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1133325

	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	Young People: Gender
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, with reference to the Youth Voice Census Report 2019, published in June 2018, what assessment she has made of the effect of gender on a young person's level of engagement with school and employment.
	tabling member constituency	Newcastle-under-Lyme
	tabling member printed	Paul Farrelly
	uin	266814
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/06/2019 answer text <p>No assessment has been made of gender on a young person’s level of engagement with school and employment.</p><p> </p><p>However, the Government is committed to providing targeted support for all young people so that everyone, no matter what their start in life, is given the very best chance.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has raised the participation age to ensure that all young people are supported to continue their education until at least age 18, and invested nearly £7 billion during academic year 2018/19, to ensure there is a place in education or training for every 16 to 19-year old.</p><p> </p><p>Local Authorities (LAs) have a statutory duty to identify and track the participation of 16 and 17 year olds, supporting those who are not participating to do so and making sure that there is sufficient, suitable education and training provision to meet their needs. The September Guarantee places a further duty on LAs to ensure that all year 11 pupils (and year 12 pupils on one year courses) receive an offer of a place in education/training for the following September. It aims to ensure that all young people, regardless of what they achieved in school, understand that there are opportunities that will help them to progress, and to ensure that they get the advice and support they need to find a suitable place.</p><p> </p><p>The latest data for the end of 2017 (provisional) shows that 86.8% of 16-18-year-old females are in Education and Training, compared to 85.1% of males. Source is the ‘Participation in education, training and employment: 2017’ published statistics.</p><p> </p><p>In January to March 2019 the number of young people aged 16-24 who were not in education, employment or training (NEET) in the UK was at a near record low (764,000) – down 364,000 since 2010. As part of this the number of women aged 16-24 who were NEET was at a near record low (383,000) – down 238,000 since 2010. The number of men aged 16-24 who were NEET was also near a record low – at 381,000 – down 126,000 since 2010.</p><p> </p><p>The latest figures from the independent ONS, show that in February-April 2019 UK employment rate is at a joint record high of 76.1% - and as part of this the female employment rate is at a record high (72.0%). The male employment rate was 80.3% - up 5.3% points since 2010.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 24/06/2019 15:38:46 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	1436 label Biography information for Paul Farrelly

1128341

	registered interest
	date	22/05/2019
	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: Overpayments
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, (a) how many and (b) what percentage of universal credit claimants had funds deducted for a universal credit overpayment in the most recent month for which data is available.
	tabling member constituency	High Peak
	tabling member printed	Ruth George
	uin	257575
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2019 answer text <p>Internal Management information shows that in April 2019, 80,000 payments of Universal Credit (UC) had a deduction applied to repay a UC overpayment (this figure does not include UC Advances and has been rounded to the nearest 10,000).</p><p> </p><p>It is not possible to show this figure as a percentage as the latest UC caseload data is only available as of 14<sup>th</sup> February 19. However, for context as of 14<sup>th</sup> February 19, 1.4m households received payments of UC.</p><p /><p>The Department ensures that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect claimants who have deductions from their benefit to repay overpayments. There are maximum rates of deduction that are set out in legislation, and if a claimant is struggling they can contact the Department’s Debt Management Team to discuss lowering their repayment rate.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 10/06/2019 15:03:56 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	4662 label Biography information for Ruth George

1135963

	registered interest
	date	01/07/2019
	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: EU Nationals
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many EU nationals have been refused universal credit in the last 12 months on the grounds that they have not demonstrated a right to be habitually resident.
	tabling member constituency	Leeds Central
	tabling member printed	Hilary Benn
	uin	271382
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/07/2019 answer text <p>Eligibility for income-related (means-tested) benefits, such as Universal Credit, depends on a person’s immigration status in the UK. Claimants must be exercising a legal right to reside and be habitually resident before they are eligible to claim. This is assessed through the Habitual Residence Test (HRT).</p><p> </p><p>EU nationals who have been granted settled status (indefinite leave to remain) by the Home Office will satisfy the legal right to reside element of the HRT. All claimants, regardless of nationality, must also demonstrate that they are factually habitually resident in the UK in order to be eligible to claim UC. In general, a period of 3 months residence is sufficient to meet this requirement.</p><p> </p><p>For certain non-contributory benefits, such as Personal Independence Payment, an individual must also satisfy the Past Presence Test (PPT), which requires them to have been present in Great Britain for 104 weeks out of the previous 156 weeks.</p><p> </p><p>Information on the nationality of those refused Universal Credit within the last 12 months is still being analysed, not readily available, and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma grouped question UIN 271381 question first answered 04/07/2019 14:33:02 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	413 label Biography information for Hilary Benn

1129684

	registered interest
	date	04/06/2019
	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, how many and what proportion of claims under universal credit for the (a) standard allowance, (b) carer element, (c) child element, (d) childcare element, (e) disabled child element, (f) housing element and (g) limited capability for work element were not paid (i) on time and (ii) in full in each for the last six months for which information is available.
	tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
	tabling member printed	Frank Field
	uin	259875
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/06/2019 answer text <p>The information requested is available in the attached document for both new claims and existing claims. The Limited Capability for Work (LCW) addition is no longer payable on new claims to Universal Credit (UC) since 3rd April 2017.</p><p> </p><p>Figures for the proportion of claims paid in full on time is subject to fluctuation. This particularly effects the figures for LCW in the first assessment period which are subject to change.</p><p> </p><p>Claimants in the Limited Capability for Work and Work Related Activity (LCWRA) group may not receive their additional element within the first assessment period due to the additional element being calculated based on the outcome of their Work Capability Assessment (WCA) which, due to the need for medical evidence and assessment, may not be complete by the end of the first assessment period.</p><p> </p><p>Claimants who naturally migrate to UC from Employment and Support Allowance, and are currently receiving the LCW / LCWRA addition, will continue to receive it on their UC claim from day 1 as long as there has been no break in their claim and they have declared the same health condition when they moved across to UC.</p><p> </p><p>UC payment timeliness has continued to improve during its rollout, we are also continually introducing improvements to its design, for example most recently, by making childcare and housing verification easier. These improvements are not yet fully reflected in the data supplied.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 13/06/2019 15:05:03 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma attachment 1 file name PQ259875 data tables.xlsx title PQ259875 data tables
	tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

1134488

	registered interest
	date	25/06/2019
	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, how many and what proportion of natural migrations to universal credit from legacy benefits were as a result of (a) a trigger for natural migration, (b) claimant error, (c) official error, (d) incorrect advice from staff or contractors and (e) inadequate advice from third party advisers.
	tabling member constituency	Alyn and Deeside
	tabling member printed	Mark Tami
	uin	268994
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/07/2019 answer text <p>The requested information is not available.</p><p> </p><p>Currently people only move to Universal Credit (UC) because they have had a significant change in their circumstances which would previously have led them to make a new claim to a legacy benefit. It has always been the case that in such circumstances, new claims would be assessed based upon their new circumstances and under the rules of the new benefit.</p><p> </p><p>Claimant circumstances within the legacy system are diverse and interact with a range of benefits in different ways. Eligibility for UC is dependent on individuals’ circumstances, the specific nature of the change and rules for access to legacy benefits.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 03/07/2019 12:05:46 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	1383 label Biography information for Mark Tami

1134893

	registered interest
	date	26/06/2019
	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, how many and what proportion of repayment schedules for advance payments awarded to people awaiting their first universal credit claim have been timetabled to (a) one to three months, (b) four to six months, (c) seven to nine months and (d) 10-12 months by Jobcentre Plus district in the most recent period for which figures are available.
	tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
	tabling member printed	Frank Field
	uin	269646
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/07/2019 answer text <p>The repayment schedule for an advance payment is agreed by the claimant.</p><p>The information requested is provided in the attached table which gives the proportion of repayment schedules for new claim and benefit transfer advances by Jobcentre Plus district.</p><p>From October 2021 we will be increasing the recovery period for advances from 12 to 16 months, further supporting those in financial need.</p><p>Notes:</p><p>The figures relate to Universal Credit full service only</p><p>The figures are rounded to the nearest %</p><p>The proportions are based on those advances paid between March 18 and February 2019</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 01/07/2019 16:31:42 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma attachment 1 file name PQ 269646 table.xlsx title Table attachment
	tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

1136530

	registered interest
	date	03/07/2019
	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 were subject to a deduction, excluding sanctions, in the latest month for which data is available.
	tabling member constituency	Brighton, Pavilion
	tabling member printed	Caroline Lucas
	uin	272806
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/07/2019 answer text <p>Of all eligible claims to Universal Credit Full Service due a payment in Feb 2019, 57 per cent (840,000 claims) had a deduction.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Notes</strong></p><p>Deductions include advance repayments and all other deductions, but exclude sanctions and fraud penalties which are reductions of benefit rather than deductions.</p><p>Claim numbers may not match official statistics caseloads due to small methodological differences.</p><p>Claim numbers are rounded to the nearest 1,000.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 12/07/2019 13:39:38 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	3930 label Biography information for Caroline Lucas

1128238

	registered interest
	date	22/05/2019
	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: Overpayments
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many cases involving universal credit overpayments have been pursued subsequent to an appeal on the grounds of hardship.
	tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
	tabling member printed	Frank Field
	uin	257458
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/06/2019 answer text <p>In 2018/19, 16,260 successful applications for a reduction in their repayment rate were made by claimants or their representatives.</p><p>In 2018/19, 10 overpayments were waived, either in full or in part, as a result of applications made by claimants or their representatives. In the same period, 20 applications were unsuccessful.</p><p>The Department has an obligation to ensure that public funds are administered responsibly and to abide by the principles set out in Her Majesty’s Treasury’s guidance on Managing Public Money (which can be found on gov.uk). Waivers are only granted in limited circumstances including where the recovery of an overpayment is causing substantial financial and/or medical hardship and clear supporting evidence of this is provided.</p><p>Rather than waiving benefit overpayments, the Department works to support claimants through the recovery of these overpayments.</p><p>If a claimant is having difficulty repaying a benefit overpayment, they can request a review of the amount that is being taken. Any adjustment to the rate of repayment will be based on the individual circumstances of the claimant.</p><p><em>*All figures in this response have been sourced from internal management information and were not intended for public release. They should therefore not be compared to any similar figures subsequently released by the Department. All figures have been rounded to the nearest 10.</em></p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma grouped question UIN 257457 question first answered 05/06/2019 14:34:51 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

1128236

	registered interest
	date	22/05/2019
	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: Overpayments
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many cases involving universal credit overpayments have not been pursued on the grounds of hardship.
	tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
	tabling member printed	Frank Field
	uin	257457
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/06/2019 answer text <p>In 2018/19, 16,260 successful applications for a reduction in their repayment rate were made by claimants or their representatives.</p><p>In 2018/19, 10 overpayments were waived, either in full or in part, as a result of applications made by claimants or their representatives. In the same period, 20 applications were unsuccessful.</p><p>The Department has an obligation to ensure that public funds are administered responsibly and to abide by the principles set out in Her Majesty’s Treasury’s guidance on Managing Public Money (which can be found on gov.uk). Waivers are only granted in limited circumstances including where the recovery of an overpayment is causing substantial financial and/or medical hardship and clear supporting evidence of this is provided.</p><p>Rather than waiving benefit overpayments, the Department works to support claimants through the recovery of these overpayments.</p><p>If a claimant is having difficulty repaying a benefit overpayment, they can request a review of the amount that is being taken. Any adjustment to the rate of repayment will be based on the individual circumstances of the claimant.</p><p><em>*All figures in this response have been sourced from internal management information and were not intended for public release. They should therefore not be compared to any similar figures subsequently released by the Department. All figures have been rounded to the nearest 10.</em></p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma grouped question UIN 257458 question first answered 05/06/2019 14:34:51 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

1135375

	registered interest
	date	27/06/2019
	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	Child Benefit
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many children have been affected by the two-child benefit limit in each year for which data is available.
	tabling member constituency	Vale of Clwyd
	tabling member printed	Chris Ruane
	uin	270301
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/07/2019 answer text <p>The Department will shortly be providing updated figures to those we published in June 2018. This will show the number of claimants affected by the policy to provide support for a maximum of two children as at April 2019.</p><p> </p><p>The full breakdown of the current statistics can be found here:</p><p> </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-2018" 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-2018</a></p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma grouped question UIN 270300 question first answered 02/07/2019 14:21:19 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	534 label Biography information for Chris Ruane