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1121462

	registered interest
	date	11/04/2019
	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: Housing
	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 had made of the effect of the roll out of universal credit on levels of rent arrears in the London borough of Croydon.
	tabling member constituency	Croydon North
	tabling member printed	Mr Steve Reed
	uin	244110
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/04/2019 answer text <p>We have not made an assessment of this nature, as it is wrong to attribute any change in rent arrears solely to Universal Credit. The initial analytical work we have carried out with a single 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 housing providers. It will be published when completed. Furthermore, according to latest figures (November 2018) only about 8% 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 responded to concerns in this area by putting a number of safeguards in place - 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; 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 eight weeks.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 24/04/2019 10:17:09 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4268 label Biography information for Steve Reed

1129720

	registered interest
	date	04/06/2019
	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: Self-employed
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information her Department holds on the relationship between rent arrears and the roll out of universal credit for self-employed claimants.
	tabling member constituency	Croydon North
	tabling member printed	Mr Steve Reed
	uin	260014
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/06/2019 answer text <p>We have not made an assessment of this nature, as any change in rent arrears is not solely attributed to Universal Credit. The initial analytical work we have carried out with a single housing provider suggests that many tenants are arriving on Universal Credit with pre-existing rent arrears, supporting by the research carried out by the National Federation of ALMOs which shows over three quarters of their tenants come onto Universal Credit with pre-existing rent arrears.</p><p>This initial analytical work also shows that 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 housing providers. It will be published when completed.</p><p>We have responded to concerns in this area by putting a number of safeguards in place – 100 per cent 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; 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>We are aware that for many who are self-employed, particularly those with seasonal businesses, earnings often fluctuate from month to month, and they need to budget and plan for this. Self-employed Universal Credit claimants are no different in this regard.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 12/06/2019 12:45:25 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4268 label Biography information for Steve Reed

1110003

	registered interest
	date	05/04/2019
	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: Croydon
	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 had made of the effect of the roll out of universal credit on child poverty in working families in the London borough of Croydon .
	tabling member constituency	Croydon North
	tabling member printed	Mr Steve Reed
	uin	241434
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>We have not made an assessment at this level.</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. We are committed to helping the most vulnerable to improve their life chances by tackling the root causes of poverty, and ensuring that children have the best possible start in life.</p><p> </p><p>We want to see child poverty falling, and we remain determined to tackle it. We will look at what more can be done to help the most vulnerable and improve their life chances by tackling the root causes of poverty, ensuring that children have the best possible start in life.</p><p> </p><p>That is why we have recently implemented a £1000 increase in Work Allowance rates as part of a package worth £1.7 billion in 2023/24 to some of the most vulnerable low paid working families. It will increase the amount that hardworking families can earn before Universal Credit is tapered away, providing 2.4 million working families with an extra £630 a year.</p><p> </p><p>A child growing up in a home where all the adults work is around five times less likely to be in poverty than a home in which no one is working.</p><p> </p><p>It is also worth noting that absolute and relative poverty rates for children in London are lower than in 2010, on both a before and after housing cost basis.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 15/04/2019 14:44:24 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4268 label Biography information for Steve Reed

1110004

	registered interest
	date	05/04/2019
	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: Croydon
	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 had made of the effect of the roll out of universal credit on levels of homelessness in the London borough of Croydon .
	tabling member constituency	Croydon North
	tabling member printed	Mr Steve Reed
	uin	241435
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/04/2019 answer text <p>We do not track homelessness at Jobcentre level so the assessment asked for is not available, but statutory homelessness and rough sleeping figures for Croydon are available within Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government’s homelessness statistical release: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-homelessness" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-homelessness</a>.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The causes of homelessness are numerous, varied and complex.. A joint study between the Department and the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government, has shown that there is not a direct causal link between welfare and homelessness. This report was published on 25 March 2019 and can be found at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/causes-of-homelessness-and-rough-sleeping-feasibility-study" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/causes-of-homelessness-and-rough-sleeping-feasibility-study</a>. Attributing homelessness to a single Governmental policy would simplify the issue, and this approach would wrongly deny it the multi-faceted approach which we’re committed to delivering.</p><p> </p><p>It is our priority to ensure that those who are homeless, or at risk of homelessness, get the appropriate support to stabilise their lives and move into work. We have provided around £1 billion in Discretionary Housing Payment funding since 2011 to protect the most vulnerable claimants.</p><p> </p><p>There is a range of support available for people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, such as access to Alternative Payment Arrangements, easements to work-search requirements and partnerships between Jobcentres and homeless charities and housing services. By law, work coaches in England must offer a voluntary referral to claimants they consider may be homeless or threatened with homelessness to a Local Housing Authority.</p><p> </p><p>Data on homelessness by local authority level, provided by the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government, is available at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/homelessness-statistics" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/homelessness-statistics</a>.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 10/04/2019 12:03:09 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4268 label Biography information for Steve Reed

1110402

	registered interest
	date	08/04/2019
	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: Croydon
	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 had made of the effect of the roll out of universal credit on levels of foodbank use in the London borough of Croydon.
	tabling member constituency	Croydon North
	tabling member printed	Mr Steve Reed
	uin	242146
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/04/2019 answer text <p>The Department does not keep official statistics on food bank use, so the assessment requested is not available. Some food aid providers, such as the Trussell Trust, 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 always said there are many reasons why people use foodbanks. We have listened to feedback on how we can 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><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 11/04/2019 16:05:01 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4268 label Biography information for Steve Reed