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1602176

registered interest
date	07/03/2023
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	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation report An Essentials Guarantee: Reforming Universal Credit to ensure we can all afford the essentials in hard times, published on 27 February, which found that "95 per cent of people on Universal Credit facing debt deductions are going without essentials", what steps they are taking to prevent debt from being (1) generated, and (2) sustained, in the social security system.
tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of Durham
uin	HL6188
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/03/2023 answer text <p>The DWP takes significant steps to ensure the accuracy of all benefit payments, and figures released in May 2022 showed the overwhelming majority of benefit, nearly 95%, was paid correctly. There are a number of measures in place to minimise the risk of debt, such as a quality checking regime and the use of HMRC’s Real Time Information.</p><p> </p><p>Where errors do occur with UC payments, the DWP takes steps to detect them at the earliest opportunity. Where debt does arise, and a person feels they cannot afford the proposed rate of recovery, they are encouraged to contact the DWP. When they do, we work with them to review their financial circumstances and, in most instances, agree a temporary reduction in their rate of repayment.</p><p> </p><p>We remain committed to His Majesty’s Treasury’s Breathing Space policy, which provides those with problem debt (where applicable) the right to legal protections from creditor action for a period of 60 days.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 21/03/2023 15:02:19 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	4312 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of Durham

1602178

registered interest
date	07/03/2023
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	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what were the (1) minimum, and (2) maximum, benefit sanctions issued in the latest period for which data are available; and what was the average duration of benefit stoppage in that period.
tabling member printed	Lord Field of Birkenhead
uin	HL6190
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/03/2023 answer text <p>The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 21/03/2023 14:15:38 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

1602179

registered interest
date	07/03/2023
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	Personal Income
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by Bright Blue Building up: The future of social security, published in January; and what steps they will take to establish the minimum living income proposed in that report.
tabling member printed	Lord Field of Birkenhead
uin	HL6191
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/03/2023 answer text <p>No assessment has been made.</p><p> </p><p>We will spend £245bn through the welfare system in 2022/23, including £111bn on people of working age and around £134 billion on pensioners. Of the total amount, around £66 billion will be spent on supporting disabled people and people with health conditions in Great Britain.</p><p> </p><p>In April, we are uprating benefit rates and State Pensions by 10.1%. In order to increase the number of households who can benefit from these uprating decisions, the benefit cap levels are also increasing by the same amount.</p><p> </p><p>To further support those who are in work, from 1 April 2023 the National Living Wage (NLW) will increase by 9.7% to £10.42 an hour for workers aged 23 and over - the largest ever cash increase for the NLW.</p><p> </p><p>There is no objective way of deciding what an adequate level of benefit should be - each household will always have different requirements depending on their circumstances. Income–related benefit rates are not made up of separate amounts for specific items of expenditure, such as food. The Government firmly believes claimants should be free to spend their benefit as they see fit, in line with their individual needs and preferences. The Government does not consider it appropriate to introduce changes that would prioritise one particular area of household expenditure over the cost of other essential goods and services that benefit claimants have to meet.</p><p> </p><p>We recognise the pressures of the rising cost of living which is why households on eligible means-tested benefits will get up to £900 in Cost of Living Payments in 2023/24. This will be split into three payments of around £300 each across the 2023/24 financial year. A separate £300 payment will be made to pensioner households on top of their Winter Fuel Payments and individuals in receipt of eligible disability benefits will receive a £150 payment. Further to this, the Energy Price Guarantee will be extended from April 2023 until the end of March 2024, meaning a typical household bill will be around £3,000 per year in Great Britain.</p><p> </p><p>This support is in addition to that provided in 2022/23, including cost of living payments for people on eligible benefits, the Energy Price Guarantee and the £400 non-repayable discount to eligible households provided through the Energy Bills Support Scheme.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 15/03/2023 12:07:41 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

1601524

registered interest
date	06/03/2023
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	State Retirement Pensions: Telephone Services
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the average wait time for calls to the Future Pension Centre helpline; and what steps they will take to improve the wait time.
tabling member printed	Lord Truscott
uin	HL6171
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/03/2023 answer text <p>Due to the unprecedented demand with the end of the tax year approaching, call waiting times for Futures Pension Centre helplines have been higher than expected. As a result of this, increased demand across both DWP and HM Revenue &amp; Customs, and the impact on customer service levels, agreement has been reached to extend the period for payment of Voluntary National Insurance until 31 July 23. DWP anticipates this will reduce demand and improve average call wait times.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 16/03/2023 16:37:22 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	3682 label Biography information for Lord Truscott

1600567

registered interest
date	01/03/2023
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	Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government how many households in England are affected by the under-occupancy charge for (1) one extra bedroom, or (2) more than one extra bedroom; and what assessment they have made of the financial impact of these deductions on those households.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL6023
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/03/2023 answer text <p>For the latest data available, related to September 2022, 286,149 households were subject to the Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy (RSRS) for 1 extra bedroom, and 63,759 for 2 or more extra bedrooms. This data is available on Stat-Xplore.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>For 2021/22, a total of £434m worth of deductions were made for RSRS in Great Britain. This includes households on Universal Credit and Housing Benefit. No wider assessment has been made.</p><p> </p><p>The RSRS policy applies to claims for housing support - either Housing Benefit or the housing element of Universal Credit - where the claimant is living in the social rented sector in a property that is deemed too large for their needs.</p><p> </p><p>The policy helps encourage mobility within the social rented sector to make better use of the existing social housing stock and strengthens work-incentives. An additional bedroom is allowed in certain circumstances such as for disabled people and carers, foster carers, and parents of service personnel. Additionally, those in receipt of pension age housing benefit are exempt.</p><p> </p><p>Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP’s) are available for those who need additional support with housing costs. Since 2011 we have provided nearly £1.6 billion in DHP’s to local authorities.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 09/03/2023 12:33:58 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

1600129

registered interest
date	28/02/2023
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: Children
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of parents who have been denied Universal Credit or Child Tax Credit since 2013 as a result of the two-child limit; and how many exemptions from this limit have been granted since 6 April 2017.
tabling member printed	Lord Hylton
uin	HL5994
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/03/2023 answer text <p>Families are able to claim support for up to two children, and there may be further entitlement for other children if they were born before 6 April 2017 or if an exception applies.</p><p> </p><p>The latest available statistics related to the policy to provide support for a maximum of two children was published in July 2022 and can be accessed at <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/universal-credit-and-child-tax-credit-claimants-statistics-related-to-the-policy-to-provide-support-for-a-maximum-of-2-children-april-2022" target="_blank">Universal Credit and Child Tax Credit claimants: statistics related to the policy to provide support for a maximum of 2 children, April 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)</a></p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 16/03/2023 17:04:53 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	2018 label Biography information for Lord Hylton

1599684

registered interest
date	27/02/2023
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	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government how many benefit claims were subject to sanctions in the most recent three months for which data is available, broken down by parliamentary constituency; how much was the total and average sum of benefit income lost by claimants due to sanctions in each constituency; what was the (1) shortest, (2) average, and (3) longest, length of time taken to challenge a benefit sanction decision in the most recent 12 months for which data is available; and when, and for what reason, the Department for Work and Pensions ceased requiring a case conference to assess the impact of a sanction before any sanction was imposed.
tabling member printed	Lord Field of Birkenhead
uin	HL5907
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/03/2023 answer text <p>The latest monthly statistics, taken from Stat-Xplore, on the number of Universal Credit full service claimants with a payment that has been reduced due to a sanction, by Westminster parliamentary constituency, for September to November 2022, are provided in the answer I gave to you on 6 March for <a href="https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2023-02-20/hl5653" target="_blank">HL5653</a>.</p><p> </p><p>The information requested for the total and average sum of benefit income lost and parts (1), (2) and (3) is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p>Sanctions are only ever applied when a claimant fails to meet their agreed conditionality requirements without good reason.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 14/03/2023 12:39:52 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

1599685

registered interest
date	27/02/2023
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	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government how many and what proportion of benefit claimants currently under sanction (1) are in paid employment, (2) are receiving hardship payments, (3) have a medical condition, or (4) were in hospital or attending a medical appointment when they were deemed to have failed to comply.
tabling member printed	Lord Field of Birkenhead
uin	HL5908
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/03/2023 answer text <p>The information requested for parts (2), (3) and (4) is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p>In November 2022 (4%) of those who received a sanction were in the working – with requirements and working – no requirements conditionality regimes.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Sanctions are only ever applied when a claimant fails to meet their agreed conditionality requirements without good reason. These requirements are developed and agreed in discussion with their work coach and tailored to their individual capability, capacity and specific circumstances, including any health conditions or disability, ensuring they are realistic and achievable.</p><p> </p><p>Those who are not expected to look for work, such as those with severe health conditions, including mental health conditions, are not subject to requirements or sanctions.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 14/03/2023 13:00:59 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

1599686

registered interest
date	27/02/2023
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	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government how many children are living in households in which a benefit claimant is under sanction.
tabling member printed	Lord Field of Birkenhead
uin	HL5909
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/03/2023 answer text <p>Sanctions are only ever applied when a claimant fails to meet their agreed conditionality requirements without good reason. These requirements are developed and agreed in discussion with their work coach and tailored to their individual capability, capacity and specific circumstances, including any health conditions or disability, ensuring they are realistic and achievable. The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 14/03/2023 12:18:30 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

1599687

registered interest
date	27/02/2023
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	Food Banks
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government when they will publish their evidence review on the drivers of food bank usage; and whether they have considered the potential merits of including the need to use a food bank, alongside undue hardship, in the criteria which may exempt claimants from having deductions taken from their universal credit claim.
tabling member printed	Lord Field of Birkenhead
uin	HL5910
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/03/2023 answer text <p>The Department reallocated resources to prioritise work to help the COVID-19 effort. This caused delays to some work, including this literature review. The department has subsequently decided not to restart the review, as it summarises publicly available information and does not contain any new research carried out by the Department. However, we continue to monitor new research and evidence produced by external organisations.</p><p> </p><p>The Department has recently published new data from the Family Resources Survey on household food security, giving us a better understanding of who is most at risk. We have also included new questions in the family resources survey for 2021/2 which will be published in March 2023 and further expand our evidence in this area. This underlines how seriously we take the issue of food insecurity.</p><p> </p><p>The Government recognises the importance of supporting claimants to manage their liabilities. Under Universal Credit, there is a co-ordinated approach to deductions from benefit, which supports claimants to manage their financial obligations. The primary aim of deductions in Universal Credit is to protect vulnerable claimants by providing a last resort repayment method for arrears of essential services. We continue to aim to strike the right balance between ensuring those protections are in place and allowing claimants to retain as much of their award as possible for day-to-day needs.</p><p> </p><p>There has been no specific consideration around the merits of including food bank usage when considering claimants for an exception from deductions. However, if a claimant is struggling financially, they can ask for the amount of the following deductions to be reconsidered:</p><ul><li>Repaying benefit overpayments,</li><li>Social Fund loan; and</li><li>rent arrears.</li></ul><p> </p><p>For benefit overpayments and Social Fund loans, deductions can be reduced or deferred for a period. DWP will always try to ensure that Government debt is recovered effectively without causing undue hardship.</p><p> </p><p>For rent arrears, claimants can ask Universal Credit staff to exercise their discretion to fix rent arrears deductions at the lowest rate in legislation – 10% of the Standard Allowance. This can be done using the Journal or by phone. However, staff would not agree to remove a rent arrears deduction entirely in order to ensure a claimant is protected from eviction.</p><p> </p><p>For those repaying a New Claim Advance, a deferral of up to 3 months is available, in exceptional circumstances, which allow those claimants to temporarily receive their Universal Credit awards without advance repayments being deducted.</p><p> </p><p>We encourage anyone unable to afford the proposed rate of repayment to contact DWP Debt Management at the earliest opportunity - all DWP notifications advise how to get in touch. We seek to do as much as we are able to support claimants through the recovery of their overpayments.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 09/03/2023 12:36:43 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead