Although Autumn Budget 2018 announced a reduction (applying from October 2019) in the overall maximum rate of deductions from Universal Credit from 40% to 30%, the maximum proportion of Universal Credit which can be deducted for claimant rent arrears has not changed and remains between 10 and 20 per cent.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4014", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Reading West"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Alok Sharma"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2018-11-26", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2018-11-26T18:28:55.217Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "29"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Work and Pensions"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Work and Pensions"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2018-11-21", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Universal Credit"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the maximum proportion of universal credit which can be deducted for claimant rent arrears will change as a result of Budget 2018.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4400", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Margaret Greenwood"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Wirral West"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Margaret Greenwood"} ], "uin" : "194161"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1011515", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Work and Pensions"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1011515/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
There are no circumstances in which the repayment of an advance can be taken in excess of 40% of a claimant\u2019s Universal Credit standard allowance.*<\/p>
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From October 2019, we will reduce the maximum rate at which deductions can be made from a Universal Credit award from 40% to 30% of the standard allowance. This will ensure that those on Universal Credit are supported to repay debts in a more sustainable and manageable way. From October 2021, we will also increase the period over which advances will be recovered, from 12 to 16 months.<\/p>
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* The addition of a subsequent deduction such as for rent, gas or electricity arrears may take the overall level of deductions to over 40% in a small number of cases. In these circumstances the advance repayments do not themselves take the claimant over the threshold, rather the additional deductions are made to protect claimant welfare by preventing disconnection or eviction.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4014", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Reading West"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Alok Sharma"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2018-11-26", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2018-11-26T17:30:26.45Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "29"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Work and Pensions"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Work and Pensions"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2018-11-21", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Universal Credit"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in what circumstances the repayment of an advance can be deducted from a claimant's universal credit in addition to the maximum proportion that can be deducted for other debts.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4400", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Margaret Greenwood"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Wirral West"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Margaret Greenwood"} ], "uin" : "194162"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1011516", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Work and Pensions"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1011516/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
Universal Credit is a 24 hour, seven day a week digital service that allows claimants to check their Universal Credit benefit payments, notify us of changes and record notes via an online journal facility. We also see claimants regularly face-to-face in jobcentres and they can contact us via the telephone outside of these appointments. In addition, this summer we introduced a new approach where established claimants who call the Universal Credit helpline are connected directly to the person or team who are dealing with the case.<\/p>
<\/p>
The average waiting time for a person calling the Universal Credit Full Service helpline in the month of October 2018 was 3 minutes and 58 seconds.<\/p>
<\/p>
Our Average Speed of Answer (ASA) measure is the average customer wait time from the point of entering a queue to connection to an agent. This excludes any time spent in pre-queue messaging and any wait time for calls ultimately abandoned by callers prior to answer.<\/p>
<\/p>
Notes:<\/p>
<\/p>
Data Source: BT - OPMIS and Historical Management Information (GI2 \u2013 HMI)<\/p>
Outsourced partner data is included.<\/p>
The data supplied is derived from unpublished management information, which was collected for internal Departmental use only and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. The data should therefore be treated with caution.<\/p>
<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4014", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Reading West"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Alok Sharma"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2018-11-28", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "previousAnswerVersion" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1011516/answer/previousversion/87211", "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4014", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Reading West"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Alok Sharma"} } , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2018-11-28T10:31:50.733Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "29"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Work and Pensions"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Work and Pensions"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2018-11-21", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Universal Credit: Telephone Services"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average waiting time is for a person calling the universal credit helpline to be connected to an agent.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4400", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Margaret Greenwood"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Wirral West"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Margaret Greenwood"} ], "uin" : "194163"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1011518", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Work and Pensions"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1011518/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
This information was published on 13 November 2018 as a Universal Credit official statistics release. It is available via the link below.<\/p>
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