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1345809

registered interest
date	12/07/2021
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 potential merits of paying childcare costs within universal credit in advance, to support parents who cannot afford to pay upfront charges; and if she will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	East Ham
tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
uin	31284
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2021 answer text <p>No assessment has been made.</p><p> </p><p>With Universal Credit, working families can claim back up to 85% of their registered childcare costs each month, compared to 70% on the legacy benefits system regardless of the number of hours worked. This can be claimed up to a month before starting a job and for families with two children, this could be worth up to £13,000 a year.</p><p> </p><p>Eligible claimants can get help from the Flexible Support Fund with initial up-front fees and costs as they move into work. Alternatively, help with upfront costs may also be available through Budgeting Advances.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 15/07/2021 14:25:29 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

1343628

registered interest
date	05/07/2021
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	Family Resources Survey
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 include whether a surveyed family has no recourse to public funds in the Family Resources Survey when the sample size is expanded in 2022; and if she will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	East Ham
tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
uin	26996
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/07/2021 answer text <p>The Department is currently considering the questionnaire for next year’s Family Resources Survey, April 2022 to March 2023.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 08/07/2021 15:29:00 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

1327390

registered interest
date	24/05/2021
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, what recent estimate she has made of the level of child poverty in (a) England and (b) East Ham constituency.
tabling member constituency	East Ham
tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
uin	6167
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/05/2021 answer text <p>This Government is wholly committed to tackling poverty. Throughout the pandemic, our priority has been to support the most vulnerable including through spending an additional £7.4billion to strengthen the welfare system, taking our total expenditure on welfare support for people of working age to an estimated £112 billion in 2020/21. Additionally, in December 2020 we introduced our Covid Winter Grant Scheme, providing funding to Local Authorities in England to enable them to support people with food and essential utility bills during the coldest months. It will now run until June as the Covid Local Support Grant, with a total investment of £269m.</p><p> </p><p>National Statistics on the number and percentage of children in low income are published annually in the “Households Below Average Income” publication. Data for East Ham is unavailable due to insufficient sample size.</p><p> </p><p>Latest statistics for the levels of children who are in low income in England, covering 2019/20, can be found at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/households-below-average-income-for-financial-years-ending-1995-to-2020" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/households-below-average-income-for-financial-years-ending-1995-to-2020</a> ,“children-hbai-timeseries-1994-95-2019-20-tables” in table 4.16ts (relative low income, before and after housing costs) and in table 4.22ts (absolute low income, before and after housing costs).</p><p> </p><p>In the three years to 2019/20, the absolute child poverty rate, before housing costs, in England was 18%, down 3 percentage points since the three years to 2009/10.</p><p> </p><p>The Department now publishes supplementary official statistics on the number of children in low income families at constituency level. Children in Low Income Families data is published annually.</p><p> </p><p>In 2019/20 the absolute levels of child poverty, before housing costs, in East Ham was 22%. The latest figures on the number of children who are in low income in East Ham and in England, covering 2019/20, can be found at:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-in-low-income-families-local-area-statistics-2014-to-2020/children-in-low-income-families-local-area-statistics-fye-2015-to-fye-2020" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-in-low-income-families-local-area-statistics-2014-to-2020/children-in-low-income-families-local-area-statistics-fye-2015-to-fye-2020</a></p><p> </p><p>Due to methodological differences, the figures in these two publications are not comparable.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 27/05/2021 13:13:36 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

1327391

registered interest
date	24/05/2021
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, what assessment she has made of the effect of the £20 uplift in universal credit on levels of child poverty in (a) England and (b) East Ham constituency.
tabling member constituency	East Ham
tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
uin	6168
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/05/2021 answer text <p>No assessment has been made.</p><p> </p><p>This Government is wholly committed to supporting those on low incomes, including by increasing the living wage, and by spending an estimated £112 billion on welfare support for people of working age in 2020/21. This included around £7.4 billion of Covid-related welfare policy measures.</p><p> </p><p>We introduced our Covid Winter Grant Scheme providing funding to Local Authorities in England to help the most vulnerable children and families stay warm and well fed during the coldest months. It will now until June as the Covid Local Support Grant, with a total investment of £269m.</p><p> </p><p>As the economy recovers, our ambition is to help people move into and progress in work as quickly as possible based on clear evidence around the importance of employment, particularly where it is full-time, in substantially reducing the risks of poverty. We are investing over £30 billion in our ambitious Plan for Jobs which is already delivering for people of all ages right across the country.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 4737 5195 5251 6212 question first answered 27/05/2021 13:17:57 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

1305571

registered interest
date	24/03/2021
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: Grants
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 oral evidence given by the Minister for Welfare Delivery on 9 March 2021 to the Work and Pensions Committee and the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee, how her Department reached the conclusion that introducing a non-repayable grant for new universal credit claimants would cost about £2 billion to £2.5 billion per annum; and if she will publish the details of those costings.
tabling member constituency	East Ham
tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
uin	174714
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/04/2021 answer text <p>This estimate was derived from the Spring 2020 forecasts, which are based on the Department’s inflow forecasts, with an assumed take-up rate of 100%. There are no plans to introduce a non-repayable grant.</p><p> </p><p>New Claims Advances are the claimant’s benefit paid early, allowing claimants to access 100% of their estimated Universal Credit (UC) payment upfront. With a UC Advance, claimants receive an additional UC payment, resulting in 13 payments in a year rather than 12. From 12 April 2021, claimants have the option to spread twenty-five UC payments over twenty-four months, giving them more flexibility over the payments of their UC award. This will also allow claimants to retain more of their award, giving additional financial security.</p><p> </p><p>The Department’s deductions policy strikes a fair balance between a claimant’s need to meet their financial obligations and their ability to ensure they can meet their day-to-day needs. Since October 2019, UC deductions are a maximum of 30% of a claimant’s standard allowance down from 40% previously. We also recognise the importance of safeguarding the welfare of claimants who have incurred debt, so last resort deductions over the 30% cap can be applied to protect vulnerable claimants from eviction and/or having their fuel supply disconnected, by providing a repayment method for arrears of these essential services.</p><p>The main aim of the deductions policy in Universal Credit is to safeguard the welfare of claimants who have incurred debt in a cost effective and efficient way. It provides protection for claimants from the consequences of homelessness, imprisonment or having vital utilities disconnected. Regulations protect claimants from excessive deductions and there are no plans to suspend them.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 174715 question first answered 13/04/2021 13:26:07 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

1305572

registered interest
date	24/03/2021
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: Grants
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 oral evidence given by the Minister for Welfare Delivery on 9 March 2021 to the Work and Pensions Committee and the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee, how her Department concluded that introducing non-repayable grants in universal credit would take two years or longer; and what assessment she has made of the barriers to introducing those grants more quickly.
tabling member constituency	East Ham
tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
uin	174715
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/04/2021 answer text <p>This estimate was derived from the Spring 2020 forecasts, which are based on the Department’s inflow forecasts, with an assumed take-up rate of 100%. There are no plans to introduce a non-repayable grant.</p><p> </p><p>New Claims Advances are the claimant’s benefit paid early, allowing claimants to access 100% of their estimated Universal Credit (UC) payment upfront. With a UC Advance, claimants receive an additional UC payment, resulting in 13 payments in a year rather than 12. From 12 April 2021, claimants have the option to spread twenty-five UC payments over twenty-four months, giving them more flexibility over the payments of their UC award. This will also allow claimants to retain more of their award, giving additional financial security.</p><p> </p><p>The Department’s deductions policy strikes a fair balance between a claimant’s need to meet their financial obligations and their ability to ensure they can meet their day-to-day needs. Since October 2019, UC deductions are a maximum of 30% of a claimant’s standard allowance down from 40% previously. We also recognise the importance of safeguarding the welfare of claimants who have incurred debt, so last resort deductions over the 30% cap can be applied to protect vulnerable claimants from eviction and/or having their fuel supply disconnected, by providing a repayment method for arrears of these essential services.</p><p>The main aim of the deductions policy in Universal Credit is to safeguard the welfare of claimants who have incurred debt in a cost effective and efficient way. It provides protection for claimants from the consequences of homelessness, imprisonment or having vital utilities disconnected. Regulations protect claimants from excessive deductions and there are no plans to suspend them.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 174714 question first answered 13/04/2021 13:26:07 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

1280579

registered interest
date	26/01/2021
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: Automation
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 cost to the public purse of implementing the automated process under the Universal Credit (Earned Income) Amendment Regulations 2020.
tabling member constituency	East Ham
tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
uin	143680
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/02/2021 answer text <p>No such estimate has been made.</p><p> </p><p>We expect to automate identification of affected claimants early in 2021. This will allow us to proactively correct awards before they are paid, without the need for the claimant to raise the issue.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 143681 question first answered 01/02/2021 16:28:49 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

1280580

registered interest
date	26/01/2021
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: Automation
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when the automated process to deliver the Universal Credit (Earned Income) Amendment Regulations 2020 will be in place.
tabling member constituency	East Ham
tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
uin	143681
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/02/2021 answer text <p>No such estimate has been made.</p><p> </p><p>We expect to automate identification of affected claimants early in 2021. This will allow us to proactively correct awards before they are paid, without the need for the claimant to raise the issue.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 143680 question first answered 01/02/2021 16:28:49 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

1278827

registered interest
date	20/01/2021
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	Department for Work and Pensions: Telephone Services
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 letter of 15 January 2021 from the Permanent Secretary to the Work and Pensions Committee, in each month from August 2020 to December 2020 how many call attempts to her Department’s debt management service (a) were made, (b) were blocked and (c) were not blocked but were not answered.
tabling member constituency	East Ham
tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
uin	140738
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/01/2021 answer text <p>The table below illustrates the extent of the telephony traffic in Debt Management since August 2020.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>Call attempts</p></td><td><p>Calls answered</p></td><td><p>Calls blocked</p></td><td><p>Calls not answered</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>August</p></td><td><p>153,800</p></td><td><p>102,400</p></td><td><p>22,200</p></td><td><p>29,300</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>September</p></td><td><p>282,100</p></td><td><p>127,900</p></td><td><p>101,600</p></td><td><p>52,600</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>October</p></td><td><p>221,800</p></td><td><p>147,500</p></td><td><p>41,800</p></td><td><p>32,500</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>November</p></td><td><p>605,300</p></td><td><p>149,600</p></td><td><p>413,700</p></td><td><p>42,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>December</p></td><td><p>278,900</p></td><td><p>122,600</p></td><td><p>129,400</p></td><td><p>26,900</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>January (to 11/01/21)</p></td><td><p>46,500</p></td><td><p>42,700</p></td><td><p>100</p></td><td><p>3,700</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><em>*Figures are rounded to the nearest 100</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p>In November 2020, there was a temporary spike in the number of calls received due to the recommencement of debt recovery, following a pause due to the outbreak of Covid-19. It should be noted that the number of blocked calls does not represent individual customers and that the volume will be substantially distorted by repeat attempts.</p><p> </p><p>We have since updated our telephone messaging and guidance for call handlers as well as redeploying trained staff from clearing work to answering calls.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, DWP expects to deploy approximately 450 new staff to the network in the next three months.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 27/01/2021 17:40:31 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince previous answer version 76977 answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

1260268

registered interest
date	10/12/2020
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	Department for Work and Pensions: Telephone Services
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 calls to her Department’s Debt Management team were answered in (a) August (b) September (c) October and (d) November 2020.
tabling member constituency	East Ham
tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
uin	128050
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/12/2020 answer text <p>It is important to note, since March the caseload on UC has increased from around 3 million people on UC to 5.8 million.</p><p> </p><p>The proportion of calls presented to agents answered by Debt Management for the months requested are shown in the table below:</p><p><em> </em></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>August</p></td><td><p>September</p></td><td><p>October</p></td><td><p>November</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Proportion of calls presented to agents that are answered</p></td><td><p>77%</p></td><td><p>71%</p></td><td><p>80%</p></td><td><p>78%</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>The Debt Management queueing system allows only so many calls into the telephony system, matching volumes to the number of telephony agents available. The Percentage of Calls Answered therefore underestimates the number of attempted calls.</p><p> </p><p>There were, however, large numbers of callers who could not make it into the system and are therefore not included in the proportion of calls answered.</p><p> </p><p>November saw a large increase in the volume of notifications issued, largely due to the automated nature of the system used by Debt Management to manage customer accounts. This caused a significant increase in the number of customers attempting to contact the service as a result, starting on 20<sup>th</sup> November.</p><p> </p><p>Debt Management have put steps in place to address this issue. A limit to the number of notifications issued has been set to ensure the resulting contact is manageable. Improvements have been made to the messages customers hear when they call; this will ensure they are made aware of any high call volumes and are also directed to the right place, to help reduce the time spent waiting. This includes directing customers to GOV.UK if they want to make a payment by bank transfer. Debt Management are also recruiting more telephony agents - 90 additional agents have now joined Debt Management and are being trained, and a further 100 will join early in the New Year.</p><p> </p><p>Debt Management continues to monitor the number of notifications issued and their call handling data. At the height of this issue, an average of over 51,000 calls were blocked each day. For the last 5 days for which we have data, from 7<sup>th</sup>–11<sup>th</sup> December, this had fallen to less than 6,000 each day.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 15/12/2020 18:00:38 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms