Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, on how many occasions her Department has continued to pay other benefits to people who have had their Child Maintenance Service payments ended as a result of information gained from the Central Information System as of 6 July 2022.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department is taking steps to prevent benefit payments made to a UK bank account from transfer into a Russian bank account.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The government have imposed sanctions on Russian banks. This means the Department has suspended the payment of the State Pension – the only benefit affected by this action - due to those claimants where payment was going directly to any Russian bank which has been sanctioned under The Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019. For claimants who are not sanctioned as individuals under the above Regulations, if they open an alternative account with a non-sanctioned bank then payment will resume.
The transfer of payments from a UK account to any other account is by agreement between the claimant and the receiving bank. The department would not be aware and in terms of the individual’s entitlement to the benefit being received, does not need to be aware of any such agreement. If there was an agreement to transfer money to a Russian account, then the banking protocols arising from the above legislation would have applied to regulate the transfer.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether any benefit payments made by her Department into a UK bank account have been transferred into a Russian bank account in the last six months.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The government have imposed sanctions on Russian banks. This means the Department has suspended the payment of the State Pension – the only benefit affected by this action - due to those claimants where payment was going directly to any Russian bank which has been sanctioned under The Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019. For claimants who are not sanctioned as individuals under the above Regulations, if they open an alternative account with a non-sanctioned bank then payment will resume.
The transfer of payments from a UK account to any other account is by agreement between the claimant and the receiving bank. The department would not be aware and in terms of the individual’s entitlement to the benefit being received, does not need to be aware of any such agreement. If there was an agreement to transfer money to a Russian account, then the banking protocols arising from the above legislation would have applied to regulate the transfer.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, who is responsible for making the decision to stop the payment of benefits to people who are living overseas; what criteria are used to determine when the threshold for that step has been reached; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by David Rutley
Certain UK benefits can be paid to individuals residing outside the UK under social security reciprocal agreements. Individuals in receipt of DWP benefits are required to inform the Department for Work and Pensions if their address changes, including if they move to another country, and this is set out in communications to customers. Where individuals have informed the Department of their move abroad, then they are not claiming a benefit fraudulently.
Operational staff have received guidance and training for dealing with cases under these agreements, to ensure that, when individuals inform us of a move to another country, they know how this will impact their benefit entitlement.
In those instances where there is intelligence that a person may not be entitled to a benefit they are receiving, or fails to respond to requests for information to be provided, then the Department can suspend their benefit entitlement pending further investigation. The Department will seek to recover any money claimed fraudulently.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many benefits fraud cases her Department is investigating involving a child considered at risk where that child is in Russia as of 26 January 2022.
Answered by David Rutley
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur a disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many staff in her Department are working on allegations of benefits fraud where the recipient is believed to be living overseas as of 26 January 2022.
Answered by David Rutley
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur a disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average length of time is for continuing to pay benefits following an allegation to her Department that a person is no longer habitually resident in the UK.
Answered by David Rutley
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur a disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of cases involving alleged benefits fraud where the recipient is believed to have relocated overseas her Department has continued to make payments to.
Answered by David Rutley
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur a disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the longest investigation by her Department involving a potential benefits fraud case is where the recipient is believed to be living in Russia.
Answered by David Rutley
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur a disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) letters and emails the Complaints Team has received and (b) allegations of benefits fraud her Department has received in relation to recipients now living in Russia and therefore no longer habitually resident in the UK since August 2020; and how many cases her Department has been alerted to where a person still in receipt of benefits is believed to be living in Russia and subject to legal proceedings in that country.
Answered by David Rutley
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur a disproportionate cost.