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1130982

	registered interest
	date	10/06/2019
	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: Scotland
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has made an assessment of the effect of universal credit on the level of rent arrears owed to Scottish local authorities; and if she will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill
	tabling member printed	Hugh Gaffney
	uin	262433
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/06/2019 answer text <p>The Department has not made an assessment of this nature.</p><p> </p><p>Caution should be exercised when considering any assessment of arrears derived from local authority level data which seeks to compare the legacy and Universal Credit welfare systems. This is because they do not compare groups with the same characteristics; typically, the legacy benefit group have been on benefits for some time, where the arrears may be under long-term management. The Universal Credit group, on the other hand, are often new to benefits, and are likely to have experienced a change in their circumstances – for example, a debt-creating event like losing a job or separation. Any arrears for this group will not have been under management and had time to clear.</p><p> </p><p>The initial analytical work we have carried out with a housing provider suggests that many tenants are arriving on Universal Credit with pre-existing rent arrears, that their arrears tend to increase prior to making a claim for Universal Credit, and that Universal Credit actually appears to be helping to clear arrears over time. We are currently extending this analysis to include a number of other housing providers. It will be published when completed. Furthermore, according to latest figures in November 2018 about 8 per cent of social rented households were on Universal Credit; therefore, it is difficult to see how a national trend can be attributed to Universal Credit.</p><p> </p><p>We have, however, responded to concerns in this area by putting a number of safeguards in place, such as 100% advances repayable over 12 months, increasing to 16 months in October 2021; a two-week Transition to Universal Credit Housing Payment; a new Help to Claim service to assist people to make their claim more easily; and Managed Payment to Landlord Arrangements, which allow for payments direct to the landlord if the tenant is likely to have difficulty in managing their rent payments, is unlikely to pay their rent or is in rent arrears equivalent to two months.</p><p> </p><p>Furthermore, in Scotland, the Department delivers Universal Credit Scottish choices on behalf of the Scottish Government, providing the option of Universal Credit being paid twice a month rather than monthly, and having Universal Credit housing element being paid directly to landlords.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 18/06/2019 15:28:46 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4614 label Biography information for Hugh Gaffney

1130989

	registered interest
	date	10/06/2019
	answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept id	201
	answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	hansard heading	Fraud: Scotland
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to improve public awareness of scams in Scotland.
	tabling member constituency	Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill
	tabling member printed	Hugh Gaffney
	uin	262437
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/06/2019 answer text <p>Responsibility and funding to provide consumer advice, education and advocacy was devolved to the Scottish Government under the Scotland Act 2016. The Scottish Government fund Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) and Advice Direct Scotland (ADS) to deliver. BEIS remains responsible for funding the delivery of national and cross-border enforcement in Scotland through Trading Standards Scotland (TSS).</p><p> </p><p>CAS and TSS are currently working together to deliver the annual Scams Awareness campaign in Scotland which runs from 10<sup>th</sup> to 23<sup>rd</sup> June to raise awareness, educate consumers and encourage the reporting of scams. TSS also worked with Policy Scotland, local Trading Standards and Neighbourhood Watch on the “Shut out Scammers” campaign in April this year to tackle doorstep crime and bogus callers.</p><p> </p><p>Much of the work undertaken by TSS is targeted at preventing scams; tackling rogue traders; and bringing the perpetrators to justice.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 17/06/2019 07:40:44 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
	tabling member	4614 label Biography information for Hugh Gaffney

1130985

	registered interest
	date	10/06/2019
	answering body	Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	Treasury
	hansard heading	Cash Dispensing: Scotland
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to improve free access to cash in Scotland.
	tabling member constituency	Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill
	tabling member printed	Hugh Gaffney
	uin	262435
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/06/2019 answer text <p>The Government recognises that widespread free access to cash remains important to the day-to-day lives of many people and small businesses in Scotland and across the UK.</p><p>The UK has one of the most extensive free-to-use ATM networks in the world; around 80% of the ATM network in Scotland is free and there are now around 700 more free ATMs in Scotland compared to 2015. From January 2018 to March 2019, there were no publicly accessible Protected ATMs in Scotland that closed which did not have alternative free access to cash via another source, such as a Post Office.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, the Government is engaging, and will continue to engage, with the regulators and industry on this important topic. In 2015, the Government established the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR), with a statutory objective to ensure that the UK’s payment systems work in the interests of their users. As a result, the PSR is closely monitoring developments within ATM provision, and has used its powers to ensure LINK meets its commitment on maintaining the broad geographical spread of free-to-use ATMs.</p><p> </p><p>To support this, LINK has introduced premiums through its Financial Inclusion programme to boost interchange fees, helping protect ATMs in remote, rural and deprived locations.</p> answering member constituency Salisbury answering member printed John Glen question first answered 18/06/2019 13:02:36 answering member 4051 label Biography information for John Glen
	tabling member	4614 label Biography information for Hugh Gaffney

1130987

	registered interest
	date	10/06/2019
	answering body	Scotland Office
	answering dept id	2
	answering dept short name	Scotland
	answering dept sort name	Scotland
	hansard heading	European Social Fund: Scotland
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the suspension of European Social Fund payments on third sector organisations in Scotland.
	tabling member constituency	Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill
	tabling member printed	Hugh Gaffney
	uin	262436
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/06/2019 answer text <p>In Scotland, the European Social Fund is administered by the Scottish Government, and therefore the impact of any suspension of payments on beneficiaries in the Third Sector is a matter for the Scottish Government to address. I would suggest the hon. Gentlemen contacts the relevant Minister in the Scottish Government directly to discuss the particular issue with ESF payments being referred to. I'm disappointed that this situation has arisen but this is a matter for the Scottish Government.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale answering member printed David Mundell question first answered 17/06/2019 14:06:59 answering member 1512 label Biography information for David Mundell
	tabling member	4614 label Biography information for Hugh Gaffney

1130990

	registered interest
	date	10/06/2019
	answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept id	201
	answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	hansard heading	Fuel Poverty
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of fuel poverty in the UK.
	tabling member constituency	Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill
	tabling member printed	Hugh Gaffney
	uin	262438
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/06/2019 answer text <p>We welcome the Annual Fuel Poverty Statistics Report for England, published on Thursday 13 June 2019, which showed that 18,000 fewer households were in fuel poverty in 2017 compared to 2016. We also saw a 4% year-on-year decrease in the average fuel poverty gap between fuel poor and other households.</p><p> </p><p>These statistics show that our policies are working. Continued delivery of energy efficiency measures, the introduction of the National Living Wage in 2016 and the prepayment meter price cap introduced in April 2017 will all have made a contribution. Next year’s projections will capture the impact of the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards in the private rented sector for the first time, as well as the updated Energy Company Obligation, worth £640m per year, which focuses 100% on low income and vulnerable households.</p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore question first answered 17/06/2019 12:31:16 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
	tabling member	4614 label Biography information for Hugh Gaffney