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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

1127116

registered interest
date	16/05/2019
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 estimate her Department has made of the effect of the 5-week wait for the first payment of universal credit on (a) a claimant’s level of (i) debt and (ii) rent arrears and (b) the finances of disabled claimants.
tabling member constituency	Wirral West
tabling member printed	Margaret Greenwood
uin	255340
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/05/2019 answer text <p>No one has to wait 5 weeks for their first payment of Universal Credit. Advances are available from the first day of a valid claim, if required, to support claimants.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 21/05/2019 15:59:56 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	4400 label Biography information for Margaret Greenwood

1127119

registered interest
date	16/05/2019
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 payments have been subject to a deduction as a result of a claimant’s historic debt to (a) her Department and (b) HM Treasury in the latest month for which data is available.
tabling member constituency	Wirral West
tabling member printed	Margaret Greenwood
uin	255341
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/05/2019 answer text <p>Internal Management information shows that in April 2019, 280,000 payments of Universal Credit (UC) had a deduction applied to repay a non UC debt owed to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), and 340,000 payments of UC had a deduction applied to repay a Tax Credit debt (these figures have been rounded to the nearest 10,000). Some payments of UC may have had a deduction for both a non UC debt and a Tax Credit debt. These claimants would appear in both totals, therefore the figures cannot be summed.</p><p> </p><p>In line with the deductions policy in UC, for both types of debt, the deductions would not usually exceed the maximum amounts, which are set out legislation. Only in cases where last resort deductions are applied can these rates be exceeded. DWP ensures that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect claimants who have deductions from their benefit to repay overpayments. If a claimant is struggling they can contact DWP’s Debt Management to discuss lowering their repayment rate.</p><p> </p><p>It is also worth noting that it is not possible to provide this as a proportion at April 2019, as the latest UC caseload data is only available as of 14 February 19. However, for context, as of 14 February 19, 1.4m households received payments of UC.</p><p> </p><p>N.B. This data on deductions has been sourced from internal management information. It should therefore not be compared to any other similar data subsequently released by the DWP.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 21/05/2019 15:53:23 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	4400 label Biography information for Margaret Greenwood

1127131

registered interest
date	16/05/2019
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	Unemployment Benefits
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of waiving the recommencement of waiting times for the receipt of out-of-work benefits after the completion of a short-term contract; and if she will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
tabling member printed	Frank Field
uin	255281
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/05/2019 answer text <p>Short-term contracts where earnings are above the relevant threshold would lead to the closure of a claim to benefit. Once this short-term contract has ended, Universal Credit can be claimed.</p><p> </p><p>The Universal Credit assessment period and payment structure are fundamental parts of the design. They help reduce welfare dependency by mirroring the world of work, where currently around 70 per cent of tax credit claimants are paid monthly or four weekly.</p><p> </p><p>The assessment period runs for a full calendar month from the date of entitlement and the Universal Credit pay date will be seven calendar days after the end of the initial assessment period. Subsequent pay dates will be the same each month.</p><p> </p><p>It is therefore not possible to award a Universal Credit payment as soon as a claim is made, as the assessment period must run its course before the award of Universal Credit can be calculated.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>No claimant has to go five weeks without receiving support, as advances, worth up to 100 per cent of a claimant’s indicative award, are available up front if there is need.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 24/05/2019 13:15:20 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

1127134

registered interest
date	16/05/2019
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 much the Government has spent on promoting and advertising universal credit since it was introduced.
tabling member constituency	Cardiff Central
tabling member printed	Jo Stevens
uin	255342
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/05/2019 answer text <p>The Department provides services to around 22 million people and, as with other government departments, it has a responsibility to communicate policy and essential information to customers and other key audiences.</p><p> </p><p>The ‘Opening Up Work’ campaign aims to increase understanding of how Universal Credit removes barriers to work and career progression, and to ensure people can access information to help people make a claim. The Department has dedicated funds to this campaign to make sure claimants know how to access the support that they need.</p><p> </p><p>Advertising spend to date from 2016-17 onwards on the Universal Credit Opening Up Work campaign is around £6.3 million.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 21/05/2019 12:33:41 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	4425 label Biography information for Jo Stevens

1126815

registered interest
date	15/05/2019
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	Novartis: North East Lincolnshire
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 support people affected by the potential closure of the Novartis plant in North East Lincolnshire.
tabling member constituency	Great Grimsby
tabling member printed	Melanie Onn
uin	254841
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/05/2019 answer text <p>DWP offer a Rapid Response Service (RRS). This is a redundancy service designed to give support and advice to employers and their employees when faced with the prospect of redundancy. It is coordinated nationally by the National Employer and Partnership Team (NEPT) and is managed by Jobcentre Plus. Each Jobcentre Plus district deploy resources according to the situation and the requirements of the workforce. This service is available to be deployed in Grimsby and surrounding area should Novartis require support from Jobcentre Plus. The RRS is delivered in partnership with a range of national and local partners, including National Careers Service and local service providers.</p><p> </p><p>The range of support available from Jobcentre Plus and partners may include:</p><p> </p><ul><li>Information advice and guidance.</li><li>Connecting people to jobs in the labour market.</li><li>Help with job search including CV writing, interview skills, where to find jobs and<br> how to apply for them.</li><li>Help to identify transferable skills and skills gaps (linked to the local labour<br> market).</li><li>Training to update skills, learn new ones and gain industry recognised<br> certification that will improve employability.</li><li>Help to overcome barriers to attending training or securing a job or <br> self-employment such as child care costs, necessary tools, work clothes, travel<br> costs etc.</li><li>On-site presentations to those affected.</li><li>Jobs Fairs and Job Clubs where appropriate.</li></ul> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 21/05/2019 16:58:43 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma previous answer version 119072 answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	4464 label Biography information for Melanie Onn

1126933

registered interest
date	15/05/2019
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 penalties universal credit claimants incur if they are unable to repay their advance within 12 months.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
uin	254729
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/05/2019 answer text <p>Before accepting a Universal Credit Advance the number of monthly repayment instalments is agreed with a claimant, up to a maximum of 12. For a variety of reasons, instalments may not occur consecutively, so claimants do not incur a penalty if it takes them more than 12 calendar months.</p><p> </p><p>The Department has taken a number of steps to ensure that advances meet the needs of claimants and that recovery arrangements are personalised and reasonable. From October 2019 we are reducing the maximum rate of deductions to 30 per cent and from October 2021 we are increasing the maximum recovery period for advances from 12 to 16 months.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 24/05/2019 12:02:18 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1126934

registered interest
date	15/05/2019
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, pursuant to the Answer of 13 May to Question 249845, what proportion of universal credit claimants who had not fully repaid their advance as of 5 May 2019 had taken out that advance prior to 5 November 2018.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
uin	254730
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/05/2019 answer text <p>The latest available data shows there were 610,000 claimants who had not fully repaid a Universal Credit Advance which had been taken out prior to 5 November 2018. This equates to around 40% of the total claimants with a Universal Credit Advance.</p><p> </p><p>Notes:</p><ol><li>Data is a snapshot of information held on 15 May 2019 and has been rounded to the nearest ten thousand.</li><li>Many Universal Credit advances are taken out over a 12-month repayment period, so this snapshot of data includes cases where repayments are being made to the agreed timeline.</li><li>This data has been sourced from internal management information and due to the time available, has not been quality assured to the usual standards for public release. It should therefore not be compared to any other similar data subsequently released by the Department.</li></ol> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 23/05/2019 16:28:49 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1126936

registered interest
date	15/05/2019
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, pursuant to the Answer of 13 May to Question 249845, what information her Department holds on the demographics of universal credit claimants who have been unable to repay their advance within 12 months.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
uin	254731
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/05/2019 answer text <p>The table below shows the volumes of customers who have had an advance of their Universal Credit award on the system for a year or more as of 13 May 2019, broken down by age, gender and region. All figures are rounded to the nearest 500.</p><p> </p><p>Prior to taking a new claim advance, the claimant agrees the number of monthly instalments in which they will repay it, up to a maximum of 12. For a number of reasons, their 12 monthly instalments may not necessarily run consecutively. Claimants do not incur a penalty if it takes them more than a calendar 12-month timescale to replay their advance.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td rowspan="2"><p>Age of Claimant</p></td><td><p>Female</p></td><td><p>Female</p></td><td><p>Male</p></td><td><p>Male</p></td><td rowspan="2"><p>Total</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>England &amp; Wales</p></td><td><p>Scotland</p></td><td><p>England &amp; Wales</p></td><td><p>Scotland</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Under 20</p></td><td><p>2,000</p></td><td><p>500</p></td><td><p>2,000</p></td><td><p>500</p></td><td><p>5,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>20-29</p></td><td><p>35,000</p></td><td><p>4,500</p></td><td><p>53,000</p></td><td><p>8,000</p></td><td><p>100,500</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>30-39</p></td><td><p>24,000</p></td><td><p>2,500</p></td><td><p>43,500</p></td><td><p>6,000</p></td><td><p>76,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>40-49</p></td><td><p>15,500</p></td><td><p>2,000</p></td><td><p>24,000</p></td><td><p>3,500</p></td><td><p>45,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>50-59</p></td><td><p>12,000</p></td><td><p>1,500</p></td><td><p>16,000</p></td><td><p>2,000</p></td><td><p>31,500</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>60+</p></td><td><p>2,500</p></td><td><p>500</p></td><td><p>3,500</p></td><td><p>500</p></td><td><p>7,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Total</p></td><td><p>90,500</p></td><td><p>11,000</p></td><td><p>142,000</p></td><td><p>21,000</p></td><td><p>264,500</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Note:</p><p>This data has been sourced from internal management information and has not been quality assured to the usual standards for public release. It should therefore not be compared to any other similar data subsequently released by the Department.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 20/05/2019 15:48:29 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe