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, who in those areas where universal credit is being rolled out is receiving the payment by sex in each household.
Answered by Damian Hinds
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
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 16 October 2017 to Question 106034, on universal credit, for what reason that data is not available; and whether his Department has plans to make that data available.
Answered by Damian Hinds
We do not record the reasons for making split payments within Universal Credit households. DWP has no plans to begin capturing this information.
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 (a) any grounds and (b) 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 requested such split payments in each category.
Answered by Damian Hinds
The data requested is not 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, what the average time is for an employment and support allowance claim to reach the assessment stage in (a) England, (b) the West Midlands and (c) Birmingham, Yardley constituency.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
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 his Department has made of the number of benefit claimants who are accommodated in domestic violence refuges whose overall benefit entitlement has reduced as a result of changes to the benefit cap level after housing benefit paid to households in supported accommodation has been disregarded from the benefit cap calculation.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
This information is not available. However, the numbers affected are likely to be small.
Housing Benefit paid to claimants in specified accommodation (which includes refuges) is not taken into account for the purposes of the benefit cap. Circumstances can vary and where such cases arise, the Discretionary Housing Payments are available as additional support. The DHP Guidance Manual highlights that DHPs may be directed towards those individuals or families fleeing domestic violence.
Notes:
• The Department does not hold information on individuals in domestic violence refuges as part of Housing Benefit or Universal Credit data
• It is unlikely that many cases would still be in scope for the cap once housing costs regarding specified accommodation have been disregarded. Examples of where this could happen are: if the claimant has several children and is in receipt of a large Child Tax Credit award, or if they are receiving Housing Benefit for both the refuge and their home address, where the Housing Benefit for their home address would still be counted as income towards the cap.