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1126933

	registered interest
	date	15/05/2019
	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	Universal Credit
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what penalties universal credit claimants incur if they are unable to repay their advance within 12 months.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
	tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
	uin	254729
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/05/2019 answer text <p>Before accepting a Universal Credit Advance the number of monthly repayment instalments is agreed with a claimant, up to a maximum of 12. For a variety of reasons, instalments may not occur consecutively, so claimants do not incur a penalty if it takes them more than 12 calendar months.</p><p> </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> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 24/05/2019 12:02:18 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1126934

	registered interest
	date	15/05/2019
	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	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 13 May to Question 249845, what proportion of universal credit claimants who had not fully repaid their advance as of 5 May 2019 had taken out that advance prior to 5 November 2018.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
	tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
	uin	254730
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/05/2019 answer text <p>The latest available data shows there were 610,000 claimants who had not fully repaid a Universal Credit Advance which had been taken out prior to 5 November 2018. This equates to around 40% of the total claimants with a Universal Credit Advance.</p><p> </p><p>Notes:</p><ol><li>Data is a snapshot of information held on 15 May 2019 and has been rounded to the nearest ten thousand.</li><li>Many Universal Credit advances are taken out over a 12-month repayment period, so this snapshot of data includes cases where repayments are being made to the agreed timeline.</li><li>This data has been sourced from internal management information and due to the time available, has not been quality assured to the usual standards for public release. It should therefore not be compared to any other similar data subsequently released by the Department.</li></ol> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 23/05/2019 16:28:49 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1126937

	registered interest
	date	15/05/2019
	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	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 8 May to Question 249846, whether she has made an assessment of the feasibility of a claimant living with a 40 per cent reduction in their universal credit payment; and if she will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
	tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
	uin	254732
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/05/2019 answer text <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 of standard allowance and from October 2021 we are increasing the maximum recovery period for advances from 12 to 16 months.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 24/05/2019 13:07:43 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1126941

	registered interest
	date	15/05/2019
	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	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 5 May 2019 to Question 249847, what assessment of a universal credit claimant’s financial situation is made when calculating what percentage of their payment will be deducted in order to repay an advance.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
	tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
	uin	254734
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/06/2019 answer text <p>The maximum amount a claimant can receive as a new claim advance payment is 100 per cent of their total indicative Universal Credit award. The claimant can decide the length of repayment period when they request the advance. This can be up to a maximum 12 months. The rate of repayment is decided by dividing the total advance amount by the agreed repayment period.</p><p>Affordability is managed by ensuring the recovery rate is not more than the equivalent of 40 per cent of the standard allowance and help is available for those struggling to meet the recovery rate once recovery begins. In many cases, because claimants choose to repay advances over many months, advance repayments constitute less than 40% of a standard allowance. In exceptional circumstances, recovery can be deferred for up to 3 months from the start of the recovery period.</p><p>Advances are not loans; they are an interest free advance payment of benefit, available to help people who need immediate financial support, which is then recovered over an agreed period. 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> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 03/06/2019 13:51:25 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma previous answer version 119076 answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1126805

	registered interest
	date	15/05/2019
	answering body	Department for Transport
	answering dept id	27
	answering dept short name	Transport
	answering dept sort name	Transport
	hansard heading	South Eastern Rail Franchise
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has withheld consent for Govia to vary the (a) pay and (b) conditions of Southeastern staff under schedule 15.2 of the franchise agreement in relation to the last twelve or thirteen months of the franchise.
	tabling member constituency	Erith and Thamesmead
	tabling member printed	Teresa Pearce
	uin	254801
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/05/2019 answer text <p>Southeastern and the trade unions have agreed pay deals in the last 12 months. Specific details of pay are confidential however Southeastern staff have received an increase of around the level of the Retail Price Index which reflects a real terms increase when compared to the Consumer Price Index and cost of living increases. These pay deals were approved by the Department.</p><p> </p><p>The Secretary of State has made clear that the rail industry should be moving towards using the Consumer Price Index (CPI) as the inflation measure for pay agreements.</p> answering member constituency Harrogate and Knaresborough answering member printed Andrew Jones question first answered 22/05/2019 10:45:09 answering member 3996 label Biography information for Andrew Jones
	tabling member	4003 label Biography information for Teresa Pearce

1127014

	registered interest
	date	15/05/2019
	answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
	answering dept id	17
	answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
	answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
	hansard heading	Tobacco: Retail Trade
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the paper Impact of a ban on the open display of tobacco products in retail outlets on never smoking youth in the UK: findings from a repeat cross-sectional survey before, during and after implementation, published in the British Medical Journal in May; and whether they will consider the implications of those findings for other unhealthy commodity industries, including gambling.
	tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of St Albans
	uin	HL15775
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/05/2019 answer text <p>The Government keeps all such evidence on the impact of its policies under review, including the possible wider application of individual policies to other areas. The Government intends to conduct a formal post-implementation review of this legislation with a report due in spring 2020 and evidence of this nature will be looked at to assess the overall impact of legislation. There are no plans to extend the current ban on open display of tobacco products in retail outlets to other products.</p> answering member printed Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford question first answered 24/05/2019 11:48:27 answering member 4019 label Biography information for Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
	tabling member	4308 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of St Albans

1127016

	registered interest
	date	15/05/2019
	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	Universal Credit
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many applicants for Universal Credit have made their application by means other than the online application system since its introduction; and what are the available methods for doing so.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Sherlock
	uin	HL15777
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/05/2019 answer text <p>The Universal Credit Full Service Claimant Survey found that 98 per cent of claimants claimed online.</p><p> </p><p>For those claimants who are unable to access or use our 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> </p><p>Furthermore, the Citizens Advice Help to Claim service offers tailored, practical support to help people make a Universal Credit claim and receive their first full correct payment on time. It is available online, over the phone and face to face through local Citizens Advice services across Great Britain.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 29/05/2019 13:36:32 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	4147 label Biography information for Baroness Sherlock

1126994

	registered interest
	date	15/05/2019
	answering body	Department for International Development
	answering dept id	20
	answering dept short name	International Development
	answering dept sort name	International Development
	hansard heading	Pakistan: Human Trafficking
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to their assessment in the Department for International Development's Pakistan Report 2018 that there is a "significant modern slavery problem amongst the poor, minorities, women and children" in Pakistan and their policy to provide assistance to "target the poorest and most vulnerable", what steps they are taking to provide direct support to Christian women reportedly being trafficked to China as brides.
	tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
	uin	HL15755
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/05/2019 answer text <p>The UK Government’s approach to tackling modern slavery and trafficking in Pakistan is to reduce the permissive environment through community-based activities, and to strengthen the legislative framework for more effective prevention and control. Our programmes do not directly target specific sub groups of marginalised people eg; Christian women, but we do target marginalised communities from a range of disadvantaged backgrounds, including Christian women who are at risk of this terrible practice.</p> answering member printed Baroness Sugg question first answered 29/05/2019 15:41:03 answering member 4584 label Biography information for Baroness Sugg
	tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool

1126995

	registered interest
	date	15/05/2019
	answering body	Department for International Development
	answering dept id	20
	answering dept short name	International Development
	answering dept sort name	International Development
	hansard heading	Pakistan: Human Trafficking
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to reports of a rise in number of Pakistani Christian girls being targeted by traffickers for exploitation in China, what assessment they have made of how the AAWAZ II Programme is (1) working effectively to minimise this trafficking stream, especially within the Punjab region, and (2) measuring its efficacy in reducing the prevalence of such trafficking within this targeted population group.
	tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
	uin	HL15756
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/05/2019 answer text <p>The AAWAZ II Programme will address a range of modern slavery issues, including child labour and forced and early marriage. An assessment of the programme’s effectiveness in addressing modern slavery has not yet been carried out as a range of activities are still under design. Once all baselines have been established the programme will be tracking progress through annual reviews and its monitoring and evaluation framework.</p> answering member printed Baroness Sugg question first answered 29/05/2019 15:48:43 answering member 4584 label Biography information for Baroness Sugg
	tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool

1126999

	registered interest
	date	15/05/2019
	answering body	Department for International Development
	answering dept id	20
	answering dept short name	International Development
	answering dept sort name	International Development
	hansard heading	The Gambia: Overseas Aid
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how much Official Development Assistance (ODA) is spent in The Gambia; and how that ODA is spent in that country.
	tabling member printed	Lord German
	uin	HL15760
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/05/2019 answer text <p>In 2017 (the most recent year for which statistics are available), The Gambia received £41.3 million from the UK aid budget, including £15.5 million of bilateral assistance and £25.8 million of UK attributed multilateral aid. The greatest focus of bilateral spending was on the health sector, with the largest share (£14m) spent through the Medical Research Council’s research facility in the country.</p> answering member printed Baroness Sugg question first answered 29/05/2019 15:49:30 answering member 4584 label Biography information for Baroness Sugg
	tabling member	4163 label Biography information for Lord German