Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of adjusting the minimum income floor for Universal Credit for (a) farmers and (b) other people whose income and expenditure varies during the year.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department does not intend to assess the potential merits of adjusting the Minimum Income Floor (MIF). Relaxing or removing the MIF risks trapping customers indefinitely in very low-earning self-employment and dependency on the welfare system - a situation that is unfair to the taxpayer, and unhelpful for customers and their families.
We are working with the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) to ensure a smooth transition from the old legacy benefits to Universal Credit, as well as providing transitional protection when applicable.
Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to page 33 of his Department's Annual Report and Accounts, what proportion of Jobcentres provide access to the Employment Advisers in NHS Talking Therapies programme as of 23 April 2024.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
As well as providing employment support, Jobcentre Work Coaches can signpost to NHS Talking Therapies, which can be accessed via self-referral.
Jobcentres do not provide direct access to Employment Advisers in NHS Talking Therapies.
Employment Advisers and Work Coaches often work together to support NHS Talking Therapies clients - who are in contact with JCP - to find work, return to work from sick leave and remain in work.
The Employment Advisers in NHS Talking Therapies programme is currently being rolled out across England. All NHS Talking Therapies providers in England are on track to have Employment Advisers in post during 2024/25.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the two-child limit in Universal Credit applies to households caring for an additional child under a special guardianship order.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Since 6 April 2017, families can claim support for up to two children, and there may be further entitlement for other children if they were born before April 2017 or if an exception applies. One of these exceptions is any child in a household who is living long-term with friends or family who would otherwise be at risk of entering the care system, which includes a child being cared for under a Special Guardianship Order.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many veterans have been identified as Universal Credit claimants since the introduction of the new DWP marker.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) started collecting data on the Armed Forces status of Universal Credit (UC) claimants in Great Britain (GB) in April 2021. At first only new claimants were asked about their Armed Forces status. From June 2021 onwards, other UC claimants reporting changes in their work and earnings have also been able to report their status. From July 2021 onwards, UC agents have also been able to record claimants’ Armed Forces status if they are told about this via other means such as journal messages, face-to-face meetings or by telephone.
It should be noted that Armed forces status is self-reported by claimants and is not verified by the Ministry of Defence or Office for Veterans’ Affairs. A claimant’s status can be recorded as “currently serving”, “served in the past”, “not served” or “prefer not to say”.
By 14th March 2024, an armed forces status of “served in the past” had been recorded for approximately 110,000 claimants with UC claims for which a statement had been generated. This figure includes some people who are no longer on the UC caseload, some who had a nil payment claim and some who subsequently reported a different armed forces status, e.g. “currently serving”. It should be noted that the available data does not allow a comprehensive estimate of the total number of UC claimants who are, or have been, veterans.
Notes:
1. The figure provided is for Great Britain. Data is not collected on the Armed Forces status of UC claimants in Northern Ireland.
2. The figure provided has been rounded to the nearest ten thousand.
Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many staff in his Department were working on programmes supporting disabled people into work as of 23 April (a) 2010 and (b) 2024.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department does not hold this information centrally and to provide it would incur disproportionate costs.
Improving the lives of disabled people is a priority for this Government. This includes supporting more disabled people and people with health conditions to start, stay and succeed in work. In recognition of this, the Joint DWP and DHSC Work & Health Directorate was set up in 2015 in recognition of the significant link between work and health and to reflect the shared agenda of boosting employment opportunities for disabled people and people with health conditions. This not only benefits people’s health and wealth, but also the UK economy through increased productivity and reduced economic inactivity.
Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much his Department has (a) spent on and (b) reduced its expenditure due to the expansion of targeted case reviews.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Targeted Case Review (TCR) is currently scaling at pace to strengthen the department’s response to fraud and error within Universal Credit.
We are investing £443 million to save £6.6 billion by March 2028.
Investment in TCR for 2022-23 was £19.6 million. As set out in the DWP Annual Report and Accounts (ARA) 2022-23, TCR delivered DWP £39 million of savings, of which £14 million related to 2022-23 expenditure.
We expect the majority of savings to occur in the final years of the project when Targeted Case Review is fully operational.
The Annual Report and Accounts for the financial year 23/24 is expected to be published Summer 2024. This will include Targeted Case Review spend and expenditure. The Fraud and Error National Statistics will be published on 16 May 2024.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the benefits cap for families with children living in poverty.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The latest statistics show that in 2022/23 there were 100,000 fewer children in absolute poverty after housing costs than in 2009/10.
Where possible, it is in the best interests of children to be in working households and the benefit cap provides a clear incentive to move into work. Children living in workless households were over 6 times more likely to be in absolute poverty after housing costs than those where all adults work.
To ensure the most vulnerable are supported, exemptions also apply to households who are entitled to disability benefits and/or carer benefits.
Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information his Department holds on the average distance benefit recipients need to travel to their assigned Jobcentre; and what the greatest distance for a recipient was in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average value was of a benefits underpayment in the 2022-2023 financial year.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP does not produce an estimate for the average value of a benefit underpayment.
We estimate that the total rate of benefit expenditure underpaid in 2022-2023 was £3.3bn: Fraudand error in the benefit system Financial Year Ending (FYE) 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of the main causes of poverty in (a) children, (b) pensioners and (c) adults.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Poverty is a complex subject and there are different ways to measure and assess it.
DWP tracks and monitors many different aspects of poverty, including our four statutory measures for children of relative income, absolute income, combined low income and material deprivation and persistent poverty that are published annually.
National statistics on the number of individuals living in absolute and relative poverty are published annually in the “Households Below Average Income” publication at Households below average income: for financial years ending 1995 to 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)www.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab). The latest statistics published on 21 March 2024 are for the financial period 2022/23.