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1138133

registered interest
date	10/07/2019
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 people have people on universal credit who have turned down a job offer in the last 12 months have cited lack of affordable childcare as the reason; and how many of those people received (a) a civil penalty and (b) a sanction.
tabling member constituency	High Peak
tabling member printed	Ruth George
uin	275817
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2019 answer text <p>On Universal Credit, claimants are able to claim up to 85 per cent of their childcare costs, compared to 70 per cent on the legacy system. Where the initial month’s childcare costs may prevent a claimant from starting work, Jobcentres can use the Flexible Support Fund to help claimants. This is a non-repayable award, which can be used to meet the upfront costs of childcare to help support a claimant into work.</p><p> </p><p>Civil Penalties may be imposed by both DWP and Local Authorities, where an individual incurs a recoverable overpayment as a result of failing to provide accurate information as part of their benefit claim or in connection with an award of benefit, and have not taken reasonable steps to correct the error. Civil Penalties are not imposed in the event of a claimant refusing to accept a job offer.</p><p> </p><p>The information request about those receiving a sanction is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 15/07/2019 15:15:03 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	4662 label Biography information for Ruth George

1138168

registered interest
date	10/07/2019
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, pursuant to the Answer of 18 June 2019 to Question 263677, for what reason the letter sent to a universal credit claimant’s journal to confirm an advance payment does not specify the (a) amount to be repaid each month or (b) number of months that the repayments will last; and if he will add that information to that letter.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
uin	275662
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2019 answer text <p>The Department encourages all Universal Credit claimants to actively consider how best to manage their personal budget, with additional advice and support available from work coaches and case managers. When an advance payment is appropriate, claimants decide what percentage of their expected monthly award to apply for and over what period to repay it, up to a maximum of 12 monthly instalments.</p><p>Claimants have the ability to make the decision for themselves on the time period for repayment. Most claimants (around 85%) choose to repay their advance over a 12-month period, with others repaying in a shorter timeframe.</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. From October 2019 we are reducing the maximum rate of deductions to 30 per cent and from October 2021 we are increasing the maximum recovery period for advances from 12 to 16 months.</p><p>Claimants can view their Universal Credit statement online to see how their award is calculated and a breakdown of what deductions are being made.</p><p>We are committed to keeping all Universal Credit services and processes, under review and will make improvements where necessary.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 15/07/2019 15:51:24 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1137829

registered interest
date	09/07/2019
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 proportion of claimants have successfully applied for universal credit (a) once, (b) twice and (c) three or more times in the last 12 months.
tabling member constituency	Wirral West
tabling member printed	Margaret Greenwood
uin	275219
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2019 answer text <p>The proportion of claimants, between July 2018 and June 2019, that have successfully applied for Universal Credit</p><p>a) Once was 91%</p><p>b) Twice was 7%</p><p>c) Three or more times was 1%</p><p> </p><p>A successful application to Universal Credit is defined as a contract for which at least one statement is provided i.e. has received at least one payment.</p><p> </p><p>There are many reasons why a claimant might be required to make a claim on more than one occasion, such as a claimant entering temporary work and then reclaiming at the end of their employment.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><em>Notes: Percentages are rounded to the nearest percent</em><em>.  </em></p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 15/07/2019 15:43:12 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	4400 label Biography information for Margaret Greenwood

1137863

registered interest
date	09/07/2019
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 cost to her Department of fraudulent universal credit claims since the roll-out of universal credit.
tabling member constituency	Vale of Clwyd
tabling member printed	Chris Ruane
uin	275122
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/07/2019 answer text <p>The Department is open and transparent about the cost of fraud and error in the benefit system, publishing our National “Fraud and Error in the Benefit System” statistics each year which detail the amount we estimate is lost to both fraud and error across all benefits.</p><p> </p><p>The latest publication to Gov.uk was made on 9 May 2019 and contains estimates of fraud and error in Universal Credit. The publication can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fraud-and-error-in-the-benefit-system-financial-year-2018-to-2019-estimates" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fraud-and-error-in-the-benefit-system-financial-year-2018-to-2019-estimates</a></p><p> </p><p>As UC expenditure increases, we would also expect to see an increase in the value of fraud and error. We also expect a further increase as UC involves significantly expanding the Department’s caseload and expenditure to include Tax Credits, which were previously administered by Her Majesty’s Revenue &amp; Customs.</p><p> </p><p>The design of UC is expected to lead to a reduction in overpayments across welfare. UC allows us to adjust benefit entitlement in line with changing circumstances in real time. Internal and external data matches are increasingly helping to inform benefit payments and alerting staff to check for any undeclared changes in people’s circumstances.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 17/07/2019 13:42:09 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	534 label Biography information for Chris Ruane

1137865

registered interest
date	09/07/2019
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 number of fraudulent universal credit loan claims since the roll-out of those loans.
tabling member constituency	Vale of Clwyd
tabling member printed	Chris Ruane
uin	275123
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/07/2019 answer text <p>Advances are designed to ensure that the most vulnerable claimants receive the money they need to live on during their transition to Universal Credit (UC).</p><p>It is important to make clear that the vast majority of claims to UC Advances are legitimate.</p><p>As at the end of June 2019, potential fraudulent advance claims equate to less than 1 per cent of all Universal Credit claims.</p><p>The Department takes this issue very seriously and will investigate all claims where fraud may have been committed. Indeed, we have set up a dedicated team to investigate this specific type of fraud.</p><p> </p><p>We are also committed to the use of penalties such as prosecutions and tough financial penalties to discourage this fraudulent behaviour.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 17/07/2019 14:19:07 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	534 label Biography information for Chris Ruane