Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice)
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 Hull West and Hessle constituency.
Answered by Chloe Smith
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 19th January to question number 104377.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether an assessment has been made of the potential merits of allowing State Pension claimants to choose whether to be paid monthly or four-weekly.
Answered by Guy Opperman
Successive Governments, of different political persuasions, have created a State Pension system that does not provide for monthly payments by law.
A customer can request a change to weekly or bi-weekly payments if they wish, at any point after the initial claim and award payment is made.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has plans to review the tariff income system.
Answered by Will Quince
There are no plans to change the tariff income rule which is a long-standing principle of means-tested benefits.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice)
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 potential merits of reducing the state pension age to 60.
Answered by Guy Opperman
People in the UK continue to live longer lives, and the proportion of adults that are over State Pension age is increasing. Raising State Pension age in line with life expectancy changes has been the policy of successive administrations over the years.
We committed in legislation to undertake a review of State Pension age every six years, which means that the statutory deadline for the publication of the next Government review is 2023. The purpose of the review is to ensure that the State Pension system is affordable, sustainable and fair to future tax payers.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average timeframe is for Access to Work applications to (a) be allocated an advisor, (b) have evidence gathered and (c) reach a resolution.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The information requested about average timeframes for Access to Work applications for allocations, evidence gathering and reaching resolutions for people who have applied for support from Access to Work is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice)
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 impact of covid-19 international travel restrictions on an individual's ability to meet the criteria for the Habitual Residency Test.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
Eligibility for Universal Credit and other income related benefits depends on an individual’s immigration status. In order to assess this the Department operates a Habitual Residence Test (HRT). The HRT contains two elements: an assessment of the legal right of residence and an assessment of factual habitual residence.
All claimants to income related benefits must be factually habitually resident in the UK in order to make a claim. Existing benefit recipients who have left the country on a temporary basis and found it difficult to return due to Covid-19 travel restrictions, will satisfy the second element of the HRT upon their return if they can be shown to be resuming a former period of residence. Each case would be dealt with on an individual basis.
Income-related benefits are only payable to people who are in the UK and cannot be claimed by those outside the UK. The Department has put into place measures to support existing benefit recipients in exceptional cases where their absence abroad goes over the period allowed under the temporary absence benefit rules and are awaiting repatriation due to covid-19 travel restrictions.
FCDO consular staff continue to provide advice and support to British nationals who face financial difficulties overseas due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Those in real financial distress whilst stranded overseas can seek advice and support from their local consular team, who will be able to advise on any local support that may be available as well as facilitate contact with friends and families who may be able to help.