Asked by: Mark Tami (Labour - Alyn and Deeside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether people self-isolating due to possible covid-19 infection will be exempted from conditionality requirements for means-tested benefits.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
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Claimants who are self-isolating as a result of Covid-19 will have their mandatory work search and work availability requirements switched off during that period.
Any work-related requirements outside of this will be tailored to take into consideration the claimant’s capability and circumstances, can be conducted over the phone or through digital formats and ensure they are realistic and achievable.
Asked by: Mark Tami (Labour - Alyn and Deeside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans her Department has made to ensure that potential staff shortages due to covid-19 do not delay processing of benefits applications; and if she will make it her policy to backdate benefits for any claimants whose application is delayed due to staff shortages.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
DWP has contingency plans in place that prioritise activities to protect payments to claimants and access to new claims when capacity is compromised.
The ‘date of claim’ will not be affected by capacity inside the Department.
Asked by: Mark Tami (Labour - Alyn and Deeside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether it is her Department's policy for Jobcentre staff proactively to inform universal credit claimants that they should make a claim to new-style ESA or new-style JSA if they are likely to be eligible.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to questions 43 and 482 on 21 October.
Asked by: Mark Tami (Labour - Alyn and Deeside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether it is her Department's policy that jobcentre staff should inform claimants of universal credit that they should make a claim for new-style employment and support allowance or jobseeker's allowance if they are likely to be eligible for those benefits.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The Department is committed to providing the best possible support for all claimants irrespective of which benefit they are in receipt of, or in the process of claiming.
Jobcentre staff undergo a comprehensive learning journey designed to equip them with the tools, skills and behaviours required to provide a high quality service to all claimants. All Work Coaches within Jobcentres receive specific training regarding identifying when new style Employment and Support Allowance and new style Jobseekers Allowance are appropriate, and have the knowledge and skills to support claimants throughout the process.
More widely, the Department provides benefit eligibility information to help people make decisions surrounding benefits to which they may be entitled, along with details about how to claim them. This is available through Jobcentre Plus offices and via the GOV.UK website.
Asked by: Mark Tami (Labour - Alyn and Deeside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason universal credit is paid pro-rata when a claimant becomes eligible part way through an assessment period for state pension credit but not when a claimant becomes eligible for the state pension without state pension credit.
Answered by Guy Opperman
This measure ensures that there is no gap in entitlement for people who rely on means-tested benefits, such as Pension Credit. It provides a smooth transition between working-age and pension-age income related welfare support.
Asked by: Mark Tami (Labour - Alyn and Deeside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether Jobcentre staff receive training to identify when a new claimant would be entitled to (a) new-style employment and support allowance and (b) new-style jobseeker's allowance.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The Department is committed to providing the best possible support for all claimants irrespective of which benefit they are in receipt of, or in the process of claiming.
Jobcentre staff undergo a comprehensive learning journey designed to equip them with the tools, skills and behaviours required to provide a high quality service to all claimants. All Work Coaches within Jobcentres receive specific training regarding identifying when new style Employment and Support Allowance and new style Jobseekers Allowance are appropriate, and have the knowledge and skills to support claimants throughout the process.
More widely, the Department provides benefit eligibility information to help people make decisions surrounding benefits to which they may be entitled, along with details about how to claim them. This is available through Jobcentre Plus offices and via the GOV.UK website.
Asked by: Mark Tami (Labour - Alyn and Deeside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether universal credit claimants who are eligible for (a) new style employment and support allowance and (b) new style jobseeker's allowance who would receive more money from one of those benefits than from universal credit are able to have their award backdated to when they made their claim.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
Universal Credit replaces six benefits with one, to simplify the system and make work pay. As a result, people claiming Universal Credit move into work faster, stay in work longer and spend more time looking to increase their earnings. Universal Credit also provides more help with childcare costs, a dedicated Work Coach and scraps the 16, 24 and 30 hour ‘cliff edges’.
Under the legacy system £2.4 billion of welfare benefits did not get paid at all because claimants could not navigate the complexity of the system. Universal Credit is putting this right, ensuring this money goes to 700,000 claimants who need it.
Claims may be backdated, by up to one calendar month, in limited circumstances for vulnerable claimants who may be delayed in claiming Universal Credit through no fault of their own. Claims may also be backdated in specific circumstances when a couple separates to ensure that there is no gap in entitlement between the couple claim and the new claim made by a single claimant.
For new style Employment and Support Allowance, a claimant has three months following the qualifying date to claim.
The Department provides benefit eligibility information to help people make decisions surrounding benefits to which they may be entitled, along with details about how to claim them. This is available through Jobcentre Plus offices and via the GOV.UK website.
Asked by: Mark Tami (Labour - Alyn and Deeside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether Jobcentre staff receive training to identify when a new claimant would be entitled to new-style employment and support allowance or new-style jobseeker's allowance.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Mark Tami (Labour - Alyn and Deeside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the compatibility of her Department’s policy of universal credit being digital by default with her Department’s Debt Management office being contactable only by (a) fax and (b) post rather than by secure email.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
Currently, most claimants who want to contact Debt Management call via one of the free phone numbers. However, we recognise the need for an online service to allow claimants to more easily manage any debts that they may have. Therefore, we are developing the Digital Debt Service as a replacement for our current Debt Manager system.
This new system will allow claimants to view details of any debts they have (including the current balance) and make repayments online.
Asked by: Mark Tami (Labour - Alyn and Deeside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of offices in her Department whom third party advice agencies may need to contact cannot be contacted by secure email.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
DWP adheres to Email Security and Policy guidelines when exchanging information with third parties.
We have a list of Trusted Partners who are deemed to have the appropriate security in place to allow us to exchange information with. If an organisation does not meet the criteria to be on the trusted partner list, we have an option to use software to encrypt e-mail between us and the third party which will then allow us to exchange data securely. Currently we communicate with 1100 external recipients via this method from 450 organisations. If the external agency cannot support either of the above then we would not be able to exchange information securely via email and would need to agree an alternative method with them.