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1143587

registered interest
date	02/09/2019
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 assessment she has made of the ability of universal credit claimants to access passported benefits.
tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
uin	285018
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/09/2019 answer text <p>Claimants may currently be entitled to a number of other benefits because they are in receipt of Universal Credit. These are known as passported benefits, which include free school meals and free prescriptions. The eligibility criteria for each passported benefit remain the responsibility of the Departments and Devolved Administrations that own them.</p><p> </p><p>Government Departments and Devolved Administrations continue to work closely together to look at how to reduce the complexity of the current passported benefits system and put in place arrangements for Universal Credit, as it expands, that will continue to target available support at those who need it most.</p><p> </p><p>The Department currently signposts Universal Credit households to other financial support via their online account/payment statement, as well as on the GOV.UK website at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/universal-credit/other-financial-support" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/universal-credit/other-financial-support</a></p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 06/09/2019 10:21:46 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield

1143588

registered interest
date	02/09/2019
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: Disqualification
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what comparative assessment she has made of the rate of sanctions in areas where universal credit (a) has been and (b) has not been rolled out.
tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
uin	285261
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/09/2019 answer text <p>No comparative assessment has been made between Universal Credit (UC) sanction rates and sanction rates for legacy benefits.</p><p> </p><p>There are differences between sanctions policy in UC and other benefits (such as Job Seekers Allowance (JSA)) which means that sanction rates across benefits are not directly comparable. For example, a JSA claimant would have their claim closed (rather than be sanctioned) if they failed to attend a meeting with their Work Coach, and did not make contact within five days. In UC, the same claimant would remain on the benefit and be referred for a sanction. If a sanction was applied, they would continue to receive the UC elements to which they remained entitled, such as those for housing or child costs. UC is designed to provide continuous support to claimants, ensuring that all payment does not cease while we investigate the reasons for loss of contact with a claimant.</p><p /><p>The Department publishes sanction rates quarterly for UC, JSA and Employment &amp; Support Allowance, the latest statistics can be found at the link below.</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/benefit-sanctions-statistics-to-april-2019" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/benefit-sanctions-statistics-to-april-2019</a></p><p> </p><p>The roll out of Universal Credit is now complete and is available in every Jobcentre across the country. By 2023, all existing legacy claimants will be moved to Universal Credit.</p> answering member constituency Eastleigh answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 06/09/2019 13:00:24 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield

1143589

registered interest
date	02/09/2019
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 discussions she has had with the Social Security Advisory Committee on the requirement for national advice organisations to receive explicit consent from a claimant to assist with their universal credit claims.
tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
uin	285019
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/09/2019 answer text <p>The most recent discussions with SSAC took place on 12<sup>th</sup> July 2019 and 21<sup>st</sup> August 2019.</p><p> </p><p>The Department is continuing to work with SSAC and third party organisations to understand how Universal Credit can support organisations who help our claimants.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 06/09/2019 13:32:05 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield

1139847

registered interest
date	17/07/2019
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	Carer's Allowance: Costs
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 cost to the public purse of increasing carer's allowance to the same level as jobseeker’s allowance.
tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
uin	278482
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2019 answer text <p>This Government recognises and values the vital contribution made by carers in supporting some of the most vulnerable in society.</p><p> </p><p>The information requested on the cost to the public purse of increasing the rate of Carer’s Allowance to that of Jobseeker’s Allowance is not available but an indicative cost can be calculated using data published on StatXplore and gov.uk.</p><p> </p><p>The current rate of Jobseeker’s Allowance for those aged 25 and over is £73.10. The difference between this and the rate of Carer’s Allowance (currently £66.15 a week) is £6.95. As of November 2018, there were approximately 780,000 claimants receiving Carer’s Allowance in England and Wales. Thus, paying an additional £6.95 a week to carers in England and Wales would cost in the region of £280m a year. Carer’s Allowance has been devolved to the Scottish Government since September 2018 and is delivered in Scotland by DWP for an interim period under an Agency Agreement.</p><p> </p><p>The Government also provides targeted financial support for carers on low incomes through income-related benefits such as Universal Credit, Pension Credit and Income Support. In April 2019, the additional amount for carers in receipt of Pension Credit and Income Support increased to £36.85 a week. The Universal Credit carer element increased to £160.20 per monthly assessment period. Universal Credit also adjusts to fluctuating earnings and periods when paid employment is not feasible, for example due to caring responsibilities. The Government is committed to helping carers balance providing care with their own paid employment where this is possible, as indicated in the Carers Action Plan.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson grouped question UIN 278481 question first answered 22/07/2019 13:33:57 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield

1130504

registered interest
date	06/06/2019
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Immigration: EU Nationals
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 20 May 2019 to Question 254186 and with reference to page 9 of the Memorandum of Understanding between his Department and the Department for Work and Pensions and to pages 12-13 of the Memorandum of Understanding between his Department and HMRC, for what reasons automated residency checks will not check applicants' records on working tax credit and child tax credit.
tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
uin	261211
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/06/2019 answer text <p>Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs advice indicated that receipt of working tax credit and child tax credit are not currently available as a data set that we can interrogate through the automated checks.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes question first answered 13/06/2019 11:46:07 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield

1130505

registered interest
date	06/06/2019
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Immigration: EU Nationals
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 22 May 2019 to Question 254812 on Immigration: EU Nationals and with reference to page 14 of the Memorandum of Understanding on the EU Settlement Scheme between his Department and the Department for Work and Pensions, whether staff at the Department for Work and Pensions access to that data is restricted to the purposes of the EU Settlement Scheme.
tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
uin	261212
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/06/2019 answer text <p>Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs has full access to a person’s tax records as per HMRC’s statutory responsibilities and their access to tax records data is not limited to the EU Settlement Scheme.</p><p>Similarly, Department for Work and Pensions has full access to a person’s benefit and pension records as per DWP’s statutory responsibilities and their access to these records is not limited to the scheme. The Home Office processes a calculation of residence on based the data provided and does not retain access to the source data in an application to the EU Settlement Scheme as confirmed by the MOU.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes grouped question UIN 261209 question first answered 11/06/2019 11:13:32 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield