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1548635

registered interest
date	06/12/2022
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	Housing Benefit: Rents
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment has he made of the adequacy of housing benefits in light of increasing rental costs.
tabling member constituency	Slough
tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
uin	102971
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/12/2022 answer text <p>The Local Housing Allowance (LHA) determines the maximum financial support available for renters in the private rented sector who are in receipt of housing benefit or the housing element of universal credit. LHA rates are not intended to meet all rents in all areas.</p><p> </p><p>For Great Britain in May 2022, 55% of the households on LHA had rents higher than the LHA rates. For these households the average gap was £146 per month.</p><p> </p><p>In 2020 LHA rates were raised to the 30th percentile, a significant investment of almost £1 billion, we have maintained the increase since then so that everyone who benefited from the increase continues to do so.</p><p> </p><p>We recognise that rents are increasing but the challenging fiscal environment means that difficult decisions were necessary to ensure support is targeted effectively. The Chancellor announced at Autumn Statement a package of targeted support worth £26 billion.</p><p> </p><p>To protect the most vulnerable, working age and disability benefits will be increased in line with inflation for 2023-24, increasing expenditure by £11 billion in 23/24. In addition, to ensure that households will see an increase in their benefits following uprating – the benefit cap will also be increased in line with CPI (10.1%) in April 2023.</p><p> </p><p>For those who require extra support, the government is extending the Household Support Fund providing an additional £1bn to help with the cost of household essentials, for the 2023-24 financial year, on top of what we have already provided since October 2021, bringing total funding for this support to £2.5 billion.</p><p> </p><p>For those who require additional support with housing costs, Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) are available. Since 2011 we have provided nearly £1.5 billion in funding for DHPs.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 08/12/2022 10:53:15 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

1548996

registered interest
date	06/12/2022
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	Discretionary Housing Payments
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether local authorities will be allowed to roll over unspent Discretionary Housing Payment funding from 2022-23 to 2023-24 rather than return the sums to the Department.
tabling member constituency	Westminster North
tabling member printed	Ms Karen Buck
uin	104098
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/12/2022 answer text <p>The Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) are DEL funded and therefore in line with HM Treasury guidance, the DHP funding for a specific year is unable to be carried forward.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 09/12/2022 13:56:47 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	199 label Biography information for Ms Karen Buck

1549151

registered interest
date	06/12/2022
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	Pension Credit
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 Answer of 14 November 2022 to Question 82311, if he will provide an estimate of the increase in average processing times for Pension Credit in the last 12 months.
tabling member constituency	Leicester South
tabling member printed	Jonathan Ashworth
uin	104332
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/12/2022 answer text <p>This information is only available at disproportionate cost to The Department for Work &amp; Pensions as the Department does not have a business requirement for this information to be retained.</p><p> </p><p>We are processing claims as quickly as possible and streamlining our processes, as well as increasing our staffing resources, which has resulted in the outstanding claims reducing considerably. We expect the clearance of claims to reduce as outstanding claims are cleared.</p><p> </p><p>All successful claims and arrears are paid accordingly to ensure no one misses out.</p> answering member constituency Sevenoaks answering member printed Laura Trott question first answered 09/12/2022 11:05:48 answering member 4780 label Biography information for Laura Trott
tabling member	4244 label Biography information for Jonathan Ashworth

1549153

registered interest
date	06/12/2022
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	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, whether all Personal Independence Payments that were due to be paid to recipients on 5 December 2022 have been paid as of 6 December.
tabling member constituency	Leicester South
tabling member printed	Jonathan Ashworth
uin	104333
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/12/2022 answer text <p>DWP successfully issues over 1 million payments per day to our customers across all of its benefits and pensions, with around 5 million every Thursday, due to the lead in time required for the traditional Monday payday for pensions. On Thursday 1<sup>st</sup> December, we issued over 14 million payments (with a spike for Christmas Bonuses and Winter Fuel). However, one file, containing 91,000 PIP payments, did not complete the full payment process to be credited into customer bank accounts as expected on Monday 5<sup>th</sup> December. Remediation action was instigated at 8am on Monday, and all payments were made to customers’ accounts by 5pm on the same day. We are aware that a small number of customers (fewer than 60) did not receive their PIP payment on Monday due to non-related issues, for example, where they hadn’t notified DWP of a bank account change. We have contacted these customers and directly made alternative arrangements for payment.</p> answering member constituency Corby answering member printed Tom Pursglove question first answered 09/12/2022 11:02:28 answering member 4369 label Biography information for Tom Pursglove
tabling member	4244 label Biography information for Jonathan Ashworth

1549155

registered interest
date	06/12/2022
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: Homelessness
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Government has made an estimate of the potential costs associated with homelessness in the context of the Department's decision to maintain the level of the Local Housing Allowance for financial year 2023-24.
tabling member constituency	Leicester South
tabling member printed	Jonathan Ashworth
uin	104334
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/12/2022 answer text <p>No assessment has been made.</p><p> </p><p>The causes of homelessness are multi-faceted and often complex, they interact dynamically making it difficult to isolate the relative importance of individual factors.</p><p> </p><p>This Government is providing an additional £50 million, through a top up to the Homelessness Prevention Grant, for local authorities to help prevent vulnerable households from becoming homeless. This additional £50 million investment builds on the £316 million in funding already available to local authorities through the Homelessness Prevention Grant for 2022/23. This is part of the £2 billion of funding to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping over the next three years.</p><p> </p><p>In 2020 LHA rates were raised to the 30th percentile, a significant investment of almost £1 billion, we have maintained the increase since then so that everyone who benefited from the increase continues to do so.</p><p> </p><p>We recognise that rents are increasing but the challenging fiscal environment means that difficult decisions were necessary to ensure support is targeted effectively. The Chancellor announced at Autumn Statement a package of targeted support worth £26 billion.</p><p>For those who require additional support with housing costs, Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) are available. Since 2011 we have provided nearly £1.5 billion in funding.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 09/12/2022 13:54:55 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4244 label Biography information for Jonathan Ashworth

1548435

registered interest
date	05/12/2022
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	Department for Work and Pensions: Accountancy
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the (a) nature and (b) value was of all (i) contracts, (ii) consultancies and (iii) other services placed with the accountancy firms (A) Deloitte & Touche, (B) Ernst & Young, (C) KPMG and (D) PricewaterhouseCoopers in each year since 2010-11 by (1) their Department, (2) any predecessor Departments and (3) departmental agencies.
tabling member constituency	Leyton and Wanstead
tabling member printed	John Cryer
uin	102743
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/12/2022 answer text <p><del class="ministerial">Between 1 December 2021 and 31 August 2022, the Department’s Chief Scientific Adviser met with a) the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in a total of 4 meetings and with b) other Ministers in the Department for Work and Pensions in a total of 7 meetings. This included:</del></p><p><del class="ministerial">(i) Between 1 December 2021 – 28 February 2022 – a) 1 meeting, b) 3 meetings</del></p><p><del class="ministerial">(ii) Between 1 March to 31 May 2022 – a) 1 meeting, b) 2 meetings</del></p><p><del class="ministerial">(iii) Between 1 June to 31 August 2022 - a) 2 meetings, b) 2 meetings</del></p><p><ins class="ministerial">Please see the attachment provided for a comprehensive list for each of the organisations requested covering the data sets requested in the PQ.</ins></p><p> </p><p><ins class="ministerial">Further Information regarding the contracts can be found on gov.uk’s Contract Finder Service located <a href="https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search" target="_blank">here.</a></ins></p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 09/12/2022 12:33:37 question first ministerially corrected 09/12/2022 14:30:20 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies attachment 1 file name Attachment.xlsx title PQ 102743 previous answer version 40903 answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	181 label Biography information for John Cryer

1548548

registered interest
date	05/12/2022
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
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure people (a) have access to information relating to available benefits and (b) are aware of their potential benefits entitlements.
tabling member constituency	Ealing Central and Acton
tabling member printed	Dr Rupa Huq
uin	102951
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/12/2022 answer text <p>The Department works hard to ensure that people are aware of any potential entitlement to benefit. We communicate with the public through advertising, stakeholder and employer engagement, and campaigns to help people understand their entitlement and the support we can provide as a safety net.</p><p> </p><p>The Government’s website, GOV.UK provides guidance on individual’s rights and entitlements to benefits in the UK. The website also provides links to independent benefits calculators that can be used to find out what an individual could get, how to claim, and how these benefits will be affected if an individual starts work.</p><p> </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 in Jobcentres provide support and advice about entitlement to benefits and will signpost citizens to appropriate information to help them.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 12/12/2022 16:15:46 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4511 label Biography information for Dr Rupa Huq

1548556

registered interest
date	05/12/2022
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	Cost of Living Payments: Medical Equipment
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 introduce additional Cost of Living payments for those using powered medical equipment at home.
tabling member constituency	Liverpool, West Derby
tabling member printed	Ian Byrne
uin	103035
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/12/2022 answer text <p>The government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living, including disabled people, and has taken further, decisive action to support people with their energy bills. The Energy Price Guarantee is supporting millions of households with rising energy costs, and will continue to do so through cost of living support announced earlier this year, which includes:</p><p> </p><ul><li>the £400 non-repayable discount to eligible households provided through the Energy Bills Support Scheme;</li><li>a Disability Cost of Living Payment of £150 to six million people in recognition of the extra costs they face, including with energy costs;</li><li>up to £650 in Cost of Living Payments for the eight million households in receipt of a means-tested benefit;</li><li>a one-off payment of £300 through, and as an addition to, the Winter Fuel Payment from November to pensioner households.</li></ul><p> </p><p>To ensure ongoing stability and certainty for households, in the Autumn Statement, we announced further support for next year designed to target the most vulnerable households. This cost of living support is worth £26 billion in 2023-24, in addition to uprating benefits for working age households and disabled people as well as the basic and new State Pensions by 10.1%. In order to increase the number of households who can benefit from these uprating decisions the benefit cap will also be increased by 10.1%. Alongside further Cost of Living Payments for the most vulnerable, the amended Energy Price Guarantee will save the average UK household £500 in 2023-24.</p><p> </p><p>For those who require extra support, the Government is providing an additional £1 billion of funding, including Barnett impact, to enable the extension of the Household Support Fund in England in the next financial year. This is on top of what we have already provided since October 2021, bringing total funding to £2.5 billion. In England, this will be delivered through an extension to the Household Support Fund backed by £842 million, running from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, which local authorities use to help households with the cost of essentials. It will be for the devolved administrations to decide how to allocate their additional Barnett funding.</p> answering member constituency Corby answering member printed Tom Pursglove grouped question UIN 103036 question first answered 08/12/2022 10:56:09 answering member 4369 label Biography information for Tom Pursglove
tabling member	4831 label Biography information for Ian Byrne

1548557

registered interest
date	05/12/2022
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	Cost of Living Payments: Medical Equipment
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 adequacy of Cost of Living payments at enabling people who use powered medical equipment at home to pay their energy costs.
tabling member constituency	Liverpool, West Derby
tabling member printed	Ian Byrne
uin	103036
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/12/2022 answer text <p>The government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living, including disabled people, and has taken further, decisive action to support people with their energy bills. The Energy Price Guarantee is supporting millions of households with rising energy costs, and will continue to do so through cost of living support announced earlier this year, which includes:</p><p> </p><ul><li>the £400 non-repayable discount to eligible households provided through the Energy Bills Support Scheme;</li><li>a Disability Cost of Living Payment of £150 to six million people in recognition of the extra costs they face, including with energy costs;</li><li>up to £650 in Cost of Living Payments for the eight million households in receipt of a means-tested benefit;</li><li>a one-off payment of £300 through, and as an addition to, the Winter Fuel Payment from November to pensioner households.</li></ul><p> </p><p>To ensure ongoing stability and certainty for households, in the Autumn Statement, we announced further support for next year designed to target the most vulnerable households. This cost of living support is worth £26 billion in 2023-24, in addition to uprating benefits for working age households and disabled people as well as the basic and new State Pensions by 10.1%. In order to increase the number of households who can benefit from these uprating decisions the benefit cap will also be increased by 10.1%. Alongside further Cost of Living Payments for the most vulnerable, the amended Energy Price Guarantee will save the average UK household £500 in 2023-24.</p><p> </p><p>For those who require extra support, the Government is providing an additional £1 billion of funding, including Barnett impact, to enable the extension of the Household Support Fund in England in the next financial year. This is on top of what we have already provided since October 2021, bringing total funding to £2.5 billion. In England, this will be delivered through an extension to the Household Support Fund backed by £842 million, running from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, which local authorities use to help households with the cost of essentials. It will be for the devolved administrations to decide how to allocate their additional Barnett funding.</p> answering member constituency Corby answering member printed Tom Pursglove grouped question UIN 103035 question first answered 08/12/2022 10:56:09 answering member 4369 label Biography information for Tom Pursglove
tabling member	4831 label Biography information for Ian Byrne

1547573

registered interest
date	02/12/2022
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: Uprating
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 potential impact of the decision not to uprate Local Housing Allowance in line with September 2022 CPI inflation on the proportion of homes available to rent in Wales in respect of which the requested rent would be fully covered by LHA rates in the next twelve months.
tabling member constituency	Arfon
tabling member printed	Hywel Williams
uin	101703
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/12/2022 answer text <p>No recent assessment has been made.</p><p> </p><p>Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates determine the maximum housing support available to claimants in the private rented sector. They are not intended to cover all rents in all areas.</p><p> </p><p>We recognise that rents are increasing but the challenging fiscal environment means that difficult decisions were necessary to ensure support is targeted effectively. The Chancellor announced at Autumn Statement a package of targeted support worth £26 billion.</p><p> </p><p>To protect the most vulnerable, working age and disability benefits will be increased in line with inflation for 2023-24, increasing expenditure by £11 billion in 23/24. In addition, to ensure that households will see an increase in their benefits following uprating – the benefit cap will also be increased in line with CPI (10.1%) in April 2023.</p><p> </p><p>For those who require extra support, the government is extending the Household Support Fund providing an additional £1 billion of funding, including Barnett impact, to enable the extension of the Household Support Fund in England in the next financial year. In England this will be through an extension to the Household Support Fund backed by £842 million, running from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024. It will be for the devolved administrations to decide how to allocate their additional Barnett funding (£158m).</p><p>For those who require additional support with housing costs, Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) are available. Since 2011 we have provided nearly £1.5 billion in funding for DHPs.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 07/12/2022 11:37:24 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	1397 label Biography information for Hywel Williams