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1735563

registered interest
date	21/10/2024
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: Young People
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to removing differences in Universal Credit allowance entitlements for recipients under the age of 25 in their Universal Credit review.
tabling member printed	Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick
uin	HL1819
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/10/2024 answer text <p>The lower rate of Universal Credit standard allowance for customers under 25 reflects the fact they are more likely to live in someone else’s household than customers 25 and over and are therefore likely to have lower living costs. They also typically earn less as they are earlier in their careers, with the lower rate maintaining the incentive to work.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is committed to reviewing Universal Credit. Details of the review will be set out in due course.</p> answering member printed Baroness Sherlock question first answered 29/10/2024 12:39:28 answering member 4147 label Biography information for Baroness Sherlock
tabling member	4130 label Biography information for Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick

1735326

registered interest
date	17/10/2024
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 Independence Payment: Medical Examinations
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 way Personal Independence Payments are accessed by people with fluctuating conditions.
tabling member printed	Baroness Thomas of Winchester
uin	HL1742
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/10/2024 answer text <p>The Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessment is designed to take into account the impact of variations in an individual's level of functional impairment. The criteria consider an individual’s ability over a 12-month period, ensuring that fluctuations are taken into account.<strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>Health professionals carrying out PIP assessments are required to assess individuals in line with the statutory criteria, including whether an individual can complete each of the PIP activities, the manner in which they do it, and whether they can complete each activity safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly and in a reasonable time period.</p><p> </p><p>The PIP assessment criteria were developed in collaboration with independent specialists in health, social care &amp; disability, including disabled people. The Department aims to continually improve the assessment process through customer insight, stakeholder engagement and qualitative research. We are exploring the option of a Health Impact Record that claimants could use on a voluntary basis, in addition to other evidence, to capture the changing effect of their condition on day-to-day functionality. This could help claimants present evidence in a structured way at or preceding an assessment.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Sherlock question first answered 25/10/2024 13:05:51 answering member 4147 label Biography information for Baroness Sherlock
tabling member	3785 label Biography information for Baroness Thomas of Winchester

1734011

registered interest
date	14/10/2024
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	Civil Servants: Clothing
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Sherlock on 18 September (HL1037), whether the attire described in the Daily Telegraph article “Transgender civil servant wearing ‘fetish gear’ sparks Whitehall row”, published on 4 August, accords with the Department for Work and Pensions’ interpretation of professional and business-like clothing.
tabling member printed	Baroness Jenkin of Kennington
uin	HL1553
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/10/2024 answer text <p>I refer the noble Baroness to the answer I gave to question <a href="https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2024-09-12/hl1037" target="_blank">HL1037</a> on 18 September.</p><p> </p><p>The DWP’s standards of behaviour statement requires employees to dress in a professional and business-like way. Professional and business-like has a normal, everyday meaning.</p> answering member printed Baroness Sherlock question first answered 25/10/2024 12:58:59 answering member 4147 label Biography information for Baroness Sherlock
tabling member	4229 label Biography information for Baroness Jenkin of Kennington

1734018

registered interest
date	14/10/2024
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	Winter Fuel Payment: Correspondence and Email
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to provide an address for pensioners who would like assistance with the cost of winter fuel to ask for advice.
tabling member printed	Lord Marlesford
uin	HL1561
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2024 answer text <p>The Department is committed to assisting customers with advice on Winter Fuel payments and the best way to seek advice is by contacting the Winter Fuel payment centre helpline on:</p><p> </p><p>Telephone - 0800 731 0160; or</p><p>Textphone - contact Relay UK on 18001 then 0800 731 0160</p><p>Customers can also use the British Sign Language (BSL) video relay service to contact the department.</p><p> </p><p>Customers may also contact the Winter Fuel payment centre through Gov.uk.</p><p><a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsecure.dwp.gov.uk%2Fcontact-winter-fuel-payments-centre%2Fcontact-form&amp;data=05|02|SPDPQSANDBRIEFINGS%40DWP.GOV.UK|8274bcd7cc374c51b30e08dced2a1503|96f1f6e910574117ac2880cdfe86f8c3|0|0|638646012201460831|Unknown|TWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D|0|||&amp;sdata=gBSg2ChpqYPuA82Q2lbavqc%2BqcESWVMusFl5xdfZceE%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">https://secure.dwp.gov.uk/contact-winter-fuel-payments-centre/contact-form</a></p><p> </p><p>For those customers who wish to write to the department, the postal address is:</p><p>Winter Fuel Payment Centre <br> Mail Handling Site A <br> Wolverhampton <br> WV98 1LR</p> answering member printed Baroness Sherlock question first answered 23/10/2024 11:53:08 answering member 4147 label Biography information for Baroness Sherlock
tabling member	1854 label Biography information for Lord Marlesford

1734020

registered interest
date	14/10/2024
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 Allowance
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government when they will make the next quarterly claimant data for Maternity Allowance available.
tabling member printed	Baroness O'Grady of Upper Holloway
uin	HL1569
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2024 answer text <p>A new operational system to record Maternity Allowance cases is currently being developed. As such, Maternity Allowance statistics have been suspended from the quarterly statistics release until data can be extracted from the new system.</p><p> </p><p>Analysts are currently unable to provide a timescale for when the Maternity Allowance statistics will be reinstated, as work to develop the statistics from the new system is in very early stages. Users will be updated of progress via the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/maternity-allowance-quarterly-statistics" target="_blank">Maternity Allowance statistics</a> page and the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-statistical-work-programme" target="_blank">DWP Statistical Work Programme</a> page on GOV.UK.</p> answering member printed Baroness Sherlock question first answered 23/10/2024 11:52:44 answering member 4147 label Biography information for Baroness Sherlock
tabling member	4977 label Biography information for Baroness O'Grady of Upper Holloway

1734021

registered interest
date	14/10/2024
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 Allowance
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to review the treatment of Maternity Allowance as unearned income, so that employed women receiving Maternity Allowance are not worse off than those on statutory maternity pay and Universal Credit.
tabling member printed	Baroness O'Grady of Upper Holloway
uin	HL1570
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2024 answer text <p>We want new mothers to be able to take time away from work in the later stages of their pregnancy and in the months following childbirth in the interests of their own and their baby's health and wellbeing.</p><p>Maternity Allowance is intended for those who cannot get Statutory Maternity Pay and is designed to have a range of in-built flexibilities making it accessible to as many women as possible. Work is underway to make Maternity Allowance even more accessible so that women will, in future, be able to make their claims online. Further information on when this will be available will be provided in due course.</p><p>There are two qualifying conditions for Maternity Allowance: a woman must have worked for at least 26 weeks in the 66 weeks prior to the expected week of childbirth and she must have average weekly earnings at least equal to the Lower Earnings Limit for National Insurance purposes (£123.00 a week, 2023/24).</p><p>The work does not have to be for the same employer nor continuous, nor undertaken on the same basis. A claim can be made where there is a mixture of employment and self-employment and work for part weeks also counts as a full week’s work when calculating entitlement. A women can choose any 13 weeks within the 66-week period to calculate her earnings. To ensure that women gets the best rate, we have introduced a real time information calculator tool in collaboration with HMRC. Full details of eligibility and how to apply for maternity pay are available on Gov.uk.</p><p>Statutory Maternity Pay is paid by employers and reimbursed by HMRC and is treated as earnings in Universal Credit (UC). As with other earnings, SMP is subject to the work allowance and tapering rules that are built into UC. Maternity Allowance is a contribution-based benefit paid by the State and is classed as unearned income in the same way as other benefits.</p><p>The High Court judgment in 2020 upheld the policy of treating Statutory Maternity Pay paid by employers as earnings as well as the treatment of Maternity Allowance. A subsequent joint NI court judgement on 25<sup>th</sup> April 2022 also upheld the treatment of MA as unearned income in UC.</p> answering member printed Baroness Sherlock grouped question UIN HL1571 question first answered 23/10/2024 11:52:20 answering member 4147 label Biography information for Baroness Sherlock
tabling member	4977 label Biography information for Baroness O'Grady of Upper Holloway

1734022

registered interest
date	14/10/2024
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 Allowance
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government, following the finding in the Parental Rights Survey 2019 that only nine per cent of mothers who do not receive Statutory Maternity Pay apply for Maternity Allowance, whether they plan to make the process for claiming Maternity Allowance more accessible.
tabling member printed	Baroness O'Grady of Upper Holloway
uin	HL1571
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2024 answer text <p>We want new mothers to be able to take time away from work in the later stages of their pregnancy and in the months following childbirth in the interests of their own and their baby's health and wellbeing.</p><p>Maternity Allowance is intended for those who cannot get Statutory Maternity Pay and is designed to have a range of in-built flexibilities making it accessible to as many women as possible. Work is underway to make Maternity Allowance even more accessible so that women will, in future, be able to make their claims online. Further information on when this will be available will be provided in due course.</p><p>There are two qualifying conditions for Maternity Allowance: a woman must have worked for at least 26 weeks in the 66 weeks prior to the expected week of childbirth and she must have average weekly earnings at least equal to the Lower Earnings Limit for National Insurance purposes (£123.00 a week, 2023/24).</p><p>The work does not have to be for the same employer nor continuous, nor undertaken on the same basis. A claim can be made where there is a mixture of employment and self-employment and work for part weeks also counts as a full week’s work when calculating entitlement. A women can choose any 13 weeks within the 66-week period to calculate her earnings. To ensure that women gets the best rate, we have introduced a real time information calculator tool in collaboration with HMRC. Full details of eligibility and how to apply for maternity pay are available on Gov.uk.</p><p>Statutory Maternity Pay is paid by employers and reimbursed by HMRC and is treated as earnings in Universal Credit (UC). As with other earnings, SMP is subject to the work allowance and tapering rules that are built into UC. Maternity Allowance is a contribution-based benefit paid by the State and is classed as unearned income in the same way as other benefits.</p><p>The High Court judgment in 2020 upheld the policy of treating Statutory Maternity Pay paid by employers as earnings as well as the treatment of Maternity Allowance. A subsequent joint NI court judgement on 25<sup>th</sup> April 2022 also upheld the treatment of MA as unearned income in UC.</p> answering member printed Baroness Sherlock grouped question UIN HL1570 question first answered 23/10/2024 11:52:20 answering member 4147 label Biography information for Baroness Sherlock
tabling member	4977 label Biography information for Baroness O'Grady of Upper Holloway

1733468

registered interest
date	10/10/2024
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 what assessment they have made of the financial impact that the five-week wait has on those awaiting their first Universal Credit payment.
tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of Newcastle
uin	HL1499
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/10/2024 answer text <p>No assessment has been made of the financial impact of the 5-week-wait. The Government is committed to reviewing Universal Credit so that it makes work pay and tackles poverty.</p><p> </p><p>The Universal Credit assessment period and payment structure are fundamental parts of its design.</p><p> </p><p>When customers are paid Universal Credit is determined by the date of entitlement. The first payment is usually made around five weeks after the claim is made. The first calendar month is the initial assessment period. At the end of that period, entitlement for that month is calculated and paid 7 days later. Payments thereafter are made monthly in arrears.</p><p> </p><p>It is not possible to award a Universal Credit payment as soon as a claim is made as the assessment period must run its course before the award of Universal Credit can be calculated.</p><p> </p><p>If new customers need support before their first payment is made, all new customers can request an advance of their entitlement to support them. New Claims Advances of up to 100% of potential UC entitlement are available urgently if a customer needs support during their first assessment period and budgeting support is available for anyone who needs extra help.</p> answering member printed Baroness Sherlock question first answered 24/10/2024 15:58:29 answering member 4147 label Biography information for Baroness Sherlock
tabling member	4996 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of Newcastle

1733483

registered interest
date	10/10/2024
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 His Majesty's Government, with regard to the finding in the Christians Against Poverty report Under the rubble of debt and poverty, published in May, that 59 per cent of their new clients had incomes below the poverty line, what steps they will take to reduce the number of individuals living below this threshold.
tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of St Albans
uin	HL1514
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/10/2024 answer text <p>This government is committed to tackling poverty.</p><p>We know that good work can significantly reduce the chances of people falling into poverty so alongside social security this will be the foundation of our approach. The Get Britain Working White Paper, to be set out in the Autumn, will develop measures to reduce inactivity and help people to find better paid and more secure jobs. Alongside this, we have committed to reviewing Universal Credit by listening to the full range of views on potential changes, so that our social security system is fit for purpose.</p><p>We promised concrete actions in our manifesto to support children and families which is why we announced our ministerial taskforce on the 17<sup>th</sup> July, jointly chaired Work and Pensions and Education Secretaries, to begin work on an ambitious Child Poverty Strategy, to reduce child poverty, tackle the root causes, and give every child the best start in life. The Taskforce will publish the Child Poverty Strategy in Spring 2025 and will explore all available levers to drive forward short and long-term actions across government to reduce child poverty.</p><p>We will also take initial steps to tackle poverty by introducing free breakfast clubs in every primary school, so children don’t go hungry, protecting renters from arbitrary eviction and banning exploitative zero hours contracts. As well as this, we announced funding to extend the Household Support Fund (HSF) in England for a further 6 months, from 1 October 2024 until 31 March 2025. An additional £421 million will be provided to enable the extension of the HSF in England, plus funding for the Devolved Governments through the Barnett formula to be spent at their discretion, as usual. As has been done for previous schemes, the Fund is available to County Councils and Unitary Authorities in England to provide discretionary support to those most in need with the cost of essentials.</p> answering member printed Baroness Sherlock question first answered 24/10/2024 15:58:58 answering member 4147 label Biography information for Baroness Sherlock
tabling member	4308 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of St Albans

1733484

registered interest
date	10/10/2024
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	Debts: Mental Health
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Christians Against Poverty briefing paper Deficit budgets: The cost to stay alive, published in September, what steps they are taking to address the impact of deficit budgets on the mental and physical health of those affected.
tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of St Albans
uin	HL1515
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/10/2024 answer text <p>We are committed to tackling poverty and good work will be the foundation of our approach.</p><p> </p><p>We know that good work can significantly reduce the chances of people falling into poverty, but too many people are being denied the security and dignity that comes with being in good work. The Get Britain Working White Paper, to be set out in the Autumn, will develop measures to reduce inactivity and help people to find better paid and more secure jobs.</p><p> </p><p>Tackling child poverty is at the heart of this Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity. The Child Poverty Taskforce has started urgent work to publish the Child Poverty Strategy in Spring 2025 and will explore all available levers to drive forward short and long-term actions across government to reduce child poverty. This will include listening to the voices of children living in poverty and their families.</p><p> </p><p>We need a modern and effective social security system that is fit for purpose which is why we have committed to reviewing Universal Credit and listening to the full range of views on potential changes.</p><p> </p><p>For those most in need, we have extended the Household Support Fund (HSF) for a further 6 months, from 1 October 2024 until 31 March 2025. An additional £421 million will be provided to enable the extension of the HSF in England, plus funding for the Devolved Governments through the Barnett formula to be spent at their discretion, as usual. As has been done for previous schemes, the Fund is available to County Councils and Unitary Authorities in England to provide discretionary support to those most in need with the cost of essentials.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The Money and Pensions Service, an arm’s-length body sponsored by DWP, supports those most in need to improve their financial wellbeing. Working collaboratively across the UK, it aims to ensure that customers can access high-quality money advice guidance and debt advice how and when they need it through its free MoneyHelper service.</p> answering member printed Baroness Sherlock grouped question UIN HL1516 HL1517 question first answered 24/10/2024 15:57:10 answering member 4147 label Biography information for Baroness Sherlock
tabling member	4308 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of St Albans