Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 12 March 2024 to Question 17113 on Universal Credit and with reference to the National Audit Office's report entitled Progress in implementing Universal Credit, published on 27 February 2024, whether he has taken steps in response to the finding on the proportion of people claiming legacy benefits who (a) have not transferred to universal credit after receiving notice to switch and (b) have had their legacy benefits stopped.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Our priority is the ensure that everyone who wishes to make a claim to Universal Credit is able to do so. The Department undertook research to better understand why some tax credit only households were not making a claim to Universal Credit and our findings were published on 29 February 2024, Move to Universal Credit – insight on Tax Credit migrations and initial Discovery activity for wider benefit cohorts. The Department will be undertaking further surveys with IPSOS, which are due to commence in April 2024. Once this is complete, we are committed to publishing all our findings.
It is the customers responsibility to choose whether to make an application for Universal Credit. There is no evidence to suggest any actions the Department has taken or should have taken are influencing that choice.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the report entitled Beneath the trends: A detailed look at the issues facing claimants going through managed migration, published by the Child Poverty Action Group on 13 February 2024.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
There is no evidence to suggest slowing down Move to UC is necessary. We have recently published our latest findings; Move to Universal Credit – insight on Tax Credit migrations and initial Discovery activity for wider benefit cohorts - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk), further research is planned to improve our understanding of the service we deliver, to better support those transitioning to UC under managed migration.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the National Audit Office report entitled Progress in implementing Universal Credit, published on 27 February 2024, HC 552.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department welcomes the National Audit Office report which reflects the positive progress made by the programme implementing Universal Credit (UC).
The Department is assured that the recommendations made by the National Audit Office reflect the activities already in place within the UC Programme to effectively deliver Move to UC.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that people receiving the Disability Element of Working Tax Credits are not disadvantaged in the transition to Universal Credit.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
All individuals issued with a migration notice informing them that they must make a claim to Universal Credit will be assessed for transitional protection at the point of making a claim to Universal Credit.
Transitional protection, by way of a transitional element, will be then awarded to eligible claimants to ensure their entitlement to Universal Credit is not lower than the entitlement they received as part of their legacy benefits.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure protections for people with disabled worker status are maintained in the managed migration to Universal Credit.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
People who are being moved to Universal Credit (UC) from Employment and Support Allowance take with them their Work Capability Assessment decision. They are not required to have another assessment to get the disability element they are entitled to on Universal Credit.
At the point of moving over to Universal Credit as part of the managed migration process, all claimants will be assessed for transitional protection and paid where appropriate. Transitional protection is designed so that eligible claimants will not have a lower entitlement to Universal Credit than they had entitlement to legacy benefits, at the point they move to the new benefit system.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that legacy benefit claimants do not have their support terminated before moving to Universal Credit.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
It is a fundamental principle of social security in the United Kingdom that people need to make a claim for benefits. For those already in receipt of benefits, Parliament made it clear, though its passage of the Welfare Reform Act 2012, that entitlement to those benefits would cease as Universal Credit (UC) was implemented.
The Department provides a range of support to individuals, to assist them during migration including a dedicated DWP telephone line and signposting to independent support through the Help to Claim service. Help to Claim is an independent service and is available to those moving from legacy benefits because of managed migration, voluntary moves, or a change of circumstances.
The Migration Notice is the key way in which we initially communicate with legacy benefit claimants to inform them of the requirement to migrate to UC within 3 months. However, we also provide a reminder after 7 weeks and at week 10. If claimants haven’t made a claim for UC and after the 3 month period, on a case by case basis, there is a grace period of 1 month within which a tax credit claimant can make a claim for UC without losing eligibility for transitional protection.
Terminating benefits is our last resort. If a claimant does not claim by their extended deadline, they will be notified that their current benefit(s) will be terminated, unless they have significant support needs requiring a further extension. For those claimants who require significant support, we hold case conferences with Advanced Customer Support Senior Leaders who provide local expertise, working with different organisations to take a multi-agency approach. Where a claimant’s legacy benefit(s) has been terminated and they make a claim to UC within one month, their claim can be backdated to their deadline date and still be awarded Transitional Protection where applicable.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has issued guidance on the circumstances in which the deadline for an application for Universal Credit could be extended.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department has issued guidance on the circumstances in which the deadline for an application for Universal Credit could be extended. This guidance is regularly reviewed and updated.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how existing overpayments will be handled in the managed migration from Working Tax Credits to Universal Credit.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
When a claimant’s tax credit claim is closed, for whatever reason, including a move to Universal Credit, the debt is transferred to the Department’s Debt Management team.
Once Universal Credit is in payment, the overpayment will be recovered in line with the Universal Credit regulations.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure that children with long covid are (a) assessed for and (b) awarded Disability Living Allowance.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Disability Living Allowance (DLA) is an extra-costs benefit available as a contribution to the extra costs associated with being disabled to those children under the age of 16 who, due to a disability or health condition, have mobility issues and/or have needs which are substantially in excess of a child the same age without the disability or health condition. Entitlement to DLA depends on the effects that severe disability has on a child’s life, and not on a particular disability or diagnosis. The needs arising from Long Covid are assessed in the same way as for all other health conditions or disabilities.
From March 2021 we amended DLA statistical classifications to include the category “Coronavirus COVID-19”. Data on the DLA caseload by a range of factors, including main disabling condition, can be extracted from Stat-Xplore - Log in (dwp.gov.uk). Information on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found at Getting Started (dwp.gov.uk).
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of Personal Independence Payment descriptors for people with long covid.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
No such assessment has been made.
The Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessment is a functional assessment that assesses the impact of a person’s disability or health condition, rather than the condition itself. This means that a person with any health condition that has impacts on their functioning, and who meets eligibility criteria, can be assessed and, if they meet the appropriate assessment criteria, an award for PIP can be made. The impacts from Long Covid are assessed in the same way as for all other health conditions or disabilities.