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Written Question
Child Maintenance Service
Tuesday 23rd May 2023

Asked by: Alan Campbell (Labour - Tynemouth)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Sixth Report of the Work and Pensions Committee of Session 2022-23, Children in poverty: Child Maintenance Service, HC 272, published on 27 April 2023, if he will take steps to create a compensation package for people incorrectly assessed by the Child Maintenance Service.

Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Child Maintenance Service welcomes the Work and Pensions Select Committee report and are considering the recommendations. We will provide a response in due course.


Written Question
Child Maintenance Service
Tuesday 23rd May 2023

Asked by: Alan Campbell (Labour - Tynemouth)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Sixth Report of the Work and Pensions Committee of Session 2022-23, Children in poverty: Child Maintenance Service, HC 272, published on 27 April 2023, if he will make it his policy to launch a public inquiry into assessments from the Child Maintenance Service.

Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Child Maintenance Service welcomes the Work and Pensions Select Committee report and are considering the recommendations. We will provide a response in due course.


Written Question
Personal Independence Payment
Thursday 24th November 2022

Asked by: Alan Campbell (Labour - Tynemouth)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what is the average wait time for a decision to be made on awarding a Personal Independence Payment claim; and how many Personal Independence Payment claimants are waiting over six months for a decision.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

In answer to (a), Personal Independence Payment (PIP) clearance times are available as part of the PIP Official Statistics quarterly release. The latest release, with data available to July 2022, is available here: tables-pip-statistics-to-july-2022.ods (live.com).

Table 1A in this release shows that median average clearance times for normal rules new claims are currently (July 2022) 18 weeks “end to end” (from registration to a decision being made).

In answer to (b), as of July 2022, the number of new PIP claims registered under normal rules who had been waiting over 6 months for a decision was 21,600.

Notes:

Source: PIP Atomic Data Store (ADS)

  • Data regarding claims outstanding for more than 6 months is unpublished. It should be used with caution and may be subject to future revision.
  • The status of claims as 'normal rules' and 'new claim' is shown as at the point of the claim registration. It is possible for claims to transition between normal and special rules, and between new claims and reassessments, during the course of the claimant journey.
  • In analysis for the answer to (b), claimants waiting ‘more than 6 months’ is interpreted as claimants who registered prior to 31st January 2022. This is because the dataset holds data up to 31st July 2022.
  • Data provided is for England and Wales.

Written Question
Housing Benefit: Cost of Living Payment
Monday 14th November 2022

Asked by: Alan Campbell (Labour - Tynemouth)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason people in receipt of housing benefit are not eligible for the £650 cost of living payment.

Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Government is rightly targeting the £650 Cost of Living Payment support at low-income households in receipt of qualifying means tested benefits.

Housing Benefit is not a qualifying means tested benefit. It is also administered by Local Authorities, often paid directly to a landlord. Payments to those receiving only Housing Benefit could not therefore be delivered in a quick, accurate and straightforward manner by DWP.

Housing Benefit claimants may also be receiving a qualifying means tested benefit and will therefore be eligible for the £650 Cost of Living Payment for that reason.

For those that are not eligible for the means-tested Cost of Living Payment, or for families that still need additional support; the Government is providing an additional £500 million to help households with the cost of essentials, bringing total funding for this support to £1.5 billion. In England, this will take the form of an extension to the Household Support Fund backed by £421m and is administered by Local Authorities. Additionally they may benefit from other parts of the package of support, including £400 for all domestic electricity customers and The Energy Price Guarantee.

In England those who pay Council Tax in Bands A-D should have also received a £150 rebate.

The guidance with the full list of support can be found at:

Cost of living support factsheet: 26 May 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)


Written Question
State Retirement Pensions: Females
Thursday 27th October 2022

Asked by: Alan Campbell (Labour - Tynemouth)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing additional support to women affected by the raise in state pension age who are ineligible for the (a) winter fuel allowance and (b) cost of living payments in the context of the cost of living crisis.

Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

This Government is committed to providing a financial safety net for those who need it, including when they near or reach retirement. Support is already available to those who are unable to work or are on a low income but are not eligible to pensioner benefits because of their age.

The government understands 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.

To support people who need additional help, the Government is providing an extra £500 million of local support. In England this will be via the Household Support Fund, which will be extended from this October to March 2023 backed by £421m. The Household Support Fund helps those in most need with payments towards the rising cost of food, energy and water bills. The Government has issued guidance to Local Authorities to ensure support is targeted towards those most in need of support, including those not eligible for the Cost of Living Payments set out on 26 May 2022. This brings the total amount provided for this type of support to £1.5 billion since October 2021.


Written Question
Poverty: Children and Families
Wednesday 21st July 2021

Asked by: Alan Campbell (Labour - Tynemouth)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the effect of self-isolation as a result of covid-19 on levels of poverty among children and families; and if she will make a statement.

Answered by Will Quince

No assessment has been made. It is not possible to measure the impact of self-isolating in the data that we use to measure poverty.

This Government is wholly committed to supporting those on low incomes, including by increasing the living wage, and by spending £111 billion on welfare support for people of working age in 2020/21. This included around £7.4 billion of Covid-related welfare policy measures.

The Government through the Department for Health and Social Care introduced the Test and Trace Support Payment scheme which provides financial support to people on low incomes who have to self-isolate, if they are unable to work from home and will lose income as a result. Eligible individuals are able to access a payment of £500. The government has released £176 million of funding for the scheme so far.


Written Question
Kickstart Scheme: Coronavirus
Friday 12th March 2021

Asked by: Alan Campbell (Labour - Tynemouth)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending eligibility to people over the age of 24 years old to the Kickstart Scheme as covid-19 restrictions are eased.

Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

There are no current plans to extend the scheme outside of the 16-24 age group, but we will keep this under review.


Written Question
Carer's Allowance
Wednesday 24th February 2021

Asked by: Alan Campbell (Labour - Tynemouth)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a £20 per week supplement for people receiving carers' allowance as part of Budget 2021.

Answered by Justin Tomlinson

DWP Ministers and officials regularly discuss support for carers with their counterparts across Government. The proposed table of benefits / pension rates for 2021/22, including Carer’s Allowance, was published on 4 December 2020 in the House Library, following the Secretary of State’s annual review of benefit rates. Since 2010, the rate of Carer’s Allowance has increased from £53.90 to £67.25 a week, meaning around an additional £700 a year for carers. Between 2020/21 and 2025/26 real terms expenditure on Carer’s Allowance is forecast to increase by nearly a third (around £1 billion). By 2025/26, the Government is forecast to spend just over £4bn a year on Carer’s Allowance.


Written Question
Universal Credit: Coronavirus
Tuesday 20th October 2020

Asked by: Alan Campbell (Labour - Tynemouth)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans she has to extend the £20 uplift to universal credit.

Answered by Will Quince

The Government introduced a package of temporary welfare measures worth around £9.3 billion this year to help with the financial consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. This included the £20 weekly increase to the Universal Credit Standard Allowance rates as a temporary measure for the 20/21 tax year.

Future decisions on spending will be made at the next appropriate fiscal event, and Parliament will be updated accordingly.


Written Question
Universal Credit: Employment
Wednesday 21st February 2018

Asked by: Alan Campbell (Labour - Tynemouth)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether universal credit recipients who have received a provisional offer of employment but are undergoing security checks prior to being approved for the role must continue applying for other employment opportunities.

Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)

Claimants in receipt of Universal Credit are expected to fulfil the work related requirements appropriate to their current circumstances. For a claimant with a potential job start that is not immediate, this could include continuing to look for alternative or temporary work that fits with their expected start date, where the Work Coach and claimant agree this is reasonable.