Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which categories of young people it is his policy will be exempt from the new restrictions to housing benefit eligibility.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Removal of automatic housing support for 18 – 21 year olds, announced in the Summer Budget 2015, will be introduced in April 2017. The Department is liaising with a range of key stakeholders as we develop the detail of the policy. Once this work has been completed we will bring forward detailed proposals.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 11 January 2016 to Question 21059, on universal credit: domestic violence, for what reasons that information is not currently available; and whether his Department plans to collect such information in the future.
Answered by Priti Patel
The Department published a strategy for releasing official statistics on Universal Credit. As outlined in the strategy, officials are currently quality assuring a range of data for Universal Credit. It is for this reason that the information requested is not currently available.
During 2016 we will be increasing the range of statistics on Universal Credit, which will be published in accordance with the relevant protocols in the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will exempt (a) domestic violence refuges and (b) other supported accommodation where higher rates of housing benefit are paid from planned changes to the housing benefit cap.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The introduction of Local Housing Allowance limits to social sector tenants in receipt of Housing Benefit or the housing element of Universal Credit will only apply from April 2018 where new tenancies have been taken out or renewed after April 2016.
The Department is working on the exact policy design details for tenants in supported accommodation which includes domestic violence refuges.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to planned changes to the housing benefit cap announced in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, what assessment he has made of the effect of that cap on (a) domestic violence refuges and (b) other supported accommodation.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The introduction of Local Housing Allowance limits to social sector tenants in receipt of Housing Benefit or the housing element of Universal Credit will only apply from April 2018 where new tenancies have been taken out or renewed after April 2016.
The Department is working on the exact policy design details for tenants in supported accommodation which includes domestic violence refuges.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applicants for Universal Credit have requested split payments on the grounds of domestic abuse since the launch of universal credit in the pilot areas; and what proportion of the total number of applicants have so claimed.
Answered by Priti Patel
The information requested is not currently available.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
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 claimants have (a) appealed and (b) successfully appealed a negative decision on a personal independence payment application.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Ministry of Justice publish statistics on Personal Independence Payment appeals to the Social Security and Child Support Tribunal each quarter.
The latest information can be found in Tables 2.6 & 2.7 in the link below:
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of a personal independence payment claimant appealing a negative decision on an application.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The latest figure available for the average cost of an appeal, including PIP appeals, for Her Majesty’s Court and Tribunals Service, who hear appeals, is £214.