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1518844

registered interest
date	10/10/2022
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 she has made of the potential merits of reducing the taper rate of Universal Credit.
tabling member constituency	Ynys Môn
tabling member printed	Virginia Crosbie
uin	58909
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/10/2022 answer text <p>The Government has consistently said that the best way to support people’s living standards is through good work, better skills, and higher wages. We want people to see their income increase when they start working or earn more, so we reduce their Universal Credit award by less than they are earning.</p><p> </p><p>These policies are kept under regular review with the most recent changes announced at the Autumn Budget 2021 when decisive action was taken to make work pay by cutting the Universal Credit taper rate from 63% to 55%, meaning that claimants will keep more of their earnings. We also increased the Work Allowance by £500 a year, this is the amount that households with children or a household member with limited capability for work can earn before their Universal Credit award starts to be tapered, meaning many claimants will be able to earn over £550 each month before their Universal Credit begins to be reduced.</p><p> </p><p>These two measures mean 1.7m households will keep on average, around an extra £1,000 a year. These changes represent an effective tax cut for low income working households in receipt of Universal Credit worth £1.9 billion a year in 2022-23. They will allow working households to keep more of what they earn and strengthen incentives to move into and progress in work.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 13/10/2022 14:41:27 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
tabling member	4859 label Biography information for Virginia Crosbie

1518864

registered interest
date	10/10/2022
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	Employment: Older People
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what (a) support and (b) training her Department provides to those over the age of 50 seeking employment.
tabling member constituency	York Central
tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
uin	58959
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/10/2022 answer text <p>The Government recognises the challenges faced by some aged 50 and over, which is why we are providing a new enhanced offer for people aged 50 and over to remain in and return to work.</p><p> </p><p>Eligible older job seekers on Universal Credit will receive more intensive, tailored support during the first nine months of their claim, on top of the support that work coaches offer all claimants on skills provision and job search support. As part of the Growth announcement, the Chancellor announced funding for additional work coach support to over 50s that are long term unemployed.</p><p> </p><p>37 full-time 50+ Champions are now in every JCP district across GB, to upskill Work Coaches in supporting over 50s return to work.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 18/10/2022 17:01:41 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1518866

registered interest
date	10/10/2022
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: Older People
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 make an estimate of the number of people who are over the age of 50, in receipt of universal credit and left their previous employment due to ill health in the last five years as of 10 October 2022.
tabling member constituency	York Central
tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
uin	58965
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/10/2022 answer text <p>Although we are able to identify claimants who have left employment and subsequently claimed Universal Credit with a reported health condition, we are not able to determine that they left employment as a result of ill health. To complete the full picture and to provide an accurate estimate, we would also need to consider claimants who left employment due to ill health and applied for Employment and Support Allowance, where UC had not rolled out.</p><p> </p><p>Finally, any analysis would need to take into account policy changes to the UC Health Journey that occurred during the pandemic. These issues combined take this reply beyond the cost limit.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 19/10/2022 16:56:05 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1518893

registered interest
date	10/10/2022
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: Young People
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 impact of the Youth Offer on reducing unemployment for young people aged 16 to 24, in particular for young people who have complex needs and face multiple disadvantages.
tabling member constituency	East Ham
tabling member printed	Sir Stephen Timms
uin	59031
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/10/2022 answer text <p>The Department of Work and Pensions Youth Offer provides individually tailored work coach support to young people aged 16 to 24 who are in the Universal Credit Intensive Work Search group. This support includes the Youth Employment Programme, Youth Employability Coaches for young people with additional barriers to finding work, and Youth Hubs across Great Britain.</p><p>The Youth Offer is subject to a Process Evaluation, with full findings expected to be shared internally by late 2023. This will inform any improvements or future changes to the Youth Offer policy. The evaluation plans which involve hearing from young people from a range of backgrounds and circumstances and those that work with them, on the services they receive to understand their effectiveness and enable us to make improvements as appropriate.</p><p>There are also plans for an impact assessment of the effectiveness of the Youth Offer whose findings will be shared internally once available. <br> <br> Official Labour Market Statistics are produced by the ONS. The latest data (June-August ’22) shows that 372,000 young people are unemployed, this is a decrease of 62,000 on the previous quarter and a decrease of 141,000 compared to pre-pandemic levels (Dec-Feb ’20).</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 13/10/2022 15:59:35 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

1518906

registered interest
date	10/10/2022
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, with reference to the policy set out in section 4.31 of the Government's Growth Plan 2022 published on Friday 22nd September 2022 that claimants who do not fulfil their job-search commitment without good reason could have their benefits reduced (a) who will conduct the assessment to determine whether a claimant's benefits will be reduced as part of that policy and (b) if she will set out a definition of the term 'without good reason' as it appears in that policy.
tabling member constituency	North East Fife
tabling member printed	Wendy Chamberlain
uin	58956
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/10/2022 answer text <p>All requirements are set in discussion with the claimant, tailored to their capability and circumstances, making them realistic and achievable. The requirements will be clearly set out in the Claimant Commitment.</p><p> </p><p>Where a claimant does not fulfil their agreed requirements, DWP will give them every opportunity to provide their reasons before referring to a Decision Maker. The Decision Maker will take into account the claimant’s individual circumstances, the external situation, and any evidence of good reason they have provided, before deciding whether a sanction is warranted.</p><p> </p><p>The Department’s guidance for Universal Credit decision makers is contained in “Advice for Decision Making” (“ADM”) and Decision Makers are trained to judge the merits of each individual case.</p><p> </p><p>The Chapter on Good Reason in the ADM can be accessed on gov.uk at <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1046460/adm-k2.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1046460/adm-k2.pdf</a></p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 18/10/2022 14:44:11 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
tabling member	4765 label Biography information for Wendy Chamberlain

1518928

registered interest
date	10/10/2022
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, if she will publish a percentage breakdown of the liabilities or debt deductions that are being applied to Universal Credit claims.
tabling member constituency	Ellesmere Port and Neston
tabling member printed	Justin Madders
uin	58983
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/10/2022 answer text <p>The table below provides the proportions of UC households with each of the main deduction types and also the average proportion of the UC standard allowance.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>May-22</p></td><td><p>% of all UC households with deduction</p></td><td><p>Average proportion of UC standard allowance deducted each month</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Advances</p></td><td><p>29%</p></td><td><p>12%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Government Deductions</p></td><td><p>25%</p></td><td><p>13%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Third Party Deductions</p></td><td><p>12%</p></td><td><p>10%</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><strong><em> </em></strong></p><p>For DWP Debt deductions, if a claimant is struggling financially, they can contact DWP Debt Management to discuss a reduction in their repayment, or temporary suspension, depending on financial circumstances.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 18/10/2022 16:00:25 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
tabling member	4418 label Biography information for Justin Madders

1518992

registered interest
date	10/10/2022
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	Cost of Living Payments: Disability
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many disability cost of living payments have been made to disabled people.
tabling member constituency	Battersea
tabling member printed	Marsha De Cordova
uin	59071
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/10/2022 answer text <p>The Department for Work and Pensions has published management information on the total number of Disability Cost of Living Payments made. As of 8 September 2022, 6,000,000 Disability Cost of Living payments, first payment, had been made. The information which will be updated as new payments are made can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cost-of-living-payment-management-information" target="_blank">Cost of Living Payment management information - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)</a></p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 17/10/2022 16:33:03 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
tabling member	4676 label Biography information for Marsha De Cordova

1518993

registered interest
date	10/10/2022
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: Children
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 15 September 2022 to Question 45171 on Poverty: Children, how the Plan for Jobs will help support the families in poverty who are already in work in Barking constituency.
tabling member constituency	Barking
tabling member printed	Dame Margaret Hodge
uin	59074
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/10/2022 answer text <p>The Government is committed to a sustainable, long-term approach to tackling poverty and supporting people on lower incomes. We will spend over £242bn through the welfare system in 2022/23 including £108bn on people of working age.</p><p> </p><p>To support parents to progress in work, we are extending the support jobcentres provide to people in work and on low incomes to help them to increase their earnings and move into better paid quality jobs. This new in-work progression offer started to roll-out from April 2022. Once fully rolled out, we estimate that around 2.1m low-paid benefit claimants will be eligible for support. This will be provided by work coaches and focus on removing barriers to progression such as support with childcare or addressing skills gaps. This new progression offer is in addition to a change the government made last month to the Administrative Earnings Threshold in Universal Credit. By raising the threshold on 26<sup>th</sup> September 2022, approximately 114,000 more UC claimants on the lowest incomes will benefit from regular work coach support. The Chancellor announced that we would go further and raise the threshold again from January 2023 to expand this support to approximately 120,000 more people.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>As mentioned in our previous response, this is on top of the support already provided by increasing the National Living Wage to £9.50 per hour and giving nearly 1.7 million families an extra £1,000 a year (on average) through our changes to the Universal Credit taper and work allowances</p><p> </p><p>To further support parents to move into and progress in work, eligible UC claimants can claim back up to 85% of their registered childcare costs each month up to a maximum of £646.35 per month for one child and £1,108.04 per month for two or more children. This is on top of the free childcare offer in England which provides 15 hours a week of free childcare for all 3- and 4-year-olds and disadvantaged 2-year-olds, doubling for working parents of 3- and 4-year-olds to 30 hours a week.</p><p /><p>Around 1.9 million of the most disadvantaged pupils are eligible for and claiming a free school meal, saving families around £450 per year. In addition, around 1.25 million more infants enjoy a free, healthy and nutritious meal at lunchtime as well as over 90,000 disadvantaged further education students. We are also investing £200 million a year to continue the Holiday Activities and Food Programme, which benefitted over 600,000 children last summer, and we have increased the value of the Healthy Start Scheme by a third to £4.25 a week.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 18/10/2022 14:48:43 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
tabling member	140 label Biography information for Baroness Hodge of Barking

1519017

registered interest
date	10/10/2022
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: Young People
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans she has to address rising economic inactivity among young people aged 16 to 24.
tabling member constituency	East Ham
tabling member printed	Sir Stephen Timms
uin	59182
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/10/2022 answer text <p>The government is committed to delivering targeted support for all young people, no matter what their start in life or the challenges they face, to give them the best chance of getting into and progressing in work.</p><p> </p><p>While there has been an increase in economic inactivity among young people, this is largely been driven by an increase in young people in full time education. As part of our work to support young people we regularly assess their situation and develop support which best serves their needs in the moment, as we did when we developed the Kickstart Scheme with the aim of protecting young people from the scarring effects of long-term unemployment.</p><p>Youth employability coaches who support young people with multiple barriers in to work already have the flexibility to agree with the young person up to six weeks, in work support and through the in-work progression offer we will also be looking at how we can support young people who are working to progress and develop their careers.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 13/10/2022 15:56:49 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

1519031

registered interest
date	10/10/2022
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: Employment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Government's Growth Plan 2022, published in September 2022, if she will make an estimate of the number of people on Universal Credit who will be placed in the Intensive Work Search regime following the increase in the Administration Earnings Threshold announced in that plan by (a) constituency, (b) region and (c) nation.
tabling member constituency	Bath
tabling member printed	Wera Hobhouse
uin	59194
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/10/2022 answer text <p>DWP forecasts that approximately 120,000 claimants will be affected by increase in the Administrative Earnings Threshold planned from January 2023. The information is not held in the format requested. The forecasts indicate that there is not a significant geographical variation in the number of claimants that will move into the Intensive Work Search Regime as a result of the planned changes.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 18/10/2022 15:49:27 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
tabling member	4602 label Biography information for Wera Hobhouse