Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people are recipients of Universal Credit in (a) Romford and (b) the Borough of Havering.
Answered by David Rutley
The latest available statistics on the number of people who are on Universal Credit, by parliamentary constituency and by local authority, are published monthly and can be found at:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/
Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in Romford are recipients of legacy benefits; how many of those people have made applications to transition to universal credit; and what steps her Department is taking to ensure that people are made aware of the transition to universal credit.
Answered by David Rutley
The data held for people in Romford who are on Legacy benefits is published at: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk. Data surrounding Universal Credit caseload growth at national, regional and constituency level is also published at: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk. Guidance for users is available at: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html. We do not centrally collate the number of claimants that have made a new claim to Universal Credit for claimants who move from existing legacy benefits, to Universal Credit.
Everyone who is required to move to Universal Credit will receive a migration notice informing them that they need to make a claim for Universal Credit. Customers will need to make a claim for Universal Credit within three months
The Department is committed to raising awareness among legacy benefit claimants of the transition to Universal Credit and helping them decide whether moving sooner would be right for them. The latest data estimates that 55%1 of legacy claimants could be better off on Universal Credit. A national multi-channel advertising campaign launched in March. It targets tax credit customers and encourages them to use an independent benefits calculator and seek independent advice to find out if they could be better off and help them decide whether to move to Universal Credit voluntarily.
Following the publication of the Completing the Move to UC Strategy1 and supporting analysis and case studies, the Department will work with stakeholder organisations to help raise awareness about voluntary moves across their networks.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans she has to (a) level up and (b) ensure appropriate job opportunities are available and accessible to young people in Romford constituency.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
Through our Plan for Jobs, DWP has several targeted schemes to support people of all ages and to help them prepare for and progress into work.
The DWP Youth Offer has been extended to 2025 and has expanded eligibility to include 16 and 17-year olds, in addition to 18 to 24-year olds, who are claiming Universal Credit and searching for work through the network of Youth Hubs across England, Scotland and Wales. DWP is also delivering a comprehensive package of support for young people in collaboration with the Department for Education and National Careers Service in England, the Devolved Administrations, and other partners.
In September 2021, we opened a new temporary Jobcentre in Romford which provides dedicated support to Havering residents. The Jobcentre has a dedicated Youth Team which provides access to Jobcentre services, current vacancies, apprenticeships, and a broad range of employment skills provision. This includes basic and digital skills courses and employer led Sector-based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs). In Romford, currently we have SWAPs in the following sectors: health, retail and warehouse, construction, and environmental engineering, although this list is not exhaustive.
The local Jobcentre team works closely with Havering Works, the London Borough of Havering employment and skills brokerage service, and a range of local community and voluntary organisations to increase access to services, including employment and skills. A range of employer led skills programmes is also available through our partnership activity with New City College.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to negotiate new reciprocal social security agreements with (a) Australia, (b) Canada and (c) other countries to prevent British pensioners facing poverty in their retirement.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The policy on the up-rating of UK State Pensions paid overseas is longstanding and has been supported by successive post-war governments for over 70 years.
The Government has no plans to change this policy.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
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 potential merits of introducing a method to assess whether a benefit claimant has permanently left the UK.
Answered by David Rutley
DWP takes fraudulent claims very seriously, which is why we have a range of measures in place to identify when someone has permanently left the UK and is no longer entitlement to benefits.
Universal Credit, like certain other benefits, is only payable in the UK, although it can be claimed legitimately during limited periods of absence. Our operational staff are trained to deal with such cases, which helps ensure claimants do not receive benefits incorrectly. For Universal Credit, claimants will also have regular work-focussed interviews as part of their claim.
In addition, we regularly monitor claims, working closely with other Government Departments. For Universal Credit, our increased use of data and analytics, along with enhanced checks where intelligence indicates a risk of fraud, is proving extremely effective in preventing and detecting this type of loss.
Similarly, a combination of data matching and Life Certificates is helping ensure that State Pension is paid correctly to people living overseas.
All individuals in receipt of a DWP benefits are required to inform the Department if their address changes, including if they move to another country. This is clearly set out in our communications to customers. If claims are made where there is no entitlement, the Department will consider formal action and, where appropriate, prosecution. We will also recover any overpayment incurred.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance she has issued to jobcentres to ensure that people coming to the UK from Hong Kong under (a) the BN(O) and (b) other visa schemes are able to secure training and education opportunities using qualifications obtained in Hong Kong.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
BN(O) entering the UK will have no recourse to public funds (NRPF) as stipulated by their visa conditions. A change is being made to Appendix Hong Kong British National (Overseas) which will allow those on the British National (Overseas) route to apply to vary their conditions to have their no recourse to public funds condition lifted where they are able to demonstrate they are destitute or at imminent risk of destitution.
The Department for Work and Pensions will continue to work closely with Home Office and OGDs to ensure of the smooth integration of BN(O)s who choose to settle into the UK.
The UK European Network Information Centre (UK ENIC, and formerly UK NARIC) provides expert advice on behalf of the UK Government on the comparability of international qualifications, including those from Hong Kong to UK qualifications. UK Higher Education Institutions and other educational institutions use the ENIC database to assess the qualifications of applicants for their courses.
Further information on specific provisions across the four nations of the UK will be set out in due course.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent discussions she has had with the Canadian Government on a reciprocal social security agreement with the UK covering the uprating of pensions.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The Department for Work and Pensions has not had any recent discussions on this issue with the Government of Canada. The Department plans to respond shortly to the request from Canada for a reciprocal social security agreement.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure that married women who are state pension age before April 2016 and receive less than 60 per cent of their husband's basic state pension are (a) made aware that they are entitled to an increase up to 60 per cent of their husband's pension, and (b) receive the full amount of their entitlement in a backdated payment.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The Department is aware of a number of cases where individuals have been underpaid State Pension. We are checking for further cases and any that are found will be looked at in line with the relevant legislation and any arrears payments backdated to the point they became eligible.
Those married women who are already getting a State Pension based on their own National Insurance contributions must make a separate claim for the Category BL top up if their husband reached State Pension age after them and before 17 March 2008. The top up payments can, in accordance with legislation, be backdated for a maximum of 12 months before the date the claim is made.
Any individual who believes they are being underpaid State Pension should contact the Department on the Freephone number 0800 731 0469. Further details on how to do this through the Pension Service are available on the gov.uk website.