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1420082

registered interest
date	07/02/2022
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	Children: Maintenance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate her Department has made of the (a) scale of the backlog of child maintenance cases and (b) likely timeframe for clearing those cases.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Yardley
tabling member printed	Jess Phillips
uin	119613
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/02/2022 answer text <p>The information requested is published and can be found here:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-maintenance-service-statistics-data-to-september-2021-experimental" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-maintenance-service-statistics-data-to-september-2021-experimental</a></p><p> </p><p>The department acknowledges there has been a rise in outstanding changes of circumstances in the last reported quarter from end of June 2021 to the end of September 2021. The Department has redeployed resources to address this rise in outstanding work since the publication of these statistics and estimates that this will show an arresting of growth in the next statistical release.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 10/02/2022 14:12:15 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4370 label Biography information for Jess Phillips

1420136

registered interest
date	07/02/2022
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	Kickstart Scheme
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have for the future of (1) the Kickstart programme, or (2) its successor scheme.
tabling member printed	Lord Blunkett
uin	HL6022
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/02/2022 answer text <p>The Department for Work and Pension’s Kickstart Scheme has now seen over 130,000 jobs started by young people. Young people can still start a Kickstart job until the 31st March and our priority remains to get as many young people who need one into a Kickstart job by that date.</p><p> </p><p>1) The Department for Work and Pensions is monitoring and evaluating the Kickstart scheme throughout and after its implementation, and will continue to evaluate the longer term outcomes for Kickstart participants after they have completed their six-month jobs. Fieldwork for the commissioned evaluation will continue until at least 2023 and we will publish the findings of the evaluation once complete.</p><p>2) Building on our experience of the Kickstart Scheme and the many new relationships we have established with employers, we have launched the Way to Work campaign. This is a new concerted national drive to help half a million people who are currently on benefits and job ready to move into jobs by the end of June 2022, supporting them to take their next step to building a more secure and prosperous future.</p><p> </p><p>Although care is taken when processing and analysing Kickstart applications, referrals and starts, the data collected might be subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system, which has been developed quickly.</p><p> </p><p>The management information presented here has not been subjected to the usual standard of quality assurance associated with official statistics but is provided in the interests of transparency. Work is ongoing to improve the quality of information available for the programme.</p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott question first answered 21/02/2022 17:53:46 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott
tabling member	395 label Biography information for Lord Blunkett

1420182

registered interest
date	07/02/2022
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	Pensioners: Cost of Living
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effect the increase in the energy price cap will have on individuals in receipt of the state pension.
tabling member printed	Lord Sikka
uin	HL6052
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/02/2022 answer text <p>No assessment has been made.</p><p> </p><p>This country has never paid our pensioners more. This year, we will spend over £129 billion on the State Pension and benefits for pensioners in Great Britain.</p><p> </p><p>The Social Security (Up-rating of Benefits) Act 2020 raised the State Pension by 2.5% from April 2021 although CPI was 0.5% and earnings were negative. From April, the full yearly amount of the basic State Pension will be around £720 more in 2022/23 than if it had been up-rated by prices since 2010. That’s a rise of over £2,300 in cash terms.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, around 1.4 million eligible pensioners across Great Britain receive around £5 billion annually in Pension Credit, which tops up their retirement income and act as a passport to other financial help, such as support with housing costs, council tax, heating bills and a free TV licence for those over 75.</p><p> </p><p>Cold weather payments are payable to those in receipt of Pension Credit and the warm home discount - a rebate of £140 on a customer’s energy bill - is available to those in receipt of Pension Credit Guarantee Credit. From 2022/23 the eligibility criteria for the warm home discount scheme will be extended to a greater number of Pension Credit customers and the payment increased to £150.</p><p> </p><p>Customers of State Pension age are also entitled to an annual Winter Fuel payment worth up to £300. This winter we will pay over 11m pensioners a winter fuel payment at an annual cost of £2bn which is a significant contribution to winter fuel bills.</p><p> </p><p>The Chancellor’s announcement on 3 February of a package of support to help households with rising energy bills, worth £9.1 billion in 2022-23, will also be available to eligible pensioners.</p><p> </p><p>Further support for pensioners includes free eye tests and NHS prescriptions worth around £900m every year and free bus passes worth £1bn every year.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott question first answered 23/02/2022 13:50:28 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott
tabling member	4885 label Biography information for Lord Sikka

1420277

registered interest
date	07/02/2022
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: Cost of Living
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 sufficiency of legacy benefits in supporting constituents with rising fuel costs and costs of living; and if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of backdating the £20 uplift to those who were ineligible.
tabling member constituency	Falkirk
tabling member printed	John McNally
uin	119651
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/02/2022 answer text <p>The uplift to Universal Credit was a temporary measure. We have no plans to complete an assessment of backdating it.</p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 11/02/2022 14:43:34 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
tabling member	4424 label Biography information for John McNally

1420308

registered interest
date	07/02/2022
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: Private Rented Housing
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 made of the impact of the Benefit Cap on private renters in areas with high rental costs.
tabling member constituency	York Central
tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
uin	119679
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/02/2022 answer text <p>The Government firmly believes that it is in the best interests of children to be in working households and the benefit cap provides a clear incentive to move into work. The benefit cap provides fairness for hard-working tax payers. Households can still receive benefits up to the equivalent salary of £24,000, or £28,000 in London.</p><p /><p>The Local Housing Allowance determines the maximum financial support available for renters in the private rented sector but are not intended to meet all rents in all areas.</p><p> </p><p>In April 2020, Local Housing Allowance rates were increased to the 30th percentile of local rents. This investment of nearly £1 billion provided 1.5 million claimants with an average £600 more housing support in 2020/21 than they would otherwise have received.</p><p> </p><p>Local Housing Allowance rates have been maintained at their 2021/22 increased levels and will remain at those levels for 2022/23, so that everyone who benefitted from the increase will continue to do so.</p><p> </p><p>For those who require additional support, Discretionary Housing Payments are available. Since 2011, we have provided almost over £1.5 billion in Discretionary Housing Payments to local authorities, for households who need additional support with their housing costs.</p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley grouped question UIN 119680 question first answered 11/02/2022 14:48:53 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1420309

registered interest
date	07/02/2022
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: Private Rented Housing
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 impact of the benefits cap on larger families in the private rented sector in areas of high rental costs.
tabling member constituency	York Central
tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
uin	119680
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/02/2022 answer text <p>The Government firmly believes that it is in the best interests of children to be in working households and the benefit cap provides a clear incentive to move into work. The benefit cap provides fairness for hard-working tax payers. Households can still receive benefits up to the equivalent salary of £24,000, or £28,000 in London.</p><p /><p>The Local Housing Allowance determines the maximum financial support available for renters in the private rented sector but are not intended to meet all rents in all areas.</p><p> </p><p>In April 2020, Local Housing Allowance rates were increased to the 30th percentile of local rents. This investment of nearly £1 billion provided 1.5 million claimants with an average £600 more housing support in 2020/21 than they would otherwise have received.</p><p> </p><p>Local Housing Allowance rates have been maintained at their 2021/22 increased levels and will remain at those levels for 2022/23, so that everyone who benefitted from the increase will continue to do so.</p><p> </p><p>For those who require additional support, Discretionary Housing Payments are available. Since 2011, we have provided almost over £1.5 billion in Discretionary Housing Payments to local authorities, for households who need additional support with their housing costs.</p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley grouped question UIN 119679 question first answered 11/02/2022 14:48:53 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1420310

registered interest
date	07/02/2022
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: Private Rented Housing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to provide additional support for housing costs to families who are facing significant increases in their private rent.
tabling member constituency	York Central
tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
uin	119681
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/02/2022 answer text <p>In April 2020, Local Housing Allowance rates were increased to the 30th percentile of local rents. This investment of nearly £1 billion provided 1.5 million claimants with an average £600 more housing support in 2020/21 than they would otherwise have received.</p><p> </p><p>Local; Housing Allowance rates have been maintained at their 2021/22 increased levels and will remain at those levels for 2022/23, so that everyone who benefitted from the increase will continue to do so.</p><p> </p><p>For those who require additional support, Discretionary Housing Payments are available. For 2021-22, the Government has made available £140 million in DHP funding for local authorities in England and Wales to distribute to help support vulnerable people with housing costs. Since 2011 we have provided almost over £1.5 billion in DHPs.</p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 11/02/2022 11:41:11 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1420311

registered interest
date	07/02/2022
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	Local Housing Allowance: York
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Broad Market Rental Area (BMRA) in York which extends into the wider area of North Yorkshire and impacts on the level of Local Housing Allowance (LHA) set for the City of York where housing costs are higher, whether she plans to take steps in response to the impact of the BMRA on people living in the City of York in receipt of LHA, including those affected by the Benefit Cap.
tabling member constituency	York Central
tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
uin	119682
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/02/2022 answer text <p>The Local Housing Allowance determines the maximum financial support available for renters in the private rented sector but are not intended to meet all rents in all areas.</p><p> </p><p>The boundaries of a Broad Rental Market Area (BRMA) do not have to match the boundaries of a local authority, and BRMAs will often fall across more than one constituency or Local Authority area. Each BRMA must contain a variety of property types and tenures, sufficient privately rented accommodation and access to facilities for health, education, recreation, banking and shopping.</p><p> </p><p>In April 2020, Local Housing Allowance rates were increased to the 30th percentile of local rents. This investment of nearly £1 billion provided 1.5 million claimants with an average £600 more housing support in 2020/21 than they would otherwise have received. For some areas the average increase was higher for example in York the Local Housing Allowance two-bedroom rate increased by over £114 per month or £1373 per year.</p><p> </p><p>Local Housing Authority rates have been maintained at their increased levels in 2021/22 and will remain at those levels for 2022/23, so that everyone who benefitted from the increase will continue to do so.</p><p> </p><p>For those who require additional support, Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) are available. Since 2011, we have provided almost over £1.5 billion in DHPs to Local Authorities, for households who need additional support with their housing costs.</p><p> </p><p>The benefit cap provides a strong work incentive and fairness for hard-working taxpaying households and encourages people to move into work, where possible. Households can still receive benefits up to the equivalent salary of £24,000, or £28,000 in London.</p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 11/02/2022 14:36:40 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1420312

registered interest
date	07/02/2022
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: Private Rented Housing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions she had with the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on the (a) setting of Broad Market Rental Area boundaries and (b) impact of those boundaries on the expenditure of families affected by the Benefit Cap.
tabling member constituency	York Central
tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
uin	119683
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/02/2022 answer text <p>The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions meets regularly with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on housing matters; however, rent officers at the Valuation Office Agency have responsibility for setting broad rental market area (BRMA) boundaries in England.</p><p> </p><p>BRMAs, of which there are 192 in Great Britain, are determined in accordance with requirements laid down in legislation. Each area must contain a variety of property types and tenures, sufficient privately rented accommodation and access to facilities for health, education, recreation, banking and shopping. Where rent officers decide that a boundary should be moved, they must carry out a review, consulting with affected Local Authorities among others, and submit a recommendation to the Secretary of State for the Department for Work and Pensions to make a decision.</p><p> </p><p>The Benefit Cap provides a strong work incentive and fairness for hard-working taxpaying households and encourages people to move into work, where possible. Households can still receive benefits up to the equivalent salary of £24,000, or £28,000 in London.</p><p> </p><p>Claimants that need additional support to meet rental costs can approach their Local Authority for a Discretionary Housing Payment.</p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 11/02/2022 14:40:26 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1420313

registered interest
date	07/02/2022
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: Private Rented Housing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Government is taking to support claimants who are subject to the benefits cap and who are defaulting on private rental costs.
tabling member constituency	York Central
tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
uin	119684
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/02/2022 answer text <p>The benefit cap provides a strong work incentive and fairness for hard-working taxpaying households and encourages people to move into work, where possible. Households can still receive benefits up to the equivalent salary of £24,000, or £28,000 in London.</p><p> </p><p>Claimants that need additional support to meet rental costs can approach their Local Authority for a Discretionary Housing Payment. Since 2011, the Government has provided almost £1.5 billion in Discretionary Housing Payments to local authorities.</p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 11/02/2022 15:03:29 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell