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1140519

registered interest
date	19/07/2019
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, what assessment her Department has made of the implications for her Department's policies of the statement in the press release by Save the Children on 3 July 2019, that 30,000 families on universal credit face paying up to £800 in childcare costs this summer.
tabling member constituency	Liverpool, West Derby
tabling member printed	Stephen Twigg
uin	279359
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2019 answer text <p>The Department listens to a range of stakeholders and considers recommendations, such as those from Save the Children’s recent report, that may improve support for our claimants. We have already improved Universal Credit’s (UC) childcare support; for example, our Work Coaches are already providing increased support through the Flexible Support Fund to help eligible claimants who need help with paying upfront childcare costs, as well as allowing greater flexibility in when claimants can report their childcare costs.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>As UC is paid as a single monthly amount directly into people’s bank accounts, it helps families have control over their own budget and making the move into work easier. However, we recognise that childcare costs can affect parents’ decisions to both obtain and maintain employment and we are committed to removing barriers that prevent parents moving into work.</p><p> </p><p>Claimants are able to claim up to 85% of their childcare costs on UC, compared to 70% on the legacy system. This can be worth up to £13,000 a year for families with two children. The UC childcare policy aligns with the wider government childcare offer, which includes free childcare hours and tax free childcare and, during 2019/20, a record amount of £6 billion is being spent on childcare support overall. This offer means that reasonable childcare costs should not form a barrier to work.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>We are aware of the difficulty that some claimants might have in paying childcare costs over the summer holidays and our work coaches are able to discuss this with them and explain and promote both the UC childcare offer and the wider government childcare offer. In addition to this, budgeting advances are available for eligible claimants that can be used to cover the cost of paying additional upfront childcare cost or a deposit that might be needed during the school holidays.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 23/07/2019 11:10:11 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	167 label Biography information for Stephen Twigg

1140235

registered interest
date	18/07/2019
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	Children: Day Care
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of providing upfront financial support for childcare to parents claiming universal credit.
tabling member constituency	Liverpool, West Derby
tabling member printed	Stephen Twigg
uin	278894
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2019 answer text <p>Universal Credit (UC) is paid in a single monthly amount directly into people’s bank accounts, giving them control over their own money and making the move into work easier.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is committed to supporting parents with moving into work and, as part of this, we increased the level of support for childcare costs from 70 per cent in legacy benefits to up to 85 per cent in UC. The UC childcare policy aligns with the wider government childcare offer, which includes free childcare hours and tax free childcare. UC claimants can utilise both the free childcare entitlement and UC childcare costs in conjunction with each other for relevant hours. This offer means that reasonable childcare costs should not form a barrier to work.</p><p> </p><p>We have made other changes to ease the burden on claimants and encourage work. We recognise that upfront childcare costs or deposits may prevent a claimant from starting work so Jobcentres can now use the Flexible Support Fund to support the transition into work. When parents have good reason for late reporting of their childcare costs, the Department is piloting a more flexible approach for reimbursing these costs.</p><p> </p><p>Since February 2018, Universal Credit claimants have been able to upload digital copies of their childcare cost receipts or invoices through their online Universal Credit account.</p><p /> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 23/07/2019 11:17:08 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	167 label Biography information for Stephen Twigg

1139814

registered interest
date	17/07/2019
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: 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 information her Department collects on needs of claimants of universal credit that are survivors of domestic abuse.
tabling member constituency	Rotherham
tabling member printed	Sarah Champion
uin	278515
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2019 answer text <p>The Department is sensitive to the fact that it can be difficult for any victim of domestic abuse to come forward and disclose this. Universal Credit claimants are assigned to a single Work Coach, with whom they can build a trusting relationship. All of our work coaches have received mandatory training, developed with input from domestic abuse charities in order to help them recognise the signs of abuse. If it becomes apparent that a claimant has been, or is a victim of domestic abuse, as soon as they feel able to disclose this personal and sensitive information, a discussion should take place about their circumstances to enable their work coach to tailor the support they provide to their needs. This includes signposting the claimant to expert organisations. Almost all Jobcentres have private rooms available so that individuals can discuss these sensitive issues in private.</p><p> </p><p>With the permission of the claimant, their Work Coach is able to record the information they disclose, in a free text format, through the use of pinned notes, which supports staff in identifying and managing relevant experiences and circumstances of individual claimants.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 23/07/2019 11:31:20 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4267 label Biography information for Sarah Champion

1139815

registered interest
date	17/07/2019
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: 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 progress she has made on the development of universal credit management systems to enable the collation of the number of domestic violence easements.
tabling member constituency	Rotherham
tabling member printed	Sarah Champion
uin	278516
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2019 answer text <p>We are continuing to develop our approach to capture accurate, aggregate data on vulnerable claimants, including those who are victims of domestic and economic abuse. This work is ongoing and has been prioritised for the current Universal Credit development phase. This involves us meeting with claimants and expert users such as third parties and Work Coaches to see how people will respond to being asked about their circumstance and support they may require. We are also working on how we can use the Claimant Commitment to capture information about when easements have been applied for claimants.</p><p> </p><p>We are also implementing other improvements across our service for victims and survivors of domestic abuse and in response to one of the Joint Committee’s recommendations on the Domestic Abuse Bill, we have committed to review and evaluate the effectiveness of a new feature to encourage payments of UC to the main carer and the introduction of domestic abuse specialists in every Jobcentre.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 23/07/2019 11:53:32 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4267 label Biography information for Sarah Champion

1139874

registered interest
date	17/07/2019
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	Unemployment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Transport on the effect of the price of commuting on unemployment.
tabling member constituency	Wansbeck
tabling member printed	Ian Lavery
uin	278511
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2019 answer text <p>The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has not had any recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Transport on the effect of the price of commuting on unemployment.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 23/07/2019 15:54:20 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4139 label Biography information for Ian Lavery

1139355

registered interest
date	16/07/2019
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	Social Security Benefits: Forms
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent steps his Department has taken to simplify the forms used to claim benefits.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle-under-Lyme
tabling member printed	Paul Farrelly
uin	277676
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2019 answer text <p>The Department for Work and Pensions is committed to ensuring its claim forms are as simple and easy to use as possible. We have simplified over 180 forms in the last six months by making changes to the layout, style, wording and accessibility. We carry out usability testing on new and revised forms with claimants.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 23/07/2019 11:10:32 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	1436 label Biography information for Paul Farrelly