wales
	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 became ineligable for severe disability premium as a result of moving onto universal credit in Wales.
	tabling member constituency	Arfon
	tabling member printed	Hywel Williams
	uin	252504
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/05/2019 answer text <p>It is not possible to confirm exactly how many people in Wales became ineligible for the Severe Disability Premium (SDP) following their move to Universal Credit due to a change in circumstance. This is because each case must be individually assessed to determine whether SDP eligibility would have continued following the end of their claim to Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), Jobseekers’ Allowance (JSA) or Income Support (IS).</p><p> </p><p>Information on claimants of JSA and IS in receipt of SDP who have moved to Universal Credit would incur disproportionate cost in response to a Parliamentary Question.</p><p> </p><p>Since 16 January 2019 claimants who are in receipt of SDP or who have been entitled to an award of an existing benefit that included SDP in the previous month, and who have continued to meet the SDP eligibility conditions, have been prevented from moving onto Universal Credit if they experience a change in circumstances. Instead, these claimants will continue to claim legacy benefits until DWP move them onto Universal Credit where transitional protection will be available, thereby safeguarding their existing benefit entitlement.</p><p> </p><p>The Department is considering the detail of the recent court judgment regarding SDP, and will make a decision on their response in due course.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 17/05/2019 12:39:59 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	1397 label Biography information for Hywel Williams

1125632

	registered interest
	date	09/05/2019
	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	Universal Credit: Wales
	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 in Wales received additional payments as a result of moving from Severe Disability Premium to universal credit without transitional arrangements.
	tabling member constituency	Arfon
	tabling member printed	Hywel Williams
	uin	252505
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/05/2019 answer text <p>The draft Universal Credit (Managed Migration Pilot and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2019, which are currently before Parliament, make provision for Severe Disability Premium transitional payments for those eligible claimants who have already moved to UC.</p><p> </p><p>Following the High Court judgment on 3 May, in relation to Universal Credit and these regulations, we are considering our options.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 17/05/2019 13:39:07 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	1397 label Biography information for Hywel Williams

1132229

	registered interest
	date	14/06/2019
	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: Self-employed
	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 are categorised as self-employed in (a) Arfon, (b) Wales and (c) the UK.
	tabling member constituency	Arfon
	tabling member printed	Hywel Williams
	uin	264732
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/06/2019 answer text <p>The Department plans to publish statistics on Universal Credit and self-employment, including claimant numbers, in the future. The Government’s commitment remains to helping self-employed claimants with viable businesses to thrive, while protecting public funds.</p><p>We provide tailored support to our claimants who are in self-employment through our work coaches to help them to increase their productivity and earnings. Work coaches can also sign-post claimants to the extensive business support which is already funded by the Government.</p><p>As we announced in the Autumn Budget 2018, we will be extending the 12-month start-up period where claimants are exempt from the Minimum Income Floor to all gainfully self-employed claimants who are new to Universal Credit. This start-up period will provide time for self-employed claimants to establish and grow their business, or to adjust to Universal Credit.</p><p>The Department has also extended mentoring support from New Enterprise Allowance mentors to Universal Credit claimants with earnings below their Minimum Income Floor, to help them to develop a plan to grow their earnings.</p><p /> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 24/06/2019 13:38:46 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	1397 label Biography information for Hywel Williams

1133352

	registered interest
	date	19/06/2019
	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	Television Licences: Older People
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the cost to the public purse was of providing free television licences to people over the age of 75 for qualifying residents in (a) Arfon constituency and (b) Gwynedd local authority area and (c) Wales in (i) 2017-18 and (ii) 2018-19.
	tabling member constituency	Arfon
	tabling member printed	Hywel Williams
	uin	266832
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/06/2019 answer text <p>In the 2015 funding settlement, the Government agreed with the BBC that responsibility for the concession will transfer to the BBC in June 2020.</p><p>The government and the BBC agreed this is a fair deal for the BBC - in return we closed the iPlayer loophole and committed to increase the licence fee in line with inflation. And to help with financial planning, we agreed to provide phased transitional funding over 2 years to gradually introduce the cost to the BBC.</p><p>This reform was subject to public discussion and debated extensively during the passage of the Digital Economy Act 2017 through Parliament.</p><p>On 10 June 2019, the BBC <a href="https://www.bbc.com/aboutthebbc/reports/consultation/age-related-tv-licence-policy" target="_blank">announced</a> that the current scheme will end. From 1 June 2020, a free TV licence will only be available to a household with someone aged over 75 who receives Pension Credit.</p><p>The table below provides estimates of the costs for 2017/18 of providing free TV licences to people aged 75 and over in the geographical areas requested, in nominal prices. The figures for 2018/19 will be available in September.</p><p /><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p><strong>Expenditure (£m) (Nominal)</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong> </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2017-18</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>(a) Arfon constituency</strong></p></td><td><p>£0.56</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>(b) Gwynedd local authority area</strong></p></td><td><p>£1.41</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>(c) Wales</strong></p></td><td><p>£34.11</p></td></tr></tbody></table> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 26/06/2019 16:14:54 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	1397 label Biography information for Hywel Williams

1142828

	registered interest
	date	02/09/2019
	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 people have had their (a) driving licence and (b) passport removed as a result of Child Maintenance Service enforcement measures.
	tabling member constituency	Arfon
	tabling member printed	Hywel Williams
	uin	284276
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p>This information is not reported. However we do hold clerical data and can advise 15 driving licenses have been removed or suspended and 3 passports have been suspended.</p><p> </p><p>The information regarding committal orders, or sanctions as they are called in the Child Maintenance Service, are reported in our published statistics and can be on found table 11 of the tables document on the attached link:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-maintenance-service-august-2013-to-march-2019-experimental" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-maintenance-service-august-2013-to-march-2019-experimental</a></p><p> </p><p>We reported enforcement activities in our CSA statistics until September 2017 when we reduced the number of tables published because most CSA cases had been closed or had begun the Case Closure process. The last publication including the enforcement activities can be found on table 22 of the attached link:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-support-agency-quarterly-summary-of-statistics-june-2017" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-support-agency-quarterly-summary-of-statistics-june-2017</a></p> answering member constituency Eastleigh answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 09/09/2019 12:45:51 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	1397 label Biography information for Hywel Williams

1172919

	registered interest
	date	23/01/2020
	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	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 assessment she has made of the effect of the two-child limit on child poverty in (a) each Welsh local authority and (b) each Welsh parliamentary constituency.
	tabling member constituency	Arfon
	tabling member printed	Hywel Williams
	uin	7120
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/01/2020 answer text <p>National Statistics on the percentage of children in low income households are published annually in the “Households Below Average Income” publication and the latest year for which information is available is 2017/18. As the two-child limit policy was introduced in April 2017 there is insufficient data to assess any impacts of the policy on low income. Also estimates for the percentage of children in low income households are not available at local authority or parliamentary constituency level in this publication because the survey sample sizes are too small to support the production of robust estimates at this geography. For these two reasons it is not possible to evaluate the impacts of specific policies on poverty for these areas.</p><p> </p><p>Data relating to the operation of the policy in Wales can be found in the latest annual statistics release which was published on 31 July 2019 and covers the period up to 2 April 2019. This data can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-tax-credit-and-universal-credit-claimants-statistics-related-to-the-policy-to-provide-support-for-a-maximum-of-2-children-april-2019" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-tax-credit-and-universal-credit-claimants-statistics-related-to-the-policy-to-provide-support-for-a-maximum-of-2-children-april-2019</a></p><p> </p><p>We have committed to further annual releases.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 28/01/2020 17:37:15 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	1397 label Biography information for Hywel Williams

1173982

	registered interest
	date	28/01/2020
	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	Personal Independence Payment: Medical Examinations
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has made an assessment of the adequacy of the (a) services provided by and (b) number of Capita PIP assessment centres in (i) each local authority in Wales and (ii) each parliamentary constituency in Wales.
	tabling member constituency	Arfon
	tabling member printed	Hywel Williams
	uin	8971
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/02/2020 answer text <p>We set our assessment providers challenging targets, we monitor performance closely and manage contracts robustly. As part of the specification for the PIP assessment service assessment providers must provide sufficient suitable accommodation for face-to-face consultations. The department has set clear requirements in terms of geography/travel, security and claimant experience in relation to the sites used for PIP consultations. No claimant will be asked to travel more than 90 minutes to an assessment centre. Claimants can also make a request for a home assessment.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 03/02/2020 17:33:58 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	1397 label Biography information for Hywel Williams

1174834

	registered interest
	date	30/01/2020
	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	Department for Work and Pensions: Welsh Language
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what her Department's policy is on receiving letters in the Welsh language; and what her Department's deadline is for replying to letters written in the (a) Welsh and (b) English language.
	tabling member constituency	Arfon
	tabling member printed	Hywel Williams
	uin	10317
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/02/2020 answer text <p>DWP welcomes letters in Welsh. When someone writes to us in Welsh, we will issue a reply in Welsh (if a reply is appropriate).</p><p> </p><p>The target time for replying to letters written in Welsh is the same as the target for letters written in English.</p><p> </p><p>Complaints – 15 working days</p><p>MPs writing to Ministers – 20 working days</p><p>Correspondence relating to policies – within 4 weeks</p><p> </p><p>Where it is not possible to issue a substantial reply in this time, a written acknowledgement and explanation will be sent in whichever language the correspondence has been received (Welsh or English).</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 04/02/2020 17:36:24 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	1397 label Biography information for Hywel Williams

1174907

	registered interest
	date	30/01/2020
	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	Universal Credit and Welfare Tax Credits
	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 has taken to make prospective parents aware of the two child limit on tax credits and universal credit in the last 12 months.
	tabling member constituency	Arfon
	tabling member printed	Hywel Williams
	uin	10318
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/02/2020 answer text <p>Information about this policy is available on GOV.UK and Jobcentre staff are able to advise on how the policy operates. The Government continues to look to identify effective ways of making prospective parents aware of the policy.</p><p> </p><p>Claimants were alerted to this policy when it was announced by the Government as part of the Summer Budget 2015. HMRC, who currently have the majority of claims from those with more than two children, also provide information about this change in leaflets which are sent to all claimants renewing their Child Tax Credit claim.</p><p> </p><p>DWP and HMRC also produce annual joint reports with statistics relating to the implementation of the policy. The most recent of these was published 31 July 2019 and can be found online at:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-tax-credit-and-universal-credit-claimants-statistics-related-to-the-policy-to-provide-support-for-a-maximum-of-2-children-april-2019" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-tax-credit-and-universal-credit-claimants-statistics-related-to-the-policy-to-provide-support-for-a-maximum-of-2-children-april-2019 </a></p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 04/02/2020 17:30:29 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	1397 label Biography information for Hywel Williams