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1064499

registered interest
date	20/02/2019
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	Jobcentres: Food Banks
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether it is her Department's policy not to permit job centre staff to issue food bank referral forms to benefit claimants.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Hall Green
tabling member printed	Mr Roger Godsiff
uin	224080
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/02/2019 answer text <p>Jobcentre managers have discretion to work with a wide range of external partners, including food banks, where they are invited to do so. The Department has long-standing guidance in place which allows staff to signpost customers in writing to a food bank where they have expressed an interest in using one and if all sources of statutory support have been exhausted. We are also exploring how we can build on current good practice to make it as easy as possible for food banks to identify and refer back to the local Jobcentre any customers who may, for a variety of reasons, not be receiving the full formal support to which they are entitled.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 25/02/2019 13:17:27 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	304 label Biography information for Mr Roger Godsiff

1011420

registered interest
date	21/11/2018
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	Social Security Benefits: Medical Examinations
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what proportion of (a) employment support allowance mandatory reconsiderations and (b) personal independence payment mandatory reconsiderations her Department has contacted a claimant's GP or specialist to request medical evidence in the last 12 months; and what guidance his Department provides on when it is appropriate to contact a claimant's GP or specialist.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Hall Green
tabling member printed	Mr Roger Godsiff
uin	194024
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/11/2018 answer text <p>The information requested is not recorded centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The guidance for both benefits tells claimants that when making their claim they should provide the evidence that they already hold and that they should not request additional evidence for which they may need to pay, for example from their GP. If further medical evidence is required this will be requested by the Assessment Provider at no cost to the claimant. At Mandatory Reconsideration the guidance encourages claimants to share any <em>new</em> medical evidence they may have received since their original claim. The instructions in relation to claims and Mandatory Reconsideration are clearly signposted for both benefits.</p> answering member constituency Truro and Falmouth answering member printed Sarah Newton question first answered 26/11/2018 17:42:49 answering member 4071 label Biography information for Sarah Newton
tabling member	304 label Biography information for Mr Roger Godsiff

1011443

registered interest
date	21/11/2018
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	Women against State Pension Inequality
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 plans to accept recommendations made by the Ombudsman's investigation into complaints regarding WASPI.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Hall Green
tabling member printed	Mr Roger Godsiff
uin	194026
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/11/2018 answer text <p>The process of any Ombudsman investigation is effectively unchanged since their creation by the Labour Government in 1967.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The Ombudsman is currently considering whether to investigate, and if so, the scope of that investigation. Should he decide to investigate, the DWP will co-operate in full with that process.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 26/11/2018 15:03:11 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	304 label Biography information for Mr Roger Godsiff

997349

registered interest
date	29/10/2018
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	Social Security Benefits: Medical Examinations
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance her Department provides to (a) departmental staff and (b) employees of (i) Capita and (ii) Maximus on when to contact a claimant's healthcare provider to request medical evidence.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Hall Green
tabling member printed	Mr Roger Godsiff
uin	184881
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/11/2018 answer text <p>The department has clearly set out the requirements for when DWP and/or the Assessment Providers should request further medical evidence.</p><p> </p><p>DWP/Assessment Provider Health Professional will consider obtaining further evidence if there is a significant gap in the available information, there is doubt about the level of function or if it is required in order to provide robust advice. There does not need to be independent corroborating evidence if the available information is comprehensive, clearly outlines the extent and nature of any functional problems and, above all, is consistent with the claimed condition(s).</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Truro and Falmouth answering member printed Sarah Newton question first answered 06/11/2018 16:21:01 answering member 4071 label Biography information for Sarah Newton
tabling member	304 label Biography information for Mr Roger Godsiff

994561

registered interest
date	25/10/2018
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: Housing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason universal credit excludes a housing (a) benefit and (b) costs element for people living in temporary or hostel accommodation; and what assessment he has made of the effect of that policy on the standard of living of people in that accommodation.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Hall Green
tabling member printed	Mr Roger Godsiff
uin	183855
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/11/2018 answer text <p>Since April 2018, people who are living in temporary accommodation but claiming Universal Credit, have their housing costs met through Housing Benefit. It is a statutory duty for local authorities to provide temporary accommodation to certain groups of vulnerable people and this change ensures local authority funding for vital emergency housing services continues.</p><p> </p><p>For people living in hostels and other types of supported accommodation, following the consultations held on achieving a sustainable funding provision for this sector, we announced in August that we will maintain Housing Benefit for all supported housing groups including hostels. This decision reflects the needs of those vulnerable groups of people and the Government’s commitment to protect them.</p><p> </p><p>In terms of the effect of the above policies on the standard of living of people in that accommodation, no such assessment has been made.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 01/11/2018 13:00:40 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	304 label Biography information for Mr Roger Godsiff

992718

registered interest
date	22/10/2018
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	Social Security Benefits: Medical Examinations
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 her Department has contacted the doctor or healthcare worker of a benefits claimant to request medical evidence for their claim in each of the last 10 years.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Hall Green
tabling member printed	Mr Roger Godsiff
uin	182086
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/10/2018 answer text <p>Where further medical evidence is required, it will be requested directly from a Doctor or Healthcare worker. In the majority of cases, further medical evidence will be requested by a Health Professional who is directly involved with the case. DWP do not hold this level of Management Information across all benefits.</p> answering member constituency Truro and Falmouth answering member printed Sarah Newton question first answered 25/10/2018 09:17:35 answering member 4071 label Biography information for Sarah Newton
tabling member	304 label Biography information for Mr Roger Godsiff

992830

registered interest
date	22/10/2018
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 assessment she has made of the potential merits of allocating funding to enable the work allowance threshold for universal credit to be set at its pre-2015 level.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Hall Green
tabling member printed	Mr Roger Godsiff
uin	182088
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/10/2018 answer text <p>The 2015 Summer Budget announced a measure to reduce and simplify work allowances, supporting the Government’s intention to move from a low wage, high tax society to a high wage, low tax society. This measure protects those on the very lowest income, while ensuring that incentives to progress in work remain and are improved for those taken off the benefits system altogether.</p><p> </p><p>Work allowances for 2018-19 rose in line with the Consumer Price Index (3%).</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 25/10/2018 13:53:37 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	304 label Biography information for Mr Roger Godsiff

990350

registered interest
date	18/10/2018
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: Disability
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 make an assessment of the effect of the roll-out of universal credit on households with disabled children which (a) already receive the disabled child premium and (b) have not yet claimed that premium.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Hall Green
tabling member printed	Mr Roger Godsiff
uin	181163
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2018 answer text <p>In formulating Universal Credit policy for support for families with disabled children the Government’s aim was to simplify previous provision and align the lower disabled child addition with that for adults. This was in order to ensure that, for this group, the extra amounts that are payable for disability were aligned when the young person claims benefit in their own right. The Government also took the opportunity to refocus resources on the most severely disabled children and adults and extended eligibility for the higher rate to children who are registered blind.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is committed to supporting disabled people, improving the quality of life of those facing disadvantage and tackling poverty by addressing the causes driving it. We recognise that there can be extra costs associated with disability. Universal Credit provides additional support for disabled adults and disabled children. <br></p><p>No one, including households with disabled children, will have a reduced benefit entitlement at the point that they move over to Universal Credit as a result of managed migration.</p><p> </p><p>Universal Credit claimants who are responsible for a child or a qualifying young person may be entitled to a Disabled Child Addition for each eligible child. This continues to be available for all eligible children, regardless of the total number of children in the household.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Truro and Falmouth answering member printed Sarah Newton grouped question UIN 181164 181322 question first answered 23/10/2018 16:40:19 answering member 4071 label Biography information for Sarah Newton
tabling member	304 label Biography information for Mr Roger Godsiff

990351

registered interest
date	18/10/2018
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: Disability
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason the child disability addition of universal credit is £29.10 per week and not at the rate of the existing disabled child premium of £62.86 per week.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Hall Green
tabling member printed	Mr Roger Godsiff
uin	181164
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2018 answer text <p>In formulating Universal Credit policy for support for families with disabled children the Government’s aim was to simplify previous provision and align the lower disabled child addition with that for adults. This was in order to ensure that, for this group, the extra amounts that are payable for disability were aligned when the young person claims benefit in their own right. The Government also took the opportunity to refocus resources on the most severely disabled children and adults and extended eligibility for the higher rate to children who are registered blind.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is committed to supporting disabled people, improving the quality of life of those facing disadvantage and tackling poverty by addressing the causes driving it. We recognise that there can be extra costs associated with disability. Universal Credit provides additional support for disabled adults and disabled children. <br></p><p>No one, including households with disabled children, will have a reduced benefit entitlement at the point that they move over to Universal Credit as a result of managed migration.</p><p> </p><p>Universal Credit claimants who are responsible for a child or a qualifying young person may be entitled to a Disabled Child Addition for each eligible child. This continues to be available for all eligible children, regardless of the total number of children in the household.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Truro and Falmouth answering member printed Sarah Newton grouped question UIN 181163 181322 question first answered 23/10/2018 16:40:19 answering member 4071 label Biography information for Sarah Newton
tabling member	304 label Biography information for Mr Roger Godsiff

984826

registered interest
date	10/10/2018
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	Social Security Benefits: Payments
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what procedures her Department has in place for when a claimant requests weekly rather than monthly payments of benefits; what advice her Department issues on whether claimants should be informed that they can request weekly payments of benefits that would usually be paid monthly; how many and what proportion of such requests from claimants were (a) granted and (b) refused in each of the last five years.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Hall Green
tabling member printed	Mr Roger Godsiff
uin	177588
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/10/2018 answer text <p>The payment arrangements for Universal Credit are designed to mirror the world of work through a single monthly award.</p><p> </p><p>Our staff works closely with claimants, ensuring they can identify any vulnerability, such as financial hardship, at an early stage; and tailor support according to their individual needs. This includes a conversation with every claimant to establish any financial or budgeting support required.</p><p> </p><p>The Government recognises that the move to a single monthly household payment is a significant change for some claimants and where it is identified that a claimant is finding it difficult to budget monthly, it may be possible to have their Universal Credit divided over the month so it is paid more frequently, for example: twice monthly or, in exceptional circumstance, four times a month. These More Frequent Payments (MFP) are explained under the Alternative Payment Arrangements heading within ‘Universal Credit and You’ (paragraph 7.2), which is available to claimants via their online account.</p><p> </p><p>Universal Credit and You can be accessed at <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-and-you/universal-credit-and-you-a" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-and-you/universal-credit-and-you-a</a></p><p> </p><p>Around 2 per cent (20,000) of households on Universal Credit received a MFP in this way in June 2018, including those that have chosen to be paid more frequently via Universal Credit Scottish Choices.</p><p> </p><p>These figures will be updated in the next release of households on Universal Credit, on 13 November 2018. We do not hold information on the type of MFP these households receive and do not hold data on the number of refused applications for MFP. Further information can be accessed at <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/universal-credit-29-april-2013-to-9-august-2018" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/universal-credit-29-april-2013-to-9-august-2018#</a></p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 19/10/2018 13:26:09 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	304 label Biography information for Mr Roger Godsiff