Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield Heeley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the effect on tax credit claimants of the closure of the interface with HMRC on tax credit debt.
Answered by Will Quince
As part of our initial response to the Covid-19 pandemic we suspended recovery of all overpayment deductions as well as pausing notification of any new overpayments. The transfer of Tax Credit debts from HMRC to DWP was temporarily suspended as part of this approach.
Recovery of existing Tax Credit overpayments from Universal Credit has now resumed, along with the transfer of new Tax Credit debt to DWP.
There have been several discussions with HMRC, who own the Tax Credit Debt, to ensure that both the action of stopping tax credit collection and restarting has taken into account the customer perspective.
We want to ensure that repayment of all debt owed to the Department is sustainable and takes into account the customer’s ability to pay. Claimants are encouraged to contact DWP if they are unable to afford the rate of recovery. The recovery rate of Tax Credit overpayments can be reduced where a claimant is experiencing financial hardship.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield Heeley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make the assessment period for universal credit coterminous with HMRC deadlines.
Answered by Will Quince
Entitlement to Universal Credit is calculated and paid monthly in arrears, in a single payment.
Assessment periods allow Universal Credit awards to be adjusted on a monthly basis, to reflect as closely as possible the actual circumstances of a household during that period. This helps to ensure that if a claimant’s income changes, they do not have to wait several months for a corresponding change in their Universal Credit award.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield Heeley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will issue guidance to ensure that claimants of benefits are aware that they have the right to record work capability assessments.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The letter that is sent to claimants advising when they need to attend a face-to-face assessment (known as an AL1C) makes it clear that claimants can request audio recording.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield Heeley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how hearing is tested in assessments for personal independence payment.
Answered by Sarah Newton
There is no hearing examination within the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessment and the PIP Assessment Guide reflects this.
However, someone with a hearing impairment may still need to attend an assessment and they may have other health conditions. An interpreter in British Sign Language can be arranged for the assessment if a claimant contacts the Assessment Provider to request one when the appointment letter arrives.
The assessment is a functional assessment and not a diagnostic assessment so Assessment Providers do not determine if someone is deaf. It would be up to the claimant to state if they are deaf (if they chose to) and provide any supporting evidence or request an interpreter (again if they chose to).