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1050383

	registered interest
	date	29/01/2019
	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	Social Security Benefits
	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 22 October 2018 to Question 182114 on Universal Credit, what definition of genuine hardship is used by her Department to determine whether exceptional circumstances apply to a claim for an advance payment of (a) legacy benefits, (b) personal independence payment and (c) universal credit.
	tabling member constituency	Garston and Halewood
	tabling member printed	Maria Eagle
	uin	213954
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/02/2019 answer text <p>Advances are available to those receiving Universal Credit, DWP legacy income related benefits (such as Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support, Jobseeker’s Allowance), and Pension Credit.</p><p> </p><p>However, advances are not available for those receiving Disability Living Allowance or Personal Independence Payment (which are non means tested and for people with personal care and/or mobility needs because of a mental or physical disability).</p><p> </p><p>There is no prescriptive definition of hardship used in determining an advance award in Universal Credit, or a Short Term Benefit Advance for DWP legacy income related benefits: we tailor the support that we provide and consider each case on its own merits given the financial and other circumstances of the claimant and their immediate family.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 06/02/2019 16:25:02 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	483 label Biography information for Maria Eagle

992786

	registered interest
	date	22/10/2018
	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 exceptional circumstances is defined when determining whether a universal credit claimant in receipt of a universal credit advance payment is eligible for the three-month discretionary period after the first universal credit instalment before repayments of that advance begin.
	tabling member constituency	Garston and Halewood
	tabling member printed	Maria Eagle
	uin	182115
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/01/2019 answer text <p>The maximum value of an advance payment of Universal Credit is the claimant’s standard allowance plus any additional amounts to provide for extra needs such as housing, children or disability, up to 100% of the claimant’s indicative award and can be repaid over 12 months.</p><p>There is not a prescriptive list of exceptional circumstances to allow the deferral of the advance repayment. Consideration is given to whether the household would face genuine hardship.</p><p>During the recovery of the advance, exceptional circumstances may occur that were not foreseen when the advance was taken out. For example hospital visits resulting in unexpected and regular bus/taxi fares. If these circumstances push the claimant into genuine hardship resulting in difficulty repaying the advance over the agreed recovery time, a maximum 3 month deferral can be considered. Full recovery must currently be made within 12 months. However, from October 2021, the recovery period for advances will increase from 12 to 16 months.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma grouped question UIN 182114 question first answered 03/01/2019 17:29:14 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	483 label Biography information for Maria Eagle

992785

	registered interest
	date	22/10/2018
	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 criteria her Department uses to calculate the value of an advance under universal credit provided to claimants awaiting their first universal credit instalment.
	tabling member constituency	Garston and Halewood
	tabling member printed	Maria Eagle
	uin	182114
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/01/2019 answer text <p>The maximum value of an advance payment of Universal Credit is the claimant’s standard allowance plus any additional amounts to provide for extra needs such as housing, children or disability, up to 100% of the claimant’s indicative award and can be repaid over 12 months.</p><p>There is not a prescriptive list of exceptional circumstances to allow the deferral of the advance repayment. Consideration is given to whether the household would face genuine hardship.</p><p>During the recovery of the advance, exceptional circumstances may occur that were not foreseen when the advance was taken out. For example hospital visits resulting in unexpected and regular bus/taxi fares. If these circumstances push the claimant into genuine hardship resulting in difficulty repaying the advance over the agreed recovery time, a maximum 3 month deferral can be considered. Full recovery must currently be made within 12 months. However, from October 2021, the recovery period for advances will increase from 12 to 16 months.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma grouped question UIN 182115 question first answered 03/01/2019 17:29:14 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	483 label Biography information for Maria Eagle

992787

	registered interest
	date	22/10/2018
	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	Social Security Benefits: Garston and Halewood
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants of (a) legacy benefits, (b) personal independence payment and (c) universal credit in the Garston and Halewood constituency have been given an advance benefit payment to cover a delay in the receipt of their benefit instalments in the last 12 months.
	tabling member constituency	Garston and Halewood
	tabling member printed	Maria Eagle
	uin	182116
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/10/2018 answer text <p>Advances are available in legacy benefits and Universal Credit to help claimants ahead of their first benefit payment. The number of advances made for claimants in the Garston and Halewood constituency is not readily available and can only be provided at disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p>Our latest internal management information data as of July 2018 shows that, nationally, over 60% of new claims currently receive either a ‘New Claim’ or ‘Benefit Transfer’ advance which shows claimants are getting the support they need.</p><p> </p><p>There is no provision for advance payments when applying for Personal Independence Payment, as entitlement has to be established first.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 30/10/2018 18:01:40 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	483 label Biography information for Maria Eagle

987933

	registered interest
	date	15/10/2018
	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 national roll-out of universal credit on the incidence of food bank usage in the UK.
	tabling member constituency	Garston and Halewood
	tabling member printed	Maria Eagle
	uin	179130
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2018 answer text <p>People use food banks for many reasons, and it would be misleading to link them to any single cause. We are constantly reviewing research carried out by organisations including the Trussell Trust, to add to our understanding of food bank use, and will consider requirements to add to our evidence base. Work offers people the best opportunity to get out of poverty and Universal Credit gets people to work faster and staying in work longer than the outdated legacy benefits system.</p><p> </p><p>As a safeguard for people needing more support, we have a well-established system of hardship payments, benefit advances and budgeting loans. We have introduced a further package of measures this year for Universal Credit claimants which were announced at Autumn Budget 2017. This comprehensive package worth £1.5 billion to help people in their first assessment period included, the abolition of waiting days, the introduction of advances up to 100% of a claimant’s indicative award (repayable over a period of up to 12 months), and a two week transitional payment for those previously claiming Housing Benefit.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 23/10/2018 16:44:04 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	483 label Biography information for Maria Eagle

987742

	registered interest
	date	15/10/2018
	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: Liverpool
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions she has had with housing associations in South Liverpool on the potential effect of the introduction of universal credit on tenants' ability to make rental payments.
	tabling member constituency	Garston and Halewood
	tabling member printed	Maria Eagle
	uin	179125
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2018 answer text <p>We work extensively with stakeholders, including housing associations in South Liverpool, to support Universal Credit claimants to pay their rent. Several Liverpool based housing associations are enrolled as Trusted Partners on the Landlord Portal, including Riverside Housing which took part in the Trusted Partner Pilot, and which was one of the first housing associations to enrol on the Landlord Portal. Jobcentres in Liverpool have been working closely with a wide range of partners including Registered Social Landlords throughout the preparation and delivery stages of Universal Credit, to help tenants and identify areas where further support may be required.</p><p> </p><p>The best way to ensure people pay their rent is to help them into work. Under Universal Credit, people are moving into work faster and staying in work longer than under the previous system. The changes announced as part of the £1.5bn package of improvements in the Autumn 2017 Budget support claimants during the first assessment period to prevent them from falling into arrears while their claim is assessed.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 23/10/2018 16:40:54 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	483 label Biography information for Maria Eagle

987934

	registered interest
	date	15/10/2018
	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: Garston and Halewood
	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 make an assessment of the potential effects of the roll-out of Universal Credit on child poverty levels in Garston and Halewood constituency.
	tabling member constituency	Garston and Halewood
	tabling member printed	Maria Eagle
	uin	179131
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2018 answer text <p>National statistics on children in low income are set out in DWP’s annual &quot;Households Below Average Income&quot; publication. The latest figures available are for the year to 2016/17. The number and proportion of children in low income is not available at a constituency level in this publication because the survey sample sizes are too small to support the production of robust estimates at this geography. Latest 3-year estimates for the North West region in 2014/15 - 2016/17 show the rate of children in absolute low income at 20% Before Housing Costs, this is a decrease of 4 percentage points from 24% in 2007/08-2009/10.</p><p> </p><p>The best way to help people improve their lives is through employment, and people on Universal Credit move into work faster and stay in work longer. Work offers families the best opportunity to move out of poverty and Universal Credit strengthens incentives for parents to move into and progress in work. There are 300,000 fewer children in absolute low income compared with 2010 – a record low. The Government has made a statutory commitment to continue to publish data on individuals in low income, including on the number of children in low income. We will continue to monitor the number of children in low income for future Households Below Average Income publications as the roll-out of Universal Credit progresses.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 23/10/2018 15:14:16 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	483 label Biography information for Maria Eagle

987931

	registered interest
	date	15/10/2018
	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 her Department will take steps to collect official statistics on food bank usage in the UK following the national roll-out of universal credit.
	tabling member constituency	Garston and Halewood
	tabling member printed	Maria Eagle
	uin	179129
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2018 answer text <p>We review research carried out by organisations including the Trussell Trust to add to our understanding of food bank use, and are considering requirements to add to our evidence base.</p><p> </p><p>We have no current plans to develop official national statistics on food bank use. However, the Office for National Statistics is leading a project to improve statistics on household food insecurity by reviewing all existing official and non-official sources of data and looking at options to fill data gaps in partnership with government departments, including the Department for Work and Pensions.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 23/10/2018 14:40:45 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	483 label Biography information for Maria Eagle

984906

	registered interest
	date	10/10/2018
	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	Disability Living Allowance: Appeals
	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 24 July to Question 167889 on Disability Living Allowance: Appeals, what estimate she has made of the length of time it will take for claimants of disability living allowance to receive backdated payments as a result of decisions made by her Department being overturned on appeal.
	tabling member constituency	Garston and Halewood
	tabling member printed	Maria Eagle
	uin	177612
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/10/2018 answer text <p>Information about the length of time it takes for claimants of Disability Living Allowance to receive backdated payments as a result of decisions made by DWP being overturned on appeal is not available.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Truro and Falmouth answering member printed Sarah Newton question first answered 22/10/2018 16:18:13 answering member 4071 label Biography information for Sarah Newton
	tabling member	483 label Biography information for Maria Eagle

973406

	registered interest
	date	13/09/2018
	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	Social Security Benefits: Garston and Halewood
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants of (a) legacy benefits, (b) personal independence payments and (c) universal credit in the Garston and Halewood constituency have been given a budgetary advance to cover a delay in payment of their benefit in the last 12 months.
	tabling member constituency	Garston and Halewood
	tabling member printed	Maria Eagle
	uin	174626
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/10/2018 answer text <p>The purpose of a Budgeting Advance is to help pay for emergency household costs, or for help getting a job or staying in work. It is not an advance of benefit; therefore no Budgeting Advances have been paid in the last 12 months to cover delays in the payment of benefits.</p><p> </p><p>A Budgeting Advance is available to claimants where they have been in receipt of Universal Credit, or a combination of a legacy benefit and Universal Credit, for at least 6 months or for a lesser period of time if it relates to either them, or their partner, obtaining or retaining employment.</p><p> </p><p>The calculation of the amount of a Budgeting Advance available to a claimant will vary depending upon whether they are single, part of a couple and/or responsible for a child or qualifying young person. It will also be reduced pound for pound by any savings they may have over £1000 and eligibility can be affected depending upon the amount of earnings received in the previous six month period. A Budgeting Advance is repayable over 12 months, which can be extended by up to 6 months in exceptional circumstances.</p><p> </p><p>Exceptional circumstances would be an unforeseen expense that occurs after an advance is agreed, and continued recovery for the initial agreed repayment period would cause the claimant and their household genuine hardship.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma grouped question UIN 174624 174625 question first answered 22/10/2018 10:52:49 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	483 label Biography information for Maria Eagle