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1138379

registered interest
date	11/07/2019
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	Poverty: Children
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has been made of the number of children living in poverty that have at least one parent in work.
tabling member constituency	York Central
tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
uin	276232
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/07/2019 answer text <p>National statistics on the number of children in low income households are published annually in the “Households Below Average Income” publication. The latest statistics show that 1.7m children in households where at least one adult works are in 'before housing cost absolute poverty', and 2.5m are in 'after housing cost absolute poverty'.</p><p> </p><p>These statistics can be found using the link below, in table 4.20ts, in the file “children-hbai-timeseries-1994-95-2017-18-tables”.</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/households-below-average-income-199495-to-201718" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/households-below-average-income-199495-to-201718</a></p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 19/07/2019 12:30:00 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1138380

registered interest
date	11/07/2019
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	Poverty: Children
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the effect of the increase in the gig economy on levels of child poverty.
tabling member constituency	York Central
tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
uin	276233
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/07/2019 answer text <p>National statistics on child poverty are published annually in the “Households Before Average Income” publication. These statistics do not separate households based on their employment in the gig economy and therefore do not make an assessment of the effect of the gig economy on levels of child poverty.</p><p> </p><p>Overall, 18 percent of children are in 'before housing costs absolute poverty' and 26 percent of children are in after housing costs absolute poverty. 'Before housing cost absolute poverty' is down by 1 percentage point since 2009/10 and after housing costs absolute poverty is down by 2 percentage points since 2009/10. The number of children in 'before housing cost absolute poverty' is unchanged since 2009/10 and has fallen by 100,000 for after housing cost absolute poverty.</p><p> </p><p>These statistics can be found using the link below, in table 4.2ts, in the file “children-rends-hbai-1994-95-2017-18-tables.ods”.</p><p /><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/households-below-average-income-199495-to-201718" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/households-below-average-income-199495-to-201718</a></p><p> </p><p>Advances in technology and the rise of the gig economy have increased opportunities for people to work more flexibly. While we welcome these opportunities, they cannot be at the expense of workers’ rights. That is why the Prime Minister commissioned Matthew Taylor to undertake his review of Modern Working Practices, and why the Government is taking the decisive action set out in the Good Work Plan to address his recommendations.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 19/07/2019 12:39:19 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1138046

registered interest
date	10/07/2019
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	Personal Independence Payment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons claimants of personal independence payments who have received a tribunal decision since the Upper Tribunal’s judgments on MH and RJ have been excluded from the administrative review.
tabling member constituency	Glenrothes
tabling member printed	Peter Grant
uin	275788
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2019 answer text <p>Following the MH and RJ judgments, the Department updated its guidance on Personal Independence Payment (PIP). In June 2018 it began an administrative exercise to identify claimants assessed using previous guidance to identify those who may be entitled to more support under PIP.</p><p> </p><p>Claimants who have had a tribunal decision since the judgments are not being reviewed as part of the MH RJ administrative exercise. The tribunals are obliged to apply the law as it stands (including the MH and RJ Upper Tribunal judgments) to all appeals, and to award claimants accordingly. The Department does not have the legal powers to override tribunal decisions.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 15/07/2019 15:02:23 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4466 label Biography information for Peter Grant

1138075

registered interest
date	10/07/2019
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	Personal Independence Payment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 8 July 2019 to Questions 272897 and 272898, what assessment she has made of whether the feedback of Presenting Officers has led to (a) an increase in successful mandatory reconsiderations for claimants, (b) more correct decisions resulting in fewer successful appeals and (c) fewer claims reaching appeal stage.
tabling member constituency	Hove
tabling member printed	Peter Kyle
uin	275796
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2019 answer text <p>Feedback from Presenting Officers has contributed to our new approach which includes contacting claimants, where appropriate, to see if there is information that would enable us to change the decision ourselves. To support this, we are investing additional time for communication, evidence gather and review. This approach supports our aim - to make the right decision as early as possible - so claimants don’t need to progress to the Appeal stage.</p><p> </p><p>It is still too early to assess the full impact of this approach. However initial feedback has been positive and the recently published PIP Official Statistics up to April 2019 showed an increase in the proportion of decisions changed at the Mandatory Reconsideration stage since the approach was implemented.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 15/07/2019 13:17:27 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4505 label Biography information for Peter Kyle

1138132

registered interest
date	10/07/2019
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	Flexible Support Fund
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applications for funding from the Flexible Support Fund have been received for up-front childcare costs in each of the last 12 months; and how many of those applications have been (a) paid in full, (b) paid in part and (c) refused.
tabling member constituency	High Peak
tabling member printed	Ruth George
uin	275816
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2019 answer text <p>The information requested is not held in a format that can be easily disaggregated and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 15/07/2019 14:14:48 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4662 label Biography information for Ruth George

1138133

registered interest
date	10/07/2019
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	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 people have people on universal credit who have turned down a job offer in the last 12 months have cited lack of affordable childcare as the reason; and how many of those people received (a) a civil penalty and (b) a sanction.
tabling member constituency	High Peak
tabling member printed	Ruth George
uin	275817
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2019 answer text <p>On Universal Credit, claimants are able to claim up to 85 per cent of their childcare costs, compared to 70 per cent on the legacy system. Where the initial month’s childcare costs may prevent a claimant from starting work, Jobcentres can use the Flexible Support Fund to help claimants. This is a non-repayable award, which can be used to meet the upfront costs of childcare to help support a claimant into work.</p><p> </p><p>Civil Penalties may be imposed by both DWP and Local Authorities, where an individual incurs a recoverable overpayment as a result of failing to provide accurate information as part of their benefit claim or in connection with an award of benefit, and have not taken reasonable steps to correct the error. Civil Penalties are not imposed in the event of a claimant refusing to accept a job offer.</p><p> </p><p>The information request about those receiving a sanction 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 15/07/2019 15:15:03 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	4662 label Biography information for Ruth George

1138152

registered interest
date	10/07/2019
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: 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 protect the rights and identities of benefit claimants from people making fraudulent claims using other people's identities.
tabling member constituency	Preston
tabling member printed	Sir Mark Hendrick
uin	275683
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/07/2019 answer text <p>Most welfare losses, across Government, arise from a failure to report changes of circumstances. Universal Credit provides a single, digital interface through which claimants can more easily report these changes. As such, once Universal Credit is fully rolled out, we expect cross-welfare losses to fraud, error and overpayments to be reduced by around £1 billion.</p><p> </p><p>The Department takes benefit fraud very seriously and is committed to taking appropriate action. We have a dedicated team of investigators working on this issue and are working with the Crown Prosecution Service to ensure that, where appropriate, the perpetrators of this fraud are prosecuted. Prosecutions for benefit fraud can result in prison sentences.</p><p> </p><p>The Department has been working to improve knowledge and awareness of advances fraud amongst Jobcentre and Service Centre staff. Guidance has also been issued to ensure that staff are aware how to refer cases of suspected fraud to the Department’s fraud team.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 19/07/2019 12:20:02 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	473 label Biography information for Sir Mark Hendrick

1138168

registered interest
date	10/07/2019
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	Universal Credit
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 18 June 2019 to Question 263677, for what reason the letter sent to a universal credit claimant’s journal to confirm an advance payment does not specify the (a) amount to be repaid each month or (b) number of months that the repayments will last; and if he will add that information to that letter.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
uin	275662
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2019 answer text <p>The Department encourages all Universal Credit claimants to actively consider how best to manage their personal budget, with additional advice and support available from work coaches and case managers. When an advance payment is appropriate, claimants decide what percentage of their expected monthly award to apply for and over what period to repay it, up to a maximum of 12 monthly instalments.</p><p>Claimants have the ability to make the decision for themselves on the time period for repayment. Most claimants (around 85%) choose to repay their advance over a 12-month period, with others repaying in a shorter timeframe.</p><p>The Department has taken a number of steps to ensure that advances meet the needs of claimants and that recovery arrangements are personalised and reasonable. From October 2019 we are reducing the maximum rate of deductions to 30 per cent and from October 2021 we are increasing the maximum recovery period for advances from 12 to 16 months.</p><p>Claimants can view their Universal Credit statement online to see how their award is calculated and a breakdown of what deductions are being made.</p><p>We are committed to keeping all Universal Credit services and processes, under review and will make improvements where necessary.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 15/07/2019 15:51:24 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1138172

registered interest
date	10/07/2019
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	Universal Credit: Fraud
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information her Department holds on the extent to which fraudulent claims for universal credit have been made by people using a loophole in the online application process to make an application and claim an advance using another person’s information.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
uin	275665
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2019 answer text <p>The Department is committed to bringing fraudsters to justice. Last year we, working alongside local authorities, recovered more than £1.1bn in fraud and error across all benefits and brought almost 5,000 prosecutions in 2017/18.</p><p> </p><p>As of June 2019, the Department has received around 42,000 fraud referrals from staff relating to potential fraudulent advance claims, which equates to less than 1 per cent of all Universal Credit claims.</p><p> </p><p>Our investigations are ongoing and we are therefore unable to provide details of how many may have used another person’s identity to make their claim, or to quantify the amount spent on investigations of this type. However, any cases in which this has occurred will be treated accordingly, with the continued use of both prosecutions and tough financial penalties to deter this fraudulent behaviour.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma grouped question UIN 275666 question first answered 15/07/2019 15:21:01 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1138177

registered interest
date	10/07/2019
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	Universal Credit: Fraud
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information his Department holds on how much has been spent on investigating fraudulent universal credit claims that have been made by people using a loophole in the online application process to make an application and claim an advance using another person’s information.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
uin	275666
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2019 answer text <p>The Department is committed to bringing fraudsters to justice. Last year we, working alongside local authorities, recovered more than £1.1bn in fraud and error across all benefits and brought almost 5,000 prosecutions in 2017/18.</p><p> </p><p>As of June 2019, the Department has received around 42,000 fraud referrals from staff relating to potential fraudulent advance claims, which equates to less than 1 per cent of all Universal Credit claims.</p><p> </p><p>Our investigations are ongoing and we are therefore unable to provide details of how many may have used another person’s identity to make their claim, or to quantify the amount spent on investigations of this type. However, any cases in which this has occurred will be treated accordingly, with the continued use of both prosecutions and tough financial penalties to deter this fraudulent behaviour.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma grouped question UIN 275665 question first answered 15/07/2019 15:21:01 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe