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1455859

registered interest
date	30/03/2022
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 Assistance Schemes: Glasgow South West
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of local welfare assistance schemes in Glasgow South West constituency.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
uin	150202
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/04/2022 answer text <p>No assessment has been made.</p><p> </p><p>Local Welfare is a devolved matter and it is for the Scottish Government to assess the adequacy of their local welfare assistance scheme.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has recently announced an extension to the funding provided to help vulnerable households with cost of living pressures - providing an additional £500 million from April 2022 to help households with the cost of essentials bringing the total funding for this support to £1 billion (between October 2021 and September 2022). In England, £421 million will be provided to extend the existing Household Support Fund from 1 April to 30 September inclusive. The devolved administrations will again receive £79 million through the Barnett formula (£41 million for the Scottish Government, £25 million for the Welsh Government and £14 million for the NI Executive).</p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 19/04/2022 14:08:54 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1455260

registered interest
date	29/03/2022
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 effect of her Department's advice on Universal Credit on the financial wellbeing of families.
tabling member constituency	Slough
tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
uin	149339
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/04/2022 answer text <p>No assessment has been made.</p><p> </p><p>A central aim of Universal Credit is to ensure that people are better off in work, and one of the key communication objectives is to help claimants understand how Universal Credit makes work pay. This message is being communicated through a range of claimant contact points, including the Universal Credit pages of GOV.UK, the online partner toolkit, printed materials and interactions between claimants and advisers (from DWP and other partner organisations).</p><p> </p><p>Calculators are available on the internet that can help claimants to estimate what their income is likely to be on Universal Credit. These are not sponsored by DWP, but providing accurate information is given, they have a role to play in helping people to understand how much better off they are in work.</p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 06/04/2022 15:08:13 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

1455265

registered interest
date	29/03/2022
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: Uprating
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 impact of not uprating benefits in line with inflation on levels of child poverty in Birmingham, Yardley constituency.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Yardley
tabling member printed	Jess Phillips
uin	149291
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/04/2022 answer text <p>The Secretary of State undertakes an annual review of benefits and pensions with reference to the Consumer Prices Index (CPI). All benefit up-rating since April 1987 has been based on the increase in the relevant price inflation index in the 12 months to the previous September. The relevant benefits are increasing by 3.1% from April.</p><p> </p><p>The latest statistics on the number and proportion of children who are in low income families by local area, covering the seven years, 2014/15 to 2020/21, can be found in the annual publication: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-in-low-income-families-local-area-statistics-2014-to-2021" target="_blank">Children in low income families: local area statistics 2014 to 2021 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)</a>. In the Birmingham, Yardley constituency 32.3% (9,058) of children were in families in absolute low income before housing costs in 2021.</p><p> </p><p>With almost 1.32 million vacancies across the UK, our plan for tackling poverty is firmly focussed on supporting people to move into and progress in work. Our approach is based on clear evidence about the importance of parental employment - particularly where it is full-time – in substantially reducing the risks of child poverty and in improving long-term outcomes for families and children.</p><p> </p><p>The latest statistics show that in the UK in 2020/21 there were 200,000 fewer children in absolute poverty, before housing costs, than in 2009/10 and 540,000 fewer children in workless households.</p><p> </p><p>This plan includes our multi-billion-pound Plan for Jobs has been expanded by £500 million and Way to Work, which is a concerted drive across the UK to help half a million currently out of work people into jobs by the end of June 2022. We have recruited around 13,500 additional work coaches who are all trained to develop a detailed knowledge of their local labour market and to offer claimants the tailored support they need to take advantage of new opportunities wherever they live in the UK.</p><p> </p><p>We recognise that some people require additional support and from April, the government is providing 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 billion. Under the first round of funding, Birmingham City Council was allocated £12,791,135.04 of funding, and they are provisionally allocated the same amount again for the extension of the fund.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 06/04/2022 16:54:21 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
tabling member	4370 label Biography information for Jess Phillips

1455430

registered interest
date	29/03/2022
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 Assistance Schemes: Manchester Gorton
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of local welfare assistance schemes in Manchester Gorton constituency.
tabling member constituency	Manchester, Gorton
tabling member printed	Afzal Khan
uin	149365
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/04/2022 answer text <p>No assessment has been made.</p><p> </p><p>Local Authorities have the power to establish local welfare provision in their area, using the funding they receive from the Local Government Finance Settlement. Local Authorities are responsible for determining how best to assess provision of any local welfare support.</p><p> </p><p>We recognise, however, that some people require extra support with meeting essential household costs due to cost of living pressures, which is why the government is providing 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 billion.</p><p> </p><p>Local Authorities are responsible for designing and delivering the Household Support Fund in their area to best meet the needs of local people, in accordance with the overall scheme parameters.</p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 19/04/2022 14:20:19 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
tabling member	4671 label Biography information for Afzal Khan

1455062

registered interest
date	28/03/2022
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	Poverty: Children
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 publish a strategy to tackle child poverty in Hendon constituency.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	148151
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/04/2022 answer text <p>With almost 1.32 million vacancies across the UK, our plan for tackling poverty is firmly focussed on supporting people to move into and progress in work. Our approach is based on clear evidence about the importance of parental employment – particularly where it is full-time – in substantially reducing the risks of child poverty and in improving long-term outcomes for families and children.</p><p> </p><p>This plan includes our multi-billion-pound Plan for Jobs, which has been expanded by £500 million, and Way to Work, which is a concerted drive across the UK to help half a million currently out of work people into jobs by the end of June 2022. We have recruited around 13,500 additional work coaches who are all trained to develop a detailed knowledge of their local labour market and to offer claimants the tailored support they need to take advantage of new opportunities wherever they live in the UK.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>We recognise that some people require additional support and from April, the government is providing 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 billion. Under the first round of funding, the London Borough of Barnet Council was allocated £2,455,182.90 of funding, and they are provisionally allocated the same amount again for the extension of the fund.</p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 05/04/2022 16:08:10 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

1455091

registered interest
date	28/03/2022
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: Refugees
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to (a) disregard property in Ukraine from any capital calculations for Ukrainian refugees applying for universal credit and (b) provide further exemptions from any capital calculations for Ukrainian refugees applying for universal credit.
tabling member constituency	Bath
tabling member printed	Wera Hobhouse
uin	148320
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/04/2022 answer text <p>The emergency regulations laid on Monday 21 March 2022 ensure Ukrainian evacuees can access Universal Credit and jobs support immediately. Each claim for benefit will be assessed individually and as quickly as possible.</p><p> </p><p>Available capital in the form of savings and investments will be taken into account in the normal way. Legislation already provides for capital assets held overseas only to be taken into account on the basis of their market value: clearly assets such as property owned in Ukraine have no market value at the current time.</p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 05/04/2022 16:52:38 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
tabling member	4602 label Biography information for Wera Hobhouse

1455110

registered interest
date	28/03/2022
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	Poverty: Children
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 provide details of the Government’s strategy to tackle child poverty.
tabling member constituency	East Renfrewshire
tabling member printed	Kirsten Oswald
uin	148246
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/04/2022 answer text <p>With almost 1.32 million vacancies across the UK, our plan for tackling poverty is firmly focussed on supporting people to move into and progress in work. Our approach is based on clear evidence about the importance of parental employment, particularly where it is full-time in substantially reducing the risks of child poverty and in improving long-term outcomes for families and children.</p><p>This plan includes our multi-billion-pound Plan for Jobs, which has been expanded by £500 million, and Way to Work, which is a concerted drive across the UK to help half a million currently out of work people into jobs by the end of June 2022. We have recruited around 13,500 additional work coaches who are all trained to develop a detailed knowledge of their local labour market and to offer claimants the tailored support they need to take advantage of new opportunities wherever they live in the UK.</p><p>We recognise that some people require additional support and from April, the government is providing 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 billion. Under the first round of funding, the London Borough of Barnet Council was allocated £2,455,182.90 of funding, and they are provisionally allocated the same amount again for the extension of the fund.</p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 05/04/2022 17:02:44 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
tabling member	4413 label Biography information for Kirsten Oswald

1455124

registered interest
date	28/03/2022
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	Poverty: Children
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Government has plans to reinstate the cross-departmental Child Poverty Unit.
tabling member constituency	Rutherglen and Hamilton West
tabling member printed	Margaret Ferrier
uin	148230
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/04/2022 answer text <p>A key function of the previous Child Poverty Unit was to support the delivery of the child poverty targets that we abolished in 2016, which we have no plans to reintroduce. We believe that an approach to tackling child poverty focused primarily on meeting income-based targets can drive action that focuses primarily on moving the incomes for those ‘just in poverty’ just above a ‘poverty line’ whilst doing nothing to help those on the very lowest incomes or to improve children’s future prospects.</p><p> </p><p>Ministers and officials engage extensively across Government to ensure a coordinated approach to tackling poverty and we will we continue to do so in the future.</p><p> </p><p>The latest statistics show that in 2020/21 there were 200,000 fewer children in absolute poverty before housing costs than in 2009/10.</p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 05/04/2022 14:29:57 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
tabling member	4386 label Biography information for Margaret Ferrier

1455125

registered interest
date	28/03/2022
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	Poverty: Children
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment the Government has made of the potential effect of increasing benefits in line with living costs on levels of child poverty.
tabling member constituency	Rutherglen and Hamilton West
tabling member printed	Margaret Ferrier
uin	148231
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/04/2022 answer text <p>No assessment has been made.</p><p> </p><p>The Secretary of State undertakes an annual review of benefits and pensions, and the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) in the year to September this approach has been in place since 1987 is the latest figure that the Secretary of State can use to allow sufficient time for the required legislative and operational changes before new rates can be introduced at the start of the new financial year.</p><p> </p><p>CPI has been the default inflation measure for the government’s statutory annual review of benefits since 2011.</p><p> </p><p>CPI has a basket of goods and services that is relevant to pensioners and benefit recipients, is the target level of inflation used by the Bank of England and is an internationally recognised measure.</p><p> </p><p>National Statistics on the number of children in low income are published annually in the “Households Below Average Income” publication. Latest statistics, covering up until 2020/21, on the number of children in low income in the UK can be found here: <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1064433/hbai-summary-results.ods" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1064433/hbai-summary-results.ods</a></p><p> </p><p>The latest statistics show that in the UK in 2020/21 there were 200 thousand fewer children in absolute poverty, before housing costs, than in 2009/10.</p><p> </p><p>This Government is committed to reducing child poverty and supporting all low-income families, and believes work is the best route out of poverty. With around 1.32 million vacancies across the UK our focus is firmly on supporting people into and to progress. Our multi-billion-pound Plan for Jobs, which has been expanded by £500 million, and Way to Work is a concerted drive across the UK to help half a million currently out of work people into jobs by the end of June 2022.</p><p> </p><p>We are giving the lowest earners a pay rise by increasing the National Living Wage by 6.6% to £9.50 from April 2022, and making permanent changes to Universal Credit, worth £1000 a year on average, to two million in-work claimants.</p><p> </p><p>We recognise that some people require additional support and from April, the government is providing 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 billion.</p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 06/04/2022 15:38:00 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
tabling member	4386 label Biography information for Margaret Ferrier

1455171

registered interest
date	28/03/2022
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 Assistance Schemes: Jarrow
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made on the adequacy of local welfare assistance schemes in Jarrow constituency.
tabling member constituency	Jarrow
tabling member printed	Kate Osborne
uin	148404
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/04/2022 answer text <p>No assessment has been made.</p><p> </p><p>Local Authorities have the power to establish local welfare provision in their area, using the funding they receive from the Local Government Finance Settlement. Local Authorities are responsible for determining how best to assess provision of any local welfare support.</p><p> </p><p>We recognise, however, that some people require extra support with meeting essential household costs due to cost of living pressures, which is why the government is providing from April 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 billion. In England, £421 million will be provided to extend the existing Household Support Fund, whilst the devolved administrations will receive £79 million through the Barnett formula.</p><p> </p><p>Local Authorities are responsible for designing and delivering the Household Support Fund in their area to best meet the needs of local people, in accordance with the overall scheme parameters.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 06/04/2022 14:57:34 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley previous answer version 62018 answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
tabling member	4783 label Biography information for Kate Osborne