Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many of the first 500 people issued with universal credit migration notices in Bolton and Medway from 9 May, who had a complex need or disability missed their final deadline.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
We will set out our learnings and observations from the first phase of discovery process in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to their Completing the move to Universal Credit report, published on 6 June, which estimated that one million families receiving tax credits in April 2022 may need to move to universal credit, what estimate they have made of (1) how many of these families were in receipt of Child Tax Credit, and (2) how many children were living in those families.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
There were a total of 1.2 million households in receipt of Tax Credits in April 2022 who we estimated to be in scope for Moving to UC. Of these 880,000 were in receipt of Child Tax Credits. We do not have a current estimate of how many children were living in those families at that time.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what would be the level of the benefit cap, set in 2016, if it had kept pace with (1) inflation, (2) average earnings, and (3) Universal Credit rates.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
There is a statutory duty to review the levels of the cap at least once in every five years and this will happen at the appropriate time. The current unusual economic period with potentially counter intuitive and shifting trends will need to be considered in the context of any decision regarding a review.
The benefit cap provides a strong work incentive and fairness for hard-working taxpaying households and encourages people to move into work, where possible. The Government firmly believes that 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.
The table below shows the weekly benefit cap level if it had kept pace with (1) inflation and (2) average earnings. To provide the levels of the benefit cap had it kept pace with Universal Credit rates is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate costs.
| Inflation | Average earnings |
London couples/lone parents | £496.51 | £529.06 |
London single adult | £332.67 | £354.47 |
Excluding London couples/lone parents | £431.75 | £460.05 |
Excluding London single adult | £289.27 | £308.23 |
The earnings and inflation measure used for uprating DWP benefits have been used.
Inflation and earnings source: House of Commons, Benefit Uprating 2022/23, Table 5 (February 2022).
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the number of Universal Credit claimants who did not qualify for the first cost of living additional payment because of the way their wages were paid during the qualifying month.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
We do not currently hold this information. We have deliberately kept the rules for these payments as simple as possible. This is the only way we can ensure that we can develop the systems and processes required to make these payments.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to distinguish between those that have had a permanent increase to their earnings, and those whose earnings are temporarily fluctuating. If a UC claimant’s income subsequently falls, these claimants will return to having a positive award after the cut-off date and may be eligible for the second Cost of Living Payment, worth £324.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, and if so when, they will publish the research on barriers to carers’ employment mentioned in the letter from the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to the Chair of the House of Commons Work and Pensions Committee, dated 15 July; and if not, why not.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
We are currently considering the results from the research, and should we decide to publish any findings, we will of course ensure that they are made available to both Houses.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government why the repeal of the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act 2011 required a provision to amend the Welfare Reform Act 2012 to review the benefit cap every five years, rather than in each Parliament; and why this five year period began in March 2022.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
When the review was undertaken once in each Parliament this created potential uncertainty, given the possibility of an early election. This was dealt with by a specific reference to the Fixed Term Parliaments Act 2011.
The repeal of that Act meant that there would be no certainty as to the time period in which the duty had to be complied with and therefore, a significant risk of inadvertent non-compliance.
For this reason, The Welfare Reform Act 2012 was amended to impose a statutory duty to carry out a review of the levels within a certain time frame.
The new five-year period begins in March 2022 as this is when the amending legislation came into force.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the letter from the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to the Chair of the Social Security Advisory Committee on 3 February, when they intend to complete their evaluation of the Universal Credit and Jobseeker’s Allowance (Work Search and Work Availability Requirements – limitations) (Amendment) Regulations 2022; and whether the evaluation will take account of the Social Security Advisory Committee’s letter to the Secretary of State on 23 June.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
We have achieved our Way to Work target of moving 500,000 claimants into work by the end of June. The Department is looking at how it might be able to evaluate different aspects of the campaign. The analysis is in ongoing development and the advice from SSAC will be considered.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Stedman-Scott on 28 April (HL7970) and the subsequent correspondence on 11 May, out of the 80 people invited to make a claim for Universal Credit during the Universal Credit managed migration pilot in Harrogate, how many had been (1) notified of a deadline day for claiming universal credit and (2) reached that initial deadline day, prior to the pilot being paused.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
Of those contacted during the pilot, 53 people were given a deadline to claim universal credit. Before the pilot was paused, 41 people reached the deadline.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Stedman-Scott on 28 April (HL7970) and the subsequent correspondence on 11 May, out of the six people who missed their initial deadline day for claiming universal credit, how many of the extensions were made at the claimant's request and how many were on the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions’ initiative.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
The Department does not hold this data.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what criteria they are using to select the first 500 universal credit claimants to be migrated other than geographical area.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
The purpose of the Discovery is to work with small numbers of existing benefit claimants from different places across the country to learn how best to smoothly move claimants to Universal Credit. The first 500 claimants span the full range of legacy benefits - including those with a combination of legacy benefits - and are broadly representative of the wider legacy benefit caseloads in Bolton and Medway, respectively.