Show Search Form

Search Results

registered interest	true false
date	exactly: or between: and
answering body
answering dept id
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
hansard heading
house id
legislature	pref label
question text
tabling member constituency
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member constituency answering member printed grouped question UIN question first answered answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

1135479

	registered interest
	date	28/06/2019
	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: Young People
	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 roll-out of universal credit on young people who are (a) homeless and (b) experiencing mental health issues.
	tabling member constituency	South Northamptonshire
	tabling member printed	Andrea Leadsom
	uin	270746
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/07/2019 answer text <p>This Government is committed to supporting vulnerable claimants, such as those with mental health conditions or experiencing homelessness. We understand that these claimants may face extra challenges in their lives. Universal Credit is designed to target resources at those that need them most and to provide support for people who cannot work or need help moving towards the labour market.</p><p>We recognise the importance of understanding how a mental health condition impacts someone’s ability to prepare for and look for work. That is why we have developed a range of specialised mental health training for work coaches and increased the number of Disability Employment Advisers who can provide additional support where needed. Furthermore, we have a number of Community Partners recruited specifically for their expertise in mental health issues, that can provide advice that is often based on lived experience.</p><p>In the case of homeless claimants, it is our priority to ensure that people experiencing homelessness get the appropriate support they need to improve their lives and move into work. For example, we are able to put job-seeking requirements on hold temporarily whilst claimants find accommodation or stabilise their housing situation, as well as priority access to the Work and Health Programme.</p><p>We are supporting the manifesto commitment to halve rough sleeping by 2022 and eradicate it altogether by 2027 through the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Reduction Taskforce, and commitments set out in the recent Rough Sleeping Strategy. Furthermore, work coaches in England are legally bound to offer a voluntary referral to claimants they consider may be homeless or threatened with homelessness to a Local Housing Authority of the claimant’s choice.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 270747 question first answered 03/07/2019 12:51:18 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4117 label Biography information for Andrea Leadsom

1135480

	registered interest
	date	28/06/2019
	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: Young People
	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 is taking to ensure that homeless young people with mental health issues on universal credit are (a) supported into employment and (b) have adequate income.
	tabling member constituency	South Northamptonshire
	tabling member printed	Andrea Leadsom
	uin	270747
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/07/2019 answer text <p>This Government is committed to supporting vulnerable claimants, such as those with mental health conditions or experiencing homelessness. We understand that these claimants may face extra challenges in their lives. Universal Credit is designed to target resources at those that need them most and to provide support for people who cannot work or need help moving towards the labour market.</p><p>We recognise the importance of understanding how a mental health condition impacts someone’s ability to prepare for and look for work. That is why we have developed a range of specialised mental health training for work coaches and increased the number of Disability Employment Advisers who can provide additional support where needed. Furthermore, we have a number of Community Partners recruited specifically for their expertise in mental health issues, that can provide advice that is often based on lived experience.</p><p>In the case of homeless claimants, it is our priority to ensure that people experiencing homelessness get the appropriate support they need to improve their lives and move into work. For example, we are able to put job-seeking requirements on hold temporarily whilst claimants find accommodation or stabilise their housing situation, as well as priority access to the Work and Health Programme.</p><p>We are supporting the manifesto commitment to halve rough sleeping by 2022 and eradicate it altogether by 2027 through the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Reduction Taskforce, and commitments set out in the recent Rough Sleeping Strategy. Furthermore, work coaches in England are legally bound to offer a voluntary referral to claimants they consider may be homeless or threatened with homelessness to a Local Housing Authority of the claimant’s choice.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 270746 question first answered 03/07/2019 12:51:18 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4117 label Biography information for Andrea Leadsom

1108887

	registered interest
	date	01/04/2019
	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	Employment: Veterans
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Government is taking to support armed forces veterans into employment.
	tabling member constituency	Romford
	tabling member printed	Andrew Rosindell
	uin	239329
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/04/2019 answer text <p>The Armed Forces Covenant has been in place since May 2011 and sets out the relationship between the nation, the Government and the Armed Forces. The covenant is a written and publicised voluntary pledge from businesses and other organisations who wish to demonstrate their support for the armed forces community.</p><p> </p><p>The covenant can be signed by a business or other organisation of any size, and from any industry whether they are an employer of a member of the armed forces community or simply wish to acknowledge publically their support for the armed forces.</p><p> </p><p>The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) National Employer and Partnership Team (NEPT) actively promote the Armed Forces Covenant to those employers and partner organisations they work with. This has been adopted into routine business to ensure that those new to DWP’s employer portfolio are aware of the opportunity and benefits of support to the Armed Forces community.</p><p> </p><p>Every Jobcentre Plus District has an Armed Forced Champion (AFC) who is key to delivering our commitments under the covenant. The AFC will ensure that any concerns and issues raised which affect Service Personnel and their families are integrated within the wider work of Jobcentre Plus. AFCs ensure Work Coaches and other DWP staff can effectively support serving personnel, service leavers, veterans and their families.</p><p> </p><p>In addition to the local activity in Jobcentres to support veterans our National Employer and Partnership Team (NEPT) also work closely with the Ministry of Defence to align engagement activity in support of the veteran’s strategy. In particular NEPT work closely with the MOD Careers Transition Partnership (CTP) and the Defence Relationship Management (DRM) team to encourage large employers, trade body associations and partner organisations to provide practical support to the Armed Forces Covenant, particularly the employment of veterans.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 05/04/2019 12:15:41 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	1447 label Biography information for Andrew Rosindell

1127882

	registered interest
	date	21/05/2019
	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 the effect of a five-week wait for a first payment of universal credit on trends in the level of food bank usage.
	tabling member constituency	Romford
	tabling member printed	Andrew Rosindell
	uin	257005
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/05/2019 answer text <p>No Universal Credit (UC) claimant has to wait five weeks for their first payment and there are many reasons why people use foodbanks.</p><p> </p><p>If required, advances of up to 100 per cent of their expected UC award are available to claimants from day one of their claim. Advances are paid back over a maximum of 12 months and in the Autumn Budget 2018, we announced that from October 2021, the payback period for these advances will be extended further, allowing claimants up to 16 months.</p><p> </p><p>This is just one of a number of measures the Department has put in place to support claimants such as paying those claimants moving from Housing Benefit onto UC a two week ‘transitional housing payment’. We are also introducing a two-week run on for eligible claimants of Income Support, Jobseeker’s Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance from July 2020.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 29/05/2019 13:48:24 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	1447 label Biography information for Andrew Rosindell

1122064

	registered interest
	date	18/04/2019
	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	Domestic Abuse
	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 help women to leave abusive relationships.
	tabling member constituency	Lanark and Hamilton East
	tabling member printed	Angela Crawley
	uin	245861
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/04/2019 answer text <p>The Department has a range of measures designed to support people who flee abusive households. This includes easements to benefit conditionality to give claimants the space and time needed to stabilise their lives, special provisions in both Housing Benefit and Universal Credit housing support when a claimant is temporarily absent from their home through fear of violence, and exemptions from Child Maintenance application fees.</p><p> </p><p>When a victim of domestic abuse comes into a Jobcentre fleeing abuse, we can support them by helping them to open a new claim, and can put in place a rapid advance where needed, which provides access to funds in 2-3 hours.</p><p> </p><p>As a department, we focus on helping frontline colleagues to recognise signs of domestic abuse and to support victims by signposting to expert organisations who can help. All work coaches undergo mandatory training on how to support vulnerable claimants, including recognising the signs of domestic abuse. Furthermore, any individual can be accompanied by a third party organisation to provide expert support when disclosing domestic abuse to a Work Coach, and a private area can be provided to disclose any information if requested.</p><p> </p><p>The Department published information on DWP support to victims of domestic abuse on gov.uk in January 2018. This can be found at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/domestic-violence-and-abuse-help-from-dwp" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/domestic-violence-and-abuse-help-from-dwp</a></p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 25/04/2019 10:45:26 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4469 label Biography information for Angela Crawley

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

1127817

	registered interest
	date	21/05/2019
	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	Children: Maintenance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many consolatory payments have been made by the Child Maintenance Service in each of the last three years.
	tabling member constituency	Lanark and Hamilton East
	tabling member printed	Angela Crawley
	uin	257080
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/05/2019 answer text <p>Child Maintenance Group (CMG) have only recorded Compensation Payment details for CMS separately since 2017/18, so we are unable to identify CMS only costs prior to that financial year.</p><p> </p><p>For 2017/18 and 2018/19 the CMS figures are as follows:</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p><strong>2017-18</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2018-19</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Consolatory Payments</p></td><td><p>£72,099</p></td><td><p>£79,556</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>However the data for the volume of consolatory payments is not routinely recorded.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 29/05/2019 14:12:18 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4469 label Biography information for Angela Crawley

1127818

	registered interest
	date	21/05/2019
	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	Child Maintenance Service
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much the Child Maintenance Service has spent on consolatory payments in each of the last three years.
	tabling member constituency	Lanark and Hamilton East
	tabling member printed	Angela Crawley
	uin	257081
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/05/2019 answer text <p>Child Maintenance Group (CMG) have only recorded Compensation Payment details for CMS separately since 2017/18, so we are unable to identify CMS only costs prior to that financial year.</p><p> </p><p>For 2017/18 and 2018/19 the CMS figures are as follows:</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong> </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2017-18</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2018-19</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Consolatory Payments</p></td><td><p>72,099</p></td><td><p>79,556</p></td></tr></tbody></table> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 29/05/2019 14:02:44 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4469 label Biography information for Angela Crawley

1122021

	registered interest
	date	18/04/2019
	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	Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much revenue the removal of the spare room subsidy has generated for the public purse since its introduction.
	tabling member constituency	Redcar
	tabling member printed	Anna Turley
	uin	245853
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/04/2019 answer text <p>The removal of the spare room subsidy (RSRS) policy has not generated revenue for the public purse. However, this policy has saved over £1.7bn since its introduction in April 2013. A breakdown by financial year is provided in the table below:</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Total Estimated Housing Benefit RSRS Deductions, 2013/14 to 2017/18 (£m pa)</strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>2013/14</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2014/15</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2015/16</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2016/17</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2017/18</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>385</p></td><td><p>365</p></td><td><p>355</p></td><td><p>335</p></td><td><p>320</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Deductions figures do not take into account any additional savings due to behavioural change before/after the policy has been introduced, for example moving to a smaller property to avoid a deduction.</p><p>Figures do not include claimants on Universal Credit (UC) with a removal of the spare room subsidy (RSRS) deduction, as these data are not currently available.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 25/04/2019 10:25:03 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4449 label Biography information for Anna Turley

1136556

	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	Cold Weather Payments: Mansfield
	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 in Mansfield constituency received cold weather payments in each of the last two winter periods.
	tabling member constituency	Mansfield
	tabling member printed	Ben Bradley
	uin	272932
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/07/2019 answer text <p>The Cold Weather Payment scheme is administered at weather station level rather than any other standard GB geography such as constituency level. The coverage area for each weather station is determined by the Met Office which assesses the most appropriate weather station for each postcode area. Cold weather payments are triggered when the average temperature recorded at the weather station has been recorded as, or is forecast to be, 0<sup>o</sup>C or below over seven consecutive days, during the Cold Weather season (November to March).</p><p> </p><p>The constituency of Mansfield covers all or part of the following postcode areas: NG17-21.</p><p> </p><p>The above postcode areas are covered by the weather station Nottingham Watnall. Qualifying individuals living in this area will have received a payment in respect of a seven-day period of Cold Weather, as shown in <strong>Table 1</strong>.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="3"><p><strong>Table 1 Estimated number of Cold Weather Payment recipients</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Weather station</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2017/18</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2018/19</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Nottingham Watnall</p></td><td><p>168,000</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Nottingham Watnall weather station covers the following postcode areas, in <strong>Table 2</strong>, which include constituencies other than Mansfield. We estimate that 168,000 payments, to 168,000 recipients, were made in this area as a whole, in respect of one trigger in 2017/18. We are not able to break this figure down to a lower level. There were no cold weather triggers in Nottingham Watnall in 2018/19.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="2"><p><strong>Table 2 Postcode sectors mapped to Weather Stations</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Weather station</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Postcode Sectors Covered</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Nottingham Watnall</p></td><td><p>CV13, DE1-3, DE5-7, DE11-15, DE21-24, DE55-56, DE65, DE72-75, LE1-9, LE11-14, LE16-19, LE65, LE67, NG1-22, NG25, NG31-34.</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Notes</p><p> </p><ol><li>The number of recipients and payments given here is an estimate as information on the exact number is not readily available. These figures are produced by determining the volume of eligible recipients in each weather station area at the start of the winter season and using these figures throughout the winter to estimate payments and expenditure based on the actual triggers recorded.</li></ol><p> </p><ol start="2"><li>The number of payments made is not necessarily the total number of individuals benefitting from a Cold Weather Payment. Any individuals making a joint claim for one of the qualifying benefits, such as a couple living together, will receive one payment between them rather than one payment each. Furthermore, if a weather station triggers more than once throughout a cold weather season then the recipients will receive more than one payment.</li></ol><p> </p><ol start="3"><li>Estimates of Cold Weather Payments are published weekly during the Cold Weather season. The latest published estimates can be found at the link below:</li></ol><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/social-fund-cold-weather-payments" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/social-fund-cold-weather-payments</a></p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 12/07/2019 13:13:03 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4663 label Biography information for Ben Bradley