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1195133

	registered interest
	date	12/05/2020
	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: Appeals
	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 who requested a mandatory reconsideration of their universal credit claim before the covid-19 outbreak are awaiting the outcome; what the average wait is for universal credit mandatory reconsiderations; and what steps she is taking to ensure that people are supported while waiting for the outcome of those reconsiderations.
	tabling member constituency	Arfon
	tabling member printed	Hywel Williams
	uin	45963
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/05/2020 answer text <p>5% of the Mandatory Reconsiderations recorded prior to the CV19 outbreak are awaiting a decision.</p><p> </p><p>Where a decision has been made, the average time to reach a decision is 26 calendar days.</p><p> </p><p>Benefit claimants may also be eligible for assistance from their local Council through Local Welfare Support schemes. Councils will be able to use funding from the new £500 million Hardship Fund to provide further discretionary support to vulnerable people through other support arrangements such as Local Welfare Schemes.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 29/05/2020 14:48:39 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince previous answer version 22280 answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	1397 label Biography information for Hywel Williams

1195135

	registered interest
	date	12/05/2020
	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: Coronavirus
	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 potential merits of amending the eligibility criteria for backdating universal credit payments to include people affected by the covid-19 outbreak.
	tabling member constituency	Arfon
	tabling member printed	Hywel Williams
	uin	45964
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/05/2020 answer text <p>As Universal Credit claims can be made online or, where needed, by calling the Universal Credit helpline, most claims will not require backdating. However, backdating, up to a maximum of one month, is available where the circumstances are such that someone could not reasonably have been expected to claim earlier including due to illness, disability or an official computer system failure.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 19/05/2020 13:42:31 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince previous answer version 22281 answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	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

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

1343144

	registered interest
	date	01/07/2021
	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	Local Housing Allowance: Wales
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the effect of the rate of Local Housing Allowance on levels of rent arrears in Wales.
	tabling member constituency	Arfon
	tabling member printed	Hywel Williams
	uin	25737
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/07/2021 answer text <p>No assessment has been made.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 06/07/2021 16:06:09 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	1397 label Biography information for Hywel Williams

1284319

	registered interest
	date	05/02/2021
	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	social security benefits: Coronavirus
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the APPG on Poverty's £20 uplift report published on 1 February 2021, what recent assessment she has made of the (a) removal of the £20 uplift to universal credit and working tax credit; (b) decision not to extend the £20 uplift to legacy and related benefits and (c) suspension of the benefit cap.
	tabling member constituency	Arfon
	tabling member printed	Hywel Williams
	uin	149727
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/02/2021 answer text <p>No assessment has been made.</p><p> </p><p>The £20 per week uplift to Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit was announced by the Chancellor as a temporary measure in March 2020 to support those facing the most financial disruption as a result of the public health emergency. This measure remains in place until March 2021. As the Government has done throughout this crisis, it will continue to assess how best to support low-income families, which is why we will look at the economic and health context before making any decisions.</p><p> </p><p>There are no plans to extend the temporary £20 uplift to legacy benefits. Claimants on legacy benefits can make a claim for Universal Credit (UC) if they think they will be better off and should check carefully their eligibility and entitlements under UC before applying, as legacy benefits will end when claimants submit their UC claim and they will not be able to return to them in the future. For this reason, prospective claimants are signposted to independent benefits calculators on GOV.UK. Neither DWP nor HMRC can advise individual claimants whether they would be better off moving to UC or remaining on legacy benefits.</p><p> </p><p>No assessment has been made with regards to suspending the benefit cap. There are currently no plans to change the Benefit Cap.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 10/02/2021 17:31:26 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	1397 label Biography information for Hywel Williams

1343142

	registered interest
	date	01/07/2021
	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, what recent assessment she has made of the potential effect of ending the £20 universal credit uplift on levels of poverty in Wales.
	tabling member constituency	Arfon
	tabling member printed	Hywel Williams
	uin	25735
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/07/2021 answer text <p>No such assessment has been made.</p><p> </p><p>It is not possible to produce a robust estimate of the impact of removing the £20 uplift on child poverty. This is particularly the case at the moment given the uncertainty around the speed of the economic recovery, and how this will be distributed across the population.</p><p> </p><p>As the economy recovers, our ambition is to help people move into and progress in work as quickly as possible based on clear evidence around the importance of employment, particularly where it is full-time, in substantially reducing the risks of poverty. Our ambitious Plan for Jobs is already delivering for people of all ages right across the country and includes new schemes such as the £2 billion Kickstart Scheme, the £2.9bn Restart Scheme and our Job Entry Targeted Support Scheme.”</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 06/07/2021 16:15:06 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	1397 label Biography information for Hywel Williams

1193663

	registered interest
	date	06/05/2020
	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: Telephone Services
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason the opening times of the universal credit helpline have changed; and if she will ensure that the (a) UK Government and (b) universal credit websites are updated with the new information.
	tabling member constituency	Arfon
	tabling member printed	Hywel Williams
	uin	43840
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/05/2020 answer text <p>Since the start of the pandemic, we have received unprecedented levels of claims for Universal Credit. This was accompanied by a significant increase in call volumes which was impacting our ability to support customers, particularly those making new claims.</p><p>To enable our people to pay customers their benefit, we implemented a temporary pause to the handling of general queries through the telephony service at the beginning and end of the day. The purpose of this change was to allow case managers to focus on progressing claims during these times.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>New claim appointments and new claims by phone remained open as usual.</p><p> </p><p>At the moment, people making new claims for Universal Credit do not in fact need to call the Department as part of the process and we have communicated that widely. Once they have completed their online application we will call them if we need to check any of the information they have given us.</p><p>The Universal Credit helpline returned to our normal operating hours from 11 May (8am-6pm, Monday to Friday).</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 15/05/2020 10:37:59 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince previous answer version 20796 answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	1397 label Biography information for Hywel Williams

1329075

	registered interest
	date	27/05/2021
	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, with reference to the High Court's ruling in January 2021, what steps her Department is taking to amend or remove the proof of payment mechanism for assessing and paying the childcare costs element of universal credit.
	tabling member constituency	Arfon
	tabling member printed	Hywel Williams
	uin	8556
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/06/2021 answer text <p>The Department has been granted permission to appeal. It is therefore not appropriate to comment at this time. It should be noted there are no changes to the current processes and the legislation remains the same.</p><p> </p><p>The policy of reimbursing actual childcare costs paid has, as intended, resulted in a significantly lower level of fraud and error than in the legacy system, which was based on projected costs.</p><p> </p><p>Eligible claimants can claim up to 85% of their registered childcare costs each month compared to 70% in legacy benefits.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 07/06/2021 15:30:13 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	1397 label Biography information for Hywel Williams

1174909

	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	Social Security Benefits
	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 Answers of 18 January to Questions 7121 and 7122, what steps the Government is taking to tackle the gaps in the data relating to the two-child limit policy.
	tabling member constituency	Arfon
	tabling member printed	Hywel Williams
	uin	10319
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/02/2020 answer text <p>The Department has published an Impact Assessment of the two-child policy based on survey data which was of suitable quality to assess the impact of the policy from an equality and human rights perspective, meeting our obligations under the Public Sector Equality Duty, and ensuring compliance with the Human Rights Act 1998, the Equality Act 2010 and the UN Convention on the rights of children.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 04/02/2020 17:15:37 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	1397 label Biography information for Hywel Williams