Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)
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 increasing the fixed disregard rate for the New Style Employment and Support Allowance.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The current disregard was set in 1999. We have no current plans to change it, but I will be interested in any proposals my hon friend brings forward.
Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the cost of ending the two child benefit cap.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No estimates have been published.
While we cannot currently commit to changing the two child policy, tackling child poverty is at the heart of the Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and improve the life chances of every child. This is why the Child Poverty Taskforce will look at all available levers to reduce child poverty, including social security reforms, before publishing a strategy.
Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential reasons why people receiving tax credits are not voluntarily migrating to Universal Credit.
Answered by Jo Churchill
It is the customers responsibility to choose whether to make an application for Universal Credit. There is no evidence to suggest any actions the Department has taken or should have taken are influencing that choice.
Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make a comparative assessment of the level of pension credit uptake in Hackney South and Shoreditch in the financial years (a) 2019-20 and (b) 2020-21.
Answered by Guy Opperman
It is not feasible to undertake this comparative assessment.
The latest estimates of Pension Credit take-up relate to the financial year 2018/19 and are representative of the GB population.
Estimates of take up of income related benefits can be found in the following publication: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/income-related-benefits-estimates-of-take-up-financial-year-2018-to-2019
Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans her Department has to reduce the number of children living in poverty in London.
Answered by Will Quince
This Government is committed to a sustainable solution to poverty so that we improve children’s long-term outcomes. This means a strong economy and a benefit system that supports employment and higher pay. Children in households where all adults are working are around 5 times less likely to be in poverty than those in workless households. Compared to 2010, there are 1 million fewer workless households and 665,000 fewer children in workless households.