Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
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 level of child poverty in City of Durham constituency.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Government is committed to reducing child poverty and supporting low-income families. In 2022/23 we will spend over £242 billion through the welfare system in Great Britain including £108 billion on people of working age.
With 1.25 million job vacancies across the UK, our focus is firmly on supporting people to move into, and progress in work. This approach is based on clear evidence about the importance of parental employment - particularly where it is full-time - in substantially reducing the risks of child poverty and in improving long-term outcomes for families and children. The latest available data on in-work poverty shows that in 2019/20, children in households where all adults were in work were around six times less likely to be in absolute poverty (before housing costs) than children in a household where nobody works. In 2021, compared to 2010, there were nearly 1 million fewer workless households and almost 590,000 fewer children in workless households in the UK. In 2020/21, there were 200,000 fewer children in absolute poverty (before housing costs) than in 2009/10.
The Government publishes annual statistics on the number and proportion of children who are in low income families by local area, which can be found in the publication: Children in low income families: local area statistics 2014 to 2021 - https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-in-low-income-families-local-area-statistics-2014-to-2021(opens in a new tab)“
This is on top of the support we have already provided by increasing the National Living Wage to £9.50 per hour and giving nearly 1.7 million families an extra £1,000 a year, on average, through our changes to the Universal Credit taper and work allowances. To further support parents to move into and progress in work, the government provides a range of childcare offers. For more information on what childcare support may be available, we encourage parents to use the Childcare Choices website.
The government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living and has taken further decisive action to support people with their energy bills. The Energy Price Guarantee is supporting millions of households with rising energy costs, and the Chancellor made clear it will continue to do so from now until April next year. This is in addition to the over £37bn of cost of living support announced earlier this year which includes the £400 non-repayable discount to eligible households provided through the Energy Bills Support Scheme.
The £37bn of support also includes the current Household Support Fund in England, which will be providing up to £421m of support to those most in need for the period October 2022 - March 2023 and is being delivered by Upper Tier and Unitary Councils. In the case of Durham, the local authority has been allocated £4,676,099.65 for this period. The devolved administrations will receive £79 million through the Barnett formula as usual.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to tackle the level of child poverty in City of Durham constituency.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Government is committed to reducing child poverty and supporting low-income families. In 2022/23 we will spend over £242 billion through the welfare system in Great Britain including £108 billion on people of working age.
With 1.25 million job vacancies across the UK, our focus is firmly on supporting people to move into, and progress in work. This approach is based on clear evidence about the importance of parental employment - particularly where it is full-time - in substantially reducing the risks of child poverty and in improving long-term outcomes for families and children. The latest available data on in-work poverty shows that in 2019/20, children in households where all adults were in work were around six times less likely to be in absolute poverty (before housing costs) than children in a household where nobody works. In 2021, compared to 2010, there were nearly 1 million fewer workless households and almost 590,000 fewer children in workless households in the UK. In 2020/21, there were 200,000 fewer children in absolute poverty (before housing costs) than in 2009/10.
The Government publishes annual statistics on the number and proportion of children who are in low income families by local area, which can be found in the publication: Children in low income families: local area statistics 2014 to 2021 - https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-in-low-income-families-local-area-statistics-2014-to-2021(opens in a new tab)“
This is on top of the support we have already provided by increasing the National Living Wage to £9.50 per hour and giving nearly 1.7 million families an extra £1,000 a year, on average, through our changes to the Universal Credit taper and work allowances. To further support parents to move into and progress in work, the government provides a range of childcare offers. For more information on what childcare support may be available, we encourage parents to use the Childcare Choices website.
The government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living and has taken further decisive action to support people with their energy bills. The Energy Price Guarantee is supporting millions of households with rising energy costs, and the Chancellor made clear it will continue to do so from now until April next year. This is in addition to the over £37bn of cost of living support announced earlier this year which includes the £400 non-repayable discount to eligible households provided through the Energy Bills Support Scheme.
The £37bn of support also includes the current Household Support Fund in England, which will be providing up to £421m of support to those most in need for the period October 2022 - March 2023 and is being delivered by Upper Tier and Unitary Councils. In the case of Durham, the local authority has been allocated £4,676,099.65 for this period. The devolved administrations will receive £79 million through the Barnett formula as usual.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
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 potential merits of uprating benefits for blind and partially sighted people before April 2023 in the context of the rising cost of living.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Secretary of State has a statutory duty to annually review benefits and State Pensions as outlined in the Social Security Administration Act 1992.
Following the publication of Average Weekly Earnings for May to July and the Consumer Prices Index for September by the Office for National Statistics, the Secretary of State will now commence her annual review of benefits. When undertaking her review the Secretary of State is required to have regard to the Equality Act 2010.
Her decisions will be announced to Parliament shortly and any new benefit / State Pensions rates will become payable from the beginning of the 2023/24 tax year.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when her Department plans to offer reassessments for PIP claimants whose conditions have worsened since their last assessment.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
Where a Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claimants’ needs arising from a long-term health condition or disability have changed, they should report that change to the Department. Once a change in circumstances has been reported we will always review their existing award to see whether a change is required to their award to reflect their current needs.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
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 impact of rising inflation rates on the level of (a) overall poverty, (b) child poverty and (c) in work poverty for families and individuals receiving Universal Credit in the City of Durham.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
No assessment has been made.
The Government is committed to a sustainable, long-term approach to tackling poverty and supporting people on lower incomes. We will spend over £242bn through the welfare system in 2022/23 including £108bn on people of working age.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment has been made of the potential merits of extending the eligibility of carers allowance to those who are in receipt of the state pension but also act as a carer.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
I refer the honourable member to the answer my right honourable friend, Chloe Smith, the then Minister for Disabled People, Work and Health gave on 20 April 2022 to question UIN 154461 https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2022-04-14/154461
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average processing time was for Pension Credit claims made on the Pension Credit Day of Action on 15 June 2022.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
This information is not held.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 12 July 2022 to Question 32578 on Pension Credit, what recent steps her Department has taken to help ensure that (a) claims and (b) enquiries for Pension Credit are processed in a reasonable time.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The media campaign continues to reach those who may be entitled to Pension Credit and has had a significant impact on the number of claims the Department has received. This has the Department’s full attention with options. To ensure we provide the right service to these customers additional resource is being deployed and increased digital automation will take place in the coming weeks which will speed up processing time further.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average processing time was for new Pension Credit claims made between 1 April 2022 and 13 July 2022.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Average Actual Clearance Time for Pension Credit New Claims for the period 1st April 2022 to 3rd July 2022 was 40 days. The data is not yet available for period between 4th July to 13th July.
Source: Customer Account Management System
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average processing time was for change in circumstance applications to existing Pension Credit claims in the latest month for which data is available.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department does not measure the average clearance times of changes specifically relating to existing Pension Credit claims.