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, with reference to information from Hull City Council that the application period for the Household Support Fund went live on 23 November 2021 and closed on 17 December 2021 as a result of the number of applicants exceeding the available funding, what assessment her Department made of the amount of funding required to support that scheme.
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.
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 much funding has been made available for the Household Support Fund (a) nationally and (b) in Kingston upon Hull.
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.
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 implications for his policies of analysis by Citizen's Advice that on average a single adult claiming the basic rate of universal credit will be spend 33 per cent of their standard allowance on energy bills following the estimated energy price cap increase; and if her Department will take steps to assist those claimants.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government is providing £12 billion of support to ease cost of living pressures, with help targeted at working families, low-income households and the most vulnerable. A further £9 billion has been announced to protect against the impact of rising global energy prices.
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, if her Department will take steps with the Treasury to uprate benefits in line with inflation.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Secretary of State undertakes an annual review of benefits and pensions based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures inflation in the year to September.
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 estimate she has made of the number of people who have been affected by the underpayment of benefits after transitioning from incapacity benefit to employment and support allowance in Kingston Upon Hull North constituency.
Answered by Chloe Smith
I refer the Rt hon. Member to the answer I gave on 19th January to question number 104377.
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 her Department has made of the impact the end of the furlough scheme on the number of people claiming Universal Credit in (a) the UK, (b) Yorkshire and Humber and (c) Kingston upon Hull North.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
No such assessment has been made. The Covid-19 Job Retention Scheme ended on 30 September 2021.
With the success of the vaccine rollout and record job vacancies, it is right that our focus is on helping people back into work. This approach is based on clear evidence about the importance of employment, particularly where it is full-time, in substantially reducing the risks of poverty.
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 Universal Credit 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 Universal Credit claimants who are unemployed for a year. Our Plan for Jobs interventions will support more than two million people
This Government is wholly committed to supporting those on low incomes, and continues to do so through many measures, including by spending over £111 billion on welfare support for people of working age in 2021/22. This government is continuing to take action to support living standards by increasing the National Living Wage to £9.50 effective from April 1st 2022, as well as reducing the taper rate in Universal Credit from 63% to 55% and increasing the value of work allowances by £500 per year, meaning Universal Credit claimants will be able to keep more of their benefit payments when they increase their earnings.
The latest Universal Credit statistics are available to 9 September 2021 and the next release on 16 November 2021 will provide the statistics to 14 October 2021.
The number of people who are on Universal Credit in Great Britain each month, broken down by Region and Westminster Parliamentary Constituency, are published monthly, and can be found on Stat-Xplore: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk.
Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
What assessment she has made of the potential effect of ending the uplift to universal credit on (a) household budgets and (b) levels of poverty.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The uplift to Universal Credit was a temporary measure, that is why an assessment has not been completed on its withdrawal.
This Government is wholly committed to supporting those on low incomes, and continues to do so through many measures. We expect to spend over £111 billion on welfare support for people of working age in 2021/22.
Universal Credit recipients in work will soon benefit from a reduction in the Universal Credit taper rate from 63% to 55%, and increasing the work allowance by £500 per year means that 1.9m working households will be able to keep substantially more of what they earn. These changes represent an effective tax cut for low income working households in receipt of UC worth £2.2 billion a year in 2022-23, for the lowest paid in society, and are combined with a rise in the National Living Wage to £9.50 per hour.
We recognise that some people may require extra support over the winter as we enter the final stages of recovery, which is why vulnerable households across the country will now be able to access a new £500 million support fund to help them with essentials. The Household Support Fund will provide £421 million to help vulnerable people in England with the cost of food, utilities and wider essentials. The Barnett Formula will apply in the usual way, with the devolved administrations receiving almost £80 million (£41m for the Scottish Government, £25m for the Welsh Government and £14m for the NI Executive), for a total of £500 million.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 16 September 2021 to Question 48169 on universal credit, if she will revise the calculations for the National Living Wage to include the taper rate.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage are set annually on the basis of recommendations from the independent Low Pay Commission, an independent body of employers, unions and experts.
On 1 April 2021, following the recommendations of the Low Pay Commission, workers on the National Living Wage saw a 2.2% pay increase to £8.91 an hour. The April 2021 increase in the National Living Wage represents an increase of over £345 to the annual gross earnings of a full-time worker on the National Living Wage, equivalent to a total increase in annual gross earnings of around £4,030 since the introduction of the National Living Wage in April 2016.
The Government is committed to raising the National Living Wage through its long term target to reach two-thirds of median earnings, and extending to those aged 21 and over by 2024.
Universal Credit promotes work as an effective route out of poverty. The single universal credit taper means that as earnings increase, above any applicable work allowance, Universal Credit payments reduce by less than the earnings, meaning claimants can clearly understand the advantages of work.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 16 September 2021 to Question 48169, what percentage of universal credit claimants who are in work make the National Living Wage.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The requested information is not held as the level of detail to determine the percentage of Universal Credit claimants in work and on the National Living Wage is not available.
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 is taking to support universal credit beneficiaries to obtain employment that is sufficiently well-paid to enable them to offset the ending of the £20 uplift by working two additional hours each week.
Answered by Will Quince
Universal Credit is a benefit where the amount received by claimants and the way this fluctuates in line with earnings will depend on individual household circumstances. This range of circumstances will affect how increased earnings for entering or progressing in work will translate into a rise in net income.
The National Living Wage is currently £8.91 an hour for workers aged over 23, where 2 hours in work should mean gross earnings of nearly £20; many individuals will receive an hourly pay rate greater than this.
In Universal Credit, those with children or limited capability for work are entitled to a Work Allowance of either £293 or £515 a month. This means that the taper rate does not apply to their earnings below this level and they do not see any reduction in their Universal Credit award As a consequence, many claimants can keep all their earnings from their first several hours of 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; Restart, which provides 12 months’ intensive employment support to UC claimants who are unemployed for a year; and JETS, which provides light touch employment support for people who are claiming either Universal Credit or New Style Jobseekers Allowance, for up to 6 months, helping participants effectively re-engage with the labour market and focus their job search. We have also recruited an additional 13,500 work coaches to provide more intensive support to find a job. In total, our Plan for Jobs interventions will support more than two million people.