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800586

	registered interest
	date	04/12/2017
	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	Support for Mortgage Interest
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he has taken to support people who, in the event of outstanding loans on their property increasing due to the replacement of mortgage interest credits with an interest-bearing loan from April 2018 (a) accrue negative equity in their home, (b) are threatened with re-possession of their home and (c) have their home re-possessed.
	tabling member constituency	High Peak
	tabling member printed	Ruth George
	uin	117207
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/12/2017 answer text <p>Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) loans will continue to provide robust protection against repossession to all eligible claimants in times of need. The level of support available will be calculated in the same way as under the current benefit system. Claimants who take SMI loans and mortgage lenders will not see any difference in the payments they receive. There is no reason to expect lenders to behave any differently to now and we do not anticipate that this measure will lead to an increase either in threats to repossess or the number of homes that are repossessed.</p><p> </p><p>A low level of interest will be charged on these loans based on the cost of gilts. This rate reflects the cost of Government borrowing and is forecast to be 1.5 per cent when SMI loans are introduced in April 2018. Recovery of SMI loans will not be pursued until the property is sold or transferred, although a recipient may volunteer early repayment at any time that they are able to do so. If the amount of equity available to the Department for Work and Pensions after the sale of the property is less than the amount due to be recovered the balance will be written off. This includes cases where the property has negative equity.</p><p> </p><p>SMI benefit claimants are being contacted in advance of loans being introduced in April 2018.</p><p>Claimants are given information about how the SMI loan will work, about alternatives to the loan and organisations that can offer further information. Claimants are encouraged to consider how they can fulfil their mortgage commitments should they choose not to take up an SMI loan.</p> answering member constituency Gosport answering member printed Caroline Dinenage question first answered 07/12/2017 15:48:07 answering member 4008 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Dinenage
	tabling member	4662 label Biography information for Ruth George

853306

	registered interest
	date	02/03/2018
	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 20 per cent deduction to repay rent arrears from the universal credit personal allowance, on personal debt and income.
	tabling member constituency	High Peak
	tabling member printed	Ruth George
	uin	130755
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/03/2018 answer text <p>The Department consulted about deductions for rent arrears in 2014. Following this the Government provided for an increased amount to be deducted for rent arrears in order to protect claimants from eviction and to protect landlords’ income streams when all other options for recovery have failed. Increasing the deduction rate to repay rent arrears helps claimants pay off what they owe more quickly, and reduce the chances of eviction. This is an important step in helping claimants clear their debts and to prepare for, find and progress in work.</p><p> </p><p>The rent arrears deduction rate is set at between 10% - 20% and is made up of two parts: a minimum deduction of 10% of the claimant’s standard allowance and up to a further 10% depending on individual circumstances, such as which other deductions may be being applied.</p><p> </p><p>There are no plans to review the level of deductions that can be made. Landlords are however free to make their own arrangements with tenants for the repayment of rent arrears.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma grouped question UIN 130756 question first answered 07/03/2018 16:02:16 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	4662 label Biography information for Ruth George

853307

	registered interest
	date	02/03/2018
	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, whether her Department plans to (a) review the level of deduction from the universal credit standard allowance to repay rent arrears and (b) introduce flexibility within the system for landlords to request deductions at a lower level.
	tabling member constituency	High Peak
	tabling member printed	Ruth George
	uin	130756
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/03/2018 answer text <p>The Department consulted about deductions for rent arrears in 2014. Following this the Government provided for an increased amount to be deducted for rent arrears in order to protect claimants from eviction and to protect landlords’ income streams when all other options for recovery have failed. Increasing the deduction rate to repay rent arrears helps claimants pay off what they owe more quickly, and reduce the chances of eviction. This is an important step in helping claimants clear their debts and to prepare for, find and progress in work.</p><p> </p><p>The rent arrears deduction rate is set at between 10% - 20% and is made up of two parts: a minimum deduction of 10% of the claimant’s standard allowance and up to a further 10% depending on individual circumstances, such as which other deductions may be being applied.</p><p> </p><p>There are no plans to review the level of deductions that can be made. Landlords are however free to make their own arrangements with tenants for the repayment of rent arrears.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma grouped question UIN 130755 question first answered 07/03/2018 16:02:16 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	4662 label Biography information for Ruth George

853308

	registered interest
	date	02/03/2018
	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: Overpayments
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many universal credit claimants are re-paying benefit overpayments; what the (a) mean and (b) median value is of those overpayments; and what the average period is for those benefit payments to be recovered in the most recent period for which figures are available.
	tabling member constituency	High Peak
	tabling member printed	Ruth George
	uin	130757
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/03/2018 answer text <p>The Department has a duty to protect public funds and has an obligation to ensure that in accordance with social security legislation, any overpayment of benefit resulting from a claimants error or fraud is recovered.</p><p> </p><p>There were 40,521 Universal Credit claimants who had a deduction from their Universal Credit as a recovery against a benefit overpayment (which related to their legacy benefits) within the last 31 days (in January 2018 the Universal Credit caseload was 730,000).</p><p> </p><p>The mean value of the outstanding balances is £1,082.50 and the median figure is £332.55.</p><p> </p><p>The information to provide the average recovery period will often fluctuate over time dependent on a claimant’s particular circumstances.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 07/03/2018 16:02:18 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	4662 label Biography information for Ruth George

855515

	registered interest
	date	05/03/2018
	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, the number of Universal Credit claimants who have a level of deduction from the standard allowance (a) at the 40 per cent and (b) above the 40 per cent level.
	tabling member constituency	High Peak
	tabling member printed	Ruth George
	uin	130822
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/03/2018 answer text <p>Of all Universal Credit Full Service awards in January 2018:</p><p> </p><p>(a) 6% had a total deduction amount (either to a third party, for an advance, or for a fraud penalty) which equalled 40 per cent of the standard allowance</p><p>(b) Less than 0.5% had a total deduction amount which exceeded 40 per cent of the standard allowance. In these cases, a priority order is applied so that deductions for rent or fuel costs are applied first, in order to protect claimant welfare.</p><p> </p><p>If a claimant is in financial difficulty as a result of the level of deductions being made they can contact the Department to request that a reduction in deductions be considered.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 08/03/2018 16:02:00 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	4662 label Biography information for Ruth George

853319

	registered interest
	date	02/03/2018
	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 Premium
	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 were receiving (a) severe disability premium, (b) enhanced disability premium or (c) severe and enhanced disability premiums as of May 2017.
	tabling member constituency	High Peak
	tabling member printed	Ruth George
	uin	130768
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/03/2018 answer text <p>The information available for Income Support, Pension Credit and Jobseeker’s Allowance claimants in May 2017 who were in receipt of severe and enhanced disability premiums is in the table below:</p><p> </p><p><strong>Income Support, Pension Credit and Jobseeker’s Allowance claimants in receipt of the severe disability premium and enhanced disability premium, May-2017, Great Britain</strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>Income Support</p></td><td><p>Pension Credit</p></td><td><p>Jobseeker’s Allowance</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Severe Disability Premium Only</p></td><td><p>10,450</p></td><td><p>502,110</p></td><td><p>10,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Enhanced Disability Premium Only</p></td><td><p>21,990</p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>-</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Both Severe and Enhanced Disability Premium</p></td><td><p>6,520</p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>-</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Source: DWP 100% and 5% Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study data</strong></p><p> </p><p><strong>Notes</strong></p><ol><li>Income Support and Pension Credit figures are rounded to the nearest 10. Jobseeker’s Allowance figures are rounded to the nearest 100. “–“ denotes nil or negligible.</li><li>The JSA figures are from the 5% WPLS data. The best statistics on benefits are derived from 100% data sources. However, the 5% sample data still provide some detail not yet available from the 100% data sources. DWP recommends that, where the detail is only available on the 5% sample data, the proportions derived should be applied to the overall 100% total for the benefit. This is the methodology used to derive the JSA figures provided here.</li></ol><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The Department intends to release an ad-hoc statistics publication for Employment and Support Allowance recipients in receipt of severe and enhanced disability premiums.</p><p> </p><p>The information requested is not readily available for Housing Benefit and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Truro and Falmouth answering member printed Sarah Newton question first answered 12/03/2018 12:01:31 answering member 4071 label Biography information for Sarah Newton
	tabling member	4662 label Biography information for Ruth George

853320

	registered interest
	date	02/03/2018
	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 Premium
	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 collate centrally information on the number of people claiming (a) enhanced disability premium, (b) severe disability premium or (c) enhanced and severe disability premiums alongside a payment of income-based employment and support allowance as of May 2017.
	tabling member constituency	High Peak
	tabling member printed	Ruth George
	uin	130769
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/03/2018 answer text <p>The Department intends to release an ad-hoc statistics publication for Employment and Support Allowance people in receipt of severe and enhanced disability premiums in the future.</p> answering member constituency Truro and Falmouth answering member printed Sarah Newton question first answered 12/03/2018 16:56:56 answering member 4071 label Biography information for Sarah Newton
	tabling member	4662 label Biography information for Ruth George

853321

	registered interest
	date	02/03/2018
	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 many people have lost access to transitional protections through natural migration to universal credit.
	tabling member constituency	High Peak
	tabling member printed	Ruth George
	uin	130770
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/03/2018 answer text <p>We have always said that claimants who move over to Universal Credit as part of the managed migration process will not see a cash loss as a result of the change. This is provided that their circumstances remain the same. We will be starting managed migration of existing benefit claimants to Universal Credit from July 2019 and this will be completed by March 2022.</p><p> </p><p>Claimants who naturally move to Universal Credit will do so because they have had a change of circumstances. In such cases claimants will continue to have their new welfare support entitlement calculated on the rules of their new benefit.</p><p> </p><p>DWP continues to evaluate this policy as it is delivered.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma grouped question UIN 130771 question first answered 12/03/2018 11:56:39 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	4662 label Biography information for Ruth George

853322

	registered interest
	date	02/03/2018
	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 many people who have lost access to transitional protections through natural migration to universal credit were in receipt of (a) enhanced disability premium, (b) severe disability premium or (c) enhanced and severe disability premiums at the time of their migration.
	tabling member constituency	High Peak
	tabling member printed	Ruth George
	uin	130771
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/03/2018 answer text <p>We have always said that claimants who move over to Universal Credit as part of the managed migration process will not see a cash loss as a result of the change. This is provided that their circumstances remain the same. We will be starting managed migration of existing benefit claimants to Universal Credit from July 2019 and this will be completed by March 2022.</p><p> </p><p>Claimants who naturally move to Universal Credit will do so because they have had a change of circumstances. In such cases claimants will continue to have their new welfare support entitlement calculated on the rules of their new benefit.</p><p> </p><p>DWP continues to evaluate this policy as it is delivered.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma grouped question UIN 130770 question first answered 12/03/2018 11:56:39 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	4662 label Biography information for Ruth George

855520

	registered interest
	date	05/03/2018
	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 estimate her Department has made of the saving to the public purse as a result of the removal of disability premiums under universal credit.
	tabling member constituency	High Peak
	tabling member printed	Ruth George
	uin	130827
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/03/2018 answer text <p>Universal Credit simplifies and rationalises the current system of overlapping disability premiums and tax credits, through increasing the level of support from £158 a month under the Employment and Support Allowance Support Component to £318 a month under Universal Credit.</p><p> </p><p>By restructuring the rates in this way, the Government made clear that it was not looking to reduce overall spending. Savings from the simplification of Universal Credit support for the disabled do not go back to the Exchequer, but are reinvested to fund the increased higher basic rate of support available for all claimants with Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 13/03/2018 11:35:08 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	4662 label Biography information for Ruth George