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1141279

registered interest
date	23/07/2019
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 he has made of the proportion of universal credit claimants that have had a deduction as a result of arrears to their (a) first, (b) second, (c) third, (d) fourth, (e) fifth and (f) sixth universal credit payment in the most recent period for which data is available.
tabling member constituency	Brighton, Pavilion
tabling member printed	Caroline Lucas
uin	280971
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/09/2019 answer text <p>The maximum rate of deductions cannot normally exceed 40 per cent of the Universal Credit 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>However, the Government recognises the importance of safeguarding the welfare of claimants who have incurred debt, so last resort deductions can be applied to protect vulnerable claimants from eviction and/or having their fuel supply (gas/electricity) cut off, by providing a last resort repayment method for arrears of these essential services. In these cases, when it is considered to be in the best interests of the claimant and their family, deductions may be taken above the 40 per cent limit.</p><p> </p><p>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</p><p> </p><p>The table below gives the proportion of claims in the first to sixth assessment periods, for which a deduction was taken relating to arrears in February 2019, the latest month which data is available for.  <strong>  </strong></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Assessment Period</p></td><td><p>% with arrears deductions</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1.7%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>3.1%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>4.3%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>4</p></td><td><p>5.1%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>6.1%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>6</p></td><td><p>6.7%</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p><strong>Notes</strong></p><p>1. Figures relate to Universal Credit full service.</p><p>2. Figures are rounded to the nearest per cent.</p><p>3. Figures included arrears for gas, electric, water, rent and service charges</p><p>4. We would expect to see overall amount increasing as the caseload and number of claims with deductions increase, but the average over that time also decreases.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 03/09/2019 15:52:39 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	3930 label Biography information for Caroline Lucas

1136896

registered interest
date	04/07/2019
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, if she will publish the (a) forecast number of new claims for universal credit between April 2018 and March 2019, (b) date on which that forecast was made and (c) actual number of new claims made during that period.
tabling member constituency	Brighton, Pavilion
tabling member printed	Caroline Lucas
uin	273365
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/07/2019 answer text <p>The information requested is not available as the Department does not forecast new claims to Universal Credit.</p><p> </p><p>The actual number of claims made between April 2018 and March 2019 can be found under the ‘Claims to Universal Credit’ dataset available at: <a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/" target="_blank">https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/</a></p><p>Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at: <a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html" target="_blank">https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html</a></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 12/07/2019 14:01:25 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	3930 label Biography information for Caroline Lucas

1136530

registered interest
date	03/07/2019
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 and what proportion of universal credit payments were subject to a deduction, excluding sanctions, in the latest month for which data is available.
tabling member constituency	Brighton, Pavilion
tabling member printed	Caroline Lucas
uin	272806
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/07/2019 answer text <p>Of all eligible claims to Universal Credit Full Service due a payment in Feb 2019, 57 per cent (840,000 claims) had a deduction.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Notes</strong></p><p>Deductions include advance repayments and all other deductions, but exclude sanctions and fraud penalties which are reductions of benefit rather than deductions.</p><p>Claim numbers may not match official statistics caseloads due to small methodological differences.</p><p>Claim numbers are rounded to the nearest 1,000.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 12/07/2019 13:39:38 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	3930 label Biography information for Caroline Lucas

1136531

registered interest
date	03/07/2019
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 she has made of the proportion of universal credit claimants who have a deduction for any arrears in the first month of their claim for the last month for which data is available.
tabling member constituency	Brighton, Pavilion
tabling member printed	Caroline Lucas
uin	272807
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/07/2019 answer text <p>In February 2019, 2 per cent of claims which were due their first payment had a deduction for arrears.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Notes</strong></p><p>Figure relates to Universal Credit full service.</p><p>Figures are rounded to the nearest per cent.</p><p>Figures included arrears for gas, electric, water, rent and service charges.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 12/07/2019 13:29:50 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	3930 label Biography information for Caroline Lucas