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1129154

	registered interest
	date	03/06/2019
	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	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 universal credit claimants have been referred to local consumer debt advice in the last 12 months.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
	tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
	uin	258969
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/06/2019 answer text <p>The Department does not maintain records on the number of Universal Credit claimants who have been referred to a local consumer debt advice service.</p><p> </p><p>Jobcentre staff have access to information on services and support available in their local area for claimants and will signpost claimants to national and local organisations who provide specialist debt and money management support.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, support is available for Universal Credit claimants via the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS). MaPS will help UC claimants with personal budgeting and money management through its free helpline, printed guides and digital guidance.</p><p> </p><p>For those UC claimants who are in most need of debt advice, MaPS will continue to work with the DWP and other agencies to ensure that they are signposted and referred quickly to local provision – MaPS funds free-to-consumer debt advice in England through a network of providers including StepChange, the Money Advice Trust and Citizens Advice.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 11/06/2019 15:58:59 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1129155

	registered interest
	date	03/06/2019
	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	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 proportion of claimants of universal credit have (a) taken out an advance at a 40 per cent deduction rate and have been unable to pay back that advance within 12 months, (b) taken out at advance at a 40 per cent deduction rate and (c) taken out the maximum available advance at a 40 per cent deduction rate.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
	tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
	uin	258970
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/06/2019 answer text <p>Data showing the proportion of the standard allowance which is being used to repay a Universal Credit (UC) advance which: (a) taken out an advance at a 40 per cent deduction rate and have been unable to pay back that advance within 12 months, (b) taken out an advance at a 40 per cent deduction rate and (c) taken out the maximum available advance at a 40 per cent deduction rate could only be supplied with analysis which would incur disproportionate cost to the Department.</p><p> </p><p>The maximum amount of a UC advance a claimant can access is subject to them being able to repay it over 12 monthly payments at a rate of no greater than 40 per cent of their standard allowance (this will be reduced to 30 per cent from October 2019). However, there are reasons why the advance repayment may not be taken or may be taken at a lower amount from a claimant in any given month, such as:</p><p> </p><p>a. If they have insufficient Universal Credit left in payment, after reductions such as earnings, capital yield and other income are taken into account, then a reduced repayment will be taken or none at all, depending on the amount of UC payment they have left.</p><p>b. If they have a Fraud Penalty or Conditionality Sanction, the repayment of the advance will stop until these end.</p><p>c. If they experience an unexpected financial hardship then they can request a deferral of up to 3 months, during which time they will not make any advance repayments.</p><p>d. If their UC award ends, for whatever reason, they can renegotiate the repayment rate and period with Debt Management who will take into account their new financial circumstances.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 11/06/2019 14:03:33 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1129156

	registered interest
	date	03/06/2019
	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	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 answer of 20 May 2019 to Question 254733, what information her Department uses to verify the statement that if a claimant is in financial difficulty as a result of the level of deductions being made they can contact the Department to request that a reduction in deductions be considered.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
	tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
	uin	258971
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/06/2019 answer text <p>The Government recognises the importance of safeguarding the welfare of claimants who have incurred debt. Claimants’ circumstances are always taken into account when applying debt repayment thresholds to avoid undue hardship.</p><p> </p><p>Universal Credit already has procedures and regulations in place to protect claimants from excessive deductions. The maximum rate of deductions cannot normally exceed 40 per cent of the Universal Credit standard allowance, and from October 2019 this will be reduced to 30 per cent.</p><p> </p><p>If a claimant is in financial difficulty as a result of the level of deductions, where it relates to benefit debt, a social fund loan or rent arrears, they can request that a reduction be considered. Similarly, if a claimant is having difficulty repaying a benefit overpayment, they can request a reconsideration of the amount that is being taken. Reductions are always based on the individual circumstances of the claimant, rather than the amount of the overpayment, which helps to ensure that a sustainable repayment plan based on affordability is put in place.</p><p> </p><p>The claimant should provide reasonable evidence to support their request. This could include information about the household income and expenditure where hardship is claimed on financial grounds. Where hardship is claimed because either the claimant or a member of their family is seriously ill, they would need to provide supporting evidence to explain how or why recovery would be detrimental to the health or welfare of the claimant or their family.</p><p> </p><p>A Repayment Negotiation Framework based on the individual circumstances of the customer, rather than the size of the debt and repayment period has been developed. This makes the process much simpler, and ensures both on and off benefit customers are treated fairly. This framework is contained within the Benefit Overpayment Recovery Guide which can be found on Gov.uk via the link below. The Repayment Negotiation Framework can be found on page 38, paragraph 5.68.</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/616116/benefit-overpayment-recovery-guide.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/616116/benefit-overpayment-recovery-guide.pdf</a></p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 06/06/2019 16:55:08 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1129339

	registered interest
	date	03/06/2019
	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	Universal Credit
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in what circumstances her Department refers universal credit claimants to contact their Member of Parliament.
	tabling member constituency	Croydon North
	tabling member printed	Mr Steve Reed
	uin	259247
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/06/2019 answer text <p>Information is available via Gov.uk regarding the Department’s complaints procedure and what steps people can take if at any stage they disagree with the response they have received from the Department.</p><p>If after following the Department’s complaints procedure a claimant remains unsatisfied with the Departments final response, they can ask the Independent Case Examiner (ICE) to review the Departments handling of the complaint.</p><p>If the claimant is unhappy with the response they receive from ICE we would then advise the claimant to contact their Member of Parliament (MP) to request the complaint is sent to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman for further review.</p><p>In addition, the Department will respond to all complaints regarding current Policy/Legislation providing a full explanation of the Policy and how it is applied. However, if the claimant disagrees with the actual Policy/Legislation rather than its application they may be advised to contact their local MP to raise their concerns.</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-work-pensions/about/complaints-procedure" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-work-pensions/about/complaints-procedure</a></p><p>Prior to the roll-out of Universal Credit Full Service in their constituency, both Ministers and Service Leaders (formally District managers) wrote to each Hon. Member. The letter explained the implicit consent arrangements for MPs and also provided the telephone number and email address of the Service Leader in the constituency, so that MPs can contact Service Leaders if there are urgent constituent cases that need attention. This is the best route to raise issues on behalf of constituents and works well because MPs’ offices can establish local relationships.</p><p>We have recently written to hon. Members to confirm named contacts and local telephone numbers to allow local constituency related Universal Credit cases to be raised directly. The letters also extend an invitation for MPs to visit their local Jobcentre to see the work they are doing.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 11/06/2019 14:46:22 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	4268 label Biography information for Steve Reed