Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions officials in her Department have had with their counterparts in the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government on the potential role of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund to (a) reduce and (b) alleviate child poverty.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The manifesto committed to replace European structural funds with a UK Shared Prosperity Fund, which will reduce inequalities between communities and deliver sustainable, inclusive growth. We continue to work together on the design and priorities of the new fund.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 8 May 2018 to Question 141857, approach on sign language, what lessons have been learned from the Scottish Government’s to British Sign Language to inform the Government’s thinking in England and Wales.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Existing equality legislation already means employers, service providers and public bodies have to provide services in BSL and other formats when it is reasonable to do so. The Public Sector Equality Duty requires public bodies to have due regard to the needs of all those with protected characteristics. We don’t think new legislation would add to that. However, we are actively considering lessons from Scotland’s approach to inform our thinking.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
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 the eligibility for budgeting loans to all families in receipt of universal credit.
Answered by Will Quince
This Government is committed to providing a strong safety-net for those who need it and continues to spend over ￡95 billion a year on working age welfare benefits. This includes a well-established system of hardship payments, benefit advances and budgeting loans for those who need extra support. The Government also provides a range of additional financial support to families and this includes free school meals, Healthy Start vouchers and help with health costs.
Budgeting Advances have replaced Budgeting Loans for those in receipt of Universal Credit helping to provide additional assistance for emergency household costs, such as replacing a broken cooker, getting a job or staying in work or funeral costs. Eligibility for a Budgeting Advance is explained on GOV.UK and can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/universal-credit/other-financial-support
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of local authorities that no longer provide local welfare assistance schemes.
Answered by Will Quince
The reforms to the Social Fund in 2013 allowed local authorities in England, and the devolved administrations in Scotland and Wales, to deliver their own local provision for people who are in need of urgent help. We passed funding over to local authorities and devolved administrations (from April 2013) on a non-ring-fenced basis, with no statutory duties or monitoring requirements attached. Local authorities are best placed to decide how to target flexible help to support local welfare needs. The Government has no plans to alter policy on LWP or to review this provision at this time.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
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 eligibility for local welfare assistance to families with dependent children that have no recourse to public funds conditions attached to their leave to remain in the UK.
Answered by Will Quince
The reforms to the Social Fund in 2013 allowed local authorities in England, and the devolved administrations in Scotland and Wales, to deliver their own local provision for people who are in need of urgent help. We passed funding over to local authorities and devolved administrations (from April 2013) on a non-ring-fenced basis, with no statutory duties or monitoring requirements attached. Local authorities are best placed to decide how to target flexible help to support local welfare needs. The Government has no plans to alter policy on LWP or to review this provision at this time.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people with multiple sclerosis have lost the severe disability payment as a result of natural migration to universal credit.
Answered by Sarah Newton
Statistics on specific medical conditions are not currently available.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people with multiple sclerosis are in receipt of (a) income-related employment support allowance and (b) severe disability premium.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people with multiple sclerosis in receipt of employment support allowance are in the (a) support and (b) work-related activity group.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people with multiple sclerosis in Newcastle upon Tyne North constituency who received a reduced rate of mobility support as a result of the transition from disability living allowance to personal independence payments (PIP) (i) appealed that decision and (ii) were successful in their appeal in each year since PIP was introduced.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 22 October 2018 to Question 180727 on universal credit: mental illness, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that vulnerable claimants are fully supported through the managed migration.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
The Department continues to ensure all vulnerable claimants are fully supported, especially when moving to Universal Credit. That is why we are fully committed to working closely with stakeholders to design how we identify and support those claimants who will need extra help with the process of managed migration.
Following the approach of continuously reviewing and improving the Universal Credit service, managed migration will begin with a lengthy period of careful introduction. This will be at a small scale to enable us to optimise our delivery approach for all claimant types.
Work Coaches provide continuous support for all claimants, including vulnerable claimants throughout their journey.