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1538206

registered interest
date	01/11/2022
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	Universal Credit: Deductions
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many universal credit claims were subject to deductions in the most recent month for which data is available, broken down by parliamentary constituency; how much was the (a) total and (b) average sum of deductions in each constituency; and what proportion of those sums was deducted to repay advance payments.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
uin	75994
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/11/2022 answer text <p>Since April 2021, we have reduced the normal maximum rate of deductions in Universal Credit from 40% to 25% of a claimant’s Standard Allowance. These positive measures were put in place to support claimants.</p><p> </p><p>The Government recognises the importance of supporting the welfare of claimants who have incurred debt. We seek to balance recovery of debt against not causing hardship for claimants and their families. Processes are in place to ensure deductions are manageable, and customers can contact DWP Debt Management if they are experiencing financial hardship, to discuss a reduction in their rate of repayment or a temporary suspension, depending on their financial circumstances.</p><p> </p><p>Advances are a claimant’s benefit entitlement paid early, allowing claimants to access 100% of their estimated Universal Credit payment upfront. They ensure nobody has to wait for a payment in Universal Credit and those who need it are able to receive financial support as soon as possible. Claimants can receive up to 100% of their estimated Universal Credit award if required, resulting in 25 payments over a 24-month period. This is not a debt.</p><p> </p><p>The analysis of Universal Credit claims with a deduction in May 2022 by Parliamentary Constituency in Great Britain (GB) is provided in the separate spreadsheet.</p><p> </p><p>Points to note:</p><p>1. The number of claims per constituency in the table are rounded to the nearest hundred, total claims at GB level rounded to the nearest thousand. UC payments and total amounts of deductions are rounded to the nearest thousand pound. The sum of individual constituencies may not sum to the total figure due to rounding.</p><p>2. Deductions include advance repayments, third party deductions and all other deductions, but exclude sanctions and fraud penalties which are reductions of benefit rather than deductions.</p><p>3. Amount of Universal Credit paid reflects the amount of money paid to claimants and their landlords as part of their award, including the amount which they would have been entitled to had it not been deducted. It does not include other payments such as advances and hardship payments.</p><p>4. Figures are provisional and are subject to retrospective change as later data becomes available.</p><p>5. The' unknown' parliamentary constituency label relates to claims for which a constituency could not be determined due to incomplete postcode information.</p><p>6. Data for May 2022 has been provided in line with the latest available UC Household Statistics.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 09/11/2022 14:50:19 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman attachment 1 file name 75994 Table 1.xlsx title 75994 table previous answer version 31948 answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1382682

registered interest
date	26/11/2021
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	Coronavirus: Scotland and Wales
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 coordinate its policies on the covid-19 restrictions that are in operation in Scotland and Wales through the devolved Administrations; and if she will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
uin	82339
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/12/2021 answer text <p>We take the Health and Safety of DWP staff and customers very seriously. We have robust risk assessments and guidance to ensure all appropriate mitigations are in place to keep our people safe.</p><p> </p><p>As part of regularly reviewing our risk assessments, working with our departmental and local trade union colleagues, we consult the legislation and guidance of the devolved administrations ensuring that any differences are reflected within the risk assessment and communicated to staff based in offices in Scotland and Wales.</p><p> </p><p>Staff based in Scotland should be following the safety measures included in the DWP risk assessments that incorporate any differences in Scottish government guidance.</p><p> </p><p>Since the start of the pandemic, DWP has rigorously followed guidance from the respective governments in the devolved nations, thus allowing people to work safely from the office, or at home. We are committed to continuing this approach as we learn to live with the virus and return more of our people to the workplace in a safe, steady and controlled way.</p><p> </p><p>We are constantly reviewing our position as and when new government guidance is issued. No matter where our people are working now, or in the future, their safety and compliance with government guidance is our number one priority.</p><p> </p><p>If your constituents remain concerned about their own, or their colleagues’ personal safety and / or any of the practices within their specific office, they can raise this with their line manager.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 03/12/2021 14:24:18 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman previous answer version 36228 answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1328929

registered interest
date	27/05/2021
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	Jobcentres: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what comparative assessment she has made of the effectiveness of a return to face-to-face appointments for groups of claimants in job centres and other channels including telephone and digital that were introduced in response to the covid-19 outbreak.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
uin	8650
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/06/2021 answer text <p>No comparative assessment of face-to-face appointments for groups of claimants in jobcentres and other channels has currently been made.</p><p> </p><p>The return to a face-to-face regime is based on evidence from past large scale trials of what interventions work best for out of work benefits claimants. These show that face-to-face performs better than telephony and that seeing a claimant fortnightly produces substantially better outcomes than not seeing claimants at all.</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130314010347/http:/research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/rrs-index.asp" target="_blank">https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130314010347/http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/rrs-index.asp</a> (report 382)</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 07/06/2021 15:05:48 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1328930

registered interest
date	27/05/2021
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	Jobcentres: Coronavirus
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 number of claimants attending face-to-face appointments in job centres by region since the easing of covid-19 restrictions was applied to those centres in late April 2021.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
uin	8651
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/06/2021 answer text <p>Throughout the pandemic, Jobcentres remained open for anyone who needed face-to-face support. From April, all Jobcentres in England, Scotland and Wales returned to their pre-lockdown opening hours and restarted face-to-face appointments, in accordance with government guidelines. As of w/c 24 May we estimate that 273,318 claimants have attended booked face-to-face appointments in England, 20,997 in Scotland and 15,877 in Wales.</p><p> </p><p>Please note that the data supplied is derived from unpublished management information which was collected for internal Departmental use only and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. The data should therefore be treated with caution.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 07/06/2021 14:08:48 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1328931

registered interest
date	27/05/2021
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: Disqualification
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of claimants who failed to attend a face-to-face appointment in a jobcentre since the extended openings began in late April 2021 have since been referred to decision makers for sanction.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
uin	8652
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/06/2021 answer text <p>Monthly sanction referral statistics for those people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance, Employment Support Allowance (Work Related Activity Group), Income Support and Universal Credit (Live Service) are available by referral reason and are published quarterly at:</p><p><a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/" target="_blank">https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/</a></p><p> </p><p>Guidance for users is available at:</p><p><a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html" target="_blank">https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html</a></p><p> </p><p>The latest statistics are available to January 2021, with the statistics to April 2021 and July 2021 expected to be published in August 2021 and November 2021 respectively.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>Sanction referral statistics for those people claiming Universal Credit (Full Service) are not readily available and to provide them would incur disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 07/06/2021 15:17:56 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1309089

registered interest
date	14/04/2021
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	Sign Language
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans the Government has to give British Sign Language legal status.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
uin	181059
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/04/2021 answer text <p>On 18 March 2003 the UK government formally recognised that British Sign Language (BSL) is a language in its own right. Provision for accessing services by users of BSL are covered by the Equality Act 2010 and the Public Sector Equality Duty.</p><p> </p><p>Existing equality legislation already means employers, service providers and public bodies have to provide services in BSL and other formats when it is reasonable to do so. The Public Sector Equality Duty requires public bodies to have due regard to the needs of all those with protected characteristics.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 19/04/2021 12:19:08 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1308725

registered interest
date	13/04/2021
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: Coronavirus
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 21 January 2021 to Question 139055 on Personal Independence Payment: coronavirus, whether his Department plans to automatically apply extensions to all personal independence payments claimants, including those with a fixed term period decision awarded at a tribunal where a decision on their new award could not be made before they reach their end award date.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
uin	180553
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/04/2021 answer text <p>As referenced in my previous answer, as part of its response to the Covid-19 situation, in Spring 2020 the Department extended award dates for existing PIP claims. We restarted the PIP award review process in July. New decisions made since then will not have had their awards extended. However, we are aware that some claimants on fixed term awards without a review date are now falling out of payment before we have been able to make a decision on renewal claims they have made. We are prioritising these cases to ensure we can make a decision as quickly as possible.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 19/04/2021 12:16:22 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1308231

registered interest
date	12/04/2021
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	Severe Disability Premium: Take-up
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 maximise take-up of Severe Disability Premium among eligible recipients of (a) Pension Credit and (b) employment and support allowance.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
uin	179231
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2021 answer text <p>The severe disability premium in Employment and Support Allowance and the additional amounts for persons severely disabled in State Pension Credit are not separate benefits in themselves but are payable as part of the award to those who are eligible, i.e. those severely disabled people who live independently and who are most likely to need to purchase care. When a claim to either benefit is made, the claimant is asked questions, for example if they are in receipt of a qualifying disability benefit or if anybody is caring for them, which helps to determine if the premium or the additional amount is payable. Once entitled to the benefit, claimants are required to report any change of circumstance including ones which may lead to the awarding of the premium or the additional amount. The Department also makes use of the information that it holds to prompt enquiries of the claimant as to possible entitlement to the premium or the additional amount. There is information for claimants about the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/disability-premiums/eligibility" target="_blank">severe disability premium</a> and the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/pension-credit/what-youll-get" target="_blank">additional amount for persons severely disabled</a> on the relevant pages of <a href="http://www.gov.uk" target="_blank">www.gov.uk</a>.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 15/04/2021 12:34:59 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1288922

registered interest
date	23/02/2021
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: Lost Working Days
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the Average Working Days Lost was for civil servants in her Department (a) from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds and (b) recording themselves as White in the calendar year (a) 2019 and (b) 2020.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
uin	157207
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/03/2021 answer text <p>The Department only holds information relating to its own staff. Average working days lost figures are calculated on rolling year to date basis, therefore the following data relate to the year to 31 December. Due to the way that data is structured in our systems we do not hold this data in the format requested and it could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p>Declaration of ethnicity is not mandatory, however as at December 2020, 87.8 per cent of staff have declared their ethnicity.</p><p /><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p><strong>Dec-20</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Ethnic Minority</strong></p></td><td><p>5.35</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>White</strong></p></td><td><p>5.57</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Unknown</strong></p></td><td><p>6.13</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 01/03/2021 17:47:17 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1288923

registered interest
date	23/02/2021
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: Lost Working Days
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the Average Working Days Lost was for civil servants in her Department (a) aged 30 and younger, (b) 30 to 50, (c) 50 to 60 and (d) over 60 in the calendar year (i) 2019 and (ii) 2020.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
uin	157208
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/03/2021 answer text <p><strong> </strong></p><p>The Department only holds information relating to its own staff. Average working days lost figures are calculated on rolling year to date basis, therefore the following data relates to the rolling year to 31 December.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p><strong>Dec-19</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Dec-20</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>29 and Younger</strong></p></td><td><p>8.08</p></td><td><p>4.85</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>30 to 49</strong></p></td><td><p>7.80</p></td><td><p>5.36</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>50 to 59</strong></p></td><td><p>8.11</p></td><td><p>5.87</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>60 and Over</strong></p></td><td><p>9.83</p></td><td><p>7.17</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Other</strong></p></td><td><p>0.00</p></td><td><p>0.00</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 01/03/2021 13:41:46 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens