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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

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

1126618

	registered interest
	date	14/05/2019
	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 changes have been made to the burden of proof required to prove eligibility for welfare support for (a) EU nationals and (b) non-EU nationals following the introduction of universal credit.
	tabling member constituency	Dulwich and West Norwood
	tabling member printed	Helen Hayes
	uin	254247
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/05/2019 answer text <p>No changes have been made to the burden of proof required to demonstrate eligibility for Universal Credit. In 2015, amendments to Universal Credit regulations brought the eligibility criteria to access Universal Credit more closely into line with EU regulations. The Department publishes Advice for Decision Makers on gov.uk, which is updated periodically.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 21/05/2019 16:48:54 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma previous answer version 119071 answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	4510 label Biography information for Helen Hayes

1126816

	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	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 assessment she has made of whether there is a need for transitional protection for mixed-age couples that will see eligibility for pension credit and housing benefit affected by transferring to universal credit.
	tabling member constituency	Preseli Pembrokeshire
	tabling member printed	Stephen Crabb
	uin	254779
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/05/2019 answer text <p>The mixed age couples change will not apply to couples already claiming Pension Credit and/or Housing Benefit for pensioners on 14 May for as long as they remain entitled to either benefit. DWP wrote earlier this year to those mixed age couples already receiving Pension Credit and/or Housing Benefit for pensioners to ensure they know about the change and how they could be affected if their circumstances change on or after 15 May.</p><p> </p><p>Couples who would be eligible for the pension age benefits under the previous rules but have not claimed before 15 May will have up to 13 August to make a backdated claim to 14 May and we encourage them to do so.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 22/05/2019 15:54:25 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	1554 label Biography information for Stephen Crabb

1126934

	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	Universal Credit
	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 13 May to Question 249845, what proportion of universal credit claimants who had not fully repaid their advance as of 5 May 2019 had taken out that advance prior to 5 November 2018.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
	tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
	uin	254730
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/05/2019 answer text <p>The latest available data shows there were 610,000 claimants who had not fully repaid a Universal Credit Advance which had been taken out prior to 5 November 2018. This equates to around 40% of the total claimants with a Universal Credit Advance.</p><p> </p><p>Notes:</p><ol><li>Data is a snapshot of information held on 15 May 2019 and has been rounded to the nearest ten thousand.</li><li>Many Universal Credit advances are taken out over a 12-month repayment period, so this snapshot of data includes cases where repayments are being made to the agreed timeline.</li><li>This data has been sourced from internal management information and due to the time available, has not been quality assured to the usual standards for public release. It should therefore not be compared to any other similar data subsequently released by the Department.</li></ol> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 23/05/2019 16:28:49 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1127116

	registered interest
	date	16/05/2019
	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 her Department has made of the effect of the 5-week wait for the first payment of universal credit on (a) a claimant’s level of (i) debt and (ii) rent arrears and (b) the finances of disabled claimants.
	tabling member constituency	Wirral West
	tabling member printed	Margaret Greenwood
	uin	255340
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/05/2019 answer text <p>No one has to wait 5 weeks for their first payment of Universal Credit. Advances are available from the first day of a valid claim, if required, to support claimants.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 21/05/2019 15:59:56 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	4400 label Biography information for Margaret Greenwood

1127119

	registered interest
	date	16/05/2019
	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 payments have been subject to a deduction as a result of a claimant’s historic debt to (a) her Department and (b) HM Treasury in the latest month for which data is available.
	tabling member constituency	Wirral West
	tabling member printed	Margaret Greenwood
	uin	255341
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/05/2019 answer text <p>Internal Management information shows that in April 2019, 280,000 payments of Universal Credit (UC) had a deduction applied to repay a non UC debt owed to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), and 340,000 payments of UC had a deduction applied to repay a Tax Credit debt (these figures have been rounded to the nearest 10,000). Some payments of UC may have had a deduction for both a non UC debt and a Tax Credit debt. These claimants would appear in both totals, therefore the figures cannot be summed.</p><p> </p><p>In line with the deductions policy in UC, for both types of debt, the deductions would not usually exceed the maximum amounts, which are set out legislation. Only in cases where last resort deductions are applied can these rates be exceeded. DWP ensures that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect claimants who have deductions from their benefit to repay overpayments. If a claimant is struggling they can contact DWP’s Debt Management to discuss lowering their repayment rate.</p><p> </p><p>It is also worth noting that it is not possible to provide this as a proportion at April 2019, as the latest UC caseload data is only available as of 14 February 19. However, for context, as of 14 February 19, 1.4m households received payments of UC.</p><p> </p><p>N.B. This data on deductions has been sourced from internal management information. It should therefore not be compared to any other similar data subsequently released by the DWP.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 21/05/2019 15:53:23 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	4400 label Biography information for Margaret Greenwood