Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make it her policy to provide all carers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland with an equivalent entitlement to the carer’s allowance supplement provided to carers in Scotland since 2018; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Chloe Smith
Carer’s Allowance is a devolved benefit under the Scotland Act 2016. The Scottish Government pays a Supplement to all its recipients, regardless of their means. The UK Government takes a different approach and directs more of its financial support across Great Britain towards carers on the lowest incomes. For example, carers in receipt of Universal Credit can receive around an additional £1,965 a year through the Carer Element.
Social security is a transferred matter in Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make it her policy to extend statutory sick pay to self-employed taxpayers.
Answered by Chloe Smith
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the Question UIN99076.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of replacing the Universal Credit Minimum Income Floor for creative freelancers with an alternative policy that is tailored for workforces with unpredictable incomes.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The Minimum Income Floor aims to encourage individuals to increase their earnings through developing their self-employment. It also helps deter under declaration of earnings and as such provides fairness to the taxpayer.
In Universal Credit no sector is treated more, or less favourably than another and all claimants have the same rights and obligations. We are aware that for many who are self-employed, particularly those with seasonal businesses, earnings often fluctuate from month to month, and they need to budget and plan for this. Self-employed Universal Credit claimants are no different in this regard. UC seeks to assist viable self-employment, and support people in self-employment, where this is the best route for them to become financially self-sufficient.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make it her policy to allow unpaid carers who meet all the conditions for Carer’s Allowance but don’t receive it because it overlaps with the state pension to receive a payment in recognition of their continued caring responsibilities; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Chloe Smith
It has been a long-held feature of the UK’s benefit system, under successive Governments, that where someone is entitled to two benefits in broadly the same circumstance then only one will be paid in full. Although entitlement to State Pension and Carer’s Allowance arise in different circumstances they would be paid for the same reason – as an income replacement. Carer’s Allowance replaces income where the carer has given up the opportunity of full-time employment in order to care for a severely disabled person, while State Pension replaces income in retirement. A social security rule, called the “overlapping benefit” rule, operates to prevent them being paid together. There are no plans to change this policy.
If a carer’s State Pension is less than Carer's Allowance, State Pension is paid and topped up with Carer's Allowance to the basic weekly rate of Carer's Allowance. Where Carer’s Allowance cannot be paid, the person will keep underlying entitlement to the benefit. This gives access to the additional amount for carers in Pension Credit of £37.70 a week, and even if a pensioner’s income is above the limit for Pension Credit, he or she may still be able to receive Housing Benefit. Full details about Carer’s Allowance are available on Gov.UK which includes a specific reference to additional payments in Pension Credit and links to organisations able to provide advice, such as Carers UK and Carers Trust. Carer's Allowance - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Where Carer’s Allowance cannot be paid, the person will keep underlying entitlement to the benefit, and thousands of pensioners are given this status each month. As of May 2021, there were 370,000 Carer’s Allowance claimants with underlying entitlement awards in Great Britain.
As of May 2021, there were 101 carers in the Brighton Pavilion constituency that were receiving a carer premium with their Pension Credit.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what communications strategy she has in place to try to ensure that unpaid carers, who are eligible for but not in receipt of Carer’s Allowance because it overlaps with the state pension, are aware that applying for Carer’s Allowance could entitle them to other top-up payments to other benefits; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Chloe Smith
It has been a long-held feature of the UK’s benefit system, under successive Governments, that where someone is entitled to two benefits in broadly the same circumstance then only one will be paid in full. Although entitlement to State Pension and Carer’s Allowance arise in different circumstances they would be paid for the same reason – as an income replacement. Carer’s Allowance replaces income where the carer has given up the opportunity of full-time employment in order to care for a severely disabled person, while State Pension replaces income in retirement. A social security rule, called the “overlapping benefit” rule, operates to prevent them being paid together. There are no plans to change this policy.
If a carer’s State Pension is less than Carer's Allowance, State Pension is paid and topped up with Carer's Allowance to the basic weekly rate of Carer's Allowance. Where Carer’s Allowance cannot be paid, the person will keep underlying entitlement to the benefit. This gives access to the additional amount for carers in Pension Credit of £37.70 a week, and even if a pensioner’s income is above the limit for Pension Credit, he or she may still be able to receive Housing Benefit. Full details about Carer’s Allowance are available on Gov.UK which includes a specific reference to additional payments in Pension Credit and links to organisations able to provide advice, such as Carers UK and Carers Trust. Carer's Allowance - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Where Carer’s Allowance cannot be paid, the person will keep underlying entitlement to the benefit, and thousands of pensioners are given this status each month. As of May 2021, there were 370,000 Carer’s Allowance claimants with underlying entitlement awards in Great Britain.
As of May 2021, there were 101 carers in the Brighton Pavilion constituency that were receiving a carer premium with their Pension Credit.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
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 impact of the Kickstart scheme in the (a) arts, (b) digital, (c) creative and (d) cultural sectors; if she will make it her policy to extend the scheme beyond the planned end date; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
I refer the Honourable Member to the answer given for PQ 71418 for a recent breakdown of jobs made available and started by sector.
We have worked across sectors to deliver a series of sector-specific webinars to encourage and support employer applications to Kickstart. This has included a creative and media industries webinar and a digital webinar, delivered in partnership with the sector itself, inviting more than 200 employers from the tech and digital sector. We continue to support these sectors for the remainder of the Kickstart Scheme, whilst recognising that Kickstart jobs must be additional, not displacing existing opportunities within the wider labour market.
On Monday 4 October 2021 the Chancellor announced that Kickstart would run-on to the end of March 2022, extending the window for young people to take part in the Scheme beyond the original closing date of 31 December 2021. The deadline for employers and gateways to submit their application is 17 December 2021. There are no current plans to extend the Scheme further.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make it her policy to expand the groups of people eligible for Maternity Allowance to support them while taking time off to have a baby to include (a) PhD candidates and (b) other students; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Guy Opperman
Entitlement to Maternity Allowance is determined by an employment and earnings test, designed to establish a recent connection to the labour market. PhD candidates, and students, can qualify for Maternity Allowance provided they meet the employment and earnings test. The Government currently has no plans to expand eligibility for Maternity Allowance.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people are facing delays in receiving their State Pension after sending in their application; how long people facing such delays are waiting on average; if he will make it his policy to (a) not suspend and (b) reinstate working age benefits whilst people wait for their State Pension; what payments are available to people who do not have enough to live on whilst their pension application is delayed; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Guy Opperman
We expect all claims received to-date, where a payment is due in October, to be processed by the end of October, with the exception of those claims where we need additional information, or there is a future entitlement date. Those cases which could not be processed through Get Your State Pension or received clerically will be prioritised if they are due payment by the end of the month.
Persons over pension age can make a claim for Pension Credit and further information is available online at: www.gov.uk./pension-credit
We are aware that there are small numbers of delayed State Pension Claims. All of these customers have been contacted by the department and we are awaiting further information so we can finalise their claims.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what data her Department holds on which sectors universal credit claimants work in; what estimate she has made of the number of claimants classified as critical workers who will receive a £20 a week reduction to their universal credit income; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Will Quince
The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost. We do not systematically collect data on the employment sector background of UC claimants because this does not affect entitlement to UC.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
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 on child poverty of the planned reduction of universal credit by £20 a week; if she will make it her policy to reverse that planned reduction and make the £20 a week permanent; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Will Quince
It is not possible to produce a robust assessment of the impact of removing the £20 uplift on child poverty. This is particularly the case at the moment given the uncertainty around the speed of the economic recovery, and how this will be distributed across the population.
The Chancellor announced a temporary six-month extension to the £20 per week uplift at the Budget on 3 March to support households affected by the economic shock of Covid-19. Universal Credit has provided a vital safety net for six million people during the pandemic, and the temporary uplift was part of a COVID support package worth a total of £407 billion in 2020-21 and 2021-22.
There have been significant positive developments in the public health situation since the uplift was first introduced with the success of the vaccine rollout. Now the economy is reopening and as we continue to progress with our recovery our focus is on helping people back into work.
Through our Plan for Jobs, we are targeting tailored support schemes of people of all ages to help them prepare for, get into and progress in work. These include: Kickstart, delivering tens of thousands of six-month work placements for UC claimants aged 16-24 at risk of unemployment; we have also recruited an additional 13,500 work coaches to provide more intensive support to find a job; and introduced Restart which provides 12 months’ intensive employment support to UC claimants who are unemployed for a year. Our Plan for Jobs interventions will support more than two million people.