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, whether his Department has set targets for increasing the number of existing benefit claimants who are voluntarily moved to universal credit ahead of the planned date for their migration.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The Department does not ask anyone to move voluntarily to universal credit and there are no targets for people to do so. Jobcentre staff engage ahead of and once Universal Credit Full Service has gone live to explain the changes and help our customers prepare, in case they should have a change in their circumstances requiring them to claim Universal Credit.
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, whether people who agree voluntarily to move from existing benefits to universal credit forego the right to any transitional protection against a loss of income.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The Department does not ask anyone to move voluntarily to universal credit and there are no targets for people to do so. Jobcentre staff engage ahead of and once Universal Credit Full Service has gone live to explain the changes and help our customers prepare, in case they should have a change in their circumstances requiring them to claim Universal Credit.
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, in what circumstances a first full universal credit payment can be paid within two weeks.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
A first full Universal Credit payment cannot be paid within two weeks of making a claim, however, a claimant can apply for an advance of up to 50% of their Universal Credit payment during this period. We have recently refreshed our work coach guidance to make sure work coaches discuss advances with claimants who need them.
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 support with budgeting is available for universal credit claimants who are adjusting to monthly payments or have fluctuating incomes.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The main support that is available to claimants to help them manage a monthly payment is the online Money Management tool, designed in conjunction with the Money Advisory Service. This product provides free, impartial budgeting information and advice for claimants, based on their personal circumstances. We also offer Personal Budgeting Support (PBS). This is delivered by Local Authorities and funded by DWP. Personal Budgeting Support is support for those who need help managing the transition to monthly payments and prioritise essential bills. We have also published guidance for claimants on different earning patterns. Please see link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/universal-credit-payment-timeliness-january-to-june-2017
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 claimants have experienced a delay in receiving their first full universal credit payment because they do not have a suitable bank account.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
DWP do not collect this data, however there should be no payments of Universal Credit delayed because a claimant does not have a bank account.
A direct payment paid into a bank, building society or credit union account is the Government’s preferred way to make payments. It is the fastest, most secure and efficient way for people to receive their money, and also opens doors to other financial products and savings.
If claimants do not have a suitable bank account however, DWP would pay via an alternative method of payment (such as Post office card, via simple payments or to a third party) in order not to delay payment.
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 he has made of the proportion of people in receipt of universal credit who are in rent arrears in (a) Newcastle upon Tyne, (b) the North East and (c) England.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
We do not currently have this information but we will shortly be publishing a report which analyses rent payment data with DWP Universal Credit payment records.
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 the average time has been for first payments to be made to new claimants of universal credit from their application date in (a) Newcastle upon Tyne, (b) the North East and (c) England since the introduction of that payment.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
There is no data broken down by area or region. However, the latest published data on gov.uk, shows that, nationally, 81% of new Universal Credit households received their first payment in full and on time. Across the whole of Universal Credit 92% of all households received full payment on time.
The data can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/universal-credit-payment-timeliness-january-to-june-2017
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 proportion of claimants have received their full universal credit payment within six weeks in (a) Newcastle upon Tyne, (b) the North East and (c) England since the introduction of that payment.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
There is no data broken down by area or region. However, the latest published data on gov.uk, shows that, nationally, 81% of new Universal Credit households received their first payment in full and on time. Across the whole of Universal Credit 92% of all households received full payment on time.
The data can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/universal-credit-payment-timeliness-january-to-june-2017
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 he will review the mobility component of disability living allowance to ensure that children under the age of three are eligible.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
Families with children under the age of three are able to claim the care component of Disability Living Allowance where the child’s care needs are substantially in excess of the needs of a child of the same age without a disability or long term health condition.
From 9 April 2001, the age condition for entitlement to the higher rate mobility component was lowered from 5 years to 3 years. In deciding to set the lower age limit, the department considered views of medical advisors and independent research; while the development of walking ability varies from child to child, by age 3 it was felt that it is realistically possible in the majority of cases to make an informed decision as to whether an inability to walk is the result of disability or long term health condition.
We do however appreciate the difficulties that some families with severely disabled children aged under 3 face particularly those whose reliance on bulky medical equipment makes transportation difficult. We have met stakeholders at both Ministerial and official level to hear their concerns first-hand, and are continuing to consider this issue. As part of this, we have been in discussion with Motability to explore options for helping this group of children. Any further progress on this matter will be announced in due course.
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, whether he plans to meet representatives of the Women Against State Pension Inequality campaign to discuss the effect of 1995 and 2011 changes to women's state pension age.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
There are no current plans to meet with representatives of the Women Against State Pension Inequality campaign in the immediate future.
This matter has been comprehensively debated on many occasions in Parliament, most recently in a Westminster Hall Debate on 5th July 2017 in which I stated I will be meeting the all-party parliamentary group when it is reformed.
In addition to the substantive debate on this issue, previous Ministers have met with WASPI representatives to discuss the effect of the 1995 and 2011 changes to women’s State Pension age. Baroness Ros Altmann and Shailesh Vara MP met with representatives of the WASPI group on 29th June 2016 to listen to their concerns.
This issue was also raised in a meeting on 23 November 2016 between the former Secretary of State Damian Green, the then Minister for Pensions Richard Harrington MP and representatives from the relevant All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG).
Following these meetings and debates, the government maintains the view that the 1995 and 2011 changes to State Pension age were necessary. We remain very clear that we will make no further changes to the State Pension age or pay financial redress in lieu of pension. Therefore the government believes that there is no value for either party in future meetings with representatives from the Women Against State Pension Inequality campaign.
A key priority for Government remains supporting individuals aged 50 years and over to return to and remain in the labour market, and tackling the barriers to them doing so. Since 2016 much work has been done to provide support back into employment, with 1.2 million over 65’s now in employment. In addition there is training and retraining, in many ways, as well as investment in lifelong learning and returnship schemes. We have also extended our network of older claimant champions to all 34 Jobcentre Plus districts to provide best practice and support to work coaches.