Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the data published by the Trussell Trust on 26 April which showed an increase in its emergency food parcel distribution over the period April 2022 to March 2023; and what steps they will take in response.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)
We take the issue of food security seriously, which is why we added internationally used food security questions to the Family Resources Survey in 19/20. These questions remain in the survey and will allow us to track food security over time.
Building on the food insecurity data which this Government first published in 2019/20, we have published official estimates of foodbank use for the first time this year covering the period 2021/22. These will, alongside the broad suite of poverty data, help shape future policy considerations. The new statistics on foodbank usage will help Government to understand more about the characteristics of people most in need and we will continue to work across Government to support the most vulnerable.
The Government recognises the pressures people are facing and has acted, providing total support of over £94bn over 2022/23 and 2023/24 to help households and individuals with the rising cost of living. In April 2023 we uprated benefit rates and State Pensions by 10.1 per cent, as well as increasing benefit cap levels by the same amount.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to assist people of working age who are economically inactive due to illness back into employment.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott - Opposition Whip (Lords)
The government has a longstanding programme supporting disabled people and people with health conditions to start, stay and succeed in work. This programme includes employment support programmes for disabled people and people with health conditions facing additional barriers into employment and interventions designed to minimise the risk of ill-health related job-loss. These programmes are accessible to the economically inactive and those at risk of falling into economic inactivity, including due to illness.
Long-term sickness is now the most common reason for being economically inactive, rising 3.5 percentage points in the last 3 years to a total of 2.5 million people. It is the biggest factor in the rise in economic inactivity since the start of the pandemic.
The 50-64 age group make up the largest proportion of those who are economically inactive due to long-term sickness. The government provides additional support to individuals aged 50 and over, in recognition of the additional challenges they may face re-joining the labour market.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to increase Local Housing Allowance to support those most in need.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott - Opposition Whip (Lords)
The level of Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates is reviewed annually by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and a decision will be announced in due course.
LHA rates were increased in April 2020 to the 30th percentile of local rents, an investment costing nearly £1 billion and providing 1.5 million households with an average of £600 more housing support than they would otherwise have received.
LHA rates have been maintained at their increased levels since then ensuring that all claimants who benefited from the increased levels of housing support continue to do so. LHA rates are not intended to cover all rents in all areas.
For those who require additional support with housing costs, Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP) are available from local authorities (LAs). LAs make informed judgements about priorities and needs in their area to ensure that the most vulnerable are supported and funds are targeted effectively. Since 2011 we have provided almost £1.5 billion in DHPs to local authorities.
The government recognises the pressures people are facing with the cost of living and has taken further decisive action to support people with their energy bills. The Energy Price Guarantee is supporting millions of households with rising energy costs, and the Chancellor made clear it will continue to do so from now until April next year. This is in addition to the over £37bn of cost of living support announced earlier this year which includes the £400 non-repayable discount to eligible households provided through the Energy Bills Support Scheme. Also included is an extension to the Household Support Fund backed by £421m, running from 1 October 2022 to 31 March 2023.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to abolish the two-child cap on claims for universal credit and child tax credit in order to assist families with the increased cost-of-living; and what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of the cap on meeting its original policy aim.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott - Opposition Whip (Lords)
There are no plans at this time to abolish the two-child cap on claims for universal credit and child tax credit.
Statistics on the policy to provide support for a maximum of two children are published every year. The latest stats for April 2022 were published on July 14. These can be found on the GOV.UK website.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that families who receive no fault overpayments of benefits are not faced with additional costs when repaying the overpayments; and whether those steps include updating guidance to benefits staff, including around the discretion in the Social Security Administration Act 1992 and Her Majesty’s Treasury guidelines Managing Public Money, to make a presumption of non-recovery of such overpayments during the current period of rising cost of living.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott - Opposition Whip (Lords)
The latest published statistics show that in 2021/22, Universal Credit Official Error overpayments were at their lowest recorded level of 0.7%, having fallen for the 3rd year in a row.
Where overpayments do occur, Section 105 of The Welfare Reform Act 2012 states that any overpayment of Universal Credit, new style JSA or ESA in excess of entitlement, is recoverable.
The Department therefore seeks to recover benefit overpayments accordingly, but remains committed to doing so without causing undue financial hardship.
We have lowered the standard cap on deductions from Universal Credit twice over recent years, firstly from 40% to 30% in October 2019 and then to 25% in April 2021. We also ensure that any deductions are taken in priority order, which effectively means that higher priority deductions, such as utilities payments, are taken first, with debt only taking up the balance of the overall cap.
Where a person feels they cannot afford the proposed rate of recovery, and the debt has not arisen as a result of fraud, they are encouraged to contact us. The Department can work with them, reviewing their financial circumstances and in most instances, agreeing a temporary reduction in their rate of repayment. We have recently extended the time period for any reduced repayment of this type to remain in place.
Whilst the Department does have discretion to waive recovery of debt, guidance is clear that this is only intended to happen in exceptional circumstances.
This guidance, which can be found at Chapter 8 of the Benefit overpayment recovery guide on the GOV.UK website, was updated in 2022 to ensure that all appropriate factors are taken into account when a case is being considered for waiver. We are looking to strengthen Operational guidance to ensure agents are aware of when a case is appropriate for waiver consideration.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the number of people unable to claim statutory sick pay from their employer because their earnings are below the lower earnings level; of these, what proportion are (1) male and (2) female; and what plans, if any, they have to remove the lower earnings limit.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott - Opposition Whip (Lords)
As set out in the 2019 “Health is Everyone’s Business” consultation, it is estimated that there are around 2 million employees who earn below the Lower Earnings Limit (LEL) and are therefore ineligible for Statutory Sick Pay (SSP). Of those, approximately 30% are male and 70% are female.
SSP reform, including extending SSP eligibility to those earning below the LEL, was part of the “Health is Everyone’s Business” consultation in 2019. In the response to the consultation published in 2021, Government stated the pandemic was not the right time to introduce changes to the rate of SSP or its eligibility criteria as this would have placed an immediate and direct cost on employers at a time where many were struggling.
As we learn to live with Covid-19, the Government is continuing to take a broader look at the role of SSP and is keeping the system under review.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to provide support for businesses, in particular small businesses, to cope with (1) the rise in statutory sick pay, and (2) staff isolating with COVID-19; and whether such support will include a permanent sick pay rebate.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott - Opposition Whip (Lords)
Since March 2020, the Government has provided unprecedented direct support for the economy throughout the pandemic. This has included the Statutory Sick Pay Rebate scheme which was introduced as a temporary measure to support small and medium sized businesses with the increased cost of sick pay related to coronavirus. This support has helped to safeguard jobs, businesses and public services in every region and nation of the UK from COVID-19 and has helped to mitigate the threat to macroeconomic stability.
As we move to the next phase of managing COVID-19 like other respiratory illnesses, it is right that exceptional support put in place to help businesses with the impact of a major wave of infection comes to an end as planned.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how they intend to target Kickstart Scheme funding to ensure that (1) there are more places available to regions in England with the highest level of youth unemployment, and (2) places on the scheme are targeted at those most struggling to find work.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott - Opposition Whip (Lords)
The Kickstart Scheme is a national scheme which will be available to young people in all areas of the country. We are working closely with partners to ensure support is in place across the UK, that there is a good fit with other national, local and devolved provision, and that Kickstart helps meet the needs of the local labour market. Job Centre Plus Work Coaches will identify those young people most in need of the extra support offered by the Kickstart scheme and direct them towards these placements.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to revise the state pension age arrangements for women born in the 1950s who are adversely affected by (1) the Pensions Act 1995, and (2) the Pensions Act 2011.
Answered by Baroness Buscombe
This matter has been comprehensively debated on many occasions in Parliament. The Government has no plans to revisit the policy on women’s State Pension age and does not intend to make further concessions. The changes in the 2011 Act occurred following a public Call for Evidence and extensive debates in Parliament. A concession limiting the increase in State Pension age under the 2011 Act in any individual case to 18 months, relative to the 1995 Act timetable, has already been made during the passage Act (at the cost of £1.1 billion).
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to introduce transitional state pension arrangements for women born in the 1950s who are adversely affected by the change of the state pension age introduced in (1) the Pensions Act 1995, and (2) the Pensions Act 2011.
Answered by Baroness Buscombe
This matter has been comprehensively debated on many occasions in Parliament. The Government will not be making changes to its policy on State Pension age for women born in the 1950s.
The Government has already introduced transitional arrangements, costing £1.1 billion. This concession reduced the proposed increase in State Pension age for over 450,000 men and women, and means that no woman will see her pension age change by more than 18 months, relative to the original 1995 Act timetable.
The Government will not be making any further concessions in addition to those arrangements already made for women affected by the acceleration of increases in State Pension age.