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1129153

registered interest
date	03/06/2019
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
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 holds on the demographic of (a) universal credit claimants and (b) universal credit claimants that have taken out an advance.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
uin	258968
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/06/2019 answer text <p>Statistics on demographics of those on Universal Credit, including age, gender and postcode area, can be found under the ‘People on Universal Credit’ dataset available at:</p><p><a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/" target="_blank">https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/</a></p><p> </p><p>Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:</p><p><a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html" target="_blank">https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html</a></p><p> </p><p>Demographic data on Universal Credit claimants who received an advance is collected but is not published regularly as part of the official statistics. Data relating to advance payments associated with a UC award, rather than individual claimants, can be provided by region, constituency and local authority.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 06/06/2019 16:00:59 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1129156

registered interest
date	03/06/2019
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
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to answer of 20 May 2019 to Question 254733, what information her Department uses to verify the statement that if a claimant is in financial difficulty as a result of the level of deductions being made they can contact the Department to request that a reduction in deductions be considered.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
uin	258971
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/06/2019 answer text <p>The Government recognises the importance of safeguarding the welfare of claimants who have incurred debt. Claimants’ circumstances are always taken into account when applying debt repayment thresholds to avoid undue hardship.</p><p> </p><p>Universal Credit already has procedures and regulations in place to protect claimants from excessive deductions. The maximum rate of deductions cannot normally exceed 40 per cent of the Universal Credit standard allowance, and from October 2019 this will be reduced to 30 per cent.</p><p> </p><p>If a claimant is in financial difficulty as a result of the level of deductions, where it relates to benefit debt, a social fund loan or rent arrears, they can request that a reduction be considered. Similarly, if a claimant is having difficulty repaying a benefit overpayment, they can request a reconsideration of the amount that is being taken. Reductions are always based on the individual circumstances of the claimant, rather than the amount of the overpayment, which helps to ensure that a sustainable repayment plan based on affordability is put in place.</p><p> </p><p>The claimant should provide reasonable evidence to support their request. This could include information about the household income and expenditure where hardship is claimed on financial grounds. Where hardship is claimed because either the claimant or a member of their family is seriously ill, they would need to provide supporting evidence to explain how or why recovery would be detrimental to the health or welfare of the claimant or their family.</p><p> </p><p>A Repayment Negotiation Framework based on the individual circumstances of the customer, rather than the size of the debt and repayment period has been developed. This makes the process much simpler, and ensures both on and off benefit customers are treated fairly. This framework is contained within the Benefit Overpayment Recovery Guide which can be found on Gov.uk via the link below. The Repayment Negotiation Framework can be found on page 38, paragraph 5.68.</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/616116/benefit-overpayment-recovery-guide.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/616116/benefit-overpayment-recovery-guide.pdf</a></p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 06/06/2019 16:55:08 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1128213

registered interest
date	22/05/2019
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, how many people have had deductions under universal credit paused; and what the average length of the pause was in the last (a) month and (b) 12 months.
tabling member constituency	High Peak
tabling member printed	Ruth George
uin	257511
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/06/2019 answer text <p>The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 06/06/2019 17:06:52 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	4662 label Biography information for Ruth George

1128214

registered interest
date	22/05/2019
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, how many people with underlying debts resulting in deductions under universal credit had those debts written off in the last (a) month and (b) 12 months.
tabling member constituency	High Peak
tabling member printed	Ruth George
uin	257512
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/06/2019 answer text <p>The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 06/06/2019 17:12:20 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	4662 label Biography information for Ruth George

1128236

registered interest
date	22/05/2019
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: Overpayments
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many cases involving universal credit overpayments have not been pursued on the grounds of hardship.
tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
tabling member printed	Frank Field
uin	257457
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/06/2019 answer text <p>In 2018/19, 16,260 successful applications for a reduction in their repayment rate were made by claimants or their representatives.</p><p>In 2018/19, 10 overpayments were waived, either in full or in part, as a result of applications made by claimants or their representatives. In the same period, 20 applications were unsuccessful.</p><p>The Department has an obligation to ensure that public funds are administered responsibly and to abide by the principles set out in Her Majesty’s Treasury’s guidance on Managing Public Money (which can be found on gov.uk). Waivers are only granted in limited circumstances including where the recovery of an overpayment is causing substantial financial and/or medical hardship and clear supporting evidence of this is provided.</p><p>Rather than waiving benefit overpayments, the Department works to support claimants through the recovery of these overpayments.</p><p>If a claimant is having difficulty repaying a benefit overpayment, they can request a review of the amount that is being taken. Any adjustment to the rate of repayment will be based on the individual circumstances of the claimant.</p><p><em>*All figures in this response have been sourced from internal management information and were not intended for public release. They should therefore not be compared to any similar figures subsequently released by the Department. All figures have been rounded to the nearest 10.</em></p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma grouped question UIN 257458 question first answered 05/06/2019 14:34:51 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

1128238

registered interest
date	22/05/2019
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: Overpayments
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many cases involving universal credit overpayments have been pursued subsequent to an appeal on the grounds of hardship.
tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
tabling member printed	Frank Field
uin	257458
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/06/2019 answer text <p>In 2018/19, 16,260 successful applications for a reduction in their repayment rate were made by claimants or their representatives.</p><p>In 2018/19, 10 overpayments were waived, either in full or in part, as a result of applications made by claimants or their representatives. In the same period, 20 applications were unsuccessful.</p><p>The Department has an obligation to ensure that public funds are administered responsibly and to abide by the principles set out in Her Majesty’s Treasury’s guidance on Managing Public Money (which can be found on gov.uk). Waivers are only granted in limited circumstances including where the recovery of an overpayment is causing substantial financial and/or medical hardship and clear supporting evidence of this is provided.</p><p>Rather than waiving benefit overpayments, the Department works to support claimants through the recovery of these overpayments.</p><p>If a claimant is having difficulty repaying a benefit overpayment, they can request a review of the amount that is being taken. Any adjustment to the rate of repayment will be based on the individual circumstances of the claimant.</p><p><em>*All figures in this response have been sourced from internal management information and were not intended for public release. They should therefore not be compared to any similar figures subsequently released by the Department. All figures have been rounded to the nearest 10.</em></p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma grouped question UIN 257457 question first answered 05/06/2019 14:34:51 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

1127966

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, how many and what proportion of universal credit claims that had a deduction applied had (a) up to 20 per cent, (b) between 21 and 30 per cent, (c) between 31 and 40 per cent and (d) more than 41 per cent deducted in the latest period for which data is available.
tabling member constituency	High Peak
tabling member printed	Ruth George
uin	257147
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/06/2019 answer text <p>The Government recognises the importance of safeguarding the welfare of claimants who have incurred debt. Universal Credit already has procedures and regulations in place to protect claimants from excessive deductions. The maximum rate of deductions cannot normally exceed 40 per cent of the Universal Credit standard allowance, and from October 2019 this will be reduced to 30 per cent.</p><p> </p><p>However, last resort deductions can be applied to protect vulnerable claimants from eviction and/or having their fuel supply (gas/electricity) cut off, by providing a last resort repayment method for arrears of these essential services. In these circumstances, when it is considered to be in the best interests of the claimant and their family, deductions may be taken above the 40 per cent limit.</p><p> </p><p>If a claimant is in financial difficulty as a result of the level of deductions being made they can contact the Department to request that a reduction in deductions be considered.</p><p> </p><p>Of all eligible claims to Universal Credit Full Service due a payment in Feb 2019, 57% (840,000 claims) had a deduction.</p><p> </p><p>Of this 840,000 claims with a deduction:</p><p>a) 50% (420,000 claims) had deductions up to 20% of the Standard Allowance (29% of all eligible claims).</p><p>b) 20% (170,000 claims) had deductions between 21% and 30% of the Standard Allowance (12% of all eligible claims).</p><p>c) 28% (238,000 claims) had deductions between 31% and 40% of their Standard Allowance (16% of all eligible claims).</p><p>d) 1% (13,000 claims) had deductions above 40% of their Standard Allowance (1% of all eligible claims).</p><p> </p><p>Notes:</p><p>Claim numbers may not match official statistics caseloads due to small methodological differences.</p><p>Claim numbers are rounded to the nearest 1,000</p><p>When categorising claims into the groups above the figures for the percentage of the Standard Allowance for individual claims have been rounded to the nearest percent.</p><p>Deductions include advance repayments and all other deductions, but exclude sanctions and fraud penalties which are reductions of benefit rather than deductions.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p /> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 04/06/2019 15:57:14 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	4662 label Biography information for Ruth George

1127967

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 plans her Department has to introduce an affordability test for deductions taken from universal credit payments.
tabling member constituency	High Peak
tabling member printed	Ruth George
uin	257148
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/06/2019 answer text <p>I refer the Hon. Member to the answer to Question 218205 answered on 7 February 2018.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 04/06/2019 15:33:51 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	4662 label Biography information for Ruth George

1127504

registered interest
date	20/05/2019
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	Social Security Benefits: Disqualification
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 a moratorium on benefit sanctions for (a) low-income and (b) single-unit families during the school summer holidays.
tabling member constituency	Bermondsey and Old Southwark
tabling member printed	Neil Coyle
uin	256326
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/05/2019 answer text <p>The Department works to design and deliver a compassionate approach that supports claimants on Universal Credit and other benefits.</p><p> </p><p>The Department has not made an assessment of the potential merits of a moratorium on benefit sanctions during the school summer holidays for a) low-income and (b) single-unit families, as we are in the process of reviewing the effect of sanctions on work incentives.</p><p> </p><p>There are a number of measures designed to help the claimant’s financial situation. Hardship payments are available to eligible claimants who will face hardship as a result of a sanction. Additionally, we have recently announced that the length of the maximum single sanction any benefit claimant could face will be reduced from three years to six months.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 29/05/2019 11:06:30 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	4368 label Biography information for Neil Coyle

1127548

registered interest
date	20/05/2019
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 recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the timeframe for fixing problems with GOV.UK Verify in respect of universal credit claims.
tabling member constituency	Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport
tabling member printed	Luke Pollard
uin	256351
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/05/2019 answer text <p>Design and delivery of the GOV.UK Verify platform is the responsibility of the Government Digital Service (GDS) and its partners. The Department for Work and Pensions, along with other government departments is a user of this service, and provides feedback to GDS about its operation, recognising that people wanting to claim Universal Credit, or check their State Pension, can choose to use it to confirm their identity. The Department has no access to this information and claimants have direct contact with identity providers (also called ‘certified companies’).</p><p> </p><p>The Department will continue to consider options to provide the easiest and most secure digital services for our claimants.</p><p /><p>There are various ways in which a claimant can verify their identity for Universal Credit purposes: in person using primary and secondary ID verification or; by using biographical questions, for those who do not have identity documents.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 29/05/2019 11:54:13 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	4682 label Biography information for Luke Pollard