No assessment has been made of the effect of Universal Credit on the wellbeing of claimants who are also in receipt of maternity allowance, during the covid-19 outbreak.<\/p>
<\/p>
Universal Credit is replacing a complex system of six legacy benefits with a single monthly payment and through a simple taper system ensures claimants are better off in work, keeping more of what they earn compared to the legacy benefit system. It is a longstanding principle of the welfare system that benefits are not paid to claimants with income available from other sources to support themselves.<\/p>
<\/em><\/p> Where claimants have income available to meet their everyday living costs, their entitlement to Universal Credit is adjusted accordingly. This includes other benefits such as new style Jobseeker\u2019s Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance and Maternity Allowance.<\/p> <\/p> Maternity Allowance is a health and safety measure to enable women to stop work in the later stages of pregnancy and after childbirth in the interest of their own, and their baby\u2019s, health and wellbeing.<\/p>"}
, "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4513", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Mims Davies"}
}
, "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Mid Sussex"}
, "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Mims Davies"}
, "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2020-05-27", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2020-05-27T14:25:05.517Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
]}
, "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "29"}
, "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Work and Pensions"}
, "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Work and Pensions"}
, "date" : {"_value" : "2020-05-18", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Universal Credit: Coronavirus"}
, "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"}
, "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"}
}
], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the effect of universal credit on the wellbeing of claimants who are also in receipt of maternity allowance, during the covid-19 outbreak.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4653", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Stephen Morgan"}
}
, "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Portsmouth South"}
, "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Mr Stephen Morgan"}
], "uin" : "48594"}
, {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/601095", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department of Health"}
], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/601095/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : " The Department has received a small number of letters about the availability of injectable B12 over the counter and the issue was also raised at a meeting between the B12 Deficiency Group and the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health (Jane Ellison) in July 2016. All authorised medicines for injection are classified by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency as prescription only. Whether or not a patient could self-administer a prescribed medicine would be a matter of clinical judgement for the patient\u2019s doctor to determine.<\/p> The diagnosis and treatment for B12 deficiencies is well established and reported in the British Committee for Standards in Haematology (BCSH) guidance document, Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of Cobalamin and Folate disorders<\/em>. The guidance was last updated in May 2014 and can be found at the following link:<\/p>