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1518844

registered interest
date	10/10/2022
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 potential merits of reducing the taper rate of Universal Credit.
tabling member constituency	Ynys Môn
tabling member printed	Virginia Crosbie
uin	58909
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/10/2022 answer text <p>The Government has consistently said that the best way to support people’s living standards is through good work, better skills, and higher wages. We want people to see their income increase when they start working or earn more, so we reduce their Universal Credit award by less than they are earning.</p><p> </p><p>These policies are kept under regular review with the most recent changes announced at the Autumn Budget 2021 when decisive action was taken to make work pay by cutting the Universal Credit taper rate from 63% to 55%, meaning that claimants will keep more of their earnings. We also increased the Work Allowance by £500 a year, this is the amount that households with children or a household member with limited capability for work can earn before their Universal Credit award starts to be tapered, meaning many claimants will be able to earn over £550 each month before their Universal Credit begins to be reduced.</p><p> </p><p>These two measures mean 1.7m households will keep on average, around an extra £1,000 a year. These changes represent an effective tax cut for low income working households in receipt of Universal Credit worth £1.9 billion a year in 2022-23. They will allow working households to keep more of what they earn and strengthen incentives to move into and progress in work.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 13/10/2022 14:41:27 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
tabling member	4859 label Biography information for Virginia Crosbie

1519163

registered interest
date	10/10/2022
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	Right to Buy Scheme
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Prime Minister announcement on Right to buy scheme extension on 9 June, what assessments he has made of the potential merits of allowing Housing Benefit to be counted towards mortgage costs.
tabling member constituency	Falkirk
tabling member printed	John McNally
uin	59139
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/10/2022 answer text <p>Since the announcement on the 9 June, the department has begun looking at changing welfare rules so that people who receive housing support can use their benefit towards mortgage payments for a new mortgage instead of on rent.</p><p> </p><p>Further consideration of the merits of changing welfare rules to support homeownership will be completed as the policy is developed in line with steers from the new administration.</p><p> </p><p>A full equalities impact assessment will also be carried out in due course, and before any legislation is laid with the House.</p> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart question first answered 18/10/2022 13:12:16 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart
tabling member	4424 label Biography information for John McNally

1519448

registered interest
date	10/10/2022
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	Mortgages: Housing Benefits
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on the policy proposals announced on 9 June 2022 for Housing Benefit to be counted towards the costs of a mortgage in reforms of the housing market.
tabling member constituency	Falkirk
tabling member printed	John McNally
uin	59856
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/10/2022 answer text <p>The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has not yet met with the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to discuss this policy.</p> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart question first answered 18/10/2022 13:26:23 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart
tabling member	4424 label Biography information for John McNally

1519728

registered interest
date	10/10/2022
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	Energy: Food Banks
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 potential effect of rises in the cost of energy on trends in the level of food bank use; and what steps she is taking to address that matter.
tabling member constituency	York Outer
tabling member printed	Julian Sturdy
uin	59721
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/10/2022 answer text <p>Foodbanks are independent, charitable organisations and the Department for Work and Pensions does not have any role in their operation. There is no consistent and accurate measure of food bank usage at a constituency or national level.</p><p> </p><p>We understand the data limitations in this area, and therefore from April 2021 we introduced a set of questions into the Family Resources Survey (FRS) to measure and track foodbank usage. The first results of these questions are due to be published in March 2023 subject to usual quality assurance.</p><p> </p><p>The government has announced unprecedented support within its Growth Plan to protect households and businesses from high energy prices. The Energy Price Guarantee and the Energy Bill Relief Scheme are supporting millions of households and businesses with rising energy costs, and the Chancellor made clear they will continue to do so from now until April next year. This is in addition to the over £37bn of cost of living support announced earlier this year which includes the £400 non-repayable discount to eligible households provided through the Energy Bills Support Scheme.</p><p /><p>For those who require additional support the government has provided an additional £500 million to help households with the cost of essentials, on top of what we have already provided since October 2021, bringing the total funding for this support to £1.5 billion. For the period October 2022-March 2023, we are providing an additional £421million to help households in England with the cost of essentials, and the devolved administrations will receive £79 million through the Barnett formula.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 18/10/2022 16:59:40 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
tabling member	4079 label Biography information for Julian Sturdy

1507466

registered interest
date	21/09/2022
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	Welfare State: Wales
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 potential merits of the devolution of welfare powers to Wales to permit the Welsh Government to provide additional support for households amid the cost of living crisis.
tabling member constituency	Dwyfor Meirionnydd
tabling member printed	Liz Saville Roberts
uin	53462
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/09/2022 answer text <p>The Wales Act 2017 sets a reserved powers model, making clear that social security, pensions and child maintenance remain reserved to UK Parliament. This position is unchanged since devolution began. The UK Government does not intend to devolve reserved social security powers to the Welsh Government. It has, however, used them to make provision for the £650 Cost of Living Payment (paid in 2 lump sums of £326 and £324) for around 8 million low-income households on means-tested benefits; the one-off disability Cost of Living Payment of £150 currently being paid to 6 million eligible people; and the extra one-off £300 Winter Fuel Payment this year to be paid to over 8 million pensioner households across the UK.</p><p> </p><p>The UK Government has taken further decisive action to support people with their energy bills through the new “Energy Price Guarantee”, which will mean a typical UK household will now pay up to an average £2,500 a year on their energy bill for the next two years from 1 October. This will save the average household in Great Britain at least £1,000 a year based on current energy prices from October. This is in addition to the over £37bn of cost of living support announced earlier this year which includes the £400 non-repayable discount to eligible households provided through the Energy Bills Support Scheme and the cost of living payments. It also includes an additional £500 million from October to help households across the UK with the cost of essentials. In England, £421 million is being provided to extend the Household Support Fund, a discretionary scheme run by Upper Tier Local Authorities, from October 2022 – March 2023. The Welsh Government has been allocated its share of this funding through the Barnett Formula.</p> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart question first answered 27/09/2022 15:11:47 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart
tabling member	4521 label Biography information for Liz Saville Roberts

1506920

registered interest
date	20/09/2022
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	Maternity Pay: Cost of Living
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 increase the rate of statutory maternity pay in the context of recent trends in the cost of living.
tabling member constituency	York Outer
tabling member printed	Julian Sturdy
uin	51648
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/09/2022 answer text <p>The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has a statutory obligation to review Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP), benefits including Maternity Allowance, and pensions annually. The review will commence shortly, and her decisions will be announced to Parliament in the normal way later this year. Any new rates of benefits / pensions will become payable from April 2023.</p><p> </p><p>From April 2022 the standard rate of SMP increased to £156.66, in line with the September 2021 CPI rate of 3.1%.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has no plans to increase the standard rate of SMP outside of the annual review.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 29/09/2022 11:32:08 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
tabling member	4079 label Biography information for Julian Sturdy

1506201

registered interest
date	08/09/2022
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	Household Support Fund
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 potential merits of increasing emergency relief funding through the Housing Support Fund for local authorities ahead of winter 2022.
tabling member constituency	York Central
tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
uin	49727
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/09/2022 answer text <p><strong> </strong></p><p>£842m has already been allocated to Local Authorities in England through the Household Support Fund to support those in need for the period October 2021- September 2022. Almost 9 million awards were given to those in need between October 2021 and March 2022 alone.</p><p> </p><p>A further £421m is being provided to extend the Household Support Fund from October 2022 to March 2023, taking the total funding for this support to over £1.2bn.</p><p> </p><p>The government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living and has taken further decisive action to support people with their energy bills ahead of Winter 2022. The new “Energy Price Guarantee” will mean a typical UK household will now pay up to an average £2,500 a year on their energy bill for the next two years from 1 October, saving the average household in Great Britain at least £1,000 a year based on current energy prices from October.</p><p> </p><p>This is in addition to the over £37bn of cost-of-living support announced earlier this year which includes the £400 non-repayable discount to eligible households provided through the Energy Bills Support Scheme.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 27/09/2022 10:48:22 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1505911

registered interest
date	07/09/2022
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, in how many cases has the Risk Review Team recommended that a claim is ineligible, in each month from January 2020 to September 2022.
tabling member constituency	Edmonton
tabling member printed	Kate Osamor
uin	49224
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/09/2022 answer text <p>Monthly statistics are not available.</p><p> </p><p>The current total of customer cases determined by the Risk Review Team as still ineligible is 170,417 cases.</p><p> </p><p>Of these cases some will be subject to review if the customer engages and provides evidence to verify their claim, but at this time, based on current information held, the customer is not entitled.</p><p> </p><p>The cumulative total of customer cases reinstated following review is 7,221 cumulative cases.</p><p>The cumulative total of customer cases that have ever been suspended is 177,638 cases.</p><p> </p><p>The above figures are based on internal management information and therefore have not been subject to the same degree of scrutiny and quality assurance as an official statistic.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis grouped question UIN 49222 49223 question first answered 22/09/2022 16:40:03 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
tabling member	4515 label Biography information for Kate Osamor

1505912

registered interest
date	07/09/2022
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, whether any benefit claimants outside of London have been referred to her Department's Risk Review Team.
tabling member constituency	Edmonton
tabling member printed	Kate Osamor
uin	49225
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/09/2022 answer text <p>Referrals are made to the Risk Review Team for customers across the whole country and are not just specific to London.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 22/09/2022 16:44:06 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
tabling member	4515 label Biography information for Kate Osamor

1505282

registered interest
date	05/09/2022
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	Pensions: Inflation
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 20 June 2022 to Question 18980 on Pensions: Inflation, what her Department's timetable is for paying benefits in line with Consumer Prices Index inflation.
tabling member constituency	Hornsey and Wood Green
tabling member printed	Catherine West
uin	48451
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/09/2022 answer text <p>The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is required by law to undertake an annual review of State pensions and benefits. The outcome of that review will be announced later this year, and the new rates will enter into force from 10 April 2023.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 17/09/2022 15:48:18 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
tabling member	4523 label Biography information for Catherine West