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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

1127506

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 her Department has made of the compatibility of universal credit implementation with the socio-economic duty in Section 1 of the Equality Act 2010.
tabling member constituency	Bermondsey and Old Southwark
tabling member printed	Neil Coyle
uin	256328
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/05/2019 answer text <p>The Department published an Equality Impact Assessment for Universal Credit (UC) in 2011, which stands overall, although in line with Ministers’ legal duties equality impacts have been considered on all major changes to UC. This can be accessed at:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-equality-impact-assessment" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-equality-impact-assessment</a></p><p> </p><p>An Equality Impact assessment is currently being produced to cover details of the selection of Move to UC claimants to take part in the first phase of the pilot.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 29/05/2019 12:14:07 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4368 label Biography information for Neil Coyle

1127594

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: 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 she is taking to consult (a) disabled people and (b) the organisations that represent disabled people to ensure that her digital by default programme for universal credit is compatible with the assistive technology that many disabled people rely on to access online services.
tabling member constituency	Bermondsey and Old Southwark
tabling member printed	Neil Coyle
uin	256375
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/05/2019 answer text <p>All Department for Work and Pensions’ digital services are designed and built in line with Government Digital Service guidelines, and international standards for IT accessibility (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.1). The intention is to make the services usable by as many people as possible without the use of assistive technology, and to be compatible with screen reading and magnifying tools for those people requiring them.</p><p> </p><p>To ensure that they meet these standards, the services are tested during the development process and prior to implementation. This includes both a range of technical tests and assessment of their usability by intended end users.</p><p> </p><p>Feedback from users of the services is encouraged and acted upon.</p><p> </p><p>Specifically, for Universal Credit Full Service (UCFS), we continue to work closely with service users and their representatives and have recently completed our second external Audit that provided WCAG AA accreditation. The Department has a dedicated team ensuring that user experience (and accessibility is key to this) is at the heart of the way we develop the service.</p><p> </p><p>For people unable to access or use digital services, assistance to make and maintain their claim is available via the Freephone Universal Credit helpline. Face-to-face support is also available in Jobcentres. In exceptional circumstances, a home visit can be arranged to support a claimant in making and maintaining their claim.</p><p> </p><p>From 1 April 2019 Citizens Advice (England and Wales) and Citizens Advice Scotland are delivering the new ‘Help to Claim’ support to claimants making a new Universal Credit (UC) claim or moving from a legacy benefit to UC because of a change of circumstances. The Citizens Advice Help to Claim offers tailored, practical support to help people make a UC claim up to receiving their first full correct payment on time. It is available online, through web-chat, through a Freephone number and face to face through local Citizens Advice services.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 29/05/2019 11:46:59 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4368 label Biography information for Neil Coyle