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 attachment file name title
tabling member	label

Search

1175635

registered interest
date	03/02/2020
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 Rented Housing: Housing Benefit
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what savings have accrued to the public purse as a result of the removal of the spare room subsidy; and what estimate his Department has made of the administrative costs of that policy since its introduction.
tabling member constituency	Luton North
tabling member printed	Sarah Owen
uin	11667
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/02/2020 answer text <p>The Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy (RSRS), introduced in 2013, encourages mobility within the social rented sector, strengthens work-incentives and makes better use of available social housing, while providing fairness to taxpayers on expenditure on Housing Benefit.</p><p>The policy has saved over £2 billion since its introduction in April 2013. A breakdown by financial year is provided in the table below:</p><p> </p><p><strong>Total Estimated Housing Benefit RSRS Deductions, 2013/14 to 2019/20 (£m pa)</strong></p><p> </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><td><p><strong>2018/19</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2019/20</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><td><p>288</p></td><td><p>290</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p><strong>Notes</strong></p><ol><li>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.</li></ol><ol><li>Figures do not include claimants on Universal Credit (UC) with a removal of the spare room subsidy (<strong>RSRS</strong>) deduction, as these data are not currently available.</li></ol><p> </p><p>In terms of the cost of administering the RSRS, funding was made available to local authorities (LAs). Information is published in Housing Benefit subsidy circulars available on Gov.UK.</p><p> </p><p>To date (2019/20) administrative funding for the RSRS policy has been around £68m (which includes funding for the administration of Discretionary Housing Payments associated with the introduction of the RSRS policy).</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 12/02/2020 16:35:09 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4777 label Biography information for Sarah Owen

1175765

registered interest
date	03/02/2020
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, what proportion of expenditure on welfare benefits payments was classified as overpaid in each of the last 10 years.
tabling member constituency	Romford
tabling member printed	Andrew Rosindell
uin	11468
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/02/2020 answer text <p>The Department for Work and Pensions administers over 25 benefits, ensuring that the very different conditions of entitlement are met in each individual instance. We publish annual figures on the amount we estimate has been overpaid under the title ‘Fraud and Error in the Benefit System’.</p><p> </p><p>The percentage of benefit expenditure estimated to have been overpaid for each of the last 10 years can be found in the table below.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Amount overpaid as a percentage of the Department’s expenditure</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2009/10</p></td><td><p>2.2%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010/11</p></td><td><p>2.1%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011/12</p></td><td><p>2.1%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012/13</p></td><td><p>2.1%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013/14</p></td><td><p>2.1%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014/15</p></td><td><p>1.8%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015/16</p></td><td><p>1.9%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016/17</p></td><td><p>2.0%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017/18</p></td><td><p>2.2%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018/19</p></td><td><p>2.2%</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>The Department for Work and Pensions has worked hard to deliver major welfare reform during much of this period, all whilst limiting fraud and error to 2.2% or less.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>We continue to focus on preventing loss before it occurs, which is in everyone’s interest. Sophisticated data matching rules are increasingly allowing us to cross check what claimants tell us, with potential discrepancies being routed to our fraud investigators.</p><p> </p><p>We are constantly exploring the use of new data sources, which will improve this process still further.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 11/02/2020 14:23:23 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	1447 label Biography information for Andrew Rosindell

1175766

registered interest
date	03/02/2020
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: Terrorism
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 removing entitlement to benefits from people convicted of terrorism offences.
tabling member constituency	Romford
tabling member printed	Andrew Rosindell
uin	11469
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/02/2020 answer text <p>The Government’s assessment is that someone who has been convicted of a crime and is serving a custodial sentence should not be receiving benefits. That is why the Department’s policy is to stop benefits where people have been convicted and go to prison. This includes convictions for acts of terrorism.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 11/02/2020 14:28:51 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	1447 label Biography information for Andrew Rosindell

1175085

registered interest
date	31/01/2020
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
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 Answer of 27 January 2020 to Question 5465, if she will publish the value of deductions to universal credit payments by parliamentary constituency in the latest period for which figures are available.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
uin	10759
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/02/2020 answer text <p>The requested information surrounding the value of deductions to Universal Credit payments by parliamentary constituency is shown in the attached table.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 05/02/2020 18:12:48 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince attachment 1 file name Deductions table.xlsx title Deductions to Universal Credit payments
tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1175089

registered interest
date	31/01/2020
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
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the number of staff given responsibility for (a) monitoring and (b) responding to messages on universal credit claimants' online journals.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
uin	10760
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/02/2020 answer text <p>In December 2019 we had 4,598 Case Managers, 12,711 Work Coaches and 1048 UC Decision Makers delivering Universal Credit. All of these job roles will use the journal to correspond with claimants as just one part of their varied job roles, and Case Managers will use their dashboards to see their cases that have a journal entry waiting to be viewed. Not all journal entries will require a response.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 05/02/2020 18:12:31 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1174829

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, how many children have been affected by the two-child benefit limit in (a) York Central constituency, (b) Yorkshire and the Humber and (c) the UK in each year for which data is available.
tabling member constituency	York Central
tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
uin	10402
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/02/2020 answer text <p>Statistics related to the policy to provide support for a maximum of two children was published in July 2019 and can be accessed at:</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-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><strong> </strong></p><p>Providing support for a maximum of two children, or qualifying young persons in Universal Credit and Child Tax Credit, ensures fairness between claimants and those taxpayers who support themselves solely through work.</p><p>We recognise that some claimants are not able to make the same choices about the number of children in their family, which is why exceptions have been put in place to protect certain groups. On migration to Universal Credit, families’ existing entitlement will be protected.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 04/02/2020 17:22:02 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1174856

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, how much her Department has spent under the Eligible Loan Deduction Scheme in each year since its introduction.
tabling member constituency	Barnsley East
tabling member printed	Stephanie Peacock
uin	10437
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/02/2020 answer text <p>Deductions can only be made where all benefit rules are satisfied, including affordability/hardship considerations. If deductions are appropriate, any recoveries are paid to the lender on a monthly basis. There are no backlogs for agreed deductions.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>DWP has administered deductions of this type since 2006. However, administration costs are only available from 2015/16 onwards. These costs can be found in the table below.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Administrative costs for ELDS</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015/16</p></td><td><p>£403,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016/17</p></td><td><p>£555,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017/18</p></td><td><p>£539,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018/19</p></td><td><p>£546,000</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p /> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 10438 10439 question first answered 04/02/2020 17:36:48 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4607 label Biography information for Stephanie Peacock

1174857

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, what the current backlog is of payments to lenders under the Eligible Loan Deduction Scheme.
tabling member constituency	Barnsley East
tabling member printed	Stephanie Peacock
uin	10438
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/02/2020 answer text <p>Deductions can only be made where all benefit rules are satisfied, including affordability/hardship considerations. If deductions are appropriate, any recoveries are paid to the lender on a monthly basis. There are no backlogs for agreed deductions.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>DWP has administered deductions of this type since 2006. However, administration costs are only available from 2015/16 onwards. These costs can be found in the table below.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Administrative costs for ELDS</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015/16</p></td><td><p>£403,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016/17</p></td><td><p>£555,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017/18</p></td><td><p>£539,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018/19</p></td><td><p>£546,000</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p /> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 10437 10439 question first answered 04/02/2020 17:36:48 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4607 label Biography information for Stephanie Peacock

1174858

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, what the timescale is for making payments to lenders under the Eligible Loan Deduction Scheme.
tabling member constituency	Barnsley East
tabling member printed	Stephanie Peacock
uin	10439
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/02/2020 answer text <p>Deductions can only be made where all benefit rules are satisfied, including affordability/hardship considerations. If deductions are appropriate, any recoveries are paid to the lender on a monthly basis. There are no backlogs for agreed deductions.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>DWP has administered deductions of this type since 2006. However, administration costs are only available from 2015/16 onwards. These costs can be found in the table below.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Administrative costs for ELDS</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015/16</p></td><td><p>£403,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016/17</p></td><td><p>£555,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017/18</p></td><td><p>£539,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018/19</p></td><td><p>£546,000</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p /> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 10437 10438 question first answered 04/02/2020 17:36:48 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4607 label Biography information for Stephanie Peacock

1174883

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
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what additional financial support her Department provides to vulnerable people who receive universal credit.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	10362
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/02/2020 answer text <p>Millions of people who move onto Universal Credit from legacy benefits are better off, including around a million disabled households who will gain on average around £100 per month.</p><p> </p><p>The Department takes seriously the need to support vulnerable claimants, and wants the application process for Universal Credit to be as quick and easy as possible, ensuring that claimants receive money at the earliest opportunity.</p><p> </p><p>Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland have supported over 180,000 individuals through the ‘Help to Claim’ provision since April 2019, offering tailored and practical support to help people make a Universal Credit claim up to receiving their first full correct payment on time. ‘Help to Claim’ is available online, on the phone and face-to-face in multiple locations including Jobcentres and Citizen’s Advice Bureaux.</p><p> </p><p>We have listened to feedback on how we can improve Universal Credit to support our claimants and acted quickly, making improvements such as extending advances, removing waiting days, and introducing housing benefit run on. These changes are giving support to those who need it most, whilst at the same time helping people get into work faster</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 8248 question first answered 04/02/2020 17:50:31 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord