Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many universal credit claims were subject to deductions in the most recent month for which data are available, broken down by parliamentary constituency; how much was the (1) total, and (2) average, sum of deductions in each constituency; and what proportion of those sums was deducted to repay advance payments.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government recognises the importance of supporting the welfare of claimants who have incurred debt. We seek to balance recovery of debt against not causing hardship for claimants and their families. Processes are in place to ensure deductions are manageable, and customers can contact the DWP Debt Management Team if they are experiencing financial hardship, to discuss a reduction in their rate of repayment, or a temporary suspension, depending on their financial circumstances.
Since April 2021, we have reduced the normal maximum rate of deductions in Universal Credit from 40% to 25% of a claimant’s Standard Allowance. These positive measures were put in place to support claimants to manage financial difficulties.
Advances are a claimant’s benefit entitlement paid early, allowing claimants to access 100% of their estimated Universal Credit payment upfront. They ensure nobody has to wait for a payment in Universal Credit, and those who need it are able to receive financial support as soon as possible. Claimants can receive up to 100% of their estimated Universal Credit award if required, resulting in 25 payments over a 24-month period. This is not a debt.
The requested analysis of Universal Credit claims with a deduction in November 2022 by parliamentary constituency in Great Britain (GB) is provided in the separate spreadsheet.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have considered the potential merits of including the need to use a food bank, alongside undue hardship, in the criteria which may exempt claimants from having deductions taken from their universal credit claim.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
There has been no specific consideration around the merits of including food bank usage when considering claimants for an exception from deductions.
The Government recognises the importance of supporting claimants to manage their liabilities. Under Universal Credit, there is a co-ordinated approach to deductions from benefit, which supports claimants to manage their financial obligations. The primary aim of deductions in Universal Credit is to protect vulnerable claimants by providing a last resort repayment method for arrears of essential services. We continue to aim to strike the right balance between ensuring those protections are in place, and allowing claimants to retain as much of their award as possible for day-to-day needs.
If a claimant is struggling financially, they can ask for the amount of certain deductions to be reconsidered. Financial hardship decisions are made for any of the following:
Benefit debts and Social Fund loans can see deductions reduced and/or deferred. The DWP will always try to ensure that Government debt is recovered effectively without causing undue hardship.
For those repaying a New Claim Advance, a deferral of up to 3 months is available, in exceptional circumstances, which allow those claimants to temporarily receive their Universal Credit awards without advance repayments being deducted.
For rent arrears, claimants can ask Universal Credit staff to exercise their discretion to fix rent arrears deductions at the lowest rate in legislation – 10% of the Standard Allowance. This can be done using the Journal or by telephone. However, UC staff would not agree to remove a rent arrears deduction entirely to ensure a claimant is protected from eviction.
We encourage anyone unable to afford the proposed rate of repayment to contact DWP Debt Management at the earliest opportunity - all DWP notifications advise how to get in touch. We seek to do as much as we are able to support claimants through the recovery of their overpayments.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential merits of expanding the sample size for the Food Standards Agency's Food and You 2 survey to a minimum of 10,000 households.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Food Standards Agency currently has no plans to increase the sample size for the Food and You 2 Survey. Each biannual wave of fieldwork contains a sample size of 4,000 households, with 2,000 in England, and 1,000 in each of Wales and Northern Ireland. This provides sufficient accuracy at a 95% confidence level for the survey’s key estimates. The random probability sampling approach, by which households are randomly selected from the postcode address file, and use of weighting helps to ensure the results are representative of the population. Where greater accuracy is required, responses from multiple survey waves can be combined.
The higher survey delivery costs associated with a larger sample size outweigh the benefits from an increase in accuracy.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they will report on reform of the welfare and labour market for the over 50s.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government recognises the challenges faced by some aged 50 and over, which is why we are providing over £20m over the next three years for an enhanced offer for people aged 50 and over to remain in and return to work. This offer includes the introduction of 37 50PLUS Champions, more tailored support for claimants, and an expansion of the Midlife MOT.
Building on the Government’s existing package of support to help people start, stay and succeed in work, the Prime Minister has also tasked the Secretary of State to look in detail at the issue of workforce participation, and identify the barriers preventing people from joining the workforce or resulting in people leaving the workforce early.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Kamall on 22 July (HL1593), how many (1) NHS, and (2) private, (a) licensed, and (b) unlicensed, prescriptions for cannabis medicines were made for severe treatment-resistant epilepsy in 2022.
Answered by Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist
This information is not held in the format requested. The NHS Business Services Authority collects data relating to drugs prescribed in the National Health Service in England and dispensed within a community setting and private prescriptions concerning controlled drugs dispensed in the community. However, information on the condition for which a prescription has been issued is not held centrally.
We are unable to provide the information requested on NHS prescriptions for unlicensed cannabis-based medicines as the number of items is attributed to fewer than five patients and the data could potentially identify individuals.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the extent of quantitative easing for each quarter since the beginning of 2021.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
In 2021, the total gilt purchases of the Asset Purchase Facility (APF), including purchases to redeem maturing assets, was £57.7bn in Q1, £49.7bn in Q2, £44.7bn in Q3 and £37.8bn in Q4 following a decision by the Monetary Policy Committee to increase its Quantitative Easing target stock to £875bn. As of Q1 2022, The Bank of England begun the process of unwinding QE by ceasing to reinvest in maturing assets or purchasing new assets. In March 2022, total size of the APF gilt holdings was £847bn by purchase value, a decrease of £27.9bn from the start of the quarter.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many homeless people have died on the street in each of the last five years.
Answered by Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist
The Office for National Statistics began to produce estimates of deaths of homeless people in England and Wales in 2017 and the most recent publication covered deaths in 2020. There were an estimated 688 deaths of homeless people registered in England and Wales in 2020, 778 estimated deaths in 2019, 726 deaths in 2018 and 597 in 2017.
These statistics are published online at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsofhomelesspeopleinenglandandwales/previousReleases
These statistics do not indicate whether deaths occurred on the street or within accommodation. The definition of homelessness used in these statistics follows from what is available in death registrations data to identify affected individuals, which mainly includes people sleeping rough or using emergency accommodation such as homeless shelters and direct access hostels, at or around the time of death.
The Government is committed to ending rough sleeping and has published a strategy backed by £2 billion setting out how we will achieve that.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many prescriptions for cannabis have been issued each year since 2018 in England
Answered by Lord Kamall
The following table shows the number of items for licensed and unlicensed cannabis-based medicines prescribed on a National Health Service prescription, dispensed in the community and submitted to the NHS Business Services Authority in England between January 2018 and April 2022, the latest data available. We are unable to provide data on NHS prescriptions for unlicensed cannabis-based medicines, due to the number of items attributed to fewer than five patients which could identify individuals.
NHS prescription items | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 January to April |
Licensed cannabis-based medicines | 2,591 | 2,636 | 2,681 | 2,981 | 1,171 |
The following table shows the number of items for licensed and unlicensed cannabis-based medicines prescribed on a private prescription, dispensed in the community and submitted to the NHS Business Services Authority between January 2018 and April 2022, the latest data available. Data on unlicensed prescriptions in 2018 is held for November and December only and January in 2022.
Private prescription items dispensed | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
Licensed cannabis-based medicines | 24 | 35 | 29 | 28 | 17 |
Unlicensed cannabis-based medicines | 0 | 278 | 4,469 | 42,393 | 385 |
Data licensed cannabis-based medicines prescribed in secondary care since 2018 is not collected centrally.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many individuals have brought claims against the Government for negligence in relation to contaminated Factor VIII blood products since the Government first made compensation payments to haemophiliacs infected with HIV in 1991.
Answered by Lord Kamall
A group claim has been brought on behalf of approximately 500 claimants or their dependants, in relation to Factor VIII and Factor IX products. This claim is stayed pending the outcome of the Infected Blood Inquiry.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many cannabis prescriptions have been issued to treat severe treatment-resistant epilepsy for each year since November 2018.
Answered by Lord Kamall
This information is not held in the format requested. The NHS Business Services Authority holds data relating to drugs prescribed in the National Health Service in England and dispensed within a community setting. However, this does not record the condition for which a prescription is intended.
While details on private prescriptions for controlled drugs, including cannabis-based products for medicinal use, are also submitted to the NHS Business Services Authority, information on the condition for which a prescription has been issued is not held centrally.