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759451

registered interest
date	11/09/2017
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, whether he has plans to increase mental health training for personal independent payment and employment and support allowance assessors.
tabling member constituency	Oldham East and Saddleworth
tabling member printed	Debbie Abrahams
uin	9943
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/09/2017 answer text <p>Training for Health Professionals on how to identify the impact of mental health conditions on a claimant’s ability to carry out the activities in either assessment, is already a key feature of the training programmes provided by the Assessment Providers.</p><p> </p><p>All Assessment Providers frequently engage with medical experts, charities and relevant stakeholders including mental-health organisations, to strengthen, review and update training programmes for all their Health Professionals.</p> answering member constituency Portsmouth North answering member printed Penny Mordaunt question first answered 18/09/2017 15:35:15 answering member 4017 label Biography information for Penny Mordaunt
tabling member	4212 label Biography information for Debbie Abrahams

758882

registered interest
date	07/09/2017
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, whether it is possible for all new claims for existing legacy benefits excluding universal credit to be processed through one single computer screen without needing to use more than one computer.
tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
tabling member printed	Frank Field
uin	9527
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/09/2017 answer text <p>It is possible for all new claims for existing legacy benefits excluding universal credit to be processed through one single computer screen without needing to use more than one computer. DWP benefit processing agents normally only have one monitor and one PC each.</p> answering member constituency Gosport answering member printed Caroline Dinenage question first answered 14/09/2017 15:25:48 answering member 4008 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Dinenage
tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

757303

registered interest
date	05/09/2017
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	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimate of (1) the future annual cost of ending the freeze on working-age and children's benefits, and (2) what the additional annual cost of those benefits would now be had the freeze not been implemented.
tabling member printed	Baroness Lister of Burtersett
uin	HL1288
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/09/2017 answer text <p>These estimates can be derived using the published “Welfare Reform and Work Bill: Assessment of the Benefit Rate Freeze” attached.</p><p> </p><p>Using the figures published in the impact assessment for the benefit freeze, we can estimate the annual cost of ending the freeze on working-age and children’s benefits. Assuming the freeze was ended after 2017/18 (such that savings from 2017/18 onwards are constant at £0.9bn), the annual cost of ending the freeze would be £2.7bn by 2020/21.</p><p> </p><p>Assuming the freeze ends after 2017/18, the additional annual cost to working-age and children’s benefits had the freeze not been implemented is £0.9bn per annum.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 19/09/2017 15:19:43 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe attachment 1 file name Welfare Reform and Work Bill Impact Assessment of the Benefit rate freeze.pdf title Welfare Reform and Work Bill: Impact Assessment
tabling member	4234 label Biography information for Baroness Lister of Burtersett

757325

registered interest
date	05/09/2017
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	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to review the operation of the benefits system, in particular its impact on vulnerable people.
tabling member printed	Lord Ouseley
uin	HL1310
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/09/2017 answer text <p><strong> </strong></p><p>The government keeps the delivery of benefits under constant review, which includes consideration of how benefits are delivered to vulnerable groups.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 14/09/2017 13:29:26 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
tabling member	2170 label Biography information for Lord Ouseley

757847

registered interest
date	05/09/2017
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 the implications for his policies on waiting times for (a) employment and support allowance, (b) jobseeker's allowance and (c) other out-of-work benefits are of the findings of the report, Financial insecurity, food insecurity and disability, published by the Trussell Trust in June 2017.
tabling member constituency	Bermondsey and Old Southwark
tabling member printed	Neil Coyle
uin	8678
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/09/2017 answer text <p>On 10<sup>th</sup> July I met with the Trussell Trust to discuss their report.</p><p>Waiting days are an unpaid period at the start of a new claim to benefit, where a claimant has no entitlement to Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) or Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), but must continue to meet the relevant benefit conditions.</p><p>Not all claimants are required to serve waiting days. For example claimants who have a linking claim to another benefit within 13 weeks, JSA claimants under 18 and in severe hardship or ESA claimants who are terminally ill do not serve waiting days.</p><p>The fundamental principle behind the waiting days policy is that benefits are not intended to provide financial support for very brief periods, for example when someone is between jobs or during short periods of sickness.</p><p>The application of waiting days at the outset of a new claim means that more support can be targeted at initiatives to help move people off benefits and into work, for example, measures to improve the literacy and numeracy skills of claimants and provide more resources to support lone parents to return to employment.</p><p>JSA and ESA claimants are made aware that waiting days may apply when they make their new claim. This ensures that anyone suffering hardship can seek assistance as early as possible. Anyone who makes a new claim can apply for a Short Term Benefit Advance (STBA).</p><p>STBAs provide an advance of up to 60 per cent of the value of the first full benefit payment and are repaid through deductions from subsequent benefit payments. STBAs can provide a way to smooth the impact of extending waiting days across a longer period. The offer of a STBA is subject to checks to make sure that the claimant can afford the repayments.</p><p>There are similar arrangements for other out of work benefits where waiting days apply.</p> answering member constituency Portsmouth North answering member printed Penny Mordaunt question first answered 13/09/2017 14:54:58 answering member 4017 label Biography information for Penny Mordaunt
tabling member	4368 label Biography information for Neil Coyle

756632

registered interest
date	04/09/2017
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, if he will place in the Library a memorandum setting out in respect of (a) jobseeker's allowance, (b) employment and support allowance and (c) universal credit (i) those prompts within the computer system designed to alert staff to cases in which claimants are waiting more than 10 days for the determination of their claims and (ii) the circumstances in which those cases are reported to managers.
tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
tabling member printed	Frank Field
uin	7877
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/09/2017 answer text <p>The assessment period and payment structure of Universal Credit creates a fixed period between date of entitlement and the first payment. Advances are available for people who are in financial need during the initial period before their first payment.</p><p>The Universal Credit Full Service digital system ensures that all agents and their managers are automatically aware in real time of any claimants on their caseload for whom a payment is due to be paid, or of any claimant for whom a payment will be due shortly, for which there are outstanding actions required.</p><p> </p><p>For Employment and Support Allowance and Jobseekers Allowance, the relevant computer system alerts staff in the event that any claim has not been processed and made ready for payment seven days after receipt of the claim. The target for processing a claim ready for payment is 10 days and, every day, the computer automatically produces a list of cases that are approaching that target to help ensure cases are put in payment on time.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 08/09/2017 12:48:11 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds previous answer version 8987 answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

754934

registered interest
date	20/07/2017
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 estimate he has made of the projected number of children under the age of five who live in households that will be affected by the freeze on tax credits and jobseeker's allowance in (a) 2016-17, (b) 2017-18, (c) 2018-19 and (d) 2019-20.
tabling member constituency	Stockton North
tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
uin	6670
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/09/2017 answer text <p>HMRC publishes annual estimates of child and working tax credits.</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/613423/cwtc-main-Apr17.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/613423/cwtc-main-Apr17.pdf</a></p><p> </p><p>Provisional estimates for 2016/17 show approximately 1.84 million children under 5 living in families in receipt of tax credits.</p><p> </p><p>An Impact Assessment was also published alongside the Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016. This considers impacts of the freeze on households and on protected groups including children and lone parents.</p><p><a href="http://www.parliament.uk/documents/impact-assessments/IA15-006C.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.parliament.uk/documents/impact-assessments/IA15-006C.pdf</a></p><p> </p><p>However, information on the children of recipients of Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) is not collected, and projections beyond 2016 of children under the age of 5 living in households in receipt of either tax credits or JSA have not been estimated.</p> answering member constituency Gosport answering member printed Caroline Dinenage question first answered 07/09/2017 09:05:24 answering member 4008 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Dinenage
tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

754935

registered interest
date	20/07/2017
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 estimate he has made of the projected number of children under the age of five who live in households that will be affected by the benefits cap in each of the next five years.
tabling member constituency	Stockton North
tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
uin	6669
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/09/2017 answer text <p>The Department does not hold any projections of the number of children under the age of 5 affected by the benefit cap.</p><p> </p><p>To collate and add on the additional data for all children under 5 and quality assure the figures to answer this PQ would incur disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p>The Department published ad-hoc statistics in July 2017 which estimated that 56,000 households fall into the scope of the lower benefit cap in 2016/17. (Source: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/benefit-cap-estimated-impact-on-parents-by-age-of-youngest-child" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/benefit-cap-estimated-impact-on-parents-by-age-of-youngest-child</a>, Table 1, Estimated number of households in scope for the lower benefit cap prior to its introduction, by family type and age of youngest child: 2016/17).</p><p> </p><p>This does not take account of behavioural changes where people make the choice to move into employment or increase their hours of work or taken other action to move out of scope for the cap.</p><p> </p><p>The Department published an Impact Assessment on the introduction of the lower benefit cap in August 2016. (Source: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/548741/welfare-reform-and-work-act-impact-assessment-for-the-benefit-cap.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/548741/welfare-reform-and-work-act-impact-assessment-for-the-benefit-cap.pdf</a></p> answering member constituency Gosport answering member printed Caroline Dinenage question first answered 07/09/2017 08:49:39 answering member 4008 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Dinenage
tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

754937

registered interest
date	20/07/2017
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, how many children under the age of five were living in households affected by the benefits cap in each of the last four years.
tabling member constituency	Stockton North
tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
uin	6668
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/09/2017 answer text <p>The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency Gosport answering member printed Caroline Dinenage question first answered 07/09/2017 08:38:06 answering member 4008 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Dinenage
tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

754235

registered interest
date	19/07/2017
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, with reference to his Department's freedom of information response 1740 of 15 May 2017, what factors his Department took into consideration in setting the 80 per cent of the original decisions are to be upheld measure for monitoring mandatory reconsideration; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Brighton, Pavilion
tabling member printed	Caroline Lucas
uin	6159
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/09/2017 answer text <p>The department has not set a target for upholding original decisions at Mandatory Reconsideration. The 80 per cent figure, which was used in the answer to Freedom of Information request 1740, is not considered by the decision maker when they carry out a Mandatory Reconsideration but is used to assess the quality of benefit decisions. In order to ensure we have consistently accurate decisions we track and monitor Mandatory Reconsiderations to assess the quality of our initial decision making and to help understand and improve our processes.</p> answering member constituency Portsmouth North answering member printed Penny Mordaunt question first answered 06/09/2017 10:29:48 answering member 4017 label Biography information for Penny Mordaunt
tabling member	3930 label Biography information for Caroline Lucas