Asked by: Baroness Sherlock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many 50 PLUS Champions are currently employed in Jobcentres.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
We currently have 14 50PLUS Champions at Department regional level who work collaboratively with our 37 District 50PLUS Champions to raise the profile of our older claimants. The champions act as a single point of contact for cascading messages, communications and best practice to colleagues locally and nationally. They raise awareness with Work Coaches, employers and providers of the products available to them, for example local groups, online tools and more.
Asked by: Baroness Sherlock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many meetings the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions held with the Business Champion for Older Workers in (1) 2020, and (2) 2021.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions delegated the ownership of the relationship with the Business Champion for Older workers, Andy Briggs, to her ministerial team.
The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Employment) and departmental officials have regular meetings with the Business Champion for Older workers to actively promote the business case and the benefits for the retention, retraining and recruitment of older workers.
Asked by: Baroness Sherlock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many meetings the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Employment) held with the Business Champion for Older Workers in (1) 2020, and (2) 2021.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Employment) held standalone meetings with the Business Champion for Older Workers twice in 2020, and so far once in 2021, with a further meeting scheduled in April. The Minister for Employment and the Business Champion for Older Workers co-chair quarterly Roundtables with national employer organisations jointly, delivering their shared aim of promoting and championing the benefits of employing older workers.
In addition, Officials work closely with the Business Champion for Older Workers to support employers and actively promote the business case and benefits for the retention, retraining and recruitment of older workers. We are grateful for the outstanding work of the Business Champion for Older Workers.
Asked by: Baroness Sherlock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the (1) average, (2) longest, and (3) shortest, clearance time for (a) a mandatory reconsideration, and (b) a successful appeal outcome to be implemented, in relation to Universal Credit in each month of 2020.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
Table 1 below shows the Median, Lower Quartile and Upper Quartile of the number of days taken for a Universal Credit (UC) Mandatory Reconsideration (MR) to be cleared from registration. This data covers all UC MRs cleared in each month from January 2020 – October 2020, and does not include those cancelled or withdrawn.
Table 1: Times from UC MR registration to clearance in days from January 2020 – October 2020
Month | Lower Quartile | Median | Upper Quartile |
Jan-20 | 10 | 27 | 162 |
Feb-20 | 8 | 23 | 100 |
Mar-20 | 13 | 30 | 94 |
Apr-20 | 6 | 22 | 43 |
May-20 | 7 | 40 | 79 |
Jun-20 | 14 | 41 | 112 |
Jul-20 | 14 | 49 | 166 |
Aug-20 | 12 | 41 | 147 |
Sep-20 | 14 | 35 | 105 |
Oct-20 | 10 | 27 | 63 |
Please note that information about the extremes of a distribution (e.g. the maximum clearance time) risks being disclosive. We would not release this information publicly. Therefore, we have presented information on the lower quartile, median and upper quartile of clearance times.
Over the same period the UC caseload, expressed as ‘People on Universal Credit’, increased from 2.77 million to 5.73 million with a sharp increase from 3.00 million to 5.26 million between 12th March and 14th May 2020. People on Universal Credit counts the number of people with an open claim on the count date who had accepted a claimant commitment and verified their identity. These figures are from the Universal Credit official statistics publication available on gov.uk which also includes figures on volumes of claims, starts and households.
The information requested on the clearance times for a successful appeal outcome to be implemented is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Notes
Asked by: Baroness Sherlock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many mandatory reconsiderations for Universal Credit were made in each month of 2020 so far.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
The information requested on the outcome of UC Mandatory Reconsiderations (MR), that is, where the claimant disagrees with the decision made and disputes it through the MR process, and how much has been paid out following a decision being changed after an MR is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
The number of Universal Credit Mandatory Reconsiderations (MRs) requested and completed in the relevant months are below.
Table 1 Universal Credit Mandatory Reconsiderations Requested and Completed
| MRs requested in month | UC MRs completed in this month |
Jan-20 | 16,240 | 18,100 |
Feb-20 | 15,510 | 17,920 |
Mar-20 | 14,630 | 15,930 |
Apr-20 | 9,200 | 7,400 |
May-20 | 11,530 | 12,260 |
Jun-20 | 10,670 | 18,140 |
Jul-20 | 8,850 | 14,860 |
Aug-20 | 6,490 | 9,750 |
Sep-20 | 7,660 | 8,710 |
January to September 2020 | 100,780 | 123,070 |
GB only, figures rounded to the nearest 10
UC MRs completed does not include cancelled or withdrawn MRs.
Asked by: Baroness Sherlock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many mandatory reconsiderations for Universal Credit were (1) successful, and (2) unsuccessful, in 2020.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
The information requested on the outcome of UC Mandatory Reconsiderations (MR), that is, where the claimant disagrees with the decision made and disputes it through the MR process, and how much has been paid out following a decision being changed after an MR is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
The number of Universal Credit Mandatory Reconsiderations (MRs) requested and completed in the relevant months are below.
Table 1 Universal Credit Mandatory Reconsiderations Requested and Completed
| MRs requested in month | UC MRs completed in this month |
Jan-20 | 16,240 | 18,100 |
Feb-20 | 15,510 | 17,920 |
Mar-20 | 14,630 | 15,930 |
Apr-20 | 9,200 | 7,400 |
May-20 | 11,530 | 12,260 |
Jun-20 | 10,670 | 18,140 |
Jul-20 | 8,850 | 14,860 |
Aug-20 | 6,490 | 9,750 |
Sep-20 | 7,660 | 8,710 |
January to September 2020 | 100,780 | 123,070 |
GB only, figures rounded to the nearest 10
UC MRs completed does not include cancelled or withdrawn MRs.
Asked by: Baroness Sherlock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much, in total, they have paid out following successful mandatory reconsiderations for Universal Credit in 2020.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
The information requested on the outcome of UC Mandatory Reconsiderations (MR), that is, where the claimant disagrees with the decision made and disputes it through the MR process, and how much has been paid out following a decision being changed after an MR is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
The number of Universal Credit Mandatory Reconsiderations (MRs) requested and completed in the relevant months are below.
Table 1 Universal Credit Mandatory Reconsiderations Requested and Completed
| MRs requested in month | UC MRs completed in this month |
Jan-20 | 16,240 | 18,100 |
Feb-20 | 15,510 | 17,920 |
Mar-20 | 14,630 | 15,930 |
Apr-20 | 9,200 | 7,400 |
May-20 | 11,530 | 12,260 |
Jun-20 | 10,670 | 18,140 |
Jul-20 | 8,850 | 14,860 |
Aug-20 | 6,490 | 9,750 |
Sep-20 | 7,660 | 8,710 |
January to September 2020 | 100,780 | 123,070 |
GB only, figures rounded to the nearest 10
UC MRs completed does not include cancelled or withdrawn MRs.
Asked by: Baroness Sherlock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people have had benefit claims rejected due to receipt of payments from the NHS and Social Care Coronavirus Life Assurance Scheme.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
The information requested is not available.
Asked by: Baroness Sherlock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether a machine learning algorithm is used to calculate entitlement (1) to Universal Credit, and (2) to any other benefit; and if so, how that algorithm is used.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
The Department does not use Machine Learning to calculate entitlement to Universal Credit or other benefits. All entitlement and calculation rules are an implementation of welfare policies, which are delivered in accordance with relevant legislation.
Asked by: Baroness Sherlock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the portal through which joint claims for Universal Credit are made allows each partner to see all of the messages between the Department for Work and Pensions and either partner; and if so, what assessment they have made as to the potential impact of that access on the risk of domestic abuse.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
The Department is committed to providing the best possible support for all our claimants, including those who are, or are at risk of becoming victims of domestic abuse. In such instances, our immediate priority is to ensure that claimants receive appropriate practical assistance through Universal Credit (UC).
The UC journal facilitates digital communication of routine information, allowing both the Department and claimants to communicate with one another. Although each partner can see the journal messages, to safeguard all our claimants, we ask that the journal is not used to share sensitive information.
All claimants have a named Case Manager or Work Coach which they can contact through the Freephone UC helpline or face to face in Jobcentres. These channels allow the Department to provide more immediate and bespoke support to the vulnerable partner without risk of the interaction being captured on the journal and viewed by the partner.
All UC staff receive training on complex needs, including on identifying and supporting victims of abuse and signposting to expert partner organisations, such as Women's Aid. They also have access to the latest guidance on domestic abuse and Alternative Payment Arrangements, including how to instigate Split Payments, which allows UC payments to be divided between different people within the same claim.
Jobcentres across the country work closely with partner organisations and stakeholders and have escalation routes to provide local community based, joined up services. We will continue to maintain these strong relationships to ensure we continue to support our most vulnerable claimants.