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

1017216

registered interest
date	29/11/2018
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	Bereavement Benefits
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 make widowers aware of their potential entitlement to bereavement allowance.
tabling member constituency	Cheltenham
tabling member printed	Alex Chalk
uin	197462
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/12/2018 answer text <p>From 6 April 2017 we replaced the previous suite of bereavement benefits, which included bereavement allowance, with a single benefit known as Bereavement Support Payment.</p><p> </p><p>The Department has worked with funeral directors, Registrars and voluntary groups to ensure that bereaved people are fully informed of the action to take following a death. Further information about the benefits to which they are entitled and how to claim them can be found on the government services and information website at <a href="http://www.gov.uk" target="_blank">www.gov.uk</a>.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 04/12/2018 16:43:21 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk

1017350

registered interest
date	29/11/2018
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, what estimate she has made of the number of self-employed parents who are evading payment of child maintenance by diverting their income to their partner or spouse.
tabling member constituency	Salford and Eccles
tabling member printed	Rebecca Long Bailey
uin	197456
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/12/2018 answer text <p>The Department has not made an estimate of the number of self-employed parents who avoid child maintenance by diverting their income through their partner or spouse. Income information for paying parents is obtained directly from HMRC. This figure will include earnings from self-employment. Where there is reason to suspect a declared income or that a parent is using self–employment as a means to avoid or reduce their maintenance liability, the case will be referred to the Financial Investigations Unit. The volume of cases which are subject to a complex earners investigation are published in Table 12 of Child Maintenance Service Statistics available on line at <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-maintenance-service-august-2013-to-june-2018-experimental" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-maintenance-service-august-2013-to-june-2018-experimental</a>. Investigations into self-employed paying parents are a subgroup of the complex earners investigations.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 04/12/2018 10:40:47 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4396 label Biography information for Rebecca Long Bailey

1016357

registered interest
date	28/11/2018
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: Housing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will amend universal credit regulations to allow for the housing cost element for renters to be calculated for a 53-week year in 2019-20; and if she will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Oxford West and Abingdon
tabling member printed	Layla Moran
uin	196906
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/12/2018 answer text <p>Universal Credit is calculated and paid on monthly cycles to reflect the fact that the vast majority of people receive their wages monthly. Many social landlords still expect their tenants to pay rent on a weekly basis, a practice based upon a time when both wages and benefits were paid weekly. The effect of this is that, roughly every six years, there will be 53 payment days in a twelve-month period with the result that, over the cycle, the average social sector tenant will receive approximately 35p a week less towards their rent. A key principle of Universal Credit is that it simplifies the benefit system for working age claimants and re-assessing housing costs to reflect the number of rent payments in any particular year would be complicated and lead to confusion. As such, the Department has no plans to amend these regulations.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 03/12/2018 11:17:29 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4656 label Biography information for Layla Moran

1015481

registered interest
date	27/11/2018
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 people who have been evicted for not paying their rent due to a delay before their first payment of universal credit.
tabling member constituency	Blackburn
tabling member printed	Kate Hollern
uin	196273
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/12/2018 answer text <p>The Department does not hold the information requested.</p><p> </p><p>As of August 2018, 84% of paid Universal Credit full service new claims were paid in full on time. When new claims are not paid on time, it is estimated that two-thirds have an outstanding verification issue, such as providing bank statements, evidence of childcare costs, or proof of rent. Other times it’s because a claimant has not signed their claimant commitment.</p><p> </p><p>Claimants can claim an advance of up to 100% of their estimated monthly entitlement as soon as they make their claim, so no-one needs to experience hardship when claiming Universal Credit.</p><p> </p><p>Additionally, it was announced that from July 2020, income related legacy benefits, Income Support, Income Related Employment and Support Allowance and Income Based Jobseeker’s Allowance will continue for two weeks after a claim for Universal Credit has been made. This is in addition to a pre-existing two week run-on of housing benefit.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 03/12/2018 11:09:03 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4363 label Biography information for Kate Hollern

1015111

registered interest
date	26/11/2018
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
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 address the findings and recommendations in the Statement on the Visit to the UK by the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, published on 16 November 2018.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Edgbaston
tabling member printed	Preet Kaur Gill
uin	195647
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/12/2018 answer text <p>The Government will consider the Special Rapporteur’s findings carefully.</p><p> </p><p>Under this Government, income inequality has fallen and remains lower than in 2010; the number of children in workless households is at a record low; and there are 1 million fewer people in absolute poverty (before housing costs) compared with 2010, including 300,000 children.</p><p> </p><p>Work continues to offer people the best opportunity to move out of poverty. Children living in households where all adults are working are five times less likely to be in relative poverty after housing costs than those in workless families. That is why this Government will continue to reform the welfare system to ensure that those who can work are supported to move into and to remain in employment.</p><p> </p><p>The Autumn Budget announced a number of changes to Universal Credit ahead of further expansion including an increase of £1,000 in work allowances from April 2019 allowing 2.4 million households to keep an extra £630 of income each year.</p><p><br></p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 03/12/2018 13:18:01 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4603 label Biography information for Preet Kaur Gill

1013096

registered interest
date	23/11/2018
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 effect on claimants of universal credit of the 53 week rent year for many social housing tenants in 2019.
tabling member constituency	Bristol South
tabling member printed	Karin Smyth
uin	195091
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/11/2018 answer text <p>Universal Credit is paid on a monthly cycle to reflect the fact that the vast majority of people receive their wages monthly. Many social landlords still expect their tenants to pay rent on a weekly basis, a practice based upon a time when both wages and benefits were paid weekly. The effect of this is that, roughly every six years, there will be 53 payment days in a twelve-month period with the result that, over the cycle, the average social sector tenant will receive approximately 35p a week less towards their rent. A key principle of Universal Credit is that it simplifies the benefit system for working age claimants and re-assessing housing costs to reflect the number of rent payments in any particular year would be complicated and lead to confusion.</p><p /> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 29/11/2018 12:39:04 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4444 label Biography information for Karin Smyth

1013175

registered interest
date	23/11/2018
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 the number and proportion is of universal credit claimants who had a deduction to repay a benefit overpayment in the most recent month for which data is available.
tabling member constituency	Hornsey and Wood Green
tabling member printed	Catherine West
uin	195129
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/11/2018 answer text <p>The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has a duty to protect public funds and an obligation to ensure that, in accordance with social security legislation, any overpayment of benefit resulting from claimant error or fraud is recovered.</p><p> </p><p>I can confirm that there were 92,760 Universal Credit claimants who had a deduction from their Universal Credit as a recovery against a benefit overpayment within October 2018.</p><p> </p><p>Housing costs are defined in two ways:</p><ol><li>Owner-occupier service charges and</li><li>Rent, including service charges</li></ol><p> </p><p>The information on (a) is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p>The latest available data is for eligible claims to UC Full Service that are due a payment in September 2018. Of these claims, 5% have a deduction from their standard allowance to repay rent arrears. This equates to 45,000 claims (rounded to the nearest 1,000).</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson grouped question UIN 195130 195131 question first answered 28/11/2018 16:05:44 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4523 label Biography information for Catherine West

1013176

registered interest
date	23/11/2018
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: Housing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the number and proportion is of universal credit claimants who had a deduction to repay housing arrears in the most recent month for which data is available.
tabling member constituency	Hornsey and Wood Green
tabling member printed	Catherine West
uin	195130
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/11/2018 answer text <p>The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has a duty to protect public funds and an obligation to ensure that, in accordance with social security legislation, any overpayment of benefit resulting from claimant error or fraud is recovered.</p><p> </p><p>I can confirm that there were 92,760 Universal Credit claimants who had a deduction from their Universal Credit as a recovery against a benefit overpayment within October 2018.</p><p> </p><p>Housing costs are defined in two ways:</p><ol><li>Owner-occupier service charges and</li><li>Rent, including service charges</li></ol><p> </p><p>The information on (a) is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p>The latest available data is for eligible claims to UC Full Service that are due a payment in September 2018. Of these claims, 5% have a deduction from their standard allowance to repay rent arrears. This equates to 45,000 claims (rounded to the nearest 1,000).</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson grouped question UIN 195129 195131 question first answered 28/11/2018 16:05:44 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4523 label Biography information for Catherine West

1013177

registered interest
date	23/11/2018
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: Housing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of universal credit claimants who had a deduction to repay housing arrears in the most recent month for which data is available.
tabling member constituency	Hornsey and Wood Green
tabling member printed	Catherine West
uin	195131
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/11/2018 answer text <p>The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has a duty to protect public funds and an obligation to ensure that, in accordance with social security legislation, any overpayment of benefit resulting from claimant error or fraud is recovered.</p><p> </p><p>I can confirm that there were 92,760 Universal Credit claimants who had a deduction from their Universal Credit as a recovery against a benefit overpayment within October 2018.</p><p> </p><p>Housing costs are defined in two ways:</p><ol><li>Owner-occupier service charges and</li><li>Rent, including service charges</li></ol><p> </p><p>The information on (a) is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p>The latest available data is for eligible claims to UC Full Service that are due a payment in September 2018. Of these claims, 5% have a deduction from their standard allowance to repay rent arrears. This equates to 45,000 claims (rounded to the nearest 1,000).</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson grouped question UIN 195129 195130 question first answered 28/11/2018 16:05:44 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4523 label Biography information for Catherine West

1012288

registered interest
date	22/11/2018
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	Parental Leave
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what her Department's policy is on shared parental leave.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	194638
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/11/2018 answer text <p>The Department for Work and Pensions is committed to being a good modern employer and to offering family friendly employment policies that support business needs. This includes encouraging Shared Parental Leave by providing contractual Shared Parental Pay, which exceeds statutory arrangements and reflects best employment practice.</p><p> </p><p>Using Shared Parental Leave and Shared Parental Pay, employees who are having a baby or adopting a child may be able to share up to 50 weeks of leave and up to 37 weeks of pay, if they meet the eligibility criteria.</p><p> </p><p>For 26 of those weeks leave<strong>, </strong>if an employee meets the qualifying criteria, departmental Shared Parental Pay will be paid at full pay, less any weeks’ statutory maternity pay, maternity allowance or statutory adoption pay and leave already taken. The remaining 13 weeks will be paid at statutory rate for 13 weeks.</p><p> </p><p>Employees may be able to share the pay and leave in the first year after their child is born or placed with their family for adoption and use Shared Parental Leave to take leave in blocks separated by periods of work, or take it all in one go. Employees can also choose to be off work together or to stagger the leave and pay.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 29/11/2018 11:02:34 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon