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1130982

	registered interest
	date	10/06/2019
	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: Scotland
	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 effect of universal credit on the level of rent arrears owed to Scottish local authorities; and if she will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill
	tabling member printed	Hugh Gaffney
	uin	262433
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/06/2019 answer text <p>The Department has not made an assessment of this nature.</p><p> </p><p>Caution should be exercised when considering any assessment of arrears derived from local authority level data which seeks to compare the legacy and Universal Credit welfare systems. This is because they do not compare groups with the same characteristics; typically, the legacy benefit group have been on benefits for some time, where the arrears may be under long-term management. The Universal Credit group, on the other hand, are often new to benefits, and are likely to have experienced a change in their circumstances – for example, a debt-creating event like losing a job or separation. Any arrears for this group will not have been under management and had time to clear.</p><p> </p><p>The initial analytical work we have carried out with a housing provider suggests that many tenants are arriving on Universal Credit with pre-existing rent arrears, that their arrears tend to increase prior to making a claim for Universal Credit, and that Universal Credit actually appears to be helping to clear arrears over time. We are currently extending this analysis to include a number of other housing providers. It will be published when completed. Furthermore, according to latest figures in November 2018 about 8 per cent of social rented households were on Universal Credit; therefore, it is difficult to see how a national trend can be attributed to Universal Credit.</p><p> </p><p>We have, however, responded to concerns in this area by putting a number of safeguards in place, such as 100% advances repayable over 12 months, increasing to 16 months in October 2021; a two-week Transition to Universal Credit Housing Payment; a new Help to Claim service to assist people to make their claim more easily; and Managed Payment to Landlord Arrangements, which allow for payments direct to the landlord if the tenant is likely to have difficulty in managing their rent payments, is unlikely to pay their rent or is in rent arrears equivalent to two months.</p><p> </p><p>Furthermore, in Scotland, the Department delivers Universal Credit Scottish choices on behalf of the Scottish Government, providing the option of Universal Credit being paid twice a month rather than monthly, and having Universal Credit housing element being paid directly to landlords.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 18/06/2019 15:28:46 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4614 label Biography information for Hugh Gaffney

1147829

	registered interest
	date	02/10/2019
	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: Scotland
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the effect of the time taken for universal credit payments to be made to claimants on trends in the level of food bank use in Scotland.
	tabling member constituency	Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill
	tabling member printed	Hugh Gaffney
	uin	293692
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/10/2019 answer text <p>The Department does not keep official statistics on food bank use, so no such assessment has been completed. Some food aid providers produce statistics on the number of food parcels distributed, but the Government has no plans to require individual food banks to keep records as this would place a significant burden on charitable and voluntary organisations.</p><p> </p><p>We have listened to feedback on how we can improve Universal Credit to support our claimants and acted quickly, making improvements such as extending advances, removing waiting days, and introducing housing benefit run on. These changes are giving support to vulnerable people who need it most, whilst at the same time helping people get into work faster.</p><p> </p><p>Furthermore, in Scotland, the Department delivers Universal Credit Scottish choices on behalf of the Scottish Government, providing the option of Universal Credit being paid twice a month rather than monthly, and having Universal Credit housing element being paid directly to landlords.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 08/10/2019 10:07:32 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4614 label Biography information for Hugh Gaffney

1172526

	registered interest
	date	22/01/2020
	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: Scotland
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans her Department to provide additional funding to Citizens Advice Scotland to assist universal credit claimants to maintain their online claim.
	tabling member constituency	Linlithgow and East Falkirk
	tabling member printed	Martyn Day
	uin	6722
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/01/2020 answer text <p>Comprehensive support is available to claimants to use our digital service, however we recognise there will be occasions when people are unable to maintain their claim online, so telephone support is available. In these instances, information normally available through a claimant’s online account will be communicated in an alternative format, which is best suited to an individual’s circumstances.</p><p>The Department is committed to providing the best possible support for all our claimants, including the most vulnerable in society, in both making and maintaining their claim. Help to Claim delivered through Citizens Advice Scotland offers tailored, practical support to help people make a Universal Credit claim up to receiving their first full correct payment on time.</p><p>The Department is assessing the performance and outcomes of the support delivered by Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland through the Help to Claim pilot. We will share the decision about the future of Help to Claim beyond March 2020 in due course.</p><p /><p /> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 31/01/2020 15:30:54 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4488 label Biography information for Martyn Day

1173682

	registered interest
	date	27/01/2020
	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: Scotland
	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 the five-week wait for a first payment of universal credit on levels of poverty in (a) Airdrie and Shotts constituency and (b) Scotland.
	tabling member constituency	Airdrie and Shotts
	tabling member printed	Neil Gray
	uin	8329
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/01/2020 answer text <p>No one has to wait five weeks for their first payment of Universal Credit. New claim advances are available to support those in financial need until their first payment is made. The Department has learnt from where we did not get things right in the past in the legacy benefit system. Too often, the desire to pay quickly meant claimants not receiving their correct entitlement as we did not have an appropriate timeframe to review household circumstances.</p><p> </p><p>Claimants can access up to 100% of the total expected monthly award, which they can pay back over a period of up to 12 months. We have announced that from October 2021, the repayment period for these advances will be extended further, to 16 months. Proposed repayments of the advance are explained, and all claimants are advised to request a level of advance which is manageable both now and when considering the repayments required.</p><p> </p><p>The best way to help people improve their lives is through employment. Households where all adults are in work are around 6 times less likely to be in relative poverty than adults in a household where nobody works. This improves further if all the adults are working full time, reducing a child’s risk of being in poverty from 66% for (two-parent) families with only part-time work to 7%. Universal Credit allows households the freedom from the ‘cliff edges’ which featured in the legacy benefits system, where money was lost when working more than 16, 24 or 30 hours.</p><p> </p><p>There are many reasons people use foodbanks and their growth cannot be linked to a single cause. We have listened to feedback on how we can support our Universal Credit claimants and acted quickly, making improvements such as removing waiting days and introducing housing benefit run on. These changes are giving support to vulnerable people who need it most, whilst at the same time helping people get into work faster.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 8322 8327 question first answered 30/01/2020 12:24:46 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4365 label Biography information for Neil Gray

1189315

	registered interest
	date	22/04/2020
	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: Scotland
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much funding is being allocated to extend the Help to Claim universal credit scheme for a further financial year in Scotland.
	tabling member constituency	Inverclyde
	tabling member printed	Ronnie Cowan
	uin	39005
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/05/2020 answer text <p>Help to Claim assists people to make a Universal Credit claim and receive their first full payment on time through tailored practical support from Citizen’s Advice Scotland advisers.</p><p> </p><p>To maintain this support, the Department has agreed to fund Citizens Advice Scotland up to a further £4.1m for a second year of Help to Claim.</p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 01/05/2020 12:12:26 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4465 label Biography information for Ronnie Cowan

1203026

	registered interest
	date	11/06/2020
	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: Scotland
	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 5 June 2020 to Question 43917, on Universal Credit, how many families in Scotland who have made a claim for universal credit since 23 March 2020 have three or more children.
	tabling member constituency	Edinburgh South
	tabling member printed	Ian Murray
	uin	58693
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/06/2020 answer text <p>From 23<sup>rd</sup> March 2020 to 5<sup>th</sup> May 2020, 3,500 of the 57,000 applications made by claimants with children to Universal Credit, who had three or more children in their family, were from Scotland</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 23/06/2020 16:24:49 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince previous answer version 29525 answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	3966 label Biography information for Ian Murray

1223785

	registered interest
	date	13/07/2020
	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: Scotland
	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 claiming universal credit are in work in Scotland.
	tabling member constituency	Gower
	tabling member printed	Tonia Antoniazzi
	uin	73048
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/07/2020 answer text <p>The latest available information on the number of people on Universal Credit who are in employment in Great Britain, by country, is published 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 grouped question UIN 73046 73047 question first answered 16/07/2020 13:11:26 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4623 label Biography information for Tonia Antoniazzi

1257226

	registered interest
	date	01/12/2020
	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: Scotland
	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 take steps to ensure that recipients of the Scottish Government's health and social care workers £500 bonus payment who are in receipt of universal credit are able to keep the full amount of that payment.
	tabling member constituency	Airdrie and Shotts
	tabling member printed	Neil Gray
	uin	123611
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/12/2020 answer text <p>The Government recognises the vital role that all key workers including health and social care workers continue to play.</p><p>Universal Credit (UC) is designed to ensure that people are better off in work by reducing their UC by less than they are earning. Bonuses are treated as earnings in Universal Credit and the taper is applied when the UC award is calculated.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 07/12/2020 16:32:27 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4365 label Biography information for Neil Gray

1190176

	registered interest
	date	24/04/2020
	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: Scotland
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many staff are providing telephone support for people in Scotland trying to apply for universal credit; and what the average call waiting time is for those applicants.
	tabling member constituency	Midlothian
	tabling member printed	Owen Thompson
	uin	39631
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/04/2020 answer text <p>We are unable to extract data for calls from claimants in Scotland from national data.</p><p> </p><p>As of 24 April 2020 the Department has around 7.5 thousand full time equivalent (FTE) staff taking calls from claimants in Great Britain, this includes contracted supplier resource and DWP colleagues who also case manage claims. For week commencing 20 April 2020 the combined average waiting time for all Universal Credit service options on the national Freephone Universal Credit helpline was 22 minutes and 58 seconds, for the Department’s supplier (Serco) who handle inbound calls for new claims this was under one minute.</p><p> </p><p>People making new claims for Universal Credit in fact no longer need to call the Department as part of the process and we have communicated that widely. Once they have completed their online application we will call them if we need to check any of the information they have given us. We have also introduced new processes to ease pressure on waiting times for identity verification over the phone and other processes.</p><p> </p><p>The Department’s priority is to continue to ensure those who are entitled to benefit receive the support they need at a time when new claims for Universal Credit are at an unprecedented level.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 29/04/2020 17:19:22 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	4482 label Biography information for Owen Thompson

1205139

	registered interest
	date	18/06/2020
	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: Scotland
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many households in Scotland with children have been sanctioned through the (a) withholding or (b) reduction of payments under universal credit since 1 April 2020.
	tabling member constituency	East Renfrewshire
	tabling member printed	Kirsten Oswald
	uin	61528
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/06/2020 answer text <p>The information requested, for the number of households on Universal Credit that have received a sanction while also receiving the child or limited capability elements, is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p>The Department only publishes the number of Universal Credit claimants who have been sanctioned. The latest figures for Universal Credit sanction rates are up to February 2020 and can be found at:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-work-pensions/about/statistics" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-work-pensions/about/statistics</a></p><p> </p><p>Geographical breakdowns of the figures 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> </p><p>Guidance for users is available 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><p> </p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies grouped question UIN 61529 question first answered 23/06/2020 16:59:04 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	4413 label Biography information for Kirsten Oswald