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1006898

registered interest
date	14/11/2018
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: Fraud
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 tackle benefit fraud.
tabling member constituency	Upper Bann
tabling member printed	David Simpson
uin	191358
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/11/2018 answer text <p>The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is committed to reducing benefit fraud across all benefits administered by or on behalf DWP.</p><p> </p><p>DWP’s key focus is on preventing potential benefit fraud before it occurs. Internal and external data matches are increasingly helping inform benefit payments and alerting staff to check for any undeclared changes in people’s circumstances.</p><p>The Department’s Risk and Intelligence Service uses data and analytics to identify fraud and uses that information to direct investigations. The Department is investing significantly in this area, which will enhance its future risk assessment capability.</p><p>DWP takes effective action against people who commit benefit fraud. This includes the use of tough financial penalties referred to as administrative penalties and where appropriate prosecution. DWP convicted nearly 5,000 people of benefit fraud last year alone, as well as issuing over 5,500 Administrative Penalties.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 20/11/2018 13:58:37 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	1597 label Biography information for David Simpson

1005997

registered interest
date	13/11/2018
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 representations she has received about the effect on vulnerable people and those with mental health conditions of joint claims for Universal Credit which are paid to one person in the family.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	190888
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/11/2018 answer text <p>We recognise that the move to a single monthly household payment is a significant change and therefore for a minority of claimants, alternative payment arrangements can be provided to help them manage that change. These include: managed payment of the Universal Credit housing cost to landlords; making payments more frequently than monthly (e.g. twice monthly); and splitting the payment between partners within the household.</p><p> </p><p>Splitting payments between partners is normally considered to prevent hardship to a claimant and their family, for example if the Universal Credit claimant is not managing their financial affairs and cannot or will not budget for their own or their family’s basic day to day needs.</p><p> </p><p>We take seriously the need to support vulnerable claimants. Universal Credit provides enhanced personalised support for people by simplifying the benefits system. All claimants, including vulnerable claimants and those with mental health conditions, receive continuous tailored support managed through personal work coaches, who know each person’s case.</p><p> </p><p>Additionally we can offer Personal Budgeting Support which aims to prepare claimants for the financial changes Universal Credit brings. It provides transitional support to help them manage their monthly payments and prioritise essential bills, such as rent and utilities.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 21/11/2018 16:23:24 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1006211

registered interest
date	13/11/2018
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, how many cases relating to universal credit have been referred to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman in each of the last three years.
tabling member constituency	Romford
tabling member printed	Andrew Rosindell
uin	190820
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/11/2018 answer text <p>The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman is independent of Government, therefore we do not hold this information.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 21/11/2018 16:22:07 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	1447 label Biography information for Andrew Rosindell

1005795

registered interest
date	12/11/2018
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	Business: 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 help ensure that disabled people have fair and equal opportunities to become successful business leaders.
tabling member constituency	East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow
tabling member printed	Dr Lisa Cameron
uin	190489
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/11/2018 answer text <p>The Government is committed to seeing a million more disabled people in work by 2027 and ensuring that disabled people have fair and equal opportunities to become successful business leaders. The latest figures (published Tuesday 13 Nov) show that disability employment has increased by 973,000 in the last five years.</p><p> </p><p>The Equality Act 2010 legally protects disabled people from discrimination in the workplace and in wider society. It replaced previous anti-discrimination laws with a single Act, making the law easier to understand and strengthening protection in some situations.</p><p> </p><p>We actively support disabled people to enter employment through initiatives like the Work and Health Programme, which is expected to support 220,000 disabled people over 5 years; and the Personal Support Package for those on ESA and Universal Credit equivalents.</p><p> </p><p>We also support new and existing disabled workers with Access to Work, which approved support for 27,730 disabled workers in 2017/18, an increase of 11% on 2016/17. The support Access to Work offers includes a discretionary grant of up to £57,200 pa, without which many disabled business leaders might not be able to achieve their employment goals.</p><p> </p><p>We engage with employers through Disability Confident. Over 9,500 employers are currently signed up to Disability Confident and that number grows weekly.</p><p> </p><p>We are integrating Access to Work communications into Disability Confident promotions so employers can easily understand how they can receive support with the costs of making workplace adjustments.</p><p> </p><p>Potential disabled entrepreneurs who are claiming benefits such as ESA or UC equivalents may receive specialist self-employment support through Work and Health Programme and Personal Support Package. The Work and Health Programme includes integrated access to specialist support networks at a local level. In addition, claimants who wish to start their own businesses and become entrepreneurs may be able to receive start up support through the New Enterprise Allowance (NEA). Around 1 in 4 people who start on the NEA have a self-declared disability.</p> answering member constituency Truro and Falmouth answering member printed Sarah Newton question first answered 20/11/2018 15:21:20 answering member 4071 label Biography information for Sarah Newton
tabling member	4412 label Biography information for Dr Lisa Cameron

1005882

registered interest
date	12/11/2018
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	Employment and Support Allowance
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 provide (a) compensation and (b) repayments to claimants who were underpaid employment and support allowance.
tabling member constituency	Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill
tabling member printed	Hugh Gaffney
uin	190564
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/11/2018 answer text <p>We are reviewing all those cases potentially affected and paying any arrears of past payments that are due. Our focus is on paying arrears to claimants in line with the primary legislation.</p><p> </p><p>A Written Statement and Frequently Asked Question document providing further details on this issue was deposited in the House of Commons Library on Wednesday 17 October which can be found at <a href="http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/business-papers/commons/deposited-papers/" target="_blank">http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/business-papers/commons/deposited-papers/</a>.</p><p> </p><p>In addition the Department published the latest statistical information on the estimates and timescales, which can be found at <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/esa-underpayments-forecast-numbers-affected-forecast-expenditure-and-progress-on-checking" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/esa-underpayments-forecast-numbers-affected-forecast-expenditure-and-progress-on-checking</a>.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Truro and Falmouth answering member printed Sarah Newton question first answered 20/11/2018 17:37:34 answering member 4071 label Biography information for Sarah Newton
tabling member	4614 label Biography information for Hugh Gaffney

1003602

registered interest
date	09/11/2018
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 representations she has received from the public on universal credit; and how many of those representations were (a) positive and (b) negative of its introduction.
tabling member constituency	Ellesmere Port and Neston
tabling member printed	Justin Madders
uin	189728
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/11/2018 answer text <p>The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 19/11/2018 11:49:27 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	4418 label Biography information for Justin Madders

1003675

registered interest
date	09/11/2018
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, how much funding her Departments has allocated to universal credit hardship payments.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
uin	189735
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/11/2018 answer text <p>As Universal Credit hardship payments are included in Annually Managed Expenditure there is no separate funding allocated to them.</p><p> </p><p>The information requested about the number of claims to hardship in the Glasgow South constituency is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma grouped question UIN 189736 question first answered 19/11/2018 13:39:50 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1002628

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	Social Security Benefits: Disability
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance is provided to Job Centre staff on the Equality Act 2010 duty to make reasonable adjustments to enable disabled people to progress their claims.
tabling member constituency	Ipswich
tabling member printed	Sandy Martin
uin	188915
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/11/2018 answer text <p>Comprehensive guidance for Jobcentre staff about the Equality Act 2010 is included on the Department’s intranet site ‘Equality and You – a guide for employees’. This includes advice for staff on understanding what reasonable adjustments are and why the Department has a duty to provide them for claimants who are disabled.</p><p>Where our customers advise us that they need assistance to access our services and information, we make reasonable adjustments to meet their individual needs. This means the Department communicates with customers in a variety of different formats such as Braille, audio, large print, through third party interpreters or by arranging for a member of staff to visit the customer in their home.</p><p>Service delivery teams within Jobcentres provide a professional and supportive environment for our customers, providing digital coaching, helping claimants set up their claims and also maintaining them.</p><p>Claimants who require additional support to complete a claim form have the option to book a one to one appointment with a member of the Service Delivery team to receive assistance. In addition telephony support is in place for those vulnerable claimants who cannot ‘self-serve’ online and where a claimant is unable to manage their own affairs, an appointee can act on their behalf, taking responsibility for making and maintaining any benefit claim.</p> answering member constituency Truro and Falmouth answering member printed Sarah Newton question first answered 15/11/2018 17:33:55 answering member 4071 label Biography information for Sarah Newton
tabling member	4678 label Biography information for Sandy Martin

999619

registered interest
date	01/11/2018
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: Fraud
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of welfare and benefits fraud committed by serious and organised criminals in the last three years.
tabling member constituency	Sheffield, Heeley
tabling member printed	Louise Haigh
uin	187088
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/11/2018 answer text <p>The requested information is not readily available and can only be provided at disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 07/11/2018 10:20:38 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4473 label Biography information for Louise Haigh

999687

registered interest
date	01/11/2018
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	Veterans: Jobseeker's Allowance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many veterans that joined the armed forces aged (a) 18 or under and (b) 19 or older have applied for Jobseeker’s Allowance in each of the last 10 years.
tabling member constituency	Dwyfor Meirionnydd
tabling member printed	Liz Saville Roberts
uin	187103
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/11/2018 answer text <p>The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p>We have a network of Armed Forces Champions in each Jobcentre Plus district who support work coaches in understanding the range of support available to service leavers and ensure they are actively signposted to appropriate organisations.</p><p> </p><p>Our National Employer and Partnership Team also work with national employer and partner organisations to help ex-HM armed forces service leavers into employment. In addition, HM armed forces personnel are also one of the specified priority groups for the Work and Health Programme. This allows for early voluntary entry to the programme at the most appropriate time in their claim for those who would benefit from specialist employment support to find work.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma grouped question UIN 187100 question first answered 09/11/2018 09:25:49 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	4521 label Biography information for Liz Saville Roberts