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1002762

	registered interest
	date	06/11/2018
	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 funding the Government has allocated for transitional payments for people moving onto universal credit; and by what process claimants will receive such payments.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
	tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
	uin	188877
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/12/2018 answer text <p>We recently laid the draft Universal Credit (Managed Migration) Regulations 2018 in Parliament. These will introduce a transitional payment to those eligible claimants who were in receipt of the Severe Disability Premium whilst on an existing benefit and who have already moved to Universal Credit.</p><p> </p><p>As announced in the 2018 Autumn Budget, the income related elements of Employment and Support Allowance and Jobseeker’s Allowance, and Income Support will continue for two weeks after a claim for Universal Credit has been made from July 2020. Claimants will therefore receive one two week run-on payment when being migrated to Universal Credit. Both of these measures are subject to parliamentary approval. These payments are in addition to the 2 week run-on of Housing Benefit, which we introduced in April 2018.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has also committed to ensuring that claimants who are moved onto Universal Credit as part of the managed migration process see no decrease in their benefit entitlement, providing their circumstances remain the same.</p><p> </p><p>The Government will be spending over £3bn on transitional protection over the next 10 years to ensure that claimants who are migrated onto Universal Credit as part of the managed migration process do not experience a financial loss at the point of transition.</p><p> </p><p>Transitional protection will be calculated based on the claimant’s circumstances on the last day of their entitlement to existing benefits. To do this we will make a comparison between the total amount of all relevant existing benefits to which the claimant was entitled at this point and the total amount of Universal Credit to which the claimant would be entitled as calculated based on the same set of circumstances. If the entitlement to the existing benefits is the greater amount then the difference will be awarded as a Transitional Element. When awarded, this Transitional Element will be taken into account with any other applicable Elements to determine a claimant’s Universal Credit award in each Assessment Period.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 13/12/2018 14:37:05 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma previous answer version 84612 answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1056680

	registered interest
	date	07/02/2019
	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, if she will place in the Library a copy of the results from the Claimant Service and Experience Survey 2017-18 for (a) live service and (b) full service universal credit claimants.
	tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
	tabling member printed	Frank Field
	uin	218202
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/02/2019 answer text <p>The Claimant Service and Experience Survey 2017-2018 covered both Universal Credit Live Service and Universal Credit Full Service and has been published on Gov.uk.</p><p> </p><p>It is available at the following link: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-claimant-service-and-experience-survey-2017-to-2018" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-claimant-service-and-experience-survey-2017-to-2018</a></p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 13/02/2019 12:49:01 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma previous answer version 101514 answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

1077186

	registered interest
	date	25/02/2019
	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 20 February 2019 to Question 221994, whether it was the research contractor or the Department who made the decision to report without differentiating between live and full service; for what purpose live service was included as a separate sample to full service in the claimant survey at the beginning of the 2017-18 year; whether live service and full service have been reported separately internally for 2017-18; what the total cost was of the claimant survey research conducted for 2017-18; what plans he has to compare the full service findings of the 2018-19 claimant survey with the full service findings from the 2017-18 survey; and what questions within the survey questionnaire have not been reported within the annual report and data tables.
	tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
	tabling member printed	Frank Field
	uin	225407
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/03/2019 answer text <p>The Department has made the decision not to differentiate between Live and Full service for a number of Universal Credit data sets, including the claimant survey. This is because both services operate within the same policy framework and live service is being phased out.</p><p> </p><p>For the 2017/18 survey year, the cost was £382,435.26 across all main benefits.</p><p> </p><p>We track trends in claimant satisfaction, although individual year results are not always comparable; where this is the case we point that out for users of the survey.</p><p> </p><p>The questions within the survey questionnaire that have not been reported within the annual report and data tables are listed in the table in the document attached:</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 25/03/2019 16:51:32 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma attachment 1 file name Claimant service and experience survey 225407.pdf title Claimant Service and Experience Survey previous answer version 105110 answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

1131675

	registered interest
	date	12/06/2019
	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, if she will introduce a box on the universal credit application form through which claimants may give permissions for their data to be used to register their children for free school meals and other income-related educational benefits.
	tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
	tabling member printed	Frank Field
	uin	263718
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/06/2019 answer text <p>The Department for Education (DfE) provides an Electronic Eligibility Checking Service (ECS) to all local authorities in England, which is used to confirm eligibility for free school meals.</p><p> </p><p>To support this, there are already data sharing agreements in place between DfE and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and other government departments who administer benefits which qualify families for free school meals. This enables local authorities and schools to quickly verify eligibility for free school meals, including where parent(s) have been awarded Universal Credit and have earnings below the prescribed threshold for free school meal eligibility.</p><p> </p><p>DWP therefore has no plans to ask claimants to give permission for their Universal Credit data to be used to provide an automatic entitlement to other benefits.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 18/06/2019 16:13:35 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma previous answer version 123357 answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

1126941

	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 5 May 2019 to Question 249847, what assessment of a universal credit claimant’s financial situation is made when calculating what percentage of their payment will be deducted in order to repay an advance.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
	tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
	uin	254734
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/06/2019 answer text <p>The maximum amount a claimant can receive as a new claim advance payment is 100 per cent of their total indicative Universal Credit award. The claimant can decide the length of repayment period when they request the advance. This can be up to a maximum 12 months. The rate of repayment is decided by dividing the total advance amount by the agreed repayment period.</p><p>Affordability is managed by ensuring the recovery rate is not more than the equivalent of 40 per cent of the standard allowance and help is available for those struggling to meet the recovery rate once recovery begins. In many cases, because claimants choose to repay advances over many months, advance repayments constitute less than 40% of a standard allowance. In exceptional circumstances, recovery can be deferred for up to 3 months from the start of the recovery period.</p><p>Advances are not loans; they are an interest free advance payment of benefit, available to help people who need immediate financial support, which is then recovered over an agreed period. 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 03/06/2019 13:51:25 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma previous answer version 119076 answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1131839

	registered interest
	date	12/06/2019
	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 universal credit claimants have been offered a deferral period for advance repayments in the last 12 months.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
	tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
	uin	263675
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/06/2019 answer text <p>This information is not centrally collated and could only be supplied at a disproportionate cost to the Department.</p><p> </p><p>The Department recognises that exceptional circumstances may occur to claimants that were not foreseen when a Universal Credit advance was taken out. Should claimants face unexpected financial hardship as a result of such changes, they can ask the Department for a deferral of the repayment of any advance they have taken out. The deferral periods are up to 3 months for a new claim, benefit transfer or change of circumstances advance and up to 6 months for a Budgeting advance.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 18/06/2019 15:35:06 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma previous answer version 123350 answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1131840

	registered interest
	date	12/06/2019
	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 universal credit claimants who have an existing advance have been offered an additional budgeting advance in the last 12 months.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
	tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
	uin	263676
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/06/2019 answer text <p>Universal Credit new claim and benefit transfer advances provide access to a payment for those in financial need, which can be accessed on the same day, until their first UC payment is due, ensuring no one has to be left without means of financial support. Claimants can access up to 100% of the total expected monthly award, which they can pay back over a period of up to 12 monthly instalments. In the Autumn Budget 2018, we announced that from October 2021, the repayment period for these advances will be extended to 16 monthly instalments.</p><p> </p><p>A budgeting advance is available for one off unexpected financial events that the claimant is unable to meet and is repayable over a period of up to 12 monthly instalments.</p><p> </p><p>The latest available data shows in the 12 months between March 2018 and February 2019 around 840,000 claims received a new claim or benefit transfer advance. In the same period 134,000 claims received budgeting advances, where for the previous assessment period prior to receiving a budgeting advance there was a repayment of a previous advance for that claim.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Notes:</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><ol><li>Figures are rounded to the nearest 1,000.</li><li>Figures relate only to Universal Credit full service.</li><li>Figures do not relate to those who may have been repaying an advance from a previous claim.</li></ol> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 18/06/2019 15:04:24 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma previous answer version 123351 answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1131841

	registered interest
	date	12/06/2019
	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 10 June to question 260538, what assistance is available for universal credit claimants who (a) are unable to repay their advance, (b) have already had their repayments deferred for three months, (c) are not eligible for benefit transfer or change of circumstance advances and (d) are still repaying a previous budgeting advance.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
	tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
	uin	263677
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/06/2019 answer text <p>A key part of the process for agreeing an advance payment on Universal Credit is ensuring that the claimant can afford to repay it. We will not make advances which encourage recipients to become over-indebted.</p><p> </p><p>The Department encourages all Universal Credit claimants to actively consider how best to manage their personal budget, with additional advice and support available from work coaches and case managers. When an advance payment is appropriate, claimants decide what percentage of their expected monthly award to apply for and over what period to repay it, up to a maximum of 12 monthly instalments.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The Department does not levy penalties on claimants who do not repay their advance within either a calendar 12 month from taking out the advance, nor where they do not repay the advance in 12 monthly instalments. Outstanding repayments are actively monitored and managed, ensuring we support claimants experiencing financial challenges whilst maintaining responsibility to the taxpayer for recovery.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma grouped question UIN 263678 question first answered 18/06/2019 15:32:14 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma previous answer version 123353 answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1131842

	registered interest
	date	12/06/2019
	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 10 June to Question 260540, what the consequences are for universal credit claimants who are unable to repay their advance within the agreed timescale.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
	tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
	uin	263678
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/06/2019 answer text <p>A key part of the process for agreeing an advance payment on Universal Credit is ensuring that the claimant can afford to repay it. We will not make advances which encourage recipients to become over-indebted.</p><p> </p><p>The Department encourages all Universal Credit claimants to actively consider how best to manage their personal budget, with additional advice and support available from work coaches and case managers. When an advance payment is appropriate, claimants decide what percentage of their expected monthly award to apply for and over what period to repay it, up to a maximum of 12 monthly instalments.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The Department does not levy penalties on claimants who do not repay their advance within either a calendar 12 month from taking out the advance, nor where they do not repay the advance in 12 monthly instalments. Outstanding repayments are actively monitored and managed, ensuring we support claimants experiencing financial challenges whilst maintaining responsibility to the taxpayer for recovery.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma grouped question UIN 263677 question first answered 18/06/2019 15:32:14 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma previous answer version 123355 answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1131844

	registered interest
	date	12/06/2019
	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 6 June to Question 258971, what information her Department holds on the proportion of universal credit claimants who have successfully applied for a reduction in their deduction in the most recent period for which figures are available.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
	tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
	uin	263679
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/06/2019 answer text <p>As at 13th June 2019 the proportion of Universal Credit claimants with a benefit overpayment, who have successfully applied for a reduction in the rate at which they are repaying that overpayment, was 9.2%.</p><p> </p><p>The Department 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 the Department’s Debt Management Team to discuss lowering their repayment rate. Any adjustment to the rate of repayment will be based on the individual circumstances of the claimant.</p><p> </p><p><em>*The data provided in this response has been sourced from internal management information and was never intended for public release. It is not comparable to any other, similar data subsequently released by the Department.</em></p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 18/06/2019 16:22:13 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma previous answer version 123356 answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe