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1345235

registered interest
date	08/07/2021
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	Social Security Benefits: Overpayments
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much her Department recovered from overpayments that were as a result of her Department's and not the claimant's error in each month in the most recent period for which figures are available; and what the average amount of overpayment due to her Department's error was recovered from each such claimant.
tabling member constituency	Weaver Vale
tabling member printed	Mike Amesbury
uin	29888
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/07/2021 answer text <p>In the last month for which figures are available DWP paid out almost £3.5bn in Universal Credit and it should be noted that fraud and error in the benefits system remains low, with 95% of benefits, worth more than £200bn. paid correctly in 2020/21. Official Error overpayments remained at 0.4% of benefit expenditure last year, with UC Official Error Overpayments falling from 1.3% to 0.9%.</p><p> </p><p>Deductions from UC are now capped at 25% (as of April 2021) having previously been 30%. Where requested deductions exceed the 25% maximum, or there is insufficient UC in payment for all deductions to be made, a priority order is applied, which determines the order in which items should be deducted. ‘Last resort’ deductions, such as rent or fuel costs, are at the top of the priority order, ensuring that claimant welfare is prioritised, followed by social obligation deductions, such as fines and child maintenance, and finally benefit debt, such as Social Fund loans and benefit overpayments.</p><p> </p><p>Anyone with overpayment deductions who does experience financial hardship is encouraged to contact the Department’s Debt Management unit. Where a person cannot afford the proposed rate of these deductions, a lower amount can be negotiated.</p><p> </p><p>Deductions in respect of UC Official Error debt for the last 6 months are shown below:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Month</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Value of in month recovery where debt category is official error</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Average recovery per Customer in Month</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Jan-21</strong></p></td><td><p>£12,470,549</p></td><td><p>£67.47</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Feb-21</strong></p></td><td><p>£14,464,840</p></td><td><p>£67.15</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Mar-21</strong></p></td><td><p>£16,444,768</p></td><td><p>£70.11</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Apr-21</strong></p></td><td><p>£16,524,866</p></td><td><p>£69.95</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>May-21</strong></p></td><td><p>£13,563,717</p></td><td><p>£65.02</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Jun-21</strong></p></td><td><p>£14,584,640</p></td><td><p>£63.44</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>* The data shown in the above table is taken from operational data systems, and is not intended for publication. Therefore, the data itself is not quality assured to the standard of published Official Statistics and National Statistics.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 19/07/2021 15:38:13 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4667 label Biography information for Mike Amesbury

1345265

registered interest
date	08/07/2021
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	Social Security Benefits: Overpayments
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many direct earnings attachments her Department has put in place in each year since the Welfare Reform Act 2012 enabled recovery of overpayments as a result of errors made by her Department rather than the claimant; and what estimate she has made of the amount that has been overpaid in error by her Department in each year since 2012.
tabling member constituency	Weaver Vale
tabling member printed	Mike Amesbury
uin	29889
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/07/2021 answer text <p>It is not possible to produce a historical time series for this specific data request regarding Direct Earnings Attachments (DEA). However, I can confirm that there are 15,000 DWP debtors with an official error debt who currently have a DEA in place.</p><p> </p><p>This data is taken from operational data systems, and is not intended for publication. Therefore, the data itself is not quality assured to the standard of published Official Statistics and National Statistics.</p><p>It should be noted that, during a period when we have faced the unprecedented challenges posed by COVID-19, fraud and error in the benefits system remains low, with 95% of benefits, worth more than £200bn paid correctly in 2020/21. Official Error overpayments remained at 0.4% of benefit expenditure last year, with UC Official Error Overpayments falling from 1.3% to 0.9%.</p><p>DWP’s primary method of debt recovery is by deduction from any on-going benefit that mightbe in payment, with limits on the amount we can deduct from income related benefits being set out in legislation.</p><p> </p><p>Where recovery from ongoing benefit entitlement is not possible, DWP will seek to agree a voluntary repayment plan with the debtor, taking into account their personal circumstances and the amount they can reasonably afford to repay each month.</p><p>Where a person fails to agree a voluntary repayment plan, we can apply a Direct Earnings Attachment (DEA) which allows deductions to be taken directly from a person’s earnings, bu this would only be after DWP had made all reasonable efforts to pursue recovery via a voluntary repayment plan.</p><p>Estimates of the amount that has been overpaid in error by DWP are published annually and can be found by following the links at <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/fraud-and-error-in-the-benefit-system" target="_blank">Fraud and error in the benefit system - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)</a>.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 16/07/2021 13:38:16 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4667 label Biography information for Mike Amesbury

1305582

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	Pensions: Coronavirus
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 bring forward legislative proposal to ensure that employers affected by the covid-19 outbreak cannot retain employee pension deductions as cashflow rather than pay into the relevant pension scheme.
tabling member constituency	Weaver Vale
tabling member printed	Mike Amesbury
uin	174959
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/04/2021 answer text <p>No. Employers are not permitted to hold pension contributions as cash flow.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 13/04/2021 13:14:03 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4667 label Biography information for Mike Amesbury

1287174

registered interest
date	19/02/2021
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 effect of including discretionary and hardship payments as income for the purposes of universal credit on people in receipt of that payment.
tabling member constituency	Weaver Vale
tabling member printed	Mike Amesbury
uin	155368
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/03/2021 answer text <p>No assessment has been made.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 01/03/2021 15:52:11 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4667 label Biography information for Mike Amesbury

1284731

registered interest
date	08/02/2021
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	Social Security Benefits: Cancer
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 adequacy of welfare support available to people receiving a cancer diagnosis after reaching state pension age.
tabling member constituency	Weaver Vale
tabling member printed	Mike Amesbury
uin	150926
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/02/2021 answer text <p>Welfare support for pensioners, including those with cancer, could include Attendance Allowance which is intended to help those who have long term care or supervision needs. Pension Credit is also available to help those pensioners on low incomes, and as we set out in our Manifesto, this Government remains committed to a range of other pensioner benefits including the Winter Fuel Payment and free prescriptions, ensuring that older people have the security and dignity they deserve.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 12/02/2021 12:50:10 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4667 label Biography information for Mike Amesbury

1284732

registered interest
date	08/02/2021
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	Motability Scheme: Terminal Illnesses
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 extending eligibility to the Motability scheme for people in receipt of attendance allowance who have also been diagnosed with a terminal illness after state pension age.
tabling member constituency	Weaver Vale
tabling member printed	Mike Amesbury
uin	150927
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/02/2021 answer text <p>The Motability Scheme was designed to provide people entitled to mobility welfare payments with access to a vehicle. The Scheme is open to anyone who qualifies for the higher rate mobility component for Disability Living Allowance, the enhanced rate of the mobility component for Personal Independence Payment, the Armed Forces Independence Payment or War Pensioners Mobility Supplement.</p><p> </p><p>Attendance Allowance is intended to help those with a severe disability who have long term care or supervision needs which arise after reaching State Pension age. It has never included a mobility component, and so cannot be used in payment for a leased Motability scheme vehicle. Government mobility support is focused on people who are disabled earlier in life; developing mobility needs in older life is a normal consequence of ageing, which non-disabled younger people have had opportunity to plan and save for.</p><p> </p><p>Special rules apply to people considered to be terminally ill when applying for AA, DLA or PIP. However, there is no automatic entitlement to a mobility component of either DLA or PIP, and, while there would be no qualifying period, an eligible claimant would need to satisfy conditions for this entitlement.</p><p> </p><p>Benefits such as DLA or PIP can continue beyond State Pension age for as long as the individual remains entitled. This would allow an individual with existing entitlement to retain their Motability vehicle.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 12/02/2021 14:28:21 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4667 label Biography information for Mike Amesbury

1251906

registered interest
date	13/11/2020
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	Redundancy: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment his Department has made of the need to provide financial support for employees made redundant before 23 September 2020 who cannot be furloughed and are not entitled to any statutory redundancy payment.
tabling member constituency	Weaver Vale
tabling member printed	Mike Amesbury
uin	92004
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/11/2020 answer text <p>Universal Credit is in place to support claimants in difficult circumstances. The Government introduced a package of temporary welfare measures worth around £9.3 billion this year to help with the financial consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. This included the £20 weekly increase to the Universal Credit Standard Allowance rates as a temporary measure for the 20/21 tax year.</p><p>Our long-term ambition is to level up across the country and continue to tackle poverty through our reformed welfare system that works with the labour market to encourage people to move into and progress in work wherever possible.</p><p> </p><p>Our £30bn Plan for Jobs is the first step on the ladder to achieving this and will support economic recovery through new schemes including Kickstart and Job Entry Targeted Support.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 23/11/2020 16:31:07 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4667 label Biography information for Mike Amesbury

1251910

registered interest
date	13/11/2020
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	Universal Credit: Coronavirus
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 need to remove the five-week wait for universal credit for employees made redundant prior to 23 September 2020 and who are not eligible for statutory redundancy pay.
tabling member constituency	Weaver Vale
tabling member printed	Mike Amesbury
uin	92005
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/11/2020 answer text <p>Nobody in need has to wait for a payment under Universal Credit (UC). UC New Claim Advances allow eligible claimants to receive up to 100% of their estimated Universal Credit payment upfront within a few days. Claimants will receive their annual award over 13 payments during their first year, instead of 12. They are paid quickly and can be applied for online or over the phone. These upfront payments can be spread across two years instead of one from October 2021, as announced in the 2020 Budget.</p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 23/11/2020 16:08:41 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4667 label Biography information for Mike Amesbury

1239452

registered interest
date	30/09/2020
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	Universal Credit: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many times the universal credit service has been unavailable since 23 March 2020; and for what reasons that service was unavailable on each of those occasions.
tabling member constituency	Weaver Vale
tabling member printed	Mike Amesbury
uin	97714
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/10/2020 answer text <p>There have been over 3 million Universal Credit claims made since mid-March; six times the volume that the Department would typically receive. Despite that surge, the system is standing up to the challenge and demonstrating that resilience and scalability are integral parts its design, whilst maintaining high levels of payment timeliness.</p><p>There have been no unplanned outages of the Universal Credit online service since March 2020.</p><p /><p /> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 97715 question first answered 08/10/2020 14:43:43 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4667 label Biography information for Mike Amesbury

1239453

registered interest
date	30/09/2020
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	Universal Credit: Coronavirus
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 capacity of the universal credit service to cope with demand for new online claims in the period since 23 March 2020; and what steps her Department is taking to minimise periods of unavailability of that service.
tabling member constituency	Weaver Vale
tabling member printed	Mike Amesbury
uin	97715
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/10/2020 answer text <p>There have been over 3 million Universal Credit claims made since mid-March; six times the volume that the Department would typically receive. Despite that surge, the system is standing up to the challenge and demonstrating that resilience and scalability are integral parts its design, whilst maintaining high levels of payment timeliness.</p><p>There have been no unplanned outages of the Universal Credit online service since March 2020.</p><p /><p /> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 97714 question first answered 08/10/2020 14:43:43 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4667 label Biography information for Mike Amesbury