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1131674

registered interest
date	12/06/2019
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	Zero-hours Contracts: West Midlands
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people in the West Midlands on zero-hour contracts.
tabling member constituency	Coventry South
tabling member printed	Mr Jim Cunningham
uin	263688
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/06/2019 answer text <p>Data from the independent Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that in 2018 75,000 people in the West Midlands are employed on zero hours’ contracts – representing just 2.7% of people employed in the West Midlands.</p><p> </p><p>In the UK in 2018 the ONS estimate that 844,000 people were employed on zero hours’ contracts – 2.6% of all people employed.</p><p> </p><p>A record number of people (32.7 million) in the UK are employed. Since 2010 nearly 80% of the growth in employment has been in full-time work and over 75% has come from permanent employment’. Average wages have grown faster than inflation for 15 consecutive months.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 17/06/2019 15:05:37 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	308 label Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham

1131195

registered interest
date	11/06/2019
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
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to bring forward proposals to simplify the process by which social housing landlords advise her Department of a rent increase in order for a tenant in receipt of universal credit to receive an uplift in housing benefit.
tabling member constituency	Kilmarnock and Loudoun
tabling member printed	Alan Brown
uin	263186
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/06/2019 answer text <p>Universal Credit payments are designed to mirror the world of work, with monthly payments reflecting the way many working people are paid. This model of monthly payments allows claimants to take responsibility for budgeting their own income and helps prepare them for getting back to work.</p><p> </p><p>Many claimants are capable of managing their own financial affairs and for these claimants a Managed Payment to Landlord is not appropriate. However, we recognise that additional support is sometimes necessarily to ensure rent is paid on time.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>Our Trusted Partner scheme allows social landlords to play a key role in engaging with their tenants who are on Universal Credit, helping those who cannot manage their housing payments to access the support available and to help put managed payments in place where appropriate. We are rolling out the scheme alongside the Landlord Portal, which provides social landlords with the ability to submit information directly to the Universal Credit online system, supporting the timely and accurate payment of housing costs to Universal Credit claimants.</p><p> </p><p>The Department is developing a facility whereby social landlords whose tenants are on the landlord portal are able to advise Universal Credit about an annual rent change through the platform. This will help reduce administration for landlords and ensure the correct housing costs are paid.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 17/06/2019 15:07:19 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4470 label Biography information for Alan Brown

1131206

registered interest
date	11/06/2019
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	Workplace Pensions
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 participated in pension auto-enrolment; and what proportion of those people have made additional contributions to their scheme.
tabling member constituency	East Londonderry
tabling member printed	Mr Gregory Campbell
uin	263082
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/06/2019 answer text <p>8,000 eligible jobholders have been automatically enrolled and 1,760 employers have met their AE duties, from 2012 to 2019, in the East Londonderry constituency.</p><p> </p><p>The success of Automatic Enrolment has transformed workplace pension saving. More than 10 million workers have now been automatically enrolled by over 1.5 million employers. Since the introduction of Automatic Enrolment, overall workplace pension participation has increased amongst eligible employees from 10.7 million in 2012 to 18.7 million in 2018.</p><p> </p><p>In April 2017, approximately half of eligible private sector employees making a contribution were contributing at levels of 2% and over (above the minimum requirements at the time). Total minimum contribution rates have since increased in April 2018 and April 2019 to 8%. We are continuing to monitor the impact of those increases closely, including how this impacts on overall contribution rates and the savings behaviour of employees. The available data can be accessed in the Automatic Enrolment Evaluation report 2018 and can be found at the following link:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/764964/Automatic_Enrolment_Evaluation_Report_2018.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/764964/Automatic_Enrolment_Evaluation_Report_2018.pdf</a></p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 17/06/2019 14:57:48 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	1409 label Biography information for Mr Gregory Campbell

1131245

registered interest
date	11/06/2019
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: Repayments
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 19 June 2019 to Question 260559 on universal credit, what assessment she has made of the average length of time taken to repay in full advance payments made under universal credit.
tabling member constituency	Vale of Clwyd
tabling member printed	Chris Ruane
uin	263065
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/06/2019 answer text <p>The Department encourages all Universal Credit claimants to actively consider how best to manage their personal budget, with additional advice and support available from work coaches and case managers. When an advance payment is appropriate, claimants decide what percentage of their expected monthly award to apply for and over what period to repay it, up to a maximum of 12 monthly instalments.</p><p> </p><p>Claimants have the ability to make the decision for themselves on the time period for repayment. Most claimants (around 85%) choose to repay their advance over a 12-month period, with others repaying in a shorter timeframe.</p><p> </p><p>The Department has taken a number of steps to ensure that advances meet the needs of claimants and that recovery arrangements are personalised and reasonable. From October 2019 we are reducing the maximum rate of deductions to 30 per cent and from October 2021 we are increasing the maximum recovery period for advances from 12 to 16 months.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 19/06/2019 17:00:48 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma previous answer version 123347 answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	534 label Biography information for Chris Ruane

1131256

registered interest
date	11/06/2019
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	Pension Credit: Inverclyde
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) individuals and (b) couples receive pension credits in Inverclyde.
tabling member constituency	Inverclyde
tabling member printed	Ronnie Cowan
uin	263184
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/06/2019 answer text <p>Information on the number of individuals and couples receiving Pension Credit in Inverclyde from most recent data (as of November 2018) is set out below:</p><p> </p><p><strong>Pension Credit recipients in Inverclyde</strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong> </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>November ‘18</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Individual</p></td><td><p>2,742</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Couple</p></td><td><p>438</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Source: DWP Stat-Xplore</p><p> </p><p>This information is published and available at Stat-Xplore:</p><p> </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> </p><p><a href="https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html" target="_blank">https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html</a></p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 17/06/2019 14:42:26 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4465 label Biography information for Ronnie Cowan

1131258

registered interest
date	11/06/2019
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	Pension Credit: Inverclyde
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 Inverclyde are eligible for pension credits but do not claim.
tabling member constituency	Inverclyde
tabling member printed	Ronnie Cowan
uin	263185
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/06/2019 answer text <p>The information requested on the number of households in Inverclyde are eligible for pension credits but do not claim is not available at constituency level.</p><p> </p><p>Official statistics on the take-up of income related benefits at Great Britain level, including Pension Credit, can be found in the ‘Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up in 2016 to 2017’ publication.</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/income-related-benefits-estimates-of-take-up-financial-year-2016-to-2017" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/income-related-benefits-estimates-of-take-up-financial-year-2016-to-2017</a></p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 17/06/2019 14:10:00 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4465 label Biography information for Ronnie Cowan

1131270

registered interest
date	11/06/2019
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	Social Security Benefits: Disqualification
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many sanctions have been applied to claimants who (a) are pregnant and (b) have young dependent children in each of the last five years for which data are available.
tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
tabling member printed	Frank Field
uin	263061
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/06/2019 answer text <p>The information requested is not available.</p><p> </p><p>Sanctions are only used in a minority of cases, and that is when people fail to meet their agreed conditionality requirements without good reason. A Decision Maker will take into account all the claimant’s individual circumstances, including any health conditions or caring responsibilities and any evidence of good reason they have provided, before deciding whether a sanction is warranted.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 17/06/2019 15:07:08 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

1131301

registered interest
date	11/06/2019
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	Pension Credit
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate she has made of the number of additional claims that will be made for pension credit following the limiting of free TV licences to people aged over 75 claiming that benefit.
tabling member constituency	Cardiff West
tabling member printed	Kevin Brennan
uin	263077
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/06/2019 answer text <p>The BBC made its announcement about future eligibility of free TV licences on Monday 10 June. It is too early for an assessment of the potential impact on additional Pension Credit claims to be made. Official statistics on the take-up of income related benefits, including pension credit at general Great Britain level can be found in the ‘Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up in 2016 to 2017’ publication. <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/income-related-benefits-estimates-of-take-up-financial-year-2016-to-2017" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/income-related-benefits-estimates-of-take-up-financial-year-2016-to-2017</a></p><p>The Government is committed to ensuring that older people receive the support they are entitled to and the DWP targets activity on engaging with people who may be eligible to benefits at pivotal stages, such as when they claim State Pension or report a change in their circumstances. The DWP uses a wide range of channels to communicate information about benefits to potential customers; including information on <a href="https://gov.uk/" target="_blank">https://gov.uk/</a> , in leaflets and by telephone. DWP staff in Pension Centres and Jobcentres including visiting officers are able to provide help and advice about entitlement to benefits, as are staff in Local Authorities who administer Housing Benefit.</p><p>Potential customers can use the Pension Credit <a href="https://www.gov.uk/pension-credit-calculator" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/pension-credit-calculator</a> to check if they are likely to be eligible and get an estimate of what they may receive. People wishing to claim Pension Credit can do so by calling 0800 99 1234.</p><p>One of the best ways to reach eligible customers is through trusted stakeholder working in the community and we have developed the Pension Credit toolkit, as an on-line tool for agencies and welfare rights organisations to use in order to encourage Pension Credit take-up. It can be found at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pension-credit-toolkit" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pension-credit-toolkit</a></p><p>The toolkit contains resources for anyone working with pensioners and includes guides to Pension Credit. It also contains publicity material and guidance designed to help older people understand how they could get Pension Credit and help organisations support someone applying for Pension Credit as well as ideas for encouraging take-up. The toolkit also provides links to information about disability and carers benefits.</p><p>Most recently we have provided to relevant organisations a fact sheet about Pension Credit and the recent changes for mixed age couples to ensure that accurate information is available in the places where people are most likely to seek information.</p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 25/06/2019 13:34:48 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman previous answer version 123349 answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	1400 label Biography information for Kevin Brennan

1131319

registered interest
date	11/06/2019
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: Overpayments
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 2019 to Question 257458 on Universal Credit: Overpayments, how many overpayments have been waived (a) in full and (b) in part as a result of applications made by claimants or their representatives since 2013.
tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
tabling member printed	Frank Field
uin	263062
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/06/2019 answer text <p>As all waiver applications are stored clerically, providing this information would require reviewing all successful applications made since 2013 to determine how many were made in relation to Universal Credit overpayments. We estimate that this would incur disproportionate costs.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 17/06/2019 15:13:46 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

1131346

registered interest
date	11/06/2019
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
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 it her policy to no longer deduct student maintenance loans from universal credit payments to ensure claimants are not pushed into financial hardship while undertaking study.
tabling member constituency	Houghton and Sunderland South
tabling member printed	Bridget Phillipson
uin	263142
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/06/2019 answer text <p>Most full time students in education do not qualify for benefits or tax credits. Universal Credit is no different, as students can access fees and living costs to support their education courses through various loans and grants funded by the Department for Education. It is important that Universal Credit does not duplicate this support, which is designed for their needs unlike the social security system.</p><p> </p><p>Treatment of student income under Universal Credit broadly mirrors that in Legacy Benefits which safeguards fairness whilst also ensuring simplification of the benefit system. An award of Universal Credit takes into account the elements of student loans or grants which provide for basic maintenance and disregards elements paid for specific additional costs, such as tuition or books. A flat rate monthly disregard of £110 is applied against the amount taken into account as student income</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 17/06/2019 15:25:07 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	4046 label Biography information for Bridget Phillipson