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1109454

registered interest
date	03/04/2019
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 her Department has made of the effect of advance repayments of universal credit on the (a) household income and (b) levels of debt among claimants.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
uin	240478
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/04/2019 answer text <p>Advances are not loans; they are an interest free payment benefit advance, available to help people who need immediate financial support, which is then recovered over an agreed period. The Department has taken a number of steps to ensure that advances meet the needs of claimants and that the recovery arrangements are personalised and reasonable. In January 2018 we increased the amount available for advances from 50 per cent to 100 per cent of the total award.</p><p> </p><p>From October 2021 we are increasing the recovery period for advances from 12 to 16 months, further supporting those in financial need. Furthermore, if a claimant feels that they are experiencing financial hardship because of the amount that is being deducted from their Universal Credit award, they can ask the Department to consider reducing their deductions. From October 2019, the overall maximum level of deductions that can be taken from a Universal Credit award will be reduced from 40% to 30% of the claimant’s Standard Allowance. The Money and Pension Service also provides debt advice and money guidance to claimants if they need support managing their money.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 08/04/2019 15:47:41 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Lord Sharma
tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1109455

registered interest
date	03/04/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Pupil Exclusions
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of school exclusions.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
uin	240479
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/04/2019 answer text <p>The Department supports head teachers in using exclusion where this is warranted.</p><p>In March 2018, the Government launched an externally led review of exclusions practice, led by Edward Timpson CBE. The review is exploring how head teachers use exclusion, and why pupils with particular characteristics are more likely to be excluded from school. It is also considering the differences in exclusion rates across primary and secondary schools in England.</p><p>The review along with the Government response will be published in due course. The full terms of reference for the review can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-exclusions-review-terms-of-reference" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-exclusions-review-terms-of-reference</a>.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 08/04/2019 15:36:54 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1109458

registered interest
date	03/04/2019
answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept id	7
answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
hansard heading	Housing: Construction
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Government is taking steps to prevent the development of policies which result in restrictions on playground use similar to the case of Henley Homes in Lambeth.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
uin	240480
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/04/2019 answer text <p>The Government has been clear that unfair stigmatisation of social residents will not be tolerated, whether that be through restrictions on playground use or otherwise.</p><p>We are looking closely at how we encourage and support genuinely mixed homes and communities. I have asked officials to explore strengthening our existing planning guidance to emphasise the importance of integrated communities and help prevent this kind of thing from ever happening again.</p><p>MHCLG has been consulting widely on the question of stigma including through the Social Housing Green Paper. Many people living in England’s social homes told us they feel ignored and stigmatised and the Green Paper committed to tackling this. Our response to the Green Paper will be published in due course.</p> answering member constituency North West Hampshire answering member printed Kit Malthouse question first answered 08/04/2019 15:05:46 answering member 4495 label Biography information for Kit Malthouse
tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1109463

registered interest
date	03/04/2019
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 1 April 2019 to Question 237589, what the level of uptake has been by universal credit claimants of the guidance services offered by the Money and Pension Service.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
uin	240481
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/04/2019 answer text <p>From January to March 2019 around 9300 individuals visited the <a href="https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/tools/money-manager" target="_blank">Money Manager tool for Universal Credit claimants</a>, hosted on the Money Advice Service website.</p><p> </p><p>Additionally, over the same period, The Money and Pension Service money guidance contact centre was contacted around 1100 times regarding Universal Credit.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 08/04/2019 15:41:22 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Lord Sharma
tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1109464

registered interest
date	03/04/2019
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: Private Rented Housing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support is available to individuals on universal credit who are able to afford accommodation in private sector but are unable to find landlords who will rent to them.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
uin	240482
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/04/2019 answer text <p>We know that there are people who have experienced difficulties when trying to rent a property whilst claiming benefit.</p><p> </p><p>That is why the Government recently announced its intention to work with the sector to ensure those in receipt of housing support are able to access properties. This work has already begun and we have seen meaningful change from key market players to ensure tenants in receipt of housing support can find the properties they need.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, the Government has awarded nearly £20m to local authorities through the Private Rented Sector Access Fund to help vulnerable people access and sustain tenancies in the private rented sector.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 09/04/2019 10:50:07 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1109465

registered interest
date	03/04/2019
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: Private Rented Housing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether an assessment has been made of the standard of accommodation that universal credit claimants are able to rent in the private sector; and if she will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
uin	240483
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/04/2019 answer text <p>No assessment has been made in respect of the standard of accommodation for specific types of tenant.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 08/04/2019 16:42:51 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1109467

registered interest
date	03/04/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children: Day Care
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he has taken to increase the number of available childcare places for parents working full-time.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
uin	240484
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/04/2019 answer text <p>The department has taken several steps to increase the number of available childcare places for parents working full-time. These include the following:</p><p> </p><ul><li>In June 2016, the department invited local authorities to apply to the Early Years Capital Fund, through which we have allocated £100 million of capital funding to help nurseries, pre-schools and playgroups to create additional places for eligible children from working families.</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>Further, in July 2018, we announced the School Nurseries Capital Fund. This is a £30 million capital fund which aims to create new high-quality, school-based nursery places for 2, 3 and 4 year olds.</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>The department has funded Childcare Works to provide expert support to local authorities and childcare providers about maintaining and improving sufficient childcare places in their local area. This has included national events focussing on sufficiency planning and bespoke support for local authorities to strengthen their sufficiency assessments. We have also promoted flexible childcare business models and allocated £7.7 million to 147 local authorities through our Delivery Support Fund, specifically to create additional 30 hours places.</li></ul><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 10/04/2019 16:11:38 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1109468

registered interest
date	03/04/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Schools: Obesity
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to help improve the ability of schools to tackle childhood obesity.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
uin	240485
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/04/2019 answer text <p>Schools have an important role to play in helping equip children with the knowledge they need to make healthy choices for themselves and creating a healthy environment for children to learn and develop a lifelong habit of physical activity.</p><p> </p><p>Many Department for Education policies, some of which are already being delivered, are expected to make a direct contribution to reducing the incidence of childhood obesity, such as the introduction of universal infant free school meals, the school food standards, the addition of food education in the national curriculum, and the primary physical education (PE) and sport premium. We are not complacent however, and recognise that there is more to do.</p><p> </p><p>The doubled primary PE and sport premium provides £320 million per year to improve the quality and access to PE and sport for primary age pupils to develop healthy habits early. We have also invested significant funding in measures to increase cycling and walking to school.</p><p> </p><p>Sport England supports our efforts to engage inactive children to take up sport and physical activity by investing in programmes like the School Games and Satellite Clubs. Sport England is also providing specialist training free of charge to teachers in every secondary school in England by 2020, which will help teachers better meet the needs of all children, irrespective of their level of sporting ability, and involve them in shaping the sporting opportunities that are on offer.</p><p> </p><p>The School Food Standards provide the legislative framework to ensure schools provide children with healthy food and drink options and we are working with Public Health England to update the School Food Standards, focusing on reducing sugar consumption.</p><p> </p><p>As part of the second chapter of the Childhood Obesity Plan we are investing up to £26 million in breakfast clubs. Breakfast clubs can contribute to improved attainment, attendance and overall health and ensure that more children benefit from a healthy start to their school day.</p><p> </p><p>We have also established a £100 million healthy pupils capital fund to facilitate an improvement in children’s physical and mental health by increasing and improving access to and use of relevant facilities, such as kitchens, dining facilities, changing rooms and sports facilities.</p><p> </p><p>From September 2015, Ofsted inspectors look at how provision supports pupils’ knowledge on how to keep themselves healthy, including through exercising and healthy eating and we welcome the new inspection framework which Ofsted is currently developing for September 2019. This will consider how schools build knowledge across the whole curriculum and support pupils’ personal development more broadly, including in relation to healthy behaviours.</p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 10/04/2019 16:29:06 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1109032

registered interest
date	02/04/2019
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Community Energy: Government Assistance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps the Government is taking to support community energy projects.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
uin	239853
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/04/2019 answer text <p>In the Clean Growth Strategy, I announced the creation of a Local Energy Contact Group and a Local Energy Programme. The Contact Group is made up of representatives of communities, Local Authorities and local enterprise partnerships and provides local insight for policy teams across BEIS.</p><p> </p><p>The Local Energy Programme has funded Local Energy Strategies in every Local Enterprise Partnership. These strategies will feed into the newly developed Local Energy Hubs, also funded by BEIS to create capacity and capability to help Local Authorities deliver low carbon energy projects at scale.</p><p> </p><p>I have brought the Rural Community Energy Fund into my Department to allow it to integrate better with the other work we are doing on heat and local ownership. Together with the Local Energy Programme, that will be almost £20m committed by this Government to support local and community energy in the last three years. Alongside this we have launched Prospering from the Energy Revolution, a £100m innovation fund designed to support local areas in demonstrating integrated approaches to local energy systems.</p><p>In our consultation on a Smart Export Guarantee, Government sought views on our future approach and what measures might be taken to support the efforts of community organisations and education providers who want to invest in low-carbon energy installations. The consultation closed on 5 March 2019, the responses and evidence submitted are being carefully considered. Government will respond in due course.</p><p> </p><p>The consultation is available at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/the-future-for-small-scale-low-carbon-generation" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/the-future-for-small-scale-low-carbon-generation</a></p> answering member constituency Devizes answering member printed Claire Perry question first answered 08/04/2019 10:14:50 answering member 3974 label Biography information for Claire Perry
tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1105705

registered interest
date	27/03/2019
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 effect of the five week wait for payment on universal credit on an individual's ability to manage their money.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
uin	237589
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/04/2019 answer text <p><strong> </strong></p><p>No claimant has to go five weeks without receiving support, as advances, worth up to 100 per cent of a claimant’s indicative award, are available up front, if there is a need. Advances are paid back over a period of 12 months and in the Autumn Budget 2018, we announced that from October 2021, the payback period for these advances will be extended further, up to 16 months.</p><p>New Claims are often made as a result of a life event such as losing a job or separating from a partner, and these events can be associated with financial problems. To support our claimants fully at these times, the Department has introduced a number of measures to support claimants before they receive their first Universal Credit award.</p><p> </p><p>Following the Autumn Budget 2017, we have already removed waiting days and are providing an additional 2 weeks of Housing Benefit to eligible claimants to support them when they move to Universal Credit.</p><p>From July 2020, we are introducing a two-week run-on for all those on Employment Support allowance, Income Support or Jobseeker’s allowance who move to Universal Credit and their claim for Universal Credit terminates their existing benefit award</p><p> </p><p>On the 1<sup>st</sup> January 2019, The Money and Pension Service (MAPS) replaced the three existing providers of government-sponsored financial guidance – the Money Advice Service, the Pensions Advisory Service and Pension Wise – which has brought together the provision of debt advice, money guidance and pension guidance for the first time.</p><p>The new body delivers free and impartial financial guidance and a more streamlined service to members of the public providing easier access to the information and guidance.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 01/04/2019 16:45:26 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Lord Sharma
tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe