Asked by: Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what training has been given to staff who have been redeployed from the Child Maintenance Service to help process the increase in claims for universal credit resulting from the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The Department responded at pace to the increase in customers and the upsurge of UC claims during the COVID-19 outbreak, c10,000 DWP staff were trained and redeployed to business critical roles to support Universal Credit (UC) case management.
Those staff redeployed to UC received training to enable them to support DWP to pay claimants on time and in full. The learning has been updated to incorporate COVID-19 processes which have been streamlined for UC and shows staff how to:
We have moved to virtual delivery of training and to cope with increased capacity have on-boarded additional temporary Learning Delivery Officers. To meet longer term learning delivery requirements, we are building our cadre of Learning Delivery Officers with a blend of permanent and temporary recruitment.
Alongside virtual delivery, we are enhancing the support given to colleagues both pre and post training, to ensure staff have a quality learning experience.
Asked by: Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South)
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 a payment under the Self Employed Income Support Scheme.
Answered by Will Quince
The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many universal credit claimants who are lone parents have received a payment under the Self Employed Income Support Scheme.
Answered by Will Quince
The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South)
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 a payment under the Self Employed Income Support Scheme which exceeds their standard and any other allowance for that assessment period.
Answered by Will Quince
The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has plans to undertake a public consultation on changing the sequence by which deductions from benefits are ordered to ensure that child maintenance payments, if applicable, would always be one of the three possible third party deductions.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The Department recognises the importance of Child Maintenance payments and these deductions are already prioritised above others such as legacy benefit overpayments of Housing Benefit, Tax Credit and DWP overpayments and Recoverable Hardship and Social Fund loans.
There are no plans to consult on the sequence by which deductions from benefits are ordered.
Asked by: Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has plans to undertake a public consultation on changing the sequence by which deductions from benefits are ordered to ensure that child maintenance payments take priority over debts to private companies.
Answered by Lord Sharma
Under Universal Credit there is a structured approach to deductions from benefit, which simplifies the current complex arrangements of the legacy system.
The aims of the deductions policy in Universal Credit are to protect vulnerable claimants by providing a last resort repayment method for arrears of essential services, to enforce social obligations and to recover Government debt in a cost effective manner.
Deductions are made following the priority order, which determines the order in which items should be deducted. ‘Last resort’ deductions, such as rent or fuel costs, are at the top of the priority order, ensuring that claimant welfare is prioritised, followed by social obligation deductions, such as child maintenance, and finally benefit debt, such as Social Fund loans and benefit overpayments.
We prioritise the welfare of claimants, as this is the best way to support them and to help them to move towards work and off benefits.
The Deduction Priority Order can be found here (p. 72) - https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/683470/benefit-overpayment-recovery-guide.pdf
Asked by: Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many UC50 forms were issued by her Department to residents of Bristol South constituency between the June 2018 and December 2018.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
This information is not readily available at constituency level and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.