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1144424

	registered interest
	date	03/09/2019
	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	Universal Credit: Pilot Schemes
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to her oral contribution of 22 July 2019 on Universal Credit managed migration, Official Report, column 1149-1150, if she will publish the advice she received from the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments on the use of a negative Statutory Instrument for a pilot of managed migration and payments to severely disabled people who lost out in transferring to Universal Credit.
	tabling member constituency	Weaver Vale
	tabling member printed	Mike Amesbury
	uin	286363
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p>It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.</p><p /><p /> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 09/09/2019 16:35:05 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4667 label Biography information for Mike Amesbury

1144425

	registered interest
	date	03/09/2019
	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	Universal Credit: Pilot Schemes
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to her oral contribution on 22 July 2019 on Unviersal Credit managed migration, Official Report, column 1149-1150, on what date her Department received advice from the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments on the use of a negative Statutory Instrument for a pilot of managed migration and payments to severely disabled people who lost out in transferring to universal credit.
	tabling member constituency	Weaver Vale
	tabling member printed	Mike Amesbury
	uin	286364
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p>It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.</p><p /><p /> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 09/09/2019 16:35:46 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4667 label Biography information for Mike Amesbury

1144434

	registered interest
	date	03/09/2019
	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	Low Incomes
	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 people who will fall into the relative low income bracket if the UK leaves the EU without an agreement.
	tabling member constituency	Liverpool, Wavertree
	tabling member printed	Luciana Berger
	uin	286195
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p>It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 09/09/2019 16:29:15 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4036 label Biography information for Luciana Berger

1144346

	registered interest
	date	03/09/2019
	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	Universal Credit: Payments
	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 plans to recalculate universal credit payments to take account of recipients who are required to make 53 rent payments in a year.
	tabling member constituency	Hyndburn
	tabling member printed	Graham P Jones
	uin	286189
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p>Neither tenants or landlords lose a week’s rent in a 53 weekly rent payment year as has been alleged; no year contains 53 weeks. The problem is alignment between weekly and monthly cycles. Each month the UC housing element is a constant figure but claimants with weekly tenancy agreements will be required to make either four or five rent payments within this period. If the claimant always pays their rent on time, in five payment months they are effectively making payment for part of the following month. That month will always be a four rent payment month, so the combination of the advance payment and the ‘overpayment’ of housing support during that month will get the claimant back on track.</p><p>Where a landlord charges rent weekly on a Monday, because of the way the calendar falls every 5 or 6 years, they will seek 53 rent payments in a year, with the 53rd payment in part covering the tenancy for the first few days of the following year. The effect of this is that, over the course of the next housing association rental year, a tenant’s UC payments will accurately reflect their liability, irrespective of the 53 payment weeks.</p><p>There is a separate issue with respect to the way the calculation in the Universal Credit regulations converts a weekly liability into a monthly allowance. The conversion is achieved by multiplying the weekly rent by 52 and then dividing by 12. This effectively means one day’s rent a year (two days in a leap years) are not covered by UC. We are currently considering whether this formulation around weekly rents, and potentially other weekly amounts in the UC calculation, should be amended.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 09/09/2019 12:45:52 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	3999 label Biography information for Graham P Jones

1144372

	registered interest
	date	03/09/2019
	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	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 options her Department is considering to reduce the five week waiting time for universal credit claimants.
	tabling member constituency	East Ham
	tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
	uin	286082
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p>Nobody has to wait for five weeks for a payment following an application for Universal Credit (UC).</p><p> </p><p>UC new claim advances provide access to a payment for those in financial need, which can be accessed urgently, until their first regular UC payment is due. Claimants can access up to 100% of the total expected monthly award, for which they can pay back over a period of up to 12 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. The maximum rate of deductions cannot normally exceed 40 per cent of the UC standard allowance and does not reduce other components of an award, such as money paid for children, housing or when someone is caring for a severely disabled person. From October 2019 this will be reduced to 30 per cent and from October 2021 we are increasing the maximum recovery period for advances from 12 to 16 months.</p><p> </p><p>This is just one of a number of measures the Department has put in place to support claimants such as paying those claimants moving from Housing Benefit to UC a two week ‘transitional housing payment’. We are also introducing a two-week run on for eligible claimants of Income Support, Jobseeker’s Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance from July 2020.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 09/09/2019 15:32:16 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

1144373

	registered interest
	date	03/09/2019
	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	Local Housing Allowance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment has been made of the affordability of (a) one and (b) two bedroom properties for Local Housing Allowance claimants in each region of England and Wales.
	tabling member constituency	East Ham
	tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
	uin	286083
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p>The proportion of private market rents that are at or below the LHA rate for (a) one and (b) two bedroom accommodation for each region in England and Wales are set out below. This is based on:</p><ul><li>2019/20 LHA rates published here <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-housing-allowance-lha-rates-applicable-from-april-2019-to-march-2020" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-housing-allowance-lha-rates-applicable-from-april-2019-to-march-2020</a></li></ul><ul><li>Valuation Office Agency data <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-housing-allowance-list-of-rents" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-housing-allowance-list-of-rents</a></li></ul><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>1 Bed</p></td><td><p>2 Bed</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>East Midlands</p></td><td><p>17%</p></td><td><p>17%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Eastern</p></td><td><p>9%</p></td><td><p>9%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>London</p></td><td><p>7%</p></td><td><p>7%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>North East</p></td><td><p>26%</p></td><td><p>25%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>North West</p></td><td><p>23%</p></td><td><p>22%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>South East</p></td><td><p>10%</p></td><td><p>10%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>South West</p></td><td><p>14%</p></td><td><p>14%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>West Midlands</p></td><td><p>16%</p></td><td><p>14%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Yorks &amp; the Humber</p></td><td><p>20%</p></td><td><p>21%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Wales</p></td><td><p>22%</p></td><td><p>22%</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 09/09/2019 15:43:34 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

1144374

	registered interest
	date	03/09/2019
	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	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 and what proportion of universal credit payments were subject to a deduction for council tax arrears.
	tabling member constituency	East Ham
	tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
	uin	286084
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p>In May 2019, 54,000 (3%) Universal Credit payments were subject to a deduction for council tax arrears.</p><p> </p><p>Notes:</p><p> </p><ol><li>The number of deductions is rounded to the nearest 1000</li><li>The proportion is rounded to the nearest %</li></ol><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 09/09/2019 16:02:32 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

1144292

	registered interest
	date	03/09/2019
	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	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 recent assessment she has made of the effect of the benefits freeze on the wellbeing of universal credit claimants.
	tabling member constituency	Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill
	tabling member printed	Hugh Gaffney
	uin	286335
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p>An Impact Assessment of the benefit freeze was published in 2015, this is available in the link below.</p><p><a href="https://www.parliament.uk/documents/impact-assessments/IA15-006C.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.parliament.uk/documents/impact-assessments/IA15-006C.pdf</a></p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 09/09/2019 16:33:35 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4614 label Biography information for Hugh Gaffney

1144364

	registered interest
	date	03/09/2019
	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	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 estimate her Department has made of the proportion of social security claimants who will receive less money once they have migrated to universal credit.
	tabling member constituency	Cardiff Central
	tabling member printed	Jo Stevens
	uin	286277
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p>Comparisons between entitlement in legacy benefits and Universal Credit fail to reflect that, until recently, people only claimed Universal Credit as a result of a change in their circumstances.</p><p>It is important to remember that there are £2.4 billion of unclaimed benefits not going to the people who need them because they are unaware of how to claim, or that they may be entitled. Universal Credit makes sure that welfare payments reach those who need them most, and when we complete moving legacy benefit claimants over to Universal Credit, an estimated 700,000 more people will get paid their full entitlement because of Universal Credit.</p><p>The Government have committed to spending in excess of £3 billion over 10 years on transitional protection for 1.1 million households. This will help fund assistance for those moving from Housing Benefit to Universal Credit including a two week ‘transitional housing payment’. We are also introducing a two-week run on for eligible claimants of Income Support, Jobseeker’s Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance from July 2020.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 09/09/2019 10:47:37 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4425 label Biography information for Jo Stevens

1144367

	registered interest
	date	03/09/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Legal Aid Scheme
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent progress his Department has made in reviewing the legal aid means test.
	tabling member constituency	Warrington South
	tabling member printed	Faisal Rashid
	uin	286365
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p>The Government announced the review of the legal aid means test on 7 February 2019, as part of the Legal Support Action Plan.</p><p>The review will consider the full range of means-testing criteria including the applicable thresholds for legal aid entitlement and their interaction with wider criteria.</p><p>The review is in progress, bringing together data, evidence and expertise, and liaising with experts from across the field to explore potential improvements to the system.</p><p>This comprehensive review of the legal aid eligibility regime is expected to conclude in summer 2020 after which we will publish a full consultation paper setting out our future policy on the proposals in this area. We will seek to implement any final recommendations as soon as practicable following public consultation.</p> answering member constituency Aldridge-Brownhills answering member printed Wendy Morton question first answered 09/09/2019 15:10:37 answering member 4358 label Biography information for Wendy Morton
	tabling member	4670 label Biography information for Faisal Rashid