Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to Answer of 24 February 2020 to Question 725, what the locations of the are of the small-scale Proof of Concepts for the warning system; and what the timescales are for (a) those proof of concepts and (b) reporting to the House on her Department's assessment of their effectiveness.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The small scale proof of concept took place in South London and we hope to complete the internal evaluation by the Spring at which point further decisions can be made on the next stages.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 24 February 2020 to Question 727 on Universal Credit, how many universal credit claimants successfully disputed the Real Time Information on which their awards were based (a) from February 2016 to January 2017, (b) from February 2017 to January 2018 and (c) from February 2018 to January 2019.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department has been working closely with HMRC since Universal Credit went live in 2013 to support and inform employers who report earnings to emphasise the importance of timely reporting via the Real Time Information (RTI) system.
HMRC have guidance to reiterate to employers the importance of reporting accurate dates and the impact on payment cycles; the Financial Secretary to the Treasury is also working closely with HMRC and employers to encourage accurate reporting dates. Please see the table below for the relevant data on the total successful RTI disputes.
| Total RTI calculations | RTI calculation disputes | Percentage (%) of disputes to total calculations | Number of successful disputes |
July 2017 – January 2018 | 3,902,052 | 11,133 | 0.3% | 2,226 |
February 2018 – January 2019 | 13,566,745 | 61,246 | 0.4% | 11,636 |
Notes:
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many universal credit claims have been (a) closed in error and (b) reopened in each of the last 24 months for which data is available.
Answered by Will Quince
The information is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many universal credit claims have been closed in each of the last 24 months for which data is available; and what the reasons were for the closure of those claims.
Answered by Will Quince
Information surrounding Universal Credit (UC) claim closure reasons and volumes for the last 24 months of available data are shown in the attached tables.
Monthly assessment periods align to the way the majority of employees are paid and also allows UC to be adjusted each month. This means that if a claimant’s income falls, they will not have to wait several months for a rise in their UC.
If a claimant’s earnings are sufficient enough in an assessment period to reach and/or exceed their nil earning threshold, their UC claim will be closed. Should the claimant then choose to reclaim, a claimant only has to update or confirm their information, rather than making a full new UC claim. This process allows claimants to return quickly and easily to UC by minimising the administrative burden on them.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many universal credit claimants have received an advance payment in the most recent 12 months for which data is available.
Answered by Will Quince
Universal Credit is now the main system of working age welfare support across the country. It is available in every Jobcentre, with a caseload of 2.8 million claimants, growing every month, now able to access the additional support and flexibilities it offers.
Between December 2018 to November 2019, 1,996,000 claimants received an advance payment.
As the overall Universal Credit caseload grows, we expect the volume and value of advance payments to increase in correlation. This shows that claimants are being made aware of advances and are using it where they need this help.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a yellow card warning system for benefit sanctions in England.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department committed to look at processes to give claimants a written warning, instead of a sanction, for a first sanctionable failure to attend a Work-Search Review and to undertake a series of small-scale Proof of Concepts of this warning system. The Department would like to complete all testing before making an assessment of the merits of introducing such a system.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of personal independence payment decisions have been challenged (a) successfully and (b) unsuccessfully at (i) mandatory reconsideration and (ii) tribunal.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Data on Mandatory Reconsiderations (MR) and appeals for initial decisions following a PIP assessment can be found in Table 5A of the “Data tables: PIP award rates, clearance/outstanding times and tracking of initial decisions following a PIP assessment through to mandatory reconsiderations or appeals, to October 2019” available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-independence-payment-april-2013-to-october-2019
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many universal credit claimants have successfully disputed the Real Time Information on which their awards have been based in the most recent 12 months for which data are available.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department has been working closely with HMRC since Universal Credit went live in 2013 to support and inform employers who report earnings to emphasise the importance of timely reporting via the Real Time Information (RTI) system.
HMRC have guidance to reiterate to employers the importance of reporting accurate dates and the impact on payment cycles; the Financial Secretary to the Treasury is also working closely with HMRC and employers to do this.
Between February 2019 to January 2020 the Department completed over 23 million Universal Credit earnings calculations using RTI data. Of these, 107,463 were disputed and 20,418 were upheld.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of requiring all personal independence payment assessments to be recorded.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
I refer the Rt.Hon Member to the answer I gave on 10 February 2020 to Question UIN 12293.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she will make an assessment of the potential merits of giving in-work universal credit claimants the option to move their assessment period to reflect more closely the dates on which they receive their earnings.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department has been working closely with HMRC since Universal Credit went live in 2013 to support and inform employers who report earnings to emphasise the importance of timely reporting via RTI system.
Employers should already record on HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) Real Time Information (RTI) system the date a salary is scheduled to be paid, rather than the date it is paid, where it is earlier due to a weekend, bank holiday or at Christmas.
HMRC have updated their guidance to reiterate to employers the importance of reporting accurate dates and the impact on payment cycles; the Financial Secretary to the Treasury is also working closely with HMRC and employers to do this.
Universal Credit takes earnings into account in a way that is fair and transparent. The amount paid reflects, as closely as possible, the actual circumstances of a household during each monthly assessment period. This allows Universal Credit awards to be adjusted on a monthly basis, ensuring that if claimant’s incomes falls, they do not have to wait several months for a rise in their Universal Credit award. Currently there are no plans to change assessment periods.
Claimants can discuss queries about how fluctuating income effects Universal Credit with their case managers and work coaches, who can also signpost to services appropriate to individual circumstances.