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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

1134009

	registered interest
	date	24/06/2019
	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
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the effect on a universal credit claimant’s health and well-being of the ability to repay hardship payments.
	tabling member constituency	East Ham
	tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
	uin	268345
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/06/2019 answer text <p>Hardship payments are available as a safeguard if a claimant demonstrates that they cannot meet their immediate and most essential needs (including accommodation, heating, food and hygiene) as a result of a benefit sanction.</p><p> </p><p>Work Coaches ensure they consider the claimant’s circumstances, including issues relating to their health and well-being, at the point of the new claim to Universal Credit, to tailor the service accordingly. This also includes when claimants are repaying any hardship payments.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 27/06/2019 14:23:18 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

1126537

	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 response her Department makes when notified by a local authority of an error in a resident’s universal credit calculation.
	tabling member constituency	East Ham
	tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
	uin	254086
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/06/2019 answer text <p>It is not clear whether the questions relate to the Local Authority as the provider of housing or as the administrator of Housing Benefit and Council Tax. This answer therefore responds on both counts.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Local Authority as landlord:</strong></p><p> </p><p>The Local Authority use the ‘Landlord Portal’ to provide details of a claimant’s rent and tenancy details. When the information provided does not match what the claimant has given, the claimant will then be able to accept or reject the information uploaded by the Local Authority by logging into their Universal Credit account.</p><p> </p><p>If the claimant accepts the information provided by the Local Authority no further action is required. If the Local Authority has provided information that is rejected by the claimant, the claimant is advised to make contact to resolve this. This could require a subsequent housing declaration to be provided. The ‘Landlord Portal’ has a summary screen that allows the Local Authority to confirm or change the information they are about to provide before it has been submitted.</p><p> </p><p>This process applies whenever there is a rent change, including annual uprating of rent. The Landlord Portal is the streamlined communication tool which allows the Local Authority to disclose the rent thus highlighting errors in the claimants Universal Credit.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Local Authority as administrator of Housing Benefit and Council Tax:</strong></p><p> </p><p>Once a claim to Universal Credit has been made, the Local Authority will receive a notification if the claimant is in receipt of Housing Benefit. This will inform the Local Authority of the claim to Universal Credit so they can take the action to close the Housing Benefit claim where needed. The Local Authority will inform Universal Credit of the action they have taken and if there is any payment to be offset within the first assessment period.</p><p> </p><p>Additionally, during the Universal Credit claim process, the claimant will be asked if their name is on the council tax bill. If the claimant answers ‘yes’, they are asked if they have applied for a reduction in their council tax. If the claimant answers that they have applied or will apply for a Council Tax Reduction, their details will be shared with the Local Authority. This is a one-way communication which allows for the Local Authority to take the appropriate action regarding an application for a Council Tax Reduction.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma grouped question UIN 254088 question first answered 03/06/2019 13:09:40 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma previous answer version 119078 answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

1126539

	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 support her Department provides to local authorities to help (a) identify and (b) remedy errors in universal credit calculations.
	tabling member constituency	East Ham
	tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
	uin	254088
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/06/2019 answer text <p>It is not clear whether the questions relate to the Local Authority as the provider of housing or as the administrator of Housing Benefit and Council Tax. This answer therefore responds on both counts.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Local Authority as landlord:</strong></p><p> </p><p>The Local Authority use the ‘Landlord Portal’ to provide details of a claimant’s rent and tenancy details. When the information provided does not match what the claimant has given, the claimant will then be able to accept or reject the information uploaded by the Local Authority by logging into their Universal Credit account.</p><p> </p><p>If the claimant accepts the information provided by the Local Authority no further action is required. If the Local Authority has provided information that is rejected by the claimant, the claimant is advised to make contact to resolve this. This could require a subsequent housing declaration to be provided. The ‘Landlord Portal’ has a summary screen that allows the Local Authority to confirm or change the information they are about to provide before it has been submitted.</p><p> </p><p>This process applies whenever there is a rent change, including annual uprating of rent. The Landlord Portal is the streamlined communication tool which allows the Local Authority to disclose the rent thus highlighting errors in the claimants Universal Credit.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Local Authority as administrator of Housing Benefit and Council Tax:</strong></p><p> </p><p>Once a claim to Universal Credit has been made, the Local Authority will receive a notification if the claimant is in receipt of Housing Benefit. This will inform the Local Authority of the claim to Universal Credit so they can take the action to close the Housing Benefit claim where needed. The Local Authority will inform Universal Credit of the action they have taken and if there is any payment to be offset within the first assessment period.</p><p> </p><p>Additionally, during the Universal Credit claim process, the claimant will be asked if their name is on the council tax bill. If the claimant answers ‘yes’, they are asked if they have applied for a reduction in their council tax. If the claimant answers that they have applied or will apply for a Council Tax Reduction, their details will be shared with the Local Authority. This is a one-way communication which allows for the Local Authority to take the appropriate action regarding an application for a Council Tax Reduction.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma grouped question UIN 254086 question first answered 03/06/2019 13:09:40 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma previous answer version 119077 answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

1346599

	registered interest
	date	14/07/2021
	answering body	COP26
	answering dept id	210
	answering dept short name	COP26
	answering dept sort name	COP26
	hansard heading	Climate Change
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	What plans he has to identify potential sources of finance to tackle climate-related loss and damage ahead of COP26.
	tabling member constituency	East Ham
	tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
	uin	902702
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/07/2021 answer text <p>I am taking a pragmatic approach to ensure that we increase overall finance moving to climate action, from both the public and private sector. Obviously, the 100 billion dollars a year promised by developed countries to support developing nations must be delivered and we also need to scale up finance for adaptation.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 14/07/2021 14:44:27 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms