Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Universal Credit decisions were subject to an appeal by the claimant in 2022 in Kingston upon Hull North constituency.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
From 01 January 2022 to 30 September 2022, there were 30 Universal Credit appeals lodged by claimants in the Kingston upon Hull North constituency.
Notes:
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
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 improve the take-up of Pension Credit in Kingston upon Hull North constituency.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Pension Credit provides vital financial support to pensioners on a low income. In Kingston upon Hull North some 2,400 pensioners already receive Pension Credit, but we want all those who are eligible to claim it. That’s why the Department launched a £1.2m nationwide communications campaign in April to raise awareness of Pension Credit and increase take-up. The campaign included a whole range of activities including:
Last month we undertook a further burst of communications activity, including press and radio advertising and social media to highlight to pensioners that if they applied for Pension Credit by 18 December, it would not be too late to qualify for a £324 Cost of Living Payment – subject to Pension Credit backdating rules.
On 7 December, around 40 MPs attended a Pension Credit event at Portcullis House which I hosted. I was pleased to hear about the work that a number of MPs are already doing to help their constituents make a claim and also that others pledged to help promote Pension Credit.
In the coming weeks, DWP will write to over 11 million pensioners to notify them of the up-rating of their State Pensions. As with last year, a leaflet accompanying the notification includes information promoting Pension Credit. This has been updated to include a more prominent ‘call to action’ using the Pension Credit campaign messaging to encourage eligible pensioners to make a claim.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
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 help pensioners in Kingston upon Hull North constituency access (a) information about their eligibility for Pension Credit and (b) Pension Credit.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Pension Credit provides vital financial support to pensioners on a low income. In Kingston upon Hull North some 2,400 pensioners already receive Pension Credit, but we want all those who are eligible to claim it. That’s why the Department launched a £1.2m nationwide communications campaign in April to raise awareness of Pension Credit and increase take-up. The campaign included a whole range of activities including:
Last month we undertook a further burst of communications activity, including press and radio advertising and social media to highlight to pensioners that if they applied for Pension Credit by 18 December, it would not be too late to qualify for a £324 Cost of Living Payment – subject to Pension Credit backdating rules.
On 7 December, around 40 MPs attended a Pension Credit event at Portcullis House which I hosted. I was pleased to hear about the work that a number of MPs are already doing to help their constituents make a claim and also that others pledged to help promote Pension Credit.
In the coming weeks, DWP will write to over 11 million pensioners to notify them of the up-rating of their State Pensions. As with last year, a leaflet accompanying the notification includes information promoting Pension Credit. This has been updated to include a more prominent ‘call to action’ using the Pension Credit campaign messaging to encourage eligible pensioners to make a claim.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what was the average waiting time for a Work Capability Assessment in Kingston upon Hull North constituency in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to help support low income private renters with the cost of living.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Government announced over £37bn of cost of living support earlier this year which includes an extension to the Household Support Fund backed by £421m, running from 1 October 2022 to 31 March 2023. This is in addition to the energy bill support announced in September.
In the private rented sector, Local Housing Allowance (LHA) determines the maximum financial support available for renters. LHA rates are not intended to cover all rents in all areas. In April 2020 Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates were increased to the 30th percentile of local rents. This significant investment of nearly £1 billion provided 1.5 million claimants with an average £600 more housing support in 2020/21 than they would otherwise have received.
LHA rates have been maintained at their increased levels since then, so that everyone who benefitted from the increase will continue to do so.
For those who require additional support with housing costs, Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP) are available. Since 2011 we have provided almost £1.5 billion in DHPs to local authorities.
The government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living and has taken further decisive action to support people with their energy bills. The Energy Price Guarantee is supporting millions of households with rising energy costs, and the Chancellor made clear it will continue to do so from now until April next year. This is in addition to the over £37bn of cost of living support announced earlier this year which includes the £400 non-repayable discount to eligible households provided through the Energy Bills Support Scheme. Also included is an extension to the Household Support Fund backed by £421m, running from 1 October 2022 to 31 March 2023.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
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 of the freeze on Local Housing Allowance rates on the ability of private renters to pay rent.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates are not intended to meet all rents in all areas. For Great Britain in May 2022, 55% of the households on LHA had rents higher than the LHA rates. For these households the average gap was £146 per month.
In April 2020 LHA rates were increased to the 30th percentile of local rents. This investment of nearly £1 billion provided 1.5 million claimants with an average £600 more housing support in 2020/21 than they would otherwise have received.
LHA rates have been maintained at their increased levels since then, so that everyone who benefitted from the increase will continue to do so.
For those who require additional support with housing costs, Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP) are available from local authorities. Since 2011 we have provided almost £1.5 billion in DHPs.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans her Department has to improve child maintenance services for parents attempting to access unpaid maintenance payments from parents on with high income.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) already has strong enforcement powers in place to recover unpaid child maintenance, including powers to deduct directly from earnings and from a wide range of bank accounts, seizing goods and forcing the sale of a property.
The CMS can also pursue sanctions against those parents who are unwilling to meet their responsibilities such as disqualification from driving, confiscating a UK Passport or commitment to prison. Curfew powers are currently being consulted on which will help ensure CMS can use the right lever to obtain compliance.
Child Maintenance payments are considered a high priority and paying parents are encouraged to prioritise these against other outgoings.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull 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 Gypsy, Roma and Travellers are living in (a) relative and (b) absolute poverty.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
It is not possible to produce a robust estimate of Gypsy, Roma, and Travellers' poverty rates due to the small sample size.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans she has in place to reduce the use of foodbanks.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Foodbanks are independent, charitable organisations and the Department for Work and Pensions does not have any role in their operation. There is no consistent and accurate measure of foodbank usage at a constituency or national level.
We understand the data limitations in this area, and therefore from April 2021 we introduced a set of questions into the Family Resources Survey (FRS) to measure and track foodbank usage. The first results of these questions are due to be published in March 2023 subject to usual quality assurance.
Our commitment to include questions in the Family Resources Survey show how seriously we take this issue; the data is vital to ensure we understand the full picture.
We understand the pressures people are facing with the cost of living and have taken action to support families. That is why the government is providing over £15bn in further support, targeted particularly on those with the greatest need. This package is in addition to the over £22bn announced previously, with government support for the cost of living now totaling over £37bn this year.
From October 2022, Government is providing an additional £500 million to help households with the cost of essentials, bringing the total funding for this support to £1.5 billion. In England £421m will be used to further extend the Household Support Fund (October 2022 – March 2023). Devolved administrations will receive £79 million through the Barnett formula.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department took to ensure effective application and distribution of funding under the Household Support Fund to different local authorities.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We recognise that some people require extra support over the winter, through the final stages of recovery, which is why vulnerable households across the country are able to access the Household Support Fund, which provides £421 million to help vulnerable people in England.
Each Local Authority in England was allocated a share of the £421m based on population weighted by the index of multiple deprivation. Kingston upon Hull was allocated £3,038,293.68. Kingston upon Hull used a portion of their funding to establish a Household Support Scheme which ran applications until 17 December. We understand that the rest of their funding was used towards other initiatives, including food vouchers for vulnerable families over Christmas, February half term and the forthcoming Easter holidays.