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1124577

registered interest
date	02/05/2019
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	Social Security Benefits
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 recommendation to exempt claimants in temporary accommodation from the benefit cap on page 7 of the report of the Work and Pensions Committee, The Benefit Cap, published on 12 March 2019, HC 1477, if she will ask local authorities to publish the number of households that are currently affected by the cap in their area; and how much Discretionary Housing Payment funding has been used to cover their rent shortfalls in the most recent period for which figures are available.
tabling member constituency	Bethnal Green and Bow
tabling member printed	Rushanara Ali
uin	250474
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/05/2019 answer text <p>The latest official statistics for households capped under Housing Benefit and Universal Credit were published on 2<sup>nd</sup> May 2019, and contain data on households capped to February 2019, published here:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/benefit-cap-number-of-households-capped-to-february-2019" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/benefit-cap-number-of-households-capped-to-february-2019</a>.</p><p>Statistics by Local Authority are available in Tables 2 and 9, respectively. The number of households who have had their Housing Benefit award capped by local authorities are also published on the DWP Stat Xplore portal (<a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/" target="_blank">https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/</a>).</p><p> </p><p>Statistics on the use of Discretionary Housing Payments (for local authorities in England and Wales) are provided by local authorities on a voluntary basis and as such may not correspond exactly to the total Discretionary Housing Payment funds allocated. In addition, Discretionary Housing Payment awards can be recorded against a combination of welfare reform categories including households affected by the benefit cap.</p><p> </p><p>The latest statistics on spend by local authorities, covering the period April to September 2018, are published here:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/use-of-discretionary-housing-payments-april-to-september-2018" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/use-of-discretionary-housing-payments-april-to-september-2018</a>.</p><p>Statistics relating to the specific welfare reform category can be found in Table 7.</p><p> </p><p>The latest full year of statistics available are for the 17/18 financial year and are published here:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/use-of-discretionary-housing-payments-financial-year-2017-to-2018" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/use-of-discretionary-housing-payments-financial-year-2017-to-2018</a>.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 14/05/2019 11:28:26 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4138 label Biography information for Rushanara Ali

1124262

registered interest
date	01/05/2019
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	Social Security Benefits
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 ensure that people who are digitally excluded are not missing out on benefits to which they are entitled.
tabling member constituency	East Ham
tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
uin	249804
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/05/2019 answer text <p>Our Universal Credit Claimant Survey, found that 98 per cent of claimants have internet access and did claim online, and the majority of those said they found the claim process overall to be straightforward. This can be accessed at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-full-service-claimant-survey" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-full-service-claimant-survey</a></p><p>However, for those that are still unable to access or use digital services, assistance to make and maintain their claim is available via the Freephone Universal Credit helpline. Face-to-face support is also available in Jobcentres. In exceptional circumstances, a home visit can be arranged to support a claimant in making and maintaining their claim.</p><p>From 1 April 2019 Citizens Advice (England and Wales) and Citizens Advice Scotland are delivering the new ‘Help to Claim’ support to claimants making a new Universal Credit (UC) claim or moving from a legacy benefit to UC because of a change of circumstances. The Citizens Advice Help to Claim offers tailored, practical support to help people make a UC claim up to receiving their first full correct payment on time. It is available online, through web-chat, through a Freephone number and face to face through local Citizens Advice services.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 08/05/2019 17:09:36 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

1124266

registered interest
date	01/05/2019
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	Social Security Benefits
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the amount of (a) jobseeker’s allowance, (b) universal credit, (c) personal independence payment and (d) disability living allowance to which claimants were entitled but did not claim in each year since 2010.
tabling member constituency	East Ham
tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
uin	249805
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/05/2019 answer text <p>There are £2.4 billion of unclaimed legacy benefits not going to the people who need them, because they do not know that they are entitled to them or how to claim. Universal Credit makes sure that welfare payments reach those who need them most.</p><p> </p><p>The information requested is not held by the Department for Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payment and Disability Living Allowance.</p><p> </p><p>The Department holds information on the amount of Jobseeker’s Allowance that claimants were entitled to but did not claim for the years 2009-2016. More recent data is not held.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Estimated amount of unclaimed JSA</strong></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>Millions of Pounds</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2009/10</p></td><td><p>1,380</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012/13</p></td><td><p>1,850</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013/14</p></td><td><p>1,550</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014/15</p></td><td><p>1,510</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015/16</p></td><td><p>1,380</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Notes</p><ul><li>Amounts are shown in nominal terms (not adjusted for inflation)</li><li>The figures in the brackets give the 95 per cent confidence intervals. This range around the central take-up estimate is calculated to show, with 95 per cent probability, the range within which the true value of take-up lies. This assumes that there is no non-sampling error such as incorrect reporting of amounts or under-coverage of the range of respondents.</li><li>This information can be accessed here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/income-related-benefits-estimates-of-take-up-financial-year-201516" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/income-related-benefits-estimates-of-take-up-financial-year-201516</a></li></ul><p> </p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 08/05/2019 17:12:08 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

1124268

registered interest
date	01/05/2019
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	Social Security Benefits
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to promote the use of benefits calculators to help ensure that people claim the benefits to which they are entitled.
tabling member constituency	East Ham
tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
uin	249806
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/05/2019 answer text <p>The independent benefits calculators we endorse are intended to provide useful estimations of what people can get in certain circumstances, based on what information is entered on the calculators themselves. This is to allow people to safely explore what help they may receive from Universal Credit before they apply, or based on potential changes of circumstances.</p><p> </p><p>Information on accessing independent benefit calculators is readily available via the gov.uk website. This includes links to three independent calculators and advice on the type of information required to complete a calculation.</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/benefits-calculators" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/benefits-calculators</a></p><p> </p><p>In addition, DWP staff will signpost post people to independent benefit calculators and websites which provide additional advice and guidance.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 08/05/2019 15:40:26 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

1123300

registered interest
date	25/04/2019
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	Social Security Benefits
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government when they expect to publish the evaluation of the lower benefit cap they stated would be published in Spring 2019 in the letter from the Minister of Family Support to the Chair of the Work and Pensions Committee dated 18 December 2018.
tabling member printed	Baroness Lister of Burtersett
uin	HL15356
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/05/2019 answer text <p>Work on the evaluation of the lower benefit cap is ongoing. The impact evaluation uses a complex methodology that must first isolate the impacts of the lower cap from the original cap, and then analyse how these impacts differ across geographical regions and household types. It is important to ensure that the methodological approach is robust, and the Department has contracted the Institute for Fiscal Studies, independent experts, to advise on the evaluation design and peer review the results for the duration of the project.</p><p> </p><p>Work is progressing well, but in order to ensure that the evaluation design is as rigorous as possible we have decided to extend the timeframe over which we conduct the analysis.</p><p> </p><p>The impact evaluation findings will provide crucial context for the interpretation of the other strands of the evaluation; the claimant survey and local authority case study research undertaken by the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen).</p><p> </p><p>The full evaluation will be published when the peer review of the impact evaluation is completed; we now anticipate this to be in Autumn 2019.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 03/05/2019 13:57:03 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
tabling member	4234 label Biography information for Baroness Lister of Burtersett

1105461

registered interest
date	27/03/2019
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	Social Security Benefits
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support her Department provides to families who have been reunited through refugee family reunion to access the social security system.
tabling member constituency	Bristol West
tabling member printed	Thangam Debbonaire
uin	237691
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/04/2019 answer text <p>Those who have joined a family member in the UK through refugee family reunion are entitled to the same support as any other person. As with anyone else, they will be assessed to ascertain whether they have complex needs and whether they require additional support to access DWP services.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 05/04/2019 11:10:01 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4433 label Biography information for Thangam Debbonaire

1105560

registered interest
date	27/03/2019
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	Social Security Benefits
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 it her policy to restore inflation-linked up-rating to working age social security benefits.
tabling member constituency	Vale of Clwyd
tabling member printed	Chris Ruane
uin	237624
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/04/2019 answer text <p><strong> </strong></p><p>The Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016 froze the majority of working-age benefits for four tax years from 2016-17.</p><p> </p><p>The relevant provisions will lapse in 2020 and the pre-existing statutory arrangements will come back into force.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 01/04/2019 15:50:37 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	534 label Biography information for Chris Ruane

1105359

registered interest
date	26/03/2019
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	Social Security Benefits
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many families are subject to the benefit cap.
tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of Durham
uin	HL14822
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/04/2019 answer text <p>Households can have their benefits capped either under Housing Benefit, or under Universal Credit, and the latest statistics were published in February 2019, covering households capped to November 2018.</p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Point-in-time caseload: Number of households capped by family type at November 2018, GB</strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>Total</p></td><td><p>Single, no child dependant</p></td><td><p>Single, with child dependant(s)</p></td><td><p>Couple, no child dependant</p></td><td><p>Couple, with child dependant(s)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Housing Benefit</strong></p></td><td><p>52,650</p></td><td><p>3,540</p></td><td><p>38,850</p></td><td><p>40</p></td><td><p>10,210</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Universal Credit</strong></p></td><td><p>9,810</p></td><td><p>1,600</p></td><td><p>5,920</p></td><td><p>..</p></td><td><p>2,290</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><strong>Data Sources:</strong> DWP 100% Single Housing Benefit Extract and DWP Universal Credit Official Statistics Database</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Table Notes:</strong></p><ol><li>Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10. Numbers less than 10 have been replaced with '..'</li><li>Figures include households that have had their Housing Benefit or Universal Credit full service capped. Universal Credit full service is available to all claimant types but only in certain areas of the country at November 2018.</li><li>Figures for Universal Credit may be revised in future publications, as Universal Credit awards may be retrospectively revised.</li></ol><p> </p><p>The Housing Benefit caseload data is taken from DWP Stat-Xplore, whilst the Universal Credit caseload data is taken from the official statistics caseload tables, published on 7th Feb 2019.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 04/04/2019 16:01:20 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
tabling member	4312 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of Durham

1105360

registered interest
date	26/03/2019
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	Social Security Benefits
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of households subject to the benefit cap that have moved into work in comparison with the number of households that have moved into work that are not subject to that cap.
tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of Durham
uin	HL14823
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/04/2019 answer text <p>The Department published its evaluation of the original benefit cap levels “Benefit cap: Analysis of Outcomes of capped claimants” in December 2014. From the findings the Government estimated that capped households were 4.7 percentage points (41%) more likely to flow into work after a year compared to similar uncapped households.</p><p> </p><p>Households working more than 16 hours a week and eligible for working tax credits or entitled to Universal Credit and earning at least £542 (£569 from April 2019) a month are exempt from the benefit cap.</p><p> </p><p>Statistics published on 7 February 2019 show that in November 2018, out of a total of 196,840 capped Housing Benefit awards since May 2013, 55,360 were no longer capped because they had moved into work. In addition, out of a total of 19,660 Universal Credit awards capped since October 2016, 2,420 were no longer capped because they had earnings above the earnings threshold (currently £542). These figures will include some households that would have moved into work in the absence of the cap.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 02/04/2019 16:28:37 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
tabling member	4312 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of Durham

1104863

registered interest
date	25/03/2019
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	Social Security Benefits
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants who applied for (a) attendance allowance, (b) employment support allowance and (c) universal credit have died within six months of having those applications rejected.
tabling member constituency	Bridgend
tabling member printed	Mrs Madeleine Moon
uin	236324
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/04/2019 answer text <p>The Department holds data across a number of data sets which would require analysis and quality assurance and would be a substantial piece of work to bring together to answer these questions; therefore the information requested could only be provided at disproportionate cost.</p><p /><p /> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson grouped question UIN 236325 question first answered 02/04/2019 11:46:02 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	1490 label Biography information for Mrs Madeleine Moon