Show Search Form

Search Results

registered interest	true false
date	exactly: or between: and
answering body
answering dept id
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
hansard heading
house id
legislature	pref label
question text
tabling member constituency
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member constituency answering member printed grouped question UIN question first answered answering member label previous answer version answering member constituency answering member printed answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

1064763

	registered interest
	date	21/02/2019
	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, how much has been deducted from universal credit claimants' standard allowance in each month since April 2017.
	tabling member constituency	High Peak
	tabling member printed	Ruth George
	uin	224493
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/05/2019 answer text <p>Internal figures are provided in the table below from two DWP datasets.</p><p> </p><p>The Government recognises the importance of safeguarding the welfare of claimants who have incurred debt. The aim of the deductions policy in Universal Credit is to protect vulnerable claimants from eviction and/or having their gas, electricity and water cut off, by providing a last resort repayment method for arrears of these essential services.</p><p> </p><p>The increase in Universal Credit caseload and activity to increase awareness of advances has had an effect on deductions. Increased awareness has resulted in around 60% of eligible new claims to Universal Credit receiving an advance in October 2018, providing further financial support until their first payment.</p><p> </p><p>Total amount deducted from Universal Credit payments between April 2017 and October 2018</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Month</p></td><td><p>Amount deducted [rounded to the nearest million]</p></td><td><p>Amount of Universal Credit paid [rounded to the nearest million]</p></td><td><p>Amount deducted as a percentage of Universal Credit paid</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Apr-17</p></td><td><p>£9,000,000</p></td><td><p>£140,000,000</p></td><td><p>7%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>May-17</p></td><td><p>£10,000,000</p></td><td><p>£148,000,000</p></td><td><p>7%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Jun-17</p></td><td><p>£10,000,000</p></td><td><p>£159,000,000</p></td><td><p>6%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Jul-17</p></td><td><p>£11,000,000</p></td><td><p>£166,000,000</p></td><td><p>6%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Aug-17</p></td><td><p>£11,000,000</p></td><td><p>£176,000,000</p></td><td><p>6%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Sep-17</p></td><td><p>£12,000,000</p></td><td><p>£186,000,000</p></td><td><p>6%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Oct-17</p></td><td><p>£13,000,000</p></td><td><p>£195,000,000</p></td><td><p>7%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Nov-17</p></td><td><p>£13,000,000</p></td><td><p>£205,000,000</p></td><td><p>7%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Dec-17</p></td><td><p>£15,000,000</p></td><td><p>£216,000,000</p></td><td><p>7%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Jan-18</p></td><td><p>£17,000,000</p></td><td><p>£232,000,000</p></td><td><p>7%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Feb-18</p></td><td><p>£19,000,000</p></td><td><p>£243,000,000</p></td><td><p>8%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Mar-18</p></td><td><p>£22,000,000</p></td><td><p>£257,000,000</p></td><td><p>8%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Apr-18</p></td><td><p>£23,000,000</p></td><td><p>£266,000,000</p></td><td><p>9%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>May-18</p></td><td><p>£25,000,000</p></td><td><p>£284,000,000</p></td><td><p>9%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Jun-18</p></td><td><p>£27,000,000</p></td><td><p>£319,000,000</p></td><td><p>8%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Jul-18</p></td><td><p>£29,000,000</p></td><td><p>£335,000,000</p></td><td><p>9%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Aug-18</p></td><td><p>£32,000,000</p></td><td><p>£360,000,000</p></td><td><p>9%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Sep-18</p></td><td><p>£35,000,000</p></td><td><p>£380,000,000</p></td><td><p>9%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Oct-18</p></td><td><p>£39,000,000</p></td><td><p>£410,000,000</p></td><td><p>10%</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Notes:</p><p> </p><p>Data sources: Universal Credit Live Service Reference Datasets and Full Service PDM data, UC Analysis Division</p><p> </p><p>1. Figures are provided for the total of UC Live Service and Full Service. The data is sourced from two different computer systems and the information available is slightly different on each system.</p><ul><li>Full Service deductions include advance repayments and all other deductions, but exclude sanctions and fraud penalties which are deductions of benefit rather than deductions.</li><li>Live Service deductions do not include sanctions which are reductions of benefit rather than deductions, but may include Fraud Penalties as these could not be removed from the Live Service data.</li><li>The Full and Live Service datasets use slightly different definitions for the month. Full Service data uses the month the UC payment is due, whereas Live Service data uses the month the assessment period related to the payment ends. The 'Total' column sums the figures using these different definitions.</li></ul><p> </p><p>2. Increase in the total deduction amounts by month reflects the effect of Universal Credit (UC) roll out as more people move onto UC.</p><p> </p><p>3. Amount of Universal Credit paid reflects the amount of money paid to claimants and their landlords as part of their award. It does not include other payments such as advances and hardship payments.</p><p> </p><p>4. Figures are provisional and are subject to retrospective change as later data becomes available.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 15/05/2019 16:55:20 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma previous answer version 104615 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

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

1105486

	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	Universal Credit
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether universal credit claimants are able to deduct the tax relief claimed by relief at source pension schemes from their earned income figure to calculate their award of universal credit.
	tabling member constituency	East Ham
	tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
	uin	237575
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/06/2019 answer text <p>100% of contributions to employer pension schemes, whether Net or Relief at Source pensions, will be taken into account when calculating the level of employed earnings in UC. This means that a UC claimant that contributes to either type of pension will, automatically (where employers report the information correctly), have their UC entitlement calculated on their taxable pay, after their pension contribution. This ensures fairness for all affected UC employed claimants.</p><p> </p><p>If there is some discrepancy in the way in which it’s reported, DWP will manually ensure that the Relief at Source pension contribution is deducted before any UC entitlement is calculated on their employed earnings.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 17/06/2019 15:25:05 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

1125059

	registered interest
	date	07/05/2019
	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
	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 number of claims for advance payments since the inception of universal credit.
	tabling member constituency	Brent Central
	tabling member printed	Dawn Butler
	uin	251268
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/05/2019 answer text <p>Universal Credit (UC) new claim advances provide access to a payment for those in financial need, which can be accessed on the same day, until their first UC payment is due. Claimants can access up to 100% of the total expected monthly award, for which they can pay back over a period of up to 12 months. From October 2021, this maximum repayment period will be extended further to 16 months.</p><p> </p><p>Around 60 per cent of new claims take up an advance. Subject to some fluctuation, this rate of advance take-up has been broadly consistent over the last 12 months.</p><p> </p><p>Between 1 May 2013 and 30 April 2019, a total of 2.9 million UC advance payments have been made.</p><p> </p><p>Advances are payments of Universal Credit made early, which are subject to recovery over an agreed period.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma grouped question UIN 251269 question first answered 15/05/2019 16:32:19 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	1489 label Biography information for Dawn Butler

1125060

	registered interest
	date	07/05/2019
	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
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of advance payments for universal credit since its inception.
	tabling member constituency	Brent Central
	tabling member printed	Dawn Butler
	uin	251269
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/05/2019 answer text <p>Universal Credit (UC) new claim advances provide access to a payment for those in financial need, which can be accessed on the same day, until their first UC payment is due. Claimants can access up to 100% of the total expected monthly award, for which they can pay back over a period of up to 12 months. From October 2021, this maximum repayment period will be extended further to 16 months.</p><p> </p><p>Around 60 per cent of new claims take up an advance. Subject to some fluctuation, this rate of advance take-up has been broadly consistent over the last 12 months.</p><p> </p><p>Between 1 May 2013 and 30 April 2019, a total of 2.9 million UC advance payments have been made.</p><p> </p><p>Advances are payments of Universal Credit made early, which are subject to recovery over an agreed period.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma grouped question UIN 251268 question first answered 15/05/2019 16:32:19 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	1489 label Biography information for Dawn Butler

1125344

	registered interest
	date	08/05/2019
	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
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the timeframe is for the bringing forward the transitional protection payments under schedule 2 of the Universal Credit (Managed Migration Pilot and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2019.
	tabling member constituency	Eastbourne
	tabling member printed	Stephen Lloyd
	uin	251967
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/05/2019 answer text <p>Following the High Court Judgment on 3 May, in relation to Universal Credit and these regulations, we are considering our response.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 16/05/2019 14:03:47 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	3968 label Biography information for Stephen Lloyd

1125419

	registered interest
	date	08/05/2019
	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
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what financial support for the costs of childcare her Department provides to parents in receipt of universal credit.
	tabling member constituency	Upper Bann
	tabling member printed	David Simpson
	uin	251987
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/05/2019 answer text <p>The Government recognises that childcare costs can affect parents’ decisions to take up paid work or increase their working hours. We are committed to helping parents into work.</p><p> </p><p>To overcome this barrier to employment, Universal Credit claimants are able to claim up to 85 per cent of their childcare costs, compared to 70% on the legacy system. This can be claimed up to a month before starting a job, and can be worth up to £13,000 a year for families with two children.</p><p> </p><p>Over the last few months we have been trialling a more flexible approach to parents who do not report their childcare costs on time. Following a successful pilot, we are now updating our guidance, so that Work Coaches have more flexibility and discretion to support parents’ claims for this essential service.</p><p> </p><p>The Universal Credit childcare policy also aligns with the wider government childcare offer, which includes free childcare hours and tax free childcare.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 17/05/2019 13:04:12 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	1597 label Biography information for David Simpson

1125583

	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
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress she has made on providing transitional Severe Disability Payment under the Universal Credit (Managed Migration Pilot and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2019.
	tabling member constituency	Ogmore
	tabling member printed	Chris Elmore
	uin	252587
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/05/2019 answer text <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 13:21:56 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4572 label Biography information for Chris Elmore

1126090

	registered interest
	date	13/05/2019
	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
	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 claimants have had money deducted as a result of (a) council tax arrears, (b) rent arrears and (c) historical tax credit debt.
	tabling member constituency	Bristol South
	tabling member printed	Karin Smyth
	uin	253637
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/05/2019 answer text <p>The latest available data is for eligible claims to Universal Credit Full Service that were eligible for payment in February 2019.</p><p> </p><p>Of these claims:</p><p> </p><p>- 2% (34,000 claims) had a deduction for council tax arrears</p><p>- 6% (83,000 claims) had a deduction for rent arrears</p><p>- 17% (255,000 claims) had a deduction for tax credit overpayments</p><p> </p><p><strong>Notes:</strong></p><p> </p><ol><li>Figures include only those claims with a non-zero deduction for each deduction type.</li><li>Rent arrears deductions are defined as arrears of rent and/or service charges relating to a rented property.</li><li>Figures for tax credit overpayments include both fraud and normal overpayments.</li><li>Figures rounded to nearest 1,000.</li></ol> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 20/05/2019 15:24:58 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	4444 label Biography information for Karin Smyth

1126163

	registered interest
	date	13/05/2019
	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
	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 for universal credit (a) claimants and (b) intended beneficiaries who are victims of economic abuse arising from provision of a single payment to one family.
	tabling member constituency	Lanark and Hamilton East
	tabling member printed	Angela Crawley
	uin	253650
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/05/2019 answer text <p>DWP is committed to doing all we can do support victims of domestic and economic abuse, including giving split payments when requested, easements in benefit conditionality, and referrals to local support.</p><p> </p><p>When an individual suffering from economic abuse requests a split payment, the Department will make split payments available to them. Whilst we are not intending to introduce split payments by default, we respond positively to such requests.</p><p>Both members of a couple do not need to be present to arrange a split payment and consent is not required from the other partner to authorise a split payment. Claimants can request a split payment during a face to face meeting, a phone call, or online via their journal and do not have to provide evidence of abuse in order to be granted a split payment.</p><p>If a victim of abuse feels able to flee their relationship, we can implement same-day advances to support them.</p><p>The Department can take other actions to support those experiencing economic abuse, such as making a managed payment of rent direct to landlords. We also ensure that claimants who disclose abuse are signposted to specialist organisations for support. All work coaches undergo mandatory training regarding how to support vulnerable claimants, including recognising the signs of domestic abuse. We are also looking at what more we can do to ensure that the main carer more often receives the Universal Credit payment direct.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 21/05/2019 16:23:54 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4469 label Biography information for Angela Crawley