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1110169

registered interest
date	08/04/2019
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	Food Banks
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 2 April 2019 to Question 238363 on Food Banks, what her timescale is for publication of the final report.
tabling member constituency	South Shields
tabling member printed	Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck
uin	242147
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/04/2019 answer text <p>The Department is currently working on the literature review and a release date is yet to be determined.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 11/04/2019 12:55:18 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4277 label Biography information for Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck

1110176

registered interest
date	08/04/2019
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: Disability
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that claimants that no longer receive the severe disability premium after migrating to universal credit receive the financial benefits they are entitled to.
tabling member constituency	Inverclyde
tabling member printed	Ronnie Cowan
uin	242183
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/04/2019 answer text <p>The draft Universal Credit (Managed Migration Pilot and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2019 were laid in Parliament on 14 January 2019, and will introduce provision for those claimants who were in receipt of the Severe Disability Premium (SDP) and who have moved on to Universal Credit following a change in their circumstances. These regulations will provide both an on-going monthly payment to eligible claimants who have already lost the SDP as a consequence of moving to Universal Credit, and an additional lump sum payment to cover the period since they moved.</p><p> </p><p>These regulations are subject to parliamentary debate and approval before they come in to force. Once introduced we will implement our processes to identify those who are potentially eligible for payments, aiming to make all payments as quickly as possible and within 6 months of the regulations coming into force. This will be a time consuming process, as we have to identify claimants and assess their eligibility, possibly needing to check some information directly with claimants. We aim to finish making payments within 6 months of the regulations coming into force.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 11/04/2019 13:17:31 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4465 label Biography information for Ronnie Cowan

1110190

registered interest
date	08/04/2019
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: Housing
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 tenants that will experience a financial shortfall as a result of 2019-20 being a 53-week rent year and universal Credit being a 52 week rent year.
tabling member constituency	Wentworth and Dearne
tabling member printed	John Healey
uin	242021
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/04/2019 answer text <p>Neither tenants or landlords lose a week’s rent in a 53 weekly rent payment year as has been alleged; no year contains 53 weeks. The problem is alignment between weekly and monthly cycles. Each month the UC housing element is a constant figure but claimants with weekly tenancy agreements will be required to make either four or five rent payments within this period. If the claimant always pays their rent on time, in five payment months they are effectively making payment for part of the following month. That month will always be a four rent payment month, so the combination of the advance payment and the ‘overpayment’ of housing support during that month will get the claimant back on track</p><p> </p><p>Where a landlord charges rent weekly on a Monday, because of the way the calendar falls every 5 or 6 years, they will seek 53 rent payments in a year, with the 53rd payment in part covering the tenancy for the first few days of the following year. The effect of this is that, over the course of the next housing association rental year, a tenant’s UC payments will accurately reflect their liability, irrespective of the 53 payment weeks.</p><p> </p><p>There is a separate issue with respect to the way the calculation in the Universal Credit regulations converts a weekly liability into a monthly allowance. The conversion is achieved by multiplying the weekly rent by 52 and then dividing by 12. This effectively means one day’s rent a year (two days in a leap years) are not covered by UC. We are currently considering whether this formulation around weekly rents, and potentially other weekly amounts in the UC calculation, should be amended.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 11/04/2019 15:59:06 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	400 label Biography information for John Healey

1110248

registered interest
date	08/04/2019
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: 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 her Department has made of the potential role youth work can play in tackling youth unemployment.
tabling member constituency	Lancaster and Fleetwood
tabling member printed	Cat Smith
uin	242171
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/04/2019 answer text <p>Youth work is coordinated by local authorities and/or other local third party organisations and so DWP has made no recent assessment of the role youth work plays in tackling youth unemployment.</p><p> </p><p>The DWP is committed to providing targeted support for young people so that everyone, no matter what their start in life, is given the very best chance of getting into work. We work with young people to tackle youth unemployment in a number of ways. For example, the Jobcentre Plus Support for Schools programme (England only) targets young people aged 12-18 who are at particular risk of being out of education, employment or training (NEET).</p><p> </p><p>JCP School Advisers attend secondary schools and provide information for students, teachers and parents on the alternatives to further or higher education into the world of work, such as, through traineeships and apprenticeships. They use their connections with local employers to facilitate the offer of work experience.</p><p> </p><p>An external evaluation was published in April 2018 which found that, overall, it was clear the programme has been well-received by schools and other stakeholders. It was seen to take a flexible, school-led approach to provision that has allowed a range of different schools to fill gaps in their provision relating to post-school pathways. The evaluation of the programme can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/evaluation-of-jobcentre-plus-support-for-schools-programme-national-roll-out-evaluation" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/evaluation-of-jobcentre-plus-support-for-schools-programme-national-roll-out-evaluation</a>.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 11/04/2019 13:34:12 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	4436 label Biography information for Cat Smith

1110304

registered interest
date	08/04/2019
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: Children
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 Child Poverty Action Group's recent report on universal credit, published on 6 April 2019, what assessment she has made of the two-child limit policy on compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle-under-Lyme
tabling member printed	Paul Farrelly
uin	242040
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/04/2019 answer text <p>The Government has assessed the impact of the two-child policy from an equality and human rights perspective throughout its development and in preparation for its implementation. Therefore, we consider that we have met our obligations under the Public Sector Equality Duty and ensured compliance with the Human Rights Act 1998, the Equality Act 2010 and the UN convention on the Rights of the Child.</p><p> </p><p>The Government’s view is that providing support for a maximum of two children in Universal Credit and Child Tax Credit, ensures fairness between claimants, and to those taxpayers who support themselves solely through work. Families on benefits should face the same financial choices when deciding to grow their family as those supporting themselves solely through work. A benefits structure adjusting automatically to family size is unsustainable.</p><p> </p><p>The Government continues to take action to help families with the cost of living, including raising the national living wage, reducing the UC earnings taper, raising the income tax personal allowance, introducing tax-free childcare and 30 hours a week of free childcare for 3 and 4 year olds.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 11/04/2019 13:29:04 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	1436 label Biography information for Paul Farrelly

1110360

registered interest
date	08/04/2019
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	Personal Independence Payment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many personal independence payment claimants lost their enhanced mobility rate in the last two years after previously receiving indefinite or lifetime awards.
tabling member constituency	Welwyn Hatfield
tabling member printed	Grant Shapps
uin	242079
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/04/2019 answer text <p>The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 11/04/2019 13:03:45 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	1582 label Biography information for Grant Shapps

1110402

registered interest
date	08/04/2019
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: Croydon
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 had made of the effect of the roll out of universal credit on levels of foodbank use in the London borough of Croydon.
tabling member constituency	Croydon North
tabling member printed	Mr Steve Reed
uin	242146
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/04/2019 answer text <p>The Department does not keep official statistics on food bank use, so the assessment requested is not available. Some food aid providers, such as the Trussell Trust, produce statistics on the number of food parcels distributed, but the Government has no plans to require individual food banks to keep records as this would place a significant burden on charitable and voluntary organisations.</p><p> </p><p>We have always said there are many reasons why people use foodbanks. We have listened to feedback on how we can support our claimants and acted quickly, making improvements such as extending advances, removing waiting days, and introducing housing benefit run on. These changes are giving support to vulnerable people who need it most, whilst at the same time helping people get into work faster.</p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 11/04/2019 16:05:01 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4268 label Biography information for Steve Reed

1109967

registered interest
date	05/04/2019
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	Children: Maintenance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has plans to conduct an equality impact assessment in relation to the child maintenance service arrears strategy, and if she will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	North Tyneside
tabling member printed	Mary Glindon
uin	241423
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/04/2019 answer text <p>DWP considered the impact of the compliance and arrears strategy on those with the relevant protected characteristics in line with the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED).</p><p>We determined that there would be no direct discrimination from this strategy across the eight protected characteristics as none of the characteristics are a factor in how the regulations are applied.</p><p> </p><p>Some groups may be indirectly affected more than others as a result of the caseload demographic.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 11/04/2019 14:38:43 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4126 label Biography information for Mary Glindon

1110016

registered interest
date	05/04/2019
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 advance benefit payments have been made all universal credit claimants for the months (a) March 2017 (b) March 2018 and (c) March 2019.
tabling member constituency	Airdrie and Shotts
tabling member printed	Neil Gray
uin	241444
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/04/2019 answer text <p>Around 60% of new claims to Universal Credit receive an advance payment in the first month of their claim. Subject to some fluctuation, this rate of advance take-up has been broadly consistent. This shows that claimants are being made aware of advances and are using it where they need this help.</p><p>The table below shows the number of advance payments made to Universal Credit claimants.</p><p>Data for March 2019 is not currently available</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Month</p></td><td><p>Number of Advance payments</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Mar-17</p></td><td><p>28,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Mar-18</p></td><td><p>69,000</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Notes</p><p>1. All figures are rounded to the nearest 1000</p><p>2. The number of advances includes advances for both Universal Credit live service and full service. However different methodologies and data sources are used for each</p><p>3. Where a claim receives multiple advances within the same month, all are counted individually.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 11/04/2019 15:08:25 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	4365 label Biography information for Neil Gray

1110018

registered interest
date	05/04/2019
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 the monthly entitlement of universal credit is estimated for the purposes of calculating an advance payment.
tabling member constituency	Airdrie and Shotts
tabling member printed	Neil Gray
uin	241446
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/04/2019 answer text <p>For the purpose of deciding the amount of Universal Credit new claim advance available, the indicative monthly Universal Credit entitlement is calculated from the information provided about the household on the Universal Credit new claim application.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 11/04/2019 14:59:29 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	4365 label Biography information for Neil Gray