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1010098

	registered interest
	date	19/11/2018
	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	Poverty
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to publish a response to the Statement on the Visit to the UK by the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, published on 16 November.
	tabling member printed	Lord Bassam of Brighton
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	HL11545
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/11/2018 answer text <p>The Government will consider the Special Rapporteur’s findings carefully. Although it disagrees with the conclusion of this interim report, the Government has noted that the report welcomes the simplification of the benefits system brought in by Universal Credit and the recent Budget announcements to help tackle in-work poverty.</p><p>The 14 million people in poverty figure used by the Special Rapporteur was taken from the Social Metrics Commission report “A new measure of poverty for the UK”.</p><p> </p><p>We welcome the work that the Social Metrics Commission has done. Measuring poverty is complex, and this report offers further insight into that complexity. We are engaging with the Social Metrics Commission, who acknowledge that further work needs to be done (particularly around data availability and quality). We will carefully consider their recommendations and the detail behind the methodology they have employed when this has been made available.</p><p> </p><p>DWP publishes a range of measures that track various aspects of poverty. These include four measures for low income poverty:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td colspan="2"><p>Number of people in low income (millions)</p></td><td colspan="2"><p>Percentage of people in low income (%)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Low Income Measure</p></td><td><p>2009/10</p></td><td><p>2016/17</p></td><td><p>2009/10</p></td><td><p>2016/17</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Relative Before Housing Costs</p></td><td><p>10.4</p></td><td><p>10.4</p></td><td><p>17</p></td><td><p>16</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Relative After Housing Cost</p></td><td><p>13.6</p></td><td><p>14.3</p></td><td><p>22</p></td><td><p>22</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Absolute Before Housing Costs</p></td><td><p>9.9</p></td><td><p>8.9</p></td><td><p>16</p></td><td><p>14</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Absolute After Housing Costs</p></td><td><p>13.1</p></td><td><p>12.4</p></td><td><p>21</p></td><td><p>19</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>The finding relating to the number of people in destitution is a misinterpretation of the key finding from a report published by the Joseph Rowntree Trust on 7 June, 2018: “Destitution in the UK, 2018”. This report found that 1.5 million people in the UK had been destitute at some point during 2017 and also noted that this was a reduction of 25 per cent compared with 2015.</p><p> </p><p>Under this Government, income inequality has fallen and remains lower than in 2010; the number of children in workless households is at a record low; and there are 1 million fewer people in absolute poverty (before housing costs) compared with 2010, including 300,000 children.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe grouped question UIN HL11546 HL11547 question first answered 28/11/2018 11:45:12 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	3504 label Biography information for Lord Bassam of Brighton

1010099

	registered interest
	date	19/11/2018
	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	Poverty
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the accuracy of the finding by the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights that 14 million people live in poverty in the UK.
	tabling member printed	Lord Bassam of Brighton
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	HL11546
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/11/2018 answer text <p>The Government will consider the Special Rapporteur’s findings carefully. Although it disagrees with the conclusion of this interim report, the Government has noted that the report welcomes the simplification of the benefits system brought in by Universal Credit and the recent Budget announcements to help tackle in-work poverty.</p><p>The 14 million people in poverty figure used by the Special Rapporteur was taken from the Social Metrics Commission report “A new measure of poverty for the UK”.</p><p> </p><p>We welcome the work that the Social Metrics Commission has done. Measuring poverty is complex, and this report offers further insight into that complexity. We are engaging with the Social Metrics Commission, who acknowledge that further work needs to be done (particularly around data availability and quality). We will carefully consider their recommendations and the detail behind the methodology they have employed when this has been made available.</p><p> </p><p>DWP publishes a range of measures that track various aspects of poverty. These include four measures for low income poverty:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td colspan="2"><p>Number of people in low income (millions)</p></td><td colspan="2"><p>Percentage of people in low income (%)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Low Income Measure</p></td><td><p>2009/10</p></td><td><p>2016/17</p></td><td><p>2009/10</p></td><td><p>2016/17</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Relative Before Housing Costs</p></td><td><p>10.4</p></td><td><p>10.4</p></td><td><p>17</p></td><td><p>16</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Relative After Housing Cost</p></td><td><p>13.6</p></td><td><p>14.3</p></td><td><p>22</p></td><td><p>22</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Absolute Before Housing Costs</p></td><td><p>9.9</p></td><td><p>8.9</p></td><td><p>16</p></td><td><p>14</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Absolute After Housing Costs</p></td><td><p>13.1</p></td><td><p>12.4</p></td><td><p>21</p></td><td><p>19</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>The finding relating to the number of people in destitution is a misinterpretation of the key finding from a report published by the Joseph Rowntree Trust on 7 June, 2018: “Destitution in the UK, 2018”. This report found that 1.5 million people in the UK had been destitute at some point during 2017 and also noted that this was a reduction of 25 per cent compared with 2015.</p><p> </p><p>Under this Government, income inequality has fallen and remains lower than in 2010; the number of children in workless households is at a record low; and there are 1 million fewer people in absolute poverty (before housing costs) compared with 2010, including 300,000 children.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe grouped question UIN HL11545 HL11547 question first answered 28/11/2018 11:45:12 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	3504 label Biography information for Lord Bassam of Brighton

1010100

	registered interest
	date	19/11/2018
	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	Poverty
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the accuracy of the finding by the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights that 1.5 million people in the UK are destitute.
	tabling member printed	Lord Bassam of Brighton
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	HL11547
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/11/2018 answer text <p>The Government will consider the Special Rapporteur’s findings carefully. Although it disagrees with the conclusion of this interim report, the Government has noted that the report welcomes the simplification of the benefits system brought in by Universal Credit and the recent Budget announcements to help tackle in-work poverty.</p><p>The 14 million people in poverty figure used by the Special Rapporteur was taken from the Social Metrics Commission report “A new measure of poverty for the UK”.</p><p> </p><p>We welcome the work that the Social Metrics Commission has done. Measuring poverty is complex, and this report offers further insight into that complexity. We are engaging with the Social Metrics Commission, who acknowledge that further work needs to be done (particularly around data availability and quality). We will carefully consider their recommendations and the detail behind the methodology they have employed when this has been made available.</p><p> </p><p>DWP publishes a range of measures that track various aspects of poverty. These include four measures for low income poverty:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td colspan="2"><p>Number of people in low income (millions)</p></td><td colspan="2"><p>Percentage of people in low income (%)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Low Income Measure</p></td><td><p>2009/10</p></td><td><p>2016/17</p></td><td><p>2009/10</p></td><td><p>2016/17</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Relative Before Housing Costs</p></td><td><p>10.4</p></td><td><p>10.4</p></td><td><p>17</p></td><td><p>16</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Relative After Housing Cost</p></td><td><p>13.6</p></td><td><p>14.3</p></td><td><p>22</p></td><td><p>22</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Absolute Before Housing Costs</p></td><td><p>9.9</p></td><td><p>8.9</p></td><td><p>16</p></td><td><p>14</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Absolute After Housing Costs</p></td><td><p>13.1</p></td><td><p>12.4</p></td><td><p>21</p></td><td><p>19</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>The finding relating to the number of people in destitution is a misinterpretation of the key finding from a report published by the Joseph Rowntree Trust on 7 June, 2018: “Destitution in the UK, 2018”. This report found that 1.5 million people in the UK had been destitute at some point during 2017 and also noted that this was a reduction of 25 per cent compared with 2015.</p><p> </p><p>Under this Government, income inequality has fallen and remains lower than in 2010; the number of children in workless households is at a record low; and there are 1 million fewer people in absolute poverty (before housing costs) compared with 2010, including 300,000 children.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe grouped question UIN HL11545 HL11546 question first answered 28/11/2018 11:45:12 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	3504 label Biography information for Lord Bassam of Brighton

1010130

	registered interest
	date	19/11/2018
	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	British Nationals Abroad: Italy
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what arrangements they are making for UK citizens to be able to retire to Italy after the UK has left the European Union; and what advice, if any, they provide to those who wish to do so.
	tabling member printed	Lord Jones of Cheltenham
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	HL11577
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/12/2018 answer text <p>The Agreement and Political declaration on future relations with the EU marks a significant step forward regarding the UK’s relationship with the EU after we exit the European Union. We have agreed in principle the terms of the UK’s smooth and orderly exit from the EU, as set out in the Withdrawal Agreement. We have also agreed the broad terms of our future relationship as set out in the outline Political Declaration which includes defined elements of social security coordination.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 03/12/2018 15:15:21 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	248 label Biography information for Lord Jones of Cheltenham

1010204

	registered interest
	date	19/11/2018
	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	Unemployed People: 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, what recent estimate she has made of the number and proportion of unemployed people who are entitled to claim (a) jobseeker's allowance and (b) universal credit but are not doing so.
	tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
	tabling member printed	Frank Field
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	192726
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/11/2018 answer text <p>At this point in the Universal Credit (UC) rollout schedule, we are not able to distinguish between Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) and UC claims at entitlement level within the Family Resources Survey data (available on gov.uk) for the purposes of estimating take-up statistics. Therefore the JSA data are not of a suitable quality to be published. We are also unable to estimate UC take-up rates at present.</p><p> </p><p>In total, there are 700,000 households not claiming their full entitlement under the legacy system, that we expect will claim Universal Credit because it is a more accurate system.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 27/11/2018 18:15:14 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

1010205

	registered interest
	date	19/11/2018
	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	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, what estimate she has made of the number of people who have ceased to claim income-related benefits in the most recent 12 months for which data is available; and for what reasons those people ceased to make such claims.
	tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
	tabling member printed	Frank Field
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	192727
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/12/2018 answer text <p>The information requested for those moving off income-related benefits is only available for Jobseeker’s Allowance. It is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost for other income related benefits.</p><p> </p><p>The available information which shows the number of off-flows and reasons from the Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) claimant count is published at: <a href="https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/default.asp" target="_blank">https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/default.asp</a></p><p> </p><p>Guidance for users can be found at: <a href="https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/home/newuser.asp" target="_blank">https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/home/newuser.asp</a></p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 03/12/2018 11:52:22 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

1010206

	registered interest
	date	19/11/2018
	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	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, how many and what proportion of new claims for (a) jobseeker's allowance and (b) employment and support allowance were processed within (i) five days and (ii) 10 days or longer within the most recent 12 months for which data are available.
	tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
	tabling member printed	Frank Field
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	192728
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/11/2018 answer text <p>The information requested is shown in the table below:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>Claims processed in 5 working days</p></td><td><p>%of claims processed in 5 working days</p></td><td><p>Claims processed in 10 working days</p></td><td><p>%of claims processed in 10 working days</p></td><td><p>Claims processed in 21 working days</p></td><td><p>%of claims processed in 21 working days</p></td><td><p>Total claims processed</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)</p></td><td><p>165,570</p></td><td><p>23.53%</p></td><td><p>578,170</p></td><td><p>82.17%</p></td><td><p>689,600</p></td><td><p>98.00%</p></td><td><p>703,660</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Employment &amp; Support Allowance (ESA)</p></td><td><p>248,540</p></td><td><p>55.36%</p></td><td><p>358,830</p></td><td><p>79.93%</p></td><td><p>415,590</p></td><td><p>92.57%</p></td><td><p>448,930</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p><strong>Notes: </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The period the data covers is from 1 November 2017 to 31 October 2018.</p><p> </p><p>All volumes are rounded to the nearest 10. For context figures for the total claims cleared have also been provided.</p><p> </p><p>The claims cleared within 10 and 21 days figures are cumulative and as such includes the claims cleared within 5 or 10 days respectively.</p><p> </p><p>Claim processing times may be affected by the verification issues (such as wage slips). ESA and JSA claimants are paid in arrears, usually on a fortnightly basis.</p><p> </p><p>The data provided relates to the initial ESA assessment phase prior to the Work Capability Assessment.</p><p> </p><p>This data is from the Management Information System Programme (MISP), a Departmental</p><p>performance management, data capture and reporting tool. This type of internal management information does not form part of the official statistics outputs that are released by the Department in</p><p>accordance with the UK Statistics Authority’s Code of Practice.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 27/11/2018 17:48:16 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

1010207

	registered interest
	date	19/11/2018
	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 and what proportion of new claims for universal credit were processed (a) within five weeks, (b) between five and ten weeks and (c) in ten weeks or longer in the most recent 12 months for which data are available.
	tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
	tabling member printed	Frank Field
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	192729
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/12/2018 answer text <p>We published statistics on payment timeliness for new claims on 9 July 2018 which found 95 per cent of eligible claims (new claims that were due a payment in February 2018) were paid in full within five weeks of the payment due date.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>Our latest internal data shows that for claims due their first payment in July 2018, 94 per cent of claims were paid in full within five weeks of the payment due date, with close to 99 per cent receiving at least a partial payment. Further details for claimants due their first payment in July 2018 can be seen in the table below. Subject to some fluctuation, this has been broadly consistent for every month for which the data has been requested.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>Within 5 weeks of payment due date</p></td><td><p>6-10 weeks after payment due date</p></td><td><p>More than 10 weeks after payment due date</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Received Payment in Full</p></td><td><p>94.3%</p></td><td><p>3.1%</p></td><td><p>2.6%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Received a Partial Payment</p></td><td><p>98.6%</p></td><td><p>1.0%</p></td><td><p>0.4%</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>In many cases where full payment is not made on time, it is due to unresolved issues such as: claimants not accepting their Claimant Commitment or passing identity checks, satisfying the Habitual Residency Test, or having outstanding verification issues, such as housing costs and self-employed earnings.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 03/12/2018 12:36:55 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

1010208

	registered interest
	date	19/11/2018
	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	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, how many people applied (a) successfully and (b) unsuccessfully for short term benefit advance or advance payments in the most recent 12 months for which data are available.
	tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
	tabling member printed	Frank Field
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	192730
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/12/2018 answer text <p>Around 60% of eligible new claims to Universal Credit received an advance in October 2018. Subject to some fluctuation, this has been broadly consistent for every month for which the data has been requested.</p><p> </p><p>There were 98,250 Short Term Benefit Advances for Employment and Support Allowance, Incapacity Benefit, Jobseeker’s Allowance and Income Support awarded to individual national insurance numbers in Great Britain between January and December 2017. On the number of applications, this information is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 18/12/2018 17:31:51 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

1010209

	registered interest
	date	19/11/2018
	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 universal credit claimants each month are having more than 40 per cent of their monthly award deducted to repay debt.
	tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
	tabling member printed	Frank Field
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	192731
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/11/2018 answer text <p>Deductions may include a number of items that are debt repayments, but may also include other items such as payments to utility companies for current bills, or court fines. These are not debts. Disaggregating categories that represent debt, from those that do not, would incur a disproportionate cost.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>In August 2018, 0.6% of Universal Credit claimants had a deduction that exceeded the normal 40% maximum deduction rate (this does not include sanctions or fraud penalties which are reductions of benefit rather than deductions). In these cases, a priority order is applied so that deductions for arrears of housing costs or fuel costs are applied first, in order to to protect claimant welfare.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 27/11/2018 14:03:41 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead