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1229190

registered interest
date	28/08/2020
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: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure parity between the amount received by claimants of universal credit in relation to the covid-19 outbreak and claimants of (a) employment support allowance (b) Jobseekers Allowance and (c) other benefits.
tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
uin	81537
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/09/2020 answer text <p>Employment and Support Allowance, Jobseeker’s Allowance and Income Support were increased by 1.7% in April 2020 following the Government’s announcement to end the benefit freeze.</p><p> </p><p>It has always been the case that claimants on legacy benefits can make a claim for Universal Credit (UC) if they believe that they will be better off. There are special arrangements for those in receipt of the Severe Disability Premium, who will be able to make a new claim to Universal Credit from January 2021.</p><p> </p><p>Claimants should check their eligibility before applying to UC as legacy benefits will end when they submit their claim and they will not be able to return to them in the future. For this reason, prospective claimants are signposted to independent benefits calculators on GOV.UK. Neither DWP nor HMRC can advise individual claimants whether they would be better off moving to UC or remaining on legacy benefits.</p><p> </p><p>From 22 July 2020, a two-week run on of Income Support, Employment and Support Allowance (IR) and Jobseeker’s Allowance (IB) is available for all claimants whose claim to UC ends entitlement to these benefits, to provide additional support for claimants moving to UC.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 81993 82494 question first answered 08/09/2020 09:07:44 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

1188263

registered interest
date	20/04/2020
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: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to provide financial support for low-income households affected by the covid-19 outbreak; and whether her Department has plans to suspend the use of benefit sanctions during that period.
tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
uin	37442
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/05/2020 answer text <p>DWP took the decision to temporarily suspend both the requirement to attend a face to face appointments and to conduct checks on conditionality compliance with work search for 3 months from 19<sup>th</sup> March 2020. This means no sanctions will be applied for these reasons for the 3 month period, though DWP still encourages people who can work to seek work.</p><p> </p><p>For people that are unable to access or use digital services, assistance to make and maintain their Universal Credit claim is available via the Freephone Universal Credit helpline.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The Government has been clear in its commitment to support those affected in these difficult times and we have made a number of changes to the welfare system to ensure people are receiving the support they need. These changes include:</p><p> </p><ul><li>making it easier to access benefits. Those applying for Contributory ESA will be able to claim from day 1 – as opposed to day 8 - and we have removed the need for face-to-face assessment. Both Universal Credit and Contributory ESA can now be claimed by phone or online;</li><li>increasing the standard rate of Universal Credit and working tax credit for this year by around £1000 per year;</li><li>temporarily relaxing the application of the Minimum Income Floor (MIF) for all self-employed claimants affected by the economic impact of COVID-19 to ensure that the self-employed can access UC at a more generous rate;</li><li>making Statutory Sick Pay available from day 1 – as opposed to day 4 - where an eligible individual is sick or self-isolating; and</li><li>increasing the Local Housing Allowance rates for Universal Credit and Housing Benefit claimants so that it covers at least 30% of the market rents in an area – which is on average £600 in people’s pockets.</li></ul><p> </p><p>Taken together, these measures represent an injection of over £6.5 billion into the welfare system and, along with other job and business support programmes announced by the Chancellor, represent one of the most comprehensive packages of support introduced by an advanced economy in response to the covid-19 outbreak.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>We currently have no plans to cancel or suspend pre-existing sanctions. Claimants who were sanctioned before Covid 19 can continue to apply for hardship payments and are no worse off as a result of the pandemic. We continue to review our policies as the situation evolves.</p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 05/05/2020 10:12:06 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies previous answer version 17549 answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman