Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made on the adequacy of local welfare assistance schemes in Jarrow constituency.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
No assessment has been made.
Local Authorities have the power to establish local welfare provision in their area, using the funding they receive from the Local Government Finance Settlement. Local Authorities are responsible for determining how best to assess provision of any local welfare support.
We recognise, however, that some people require extra support with meeting essential household costs due to cost of living pressures, which is why the government is providing from April an additional £500 million to help households with the cost of essentials, on top of what we have already provided since October 2021, bringing the total funding for this support to £1 billion. In England, £421 million will be provided to extend the existing Household Support Fund, whilst the devolved administrations will receive £79 million through the Barnett formula.
Local Authorities are responsible for designing and delivering the Household Support Fund in their area to best meet the needs of local people, in accordance with the overall scheme parameters.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of people who have been affected by the underpayment of benefits after transitioning from incapacity benefit to employment and support allowance in Jarrow constituency.
Answered by Chloe Smith
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 19th January to question number 104377.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an estimate of the average (a) phone and (b) broadband costs incurred by universal credit claimants fulfilling their responsibility to spend 35 hours per week seeking employment.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department has no plans to estimate the average phone or broadband costs incurred by claimants fulfilling their responsibilities under the Universal Credit regime.
We are committed to supporting the individual needs of claimants, including agreeing realistic and structured steps to encourage them into or towards the labour market taking into the account their personal circumstances and resources.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what comparative assessment her Department has made of the transport costs for universal credit claimants throughout the regions of the UK.
Answered by Will Quince
Since the introduction of Universal Credit, claimants have been supported by a more flexible approach to contact, with much greater use of digital and telephone channels. This enables claimants to continue to engage with the Department, receive appropriate support and satisfy the conditions of their personalised Claimant Commitment without having to always attend an appointment in person.
To assist with the affordability of public transport, and where an appointment at a Jobcentre has been agreed as necessary, Work Coaches are able to consider the reimbursement of a claimant’s travel costs. The Department publishes clear guidance to its staff of when mandatory awards for travel must be made from the Flexible Support Fund.
Concessionary travel legislation gives local authorities in England the power to offer discretionary concessions, such as extending free or discounted bus travel to groups of people such as those on Universal Credit. Local authorities decide to offer these concessions based upon their assessment of local needs and funding priorities, paying for them through local resources like Council Tax.
In addition, the rail industry, together with the Department for Work and Pensions, provides the Jobcentre Plus railcard that entitles card holders to a 50% discount on selected rail tickets. Some train operating companies and Jobcentres have also agreed to offer job seekers additional benefits, such as free rail tickets to job interviews.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many universal credit claimants live in Jarrow constituency.
Answered by Will Quince
Universal Credit is now the main system of working age welfare support across the country. It is available in every Jobcentre, with a caseload of over 2.8 million claimants, growing every month, now able to access the additional support and flexibilities it offers.
Most people only move to Universal Credit because they have had a significant change in their circumstances which would previously have led them to make a new claim to a legacy benefit.
Data surrounding the number of households on Universal Credit in the parliamentary constituency of Jarrow is published online and can be found at: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/.
Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html