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1285088

registered interest
date	09/02/2021
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, with reference to relation to the Minister for Welfare Delivery's correspondence of 21 December 2020 to the Chair of the Work and Pensions Select Committee on automating the identification of affected claimants following the Johnson case at the Court of Appeal, what the cost is of the automated fix; and whether the automated fix will require a full rebuild of the universal credit system.
tabling member constituency	North East Fife
tabling member printed	Wendy Chamberlain
uin	151857
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/02/2021 answer text <p>No estimates have been made for the cost of an automated approach and there are no plans for this as each instance can be complex.</p><p> </p><p>The Universal Credit (Earned Income) Amendment Regulations 2020 were laid in October 2020, so for cases affected by this issue, monthly earnings can be reallocated to another assessment period. To support this, we have designed a tool which interacts with the Universal Credit Service to allow the redistribution of earnings where appropriate, with guidance having been issued to staff to ensure that where an issue is identified, the correct remedial action is taken.</p><p> </p><p>Automated identification of affected claimants is expected to be implemented in early 2021. This will allow us to proactively correct Universal Credit awards before they are paid without the claimant needing to raise the issue.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 22/02/2021 13:19:30 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4765 label Biography information for Wendy Chamberlain

1285089

registered interest
date	09/02/2021
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 changes she has made to the universal credit system to comply with the Court of Appeal judgement of 22 June 2020 on assessing two wage payments received within a single assessment period.
tabling member constituency	Kilmarnock and Loudoun
tabling member printed	Alan Brown
uin	151764
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/02/2021 answer text <p>The Universal Credit (Earned Income) Amendment Regulations 2020 were laid in October 2020, so for cases affected by this issue, monthly earnings can be reallocated to another assessment period. To support this, we have designed a tool which interacts with the Universal Credit Service to allow the redistribution of earnings where appropriate, with guidance having been issued to staff to ensure that where an issue is identified, the correct remedial action is taken.</p><p> </p><p>Automated identification of affected claimants is expected to be implemented in early 2021. This will allow us to proactively correct Universal Credit awards before they are paid without the claimant needing to raise the issue.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 16/02/2021 11:31:48 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4470 label Biography information for Alan Brown

1284081

registered interest
date	04/02/2021
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, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the universal credit standard allowance for people aged under-25 living independently to match the amount people aged over 25 receive.
tabling member constituency	Ealing Central and Acton
tabling member printed	Dr Rupa Huq
uin	149302
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/02/2021 answer text <p>The £20 per week uplift to everyone on Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit was announced by the Chancellor as a temporary measure in March 2020 to support those facing the most financial disruption as a result of the public health emergency. This measure remains in place until March 2021.</p><p> </p><p>The lower rates for younger claimants under 25 years reflects the fact that they are more likely to live in someone else's household and have lower living costs and lower earnings expectations. It also reinforces the stronger work incentives that Universal Credit creates for this age group which have been aided by the Department’s £2bn Kickstart scheme which is already creating thousands of high-quality jobs for young people.</p><p> </p><p>For claimants who live independently, Universal Credit already includes separate elements to provide support for housing costs, children and childcare costs and support for disabled people and carers.</p><p> </p><p>Care leavers up to the age of 22 are exempt from the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) Shared Accommodation Rate and are entitled to the higher, one bed LHA rate.</p><p>For those who require additional support Discretionary Housing Payments are available. Since 2011 we have provided over £1 billion in DHPs to local authorities to support households with their housing costs.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 09/02/2021 17:59:08 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4511 label Biography information for Dr Rupa Huq

1282015

registered interest
date	29/01/2021
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 of the Answer of 28 January 2021 to Question 142894 on Universal Credit, for what reason her Department will not publish that data.
tabling member constituency	Edinburgh South
tabling member printed	Ian Murray
uin	145774
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/02/2021 answer text <p>The Department does not currently make estimates of UC take-up rates.</p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 03/02/2021 17:50:53 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	3966 label Biography information for Ian Murray

1281712

registered interest
date	28/01/2021
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, whether she plans to reduce the taper rate of universal credit during the covid-19 outbreak to help alleviate staff shortages.
tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
uin	144928
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/02/2021 answer text <p>Throughout the pandemic this Government has continued to support the lowest-paid families by targeting our support to those most in need by raising the national living wage, spending hundreds of billions to safeguard jobs, boosting welfare support by billions and introducing the £170m Covid Winter Grant Scheme. It has also pledged to put an extra £1.7 billion a year into Work Allowances by 2023/24, increasing them by £1,040 a year for working parents and disabled claimants.</p><p> </p><p>There are currently no plans to reduce the Universal Credit taper rate. This Government has already made significant investment to reduce it from 65% to 63% in 2017.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 04/02/2021 16:25:06 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

1281223

registered interest
date	27/01/2021
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 her Department's target timescale for processing applications for Alternative Payment Arrangements; and what percentage of claims are processed within this target.
tabling member constituency	East Yorkshire
tabling member printed	Sir Greg Knight
uin	144615
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/02/2021 answer text <p>There is no target timescale for processing applications for Alternative Payment Arrangements (APAs). APAs are available at any point during Universal Credit claims where there is risk of financial harm to a claimant and/or their family.</p><p> </p><p>APAs can help claimants who need additional support with:</p><ul><li>paying housing costs of Universal Credit as a Managed Payment direct to the landlord;</li><li>more frequent than monthly payments; or;</li><li>split payment of an award between partners.</li></ul><p> </p><p>Universal Credit payment timeliness statistics are published in the Households on Universal Credit section on Stat-Xplore. These figures can be broken down by those with APAs and can be found at:</p><p><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:</p><p><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> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 01/02/2021 15:43:17 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	1200 label Biography information for Sir Greg Knight

1280217

registered interest
date	25/01/2021
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 data on the estimated take-up of universal credit.
tabling member constituency	Edinburgh South
tabling member printed	Ian Murray
uin	142894
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/01/2021 answer text <p>No</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 28/01/2021 14:43:44 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	3966 label Biography information for Ian Murray

1278730

registered interest
date	20/01/2021
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 projected number of universal credit claimants by April 2022.
tabling member constituency	Tatton
tabling member printed	Esther McVey
uin	140806
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/01/2021 answer text <p>At each fiscal event the Department works closely with the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) to estimate welfare spend based on latest unemployment projections. The OBR’s latest projections are available here: <a href="http://cdn.obr.uk/CCS1020397650-001_OBR-November2020-EFO-v2-Web-accessible.pdf" target="_blank">http://cdn.obr.uk/CCS1020397650-001_OBR-November2020-EFO-v2-Web-accessible.pdf</a></p><p /><p>The latest Universal Credit forecasts for number of households, estimated each year are published in the Benefit Expenditure and Caseload Tables and can be found in, Table 1c, Table 2c and Table 3c, at: <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/953118/outturn-and-forecast-autumn-budget-2020-revised.xlsx" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/953118/outturn-and-forecast-autumn-budget-2020-revised.xlsx</a></p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 140805 question first answered 28/01/2021 14:50:05 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4084 label Biography information for Esther McVey

1277530

registered interest
date	18/01/2021
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Universal Credit
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the temporary increase in universal credit; and whether he has made an assessment of the potential effect on (a) fuel duty and (b) income tax in the event that that increase was maintained by raising those taxes.
tabling member constituency	North West Durham
tabling member printed	Mr Richard Holden
uin	139165
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/01/2021 answer text <p>As we have done throughout this crisis, the government is continuing to assess how best to support people and the economy, taking into account the health and economic context as it develops.</p><p> </p><p>Extending the temporary £20 per week increase in Universal Credit and Tax Credits by a further 12 months would cost over £6 billion. To illustrate the scale of this cost, it would take a 1p increase to the basic rate of income tax and a 3p increase in fuel duty combined to raise £6 billion.</p> answering member constituency North East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Steve Barclay question first answered 25/01/2021 15:31:50 answering member 4095 label Biography information for Steve Barclay
tabling member	4813 label Biography information for Mr Richard Holden

1276332

registered interest
date	13/01/2021
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 assessment she has made of the effect of the universal credit monthly assessment period on the financial stability of claimants.
tabling member constituency	Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath
tabling member printed	Neale Hanvey
uin	137327
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/01/2021 answer text <p>Universal Credit (UC) is a calendar monthly assessed benefit that is paid monthly in arrears. This approach reflects the world of work, where the majority of all employees receive wages monthly.</p><p /><p>Unlike the legacy benefit system, Universal Credit takes income and earnings into account in a way that is fair and transparent across all claimant circumstances, such as different frequencies in earnings and income received. The amount of Universal Credit paid reflects, as closely as possible, the actual circumstances of a household for each monthly assessment period, including any income and/or earnings reported by the employer during that period.</p><p> </p><p>Monthly reporting allows Universal Credit to be adjusted on a monthly basis, which ensures that if a claimant's income falls, which results in a rise in their Universal Credit award, they will not have to wait several months to receive it.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, Work Coaches are trained to gauge claimants’ financial needs from their first contact and can refer them to more specialist support for personal budgeting, money guidance and debt advice if required, including through the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS).</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 22/01/2021 14:42:11 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4782 label Biography information for Neale Hanvey