Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions he has had with stakeholders on the potential merits of extending the Cost of Living Payment to people on contribution-based Employment Support Allowance who were exempt from the 365 day time limit due to being placed on the support group.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
There have been no discussions with stakeholders in respect of the 2022/23 Cost of Living Payments for people on contribution-based Employment Support Allowance. The Cost of Living Payment is targeted at low income households who are in receipt of a means-tested income replacement benefit. Contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance is a non means tested benefit and therefore does not qualify for the Cost of Living Payment.
Low income households may be entitled to Universal Credit and Contribution, based benefits at the same time, and therefore will be entitled to a Cost of Living Payment.
We will be bringing forward legislation for the 2023/24 Cost of Living Payments in due course.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of providing a Cost of Living Payment to unpaid carers.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The Government recognises and values the vital contribution made by carers every day in providing significant care and continuity of support to family and friends, including pensioners and those with disabilities.
Depending on personal circumstances, carers may be eligible for means-tested benefits, including Universal Credit and Pension Credit. Means-tested benefits can be paid to carers at a higher rate than those without caring responsibilities through the Carer Element in Universal Credit and the additional amounts for carers in other benefits respectively.
We would encourage anyone who is providing unpaid care, and who is not already in receipt of a means-tested benefit, to check on GOV.UK to confirm whether there are other benefits they may be entitled to. Advice can also be sought from organisations such as Carers UK and Citizens Advice. Means-tested benefits can provide extra weekly income and trigger extra support with the cost of living.
Nearly 60% of carers on low incomes, who are of working age and on Carer’s Allowance, claim a means-tested benefit, through which they may be entitled to receive up to £650 in Cost of Living Payments in 2022/23. These payments are targeted at low income households in receipt of an eligible means-tested benefit, including pensioners who are in receipt of Pension Credit.
Six million people in receipt of an eligible disability benefit should have received the £150 Disability Cost of Living Payment, and eight million pensioner households are receiving a £300 Pensioner Cost of Living Payment as a top-up to their Winter Fuel Payment.
All Carer’s Allowance recipients in England who pay Council Tax in bands A to D should have received a £150 rebate.
The Secretary of State announced on 17 November that State Pensions and benefits will be up-rated from April 2023 by 10.1%, in line with the increase in the Consumer Prices Index in the year to September 2022.
To ensure stability and certainty for households, in the Autumn Statement, the Government announced £26 billion in cost of living support for 2023/24. This includes Cost of Living Payments for the most vulnerable households, an additional £1 billion to help with the cost of household essentials next year and the amended Energy Price Guarantee, which will save the average UK household £500 in 2023-24.
For those who require extra support, the Government is providing an additional £1 billion of funding, including Barnett impact, to enable the extension of the Household Support Fund in England in the next financial year. This is on top of what we have already provided since October 2021, bringing total funding to £2.5 billion. In England, this will be delivered through an extension to the Household Support Fund, backed by £842 million, running from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, which local authorities use to help households with the cost of essentials. It will be for the devolved administrations to decide how to allocate their additional Barnett funding.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 10 October 2022 to Question 59849 Housing Benefit: Cost of Living, for what reasons his Department stated that spare room subsidy strengthens work incentives.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The removal of the spare room subsidy policy provides fairness for hard-working taxpaying households and encourages people to move into work, where possible. This aligns with the Governments long-term focus of continuing to support people into, and to progress in work.
This measure ensures that benefit claimants (in the same way as for those not claiming benefits) are expected to make choices about affordability and how they will fund the rent shortfall for property that is deemed larger than they need.
We recognise there may be circumstances where claimants need an additional room beyond the bedrooms allocated under the policy. For situations like this where claimants need further financial help with their housing costs, we provide funding to local authorities in the form of Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs). Since 2011, the Government has provided almost £1.5 billion in Discretionary Housing Payments to local authorities. This is alongside the £421 million Household Support Fund which has been extended from 1 October 2022 to 31 March 2023.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of households in receipt of the spare room subsidy are in employment as of 8 November 2022.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference his Department's report Supporting progression out of low pay: a call to action published 1 July 2021, which recommendations from this report (a) have been implemented, (b) are in progress and (c) have been rejected.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The Government’s response will be published in due course.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Social Market Foundation's report entitled Working lives, published 27 July 2022, what assessment has he made of that report's findings.
Answered by Guy Opperman
No assessment has been made.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the level of in-work poverty in the UK in comparison with other industrialised countries.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
In-work poverty is measured differently internationally and making comparisons would not be robust.
Measuring in-work poverty in the UK is something we do take seriously and is reported on. Statistics on in-work poverty levels in 19/20 are available at:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/ on the HBAI dataset.
It is not possible to provide a robust estimate for 2020/21 due to the impact the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic had on data quality.
Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
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 actions that Government can take to help raise awareness among UK employers of the issue of in-work poverty.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
We recognise the importance of engaging with employers to tackle the issue of in-work poverty and are considering the recommendations set out in the In-Work Progression Commission report and will respond formally in due course.
We are in the early stages of rolling-out DWP’s new in-work progression offer. This offer will be supported by the recruitment of 37 Progression Champions. Progression Champions will work with key partners, including local government, employers, and skills providers to identify and develop local progression opportunities.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the total social security cost for people in-work.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The Department does not keep this information centrally and to provide it would incur disproportionate costs.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the research by Baroness Ruby McGregor-Smith entitled Supporting progression out of low pay: a call to action, published on 1 July 2021, which recommendations she has (a) accepted and (i) is implementing and (ii) will implement in future and (b) rejected.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
The Government recognises the importance of supporting people to progress in work and welcomes Baroness McGregor-Smith’s report. We have considered her recommendations carefully and the response setting out this government’s approach to progression will be published shortly.