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, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of changing the universal credit childcare payments system to make it similar to Tax Free Childcare in allowing the top-up to be provided through a government account.
Answered by Will Quince
Universal Credit (UC) childcare costs is already a generous offer that pays up to 85% of registered childcare costs each month, up to £646.35 for one child aged up to 16, and £1,108.04 for two or more children aged up to 16. This could be worth up to £13,000.
For every £8 families pay in to their online Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) account, the Government will make a top-up payment of £2 up to a maximum of £2,000 per child per year (or £4,000 a year for disabled children) aged up to 11.
By being different the two benefits provide a wider offer to parents and eligible claimants can choose which option suits their circumstances. In addition to accessing free childcare, parents can choose to move between TFC and UC, with good reason to do so, if their circumstances change.
Both UC and TFC childcare offers align with the free childcare offer that provides 15 hours a week of free childcare in England for all 3 and 4 year olds and disadvantaged 2 year olds, doubling for working parents of 3 and 4 year olds to 30 hours a week. The UC childcare costs element can be used to top up a claimant’s eligible free childcare hours if more hours are worked and childcare required. However, you cannot claim Tax-Free Childcare at the same time as claiming Universal Credit.
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 his Department has made of the effect of the removal of the spare room subsidy on debt levels since the outbreak of covid-19.
Answered by Will Quince
No assessment has been made.
For those living in the Social Rented Sector, maximum housing costs support is based on actual rent and eligible service charges less any deductions for under-occupation.
The ‘Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy’ policy has helped to encourage mobility within the social rented sector, strengthen work incentives and make better use of available social housing.
The policy already allows for the provision of an additional bedroom for disabled people and carers, foster carers, parents who adopt, parents of service personnel, and people who have suffered a recent bereavement. Additionally, those in receipt of pension age housing benefit are exempt.
If a claimant’s ability to mitigate any shortfall between their housing support and rent has changed as a result of Covid-19, Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) are available. DHPs can be paid to those in receipt of Housing Benefit or support with housing costs in Universal Credit, who face a shortfall in meeting their rental housing costs. Since 2011 we have provided over £1 billion in DHP funding.
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, whether personal independence payment awarded on appeal will be extended in the same manner as awards secured on initial application.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
I refer the Right Hon member to the answer I gave on 15 April 2021 to Question 179256.
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, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of (a) suspending and (b) raising the benefit cap during the covid-19 outbreak to allow the uplift to reach a greater number of children at risk of poverty.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the Rt. Hon Member to my response to question 182023.
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, whether personal independence payment awards made following a successful appeal will be extended in line with those payments that secured the correct award on application.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
I refer the Right Honourable Member to the answer I gave on 12 April 2021 to Question UIN 179256.
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, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of suspending, or raising, the benefit cap during the covid-19 outbreak to allow the uplift to reach a greater number of children at risk of poverty.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
There are currently no plans to make changes to the benefit cap. The Benefit Cap restores fairness between those receiving out-of-work benefits and taxpayers in employment. Helping claimants back into work, including through delivery of our Plan for Jobs, remains a primary focus. Returning to employment will significantly increase the likelihood of a household not being affected by the cap, as it does not apply where households have monthly earnings of at least £617.
The Government firmly believes that it is in the best interests of children to be in working households where possible because work, particularly full time work, substantially reduces the likelihood of being in poverty.
Claimants can approach their Local Authority for a Discretionary Housing Payment if they need additional help to meet rental costs.
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 his Department has made on the effect of the Kickstart scheme on employment levels.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department of Work and Pensions’ Kickstart Scheme is creating new, fully-funded, six- month jobs for young people at risk of long term unemployment. On Monday 8th March the Secretary of State announced that we have approved almost 150,000 jobs through the scheme, of which over 4,000 young people have started in and over 30,000 are currently being advertised. Kickstart is designed to improve the chances that young people who participate will find sustained employment following their Kickstart job and as the economy starts to recover from the pandemic.
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 effect on the economy in (a) the UK and (b) Kingston upon Hull North constituency of removing the £20 uplift to universal credit.
Answered by Will Quince
The £20 per week uplift to Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit was announced by the Chancellor as a temporary measure in March 2020 to support those facing the most financial disruption as a result of the public health emergency. This measure remains in place until March 2021. As the Government has done throughout this pandemic, it will continue to assess how best to support low-income families, which is why we will look at the economic and health context before making any decisions.
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 improve guidance on claiming statutory sick pay.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Employers are legally required to pay Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) to employees who are sick or incapable of work, where employees meet the qualifying conditions. It is paid in the same way as an employee’s salary.
Throughout the pandemic we have ensured the pages on Gov.UK relating to SSP have been regularly updated in line with changes affecting eligibility for SSP.
The pages on Gov.UK provide extensive information and support to employees regarding the circumstances in which they may be eligible for SSP and what evidence they need to provide to their employer. Additionally there is specific guidance for employers explaining which employees may be eligible for SSP and when employers should start paying SSP. There is a calculator to support employers to understand how much SSP to pay. There is also clear guidance on how small and medium employers can reclaim up to two weeks of coronavirus-related SSP.
If individuals think their employer’s decision not to pay SSP is wrong, or that they’re not getting the right amount of SSP, they can raise a dispute with HMRC.
Background
To be eligible for SSP, you must:
To receive SSP employees must tell their employer that they are off sick before the deadline the employer has set (or within 7 days if they have not set one).
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 support her Department is providing for self-employed parents not able to work whilst schools are closed during covid-19 lockdown restrictions.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The government have provided more than £280 billion of support to protect jobs and livelihoods. We have delivered extensive support packages for businesses and the self-employed, including SEISS, bounce back loans, and business interruption loans. In addition to this for self-employed people claiming Universal Credit, we have suspended the application of the Minimum Income Floor (MIF) until April 2021. This means that that a drop in earnings due to sickness or self-isolation, or as a result of the impact of the outbreak, will be reflected in a claimant’s award.