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1182804

registered interest
date	04/03/2020
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: Children
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 has taken to ensure that new universal credit claimants with children are made aware of the two child limit.
tabling member constituency	Arfon
tabling member printed	Hywel Williams
uin	25029
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/03/2020 answer text <p>The Department publishes information for claimants on Universal Credit’s support for a maximum of two children on GOV.UK and this can be viewed at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/universal-credit-and-families-with-more-than-2-children-information-for-claimants" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/guidance/universal-credit-and-families-with-more-than-2-children-information-for-claimants</a></p><p>Further advice can be provided to claimants through the freephone Universal Credit helpline and Jobcentres.</p><p>Providing support for a maximum of two children, or qualifying young persons in Universal Credit and Child Tax Credit, ensures fairness between claimants and those taxpayers who support themselves solely through work.</p><p>We recognise that some claimants are not able to make the same choices about the number of children in their family, which is why exceptions have been put in place to protect certain groups. On migration to Universal Credit, families’ existing entitlement will be protected.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 09/03/2020 17:10:40 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	1397 label Biography information for Hywel Williams

1174834

registered interest
date	30/01/2020
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: Welsh Language
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what her Department's policy is on receiving letters in the Welsh language; and what her Department's deadline is for replying to letters written in the (a) Welsh and (b) English language.
tabling member constituency	Arfon
tabling member printed	Hywel Williams
uin	10317
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/02/2020 answer text <p>DWP welcomes letters in Welsh. When someone writes to us in Welsh, we will issue a reply in Welsh (if a reply is appropriate).</p><p> </p><p>The target time for replying to letters written in Welsh is the same as the target for letters written in English.</p><p> </p><p>Complaints – 15 working days</p><p>MPs writing to Ministers – 20 working days</p><p>Correspondence relating to policies – within 4 weeks</p><p> </p><p>Where it is not possible to issue a substantial reply in this time, a written acknowledgement and explanation will be sent in whichever language the correspondence has been received (Welsh or English).</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 04/02/2020 17:36:24 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	1397 label Biography information for Hywel Williams

1174907

registered interest
date	30/01/2020
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 and Welfare Tax Credits
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 has taken to make prospective parents aware of the two child limit on tax credits and universal credit in the last 12 months.
tabling member constituency	Arfon
tabling member printed	Hywel Williams
uin	10318
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/02/2020 answer text <p>Information about this policy is available on GOV.UK and Jobcentre staff are able to advise on how the policy operates. The Government continues to look to identify effective ways of making prospective parents aware of the policy.</p><p> </p><p>Claimants were alerted to this policy when it was announced by the Government as part of the Summer Budget 2015. HMRC, who currently have the majority of claims from those with more than two children, also provide information about this change in leaflets which are sent to all claimants renewing their Child Tax Credit claim.</p><p> </p><p>DWP and HMRC also produce annual joint reports with statistics relating to the implementation of the policy. The most recent of these was published 31 July 2019 and can be found online at:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-tax-credit-and-universal-credit-claimants-statistics-related-to-the-policy-to-provide-support-for-a-maximum-of-2-children-april-2019" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-tax-credit-and-universal-credit-claimants-statistics-related-to-the-policy-to-provide-support-for-a-maximum-of-2-children-april-2019 </a></p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 04/02/2020 17:30:29 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	1397 label Biography information for Hywel Williams

1174909

registered interest
date	30/01/2020
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, pursuant to the Answers of 18 January to Questions 7121 and 7122, what steps the Government is taking to tackle the gaps in the data relating to the two-child limit policy.
tabling member constituency	Arfon
tabling member printed	Hywel Williams
uin	10319
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/02/2020 answer text <p>The Department has published an Impact Assessment of the two-child policy based on survey data which was of suitable quality to assess the impact of the policy from an equality and human rights perspective, meeting our obligations under the Public Sector Equality Duty, and ensuring compliance with the Human Rights Act 1998, the Equality Act 2010 and the UN Convention on the rights of children.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 04/02/2020 17:15:37 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	1397 label Biography information for Hywel Williams

1173982

registered interest
date	28/01/2020
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: Medical Examinations
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has made an assessment of the adequacy of the (a) services provided by and (b) number of Capita PIP assessment centres in (i) each local authority in Wales and (ii) each parliamentary constituency in Wales.
tabling member constituency	Arfon
tabling member printed	Hywel Williams
uin	8971
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/02/2020 answer text <p>We set our assessment providers challenging targets, we monitor performance closely and manage contracts robustly. As part of the specification for the PIP assessment service assessment providers must provide sufficient suitable accommodation for face-to-face consultations. The department has set clear requirements in terms of geography/travel, security and claimant experience in relation to the sites used for PIP consultations. No claimant will be asked to travel more than 90 minutes to an assessment centre. Claimants can also make a request for a home assessment.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 03/02/2020 17:33:58 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	1397 label Biography information for Hywel Williams

1172919

registered interest
date	23/01/2020
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 assessment she has made of the effect of the two-child limit on child poverty in (a) each Welsh local authority and (b) each Welsh parliamentary constituency.
tabling member constituency	Arfon
tabling member printed	Hywel Williams
uin	7120
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/01/2020 answer text <p>National Statistics on the percentage of children in low income households are published annually in the “Households Below Average Income” publication and the latest year for which information is available is 2017/18. As the two-child limit policy was introduced in April 2017 there is insufficient data to assess any impacts of the policy on low income. Also estimates for the percentage of children in low income households are not available at local authority or parliamentary constituency level in this publication because the survey sample sizes are too small to support the production of robust estimates at this geography. For these two reasons it is not possible to evaluate the impacts of specific policies on poverty for these areas.</p><p> </p><p>Data relating to the operation of the policy in Wales can be found in the latest annual statistics release which was published on 31 July 2019 and covers the period up to 2 April 2019. This data can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-tax-credit-and-universal-credit-claimants-statistics-related-to-the-policy-to-provide-support-for-a-maximum-of-2-children-april-2019" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-tax-credit-and-universal-credit-claimants-statistics-related-to-the-policy-to-provide-support-for-a-maximum-of-2-children-april-2019</a></p><p> </p><p>We have committed to further annual releases.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 28/01/2020 17:37:15 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	1397 label Biography information for Hywel Williams

1172920

registered interest
date	23/01/2020
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 assessment she has made of the effect of the two-child limit on BAME communities.
tabling member constituency	Arfon
tabling member printed	Hywel Williams
uin	7121
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/01/2020 answer text <p>The Government’s view is that providing support for a maximum of two children or qualifying young persons in Universal Credit and Child Tax Credits, ensures fairness between claimants on the one hand and, on the other, those taxpayers who support themselves solely through work.</p><p> </p><p>We recognise that some claimants are not able to make the same choices about the number of children in their family, which is why exceptions have been put in place to protect certain groups. On migration to Universal Credit, families’ existing entitlement will be protected.</p><p> </p><p>The Department has published an Impact Assessment which noted ethnic minority households may be more affected by the policy. This is because on average, they are more likely to have larger families and be in receipt of Child Tax Credits and Universal Credit. However, the Department does not collect sufficiently robust data on our claimants’ ethnic or religious backgrounds to facilitate a more detailed assessment of the policy’s impact on specific ethnic or religious groups.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The Government has assessed the impact of the policy from an equality and human rights perspective, meeting our obligations under the Public Sector Equality Duty, and ensuring compliance with the Human Rights Act 1998, the Equality Act 2010 and the UN Convention on the rights of children.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 7122 question first answered 28/01/2020 17:37:37 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	1397 label Biography information for Hywel Williams

1172921

registered interest
date	23/01/2020
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: Wales
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans she has to undertake an impact assessment of the two-child limit on faith groups in Wales.
tabling member constituency	Arfon
tabling member printed	Hywel Williams
uin	7122
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/01/2020 answer text <p>The Government’s view is that providing support for a maximum of two children or qualifying young persons in Universal Credit and Child Tax Credits, ensures fairness between claimants on the one hand and, on the other, those taxpayers who support themselves solely through work.</p><p> </p><p>We recognise that some claimants are not able to make the same choices about the number of children in their family, which is why exceptions have been put in place to protect certain groups. On migration to Universal Credit, families’ existing entitlement will be protected.</p><p> </p><p>The Department has published an Impact Assessment which noted ethnic minority households may be more affected by the policy. This is because on average, they are more likely to have larger families and be in receipt of Child Tax Credits and Universal Credit. However, the Department does not collect sufficiently robust data on our claimants’ ethnic or religious backgrounds to facilitate a more detailed assessment of the policy’s impact on specific ethnic or religious groups.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The Government has assessed the impact of the policy from an equality and human rights perspective, meeting our obligations under the Public Sector Equality Duty, and ensuring compliance with the Human Rights Act 1998, the Equality Act 2010 and the UN Convention on the rights of children.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 7121 question first answered 28/01/2020 17:37:37 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	1397 label Biography information for Hywel Williams

1142828

registered interest
date	02/09/2019
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	Children: Maintenance
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 had their (a) driving licence and (b) passport removed as a result of Child Maintenance Service enforcement measures.
tabling member constituency	Arfon
tabling member printed	Hywel Williams
uin	284276
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p>This information is not reported. However we do hold clerical data and can advise 15 driving licenses have been removed or suspended and 3 passports have been suspended.</p><p> </p><p>The information regarding committal orders, or sanctions as they are called in the Child Maintenance Service, are reported in our published statistics and can be on found table 11 of the tables document on the attached link:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-maintenance-service-august-2013-to-march-2019-experimental" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-maintenance-service-august-2013-to-march-2019-experimental</a></p><p> </p><p>We reported enforcement activities in our CSA statistics until September 2017 when we reduced the number of tables published because most CSA cases had been closed or had begun the Case Closure process. The last publication including the enforcement activities can be found on table 22 of the attached link:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-support-agency-quarterly-summary-of-statistics-june-2017" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-support-agency-quarterly-summary-of-statistics-june-2017</a></p> answering member constituency Eastleigh answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 09/09/2019 12:45:51 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	1397 label Biography information for Hywel Williams

1133352

registered interest
date	19/06/2019
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	Television Licences: Older People
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the cost to the public purse was of providing free television licences to people over the age of 75 for qualifying residents in (a) Arfon constituency and (b) Gwynedd local authority area and (c) Wales in (i) 2017-18 and (ii) 2018-19.
tabling member constituency	Arfon
tabling member printed	Hywel Williams
uin	266832
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/06/2019 answer text <p>In the 2015 funding settlement, the Government agreed with the BBC that responsibility for the concession will transfer to the BBC in June 2020.</p><p>The government and the BBC agreed this is a fair deal for the BBC - in return we closed the iPlayer loophole and committed to increase the licence fee in line with inflation. And to help with financial planning, we agreed to provide phased transitional funding over 2 years to gradually introduce the cost to the BBC.</p><p>This reform was subject to public discussion and debated extensively during the passage of the Digital Economy Act 2017 through Parliament.</p><p>On 10 June 2019, the BBC <a href="https://www.bbc.com/aboutthebbc/reports/consultation/age-related-tv-licence-policy" target="_blank">announced</a> that the current scheme will end. From 1 June 2020, a free TV licence will only be available to a household with someone aged over 75 who receives Pension Credit.</p><p>The table below provides estimates of the costs for 2017/18 of providing free TV licences to people aged 75 and over in the geographical areas requested, in nominal prices. The figures for 2018/19 will be available in September.</p><p /><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p><strong>Expenditure (£m) (Nominal)</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong> </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2017-18</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>(a) Arfon constituency</strong></p></td><td><p>£0.56</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>(b) Gwynedd local authority area</strong></p></td><td><p>£1.41</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>(c) Wales</strong></p></td><td><p>£34.11</p></td></tr></tbody></table> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 26/06/2019 16:14:54 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	1397 label Biography information for Hywel Williams