Asked by: Mhairi Black (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason claimants of universal credit under the age of 25 receive a lower rate than claimants over the age of 25.
Answered by Will Quince
We have injected over £6.5bn into the welfare system, including increasing Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit by up to £1,040 a year for everyone. This was in addition to the 1.7 per cent inflation increase which was part of the Government’s decision to end the benefits freeze meaning more financial support for millions of people across the UK, including those under 25.
The Universal Credit rate for under 25s reflects the lower wages that younger workers typically receive.
Universal Credit also includes separate elements to provide support for housing costs, children and childcare costs and support for disabled people and carers. These additional amounts are provided to claimants at the same level irrespective of age.
Asked by: Mhairi Black (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire South)
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 provide support to young people between the ages of 18 and 24 who are disproportionately financially affected by the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We acknowledge that it is important that Jobcentres continue to support young people through the economic recovery post-COVID-19. They have already started to re-engage with new and existing claimants and are signposting them to appropriate support.
Anyone over the age of 18 can claim New Style Employment and Support Allowance and Jobseeker’s Allowance if they have sufficient paid National Insurance contributions. Neither of those benefits is means-tested. Those on low incomes and with limited capital can claim Universal Credit or legacy Jobseeker’s Allowance.
For Universal Credit, New Claims Advances of up to 100% of potential entitlement are available within a few days if a claimant needs support during their first assessment period. Face-to-face checks for Universal Credit advances have been scrapped due to Covid-19, so people get the support they need despite COVID-19 restrictions. We have also increased the Standard Allowance for everyone by over £80 a month on top of the existing 1.7% (CPI) increase already announced. This additional increase means all claimants will be up to £1040 better off.
DWP is also engaging with a number of external stakeholders including the Youth Employment Group (set up by the Prince’s Trust, Youth Employment UK, the Institute for Employment Studies, the Youth Futures Foundation and Impetus) as well as continuing to work across Whitehall to develop appropriate support aimed at young people.
Asked by: Mhairi Black (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire South)
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 potential merits of increasing universal credit entitlement for people that are (a) single and under 25 years of age and (b) in a couple and under 25 years of age.
Answered by Will Quince
As a result of changes made in April, the Universal Credit standard allowance increased by £20 per week for the next 12 months – equivalent to up to £1,040 a year. This is in addition to the 1.7% inflation increase, announced Nov 2019, as part of the Government’s decision to end the benefits freeze, and means more financial support for millions of people across the UK.
Asked by: Mhairi Black (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has plans to make people that are self-employed and have pension savings exempt from the rules on capital when applying for universal credit.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Regardless of employment status, any funds held in an occupational or personal pension scheme are disregarded as capital in Universal Credit until the claimant reaches the pension age of the scheme, or withdraws funds from the scheme early.
Asked by: Mhairi Black (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans she has to increase Employment and Support Allowance during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We currently have no plans to increase Employment and Support Allowance above its current rates.
We have announced a suite of measures that can be quickly and effectively operationalised to benefit those facing the most financial disruption, such as increasing the standard rate in Universal Credit by £86.67 per month (equivalent to £20 per week) on top of the planned annual uprating. This additional increase means claimants will be up to £1040 better off. We estimate 2.5m households on UC will benefit straight away, as well as new claimants who become unemployed or whose earnings or work hours decrease because of the outbreak. The Universal Credit IT system is significantly more flexible than our legacy systems and uses different technology from other DWP systems. The Department is experiencing significant increased demand and the Government has to prioritise the safety and stability of the benefits system overall.
We have also made a number of changes to legacy benefits like Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, including increases in entitlement. These new measures include:
Asked by: Mhairi Black (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the timetable is for the draft regulations for compensatory payments to be arranged for people who have moved to universal credit and lost their legacy benefit severe disability premium payments.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The draft Universal Credit (Managed Migration Pilot and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2019 were laid in Parliament on 14 January 2019, and will introduce provision for those claimants who were in receipt of the Severe Disability Premium (SDP) and who have already moved on to Universal Credit following a change in their circumstances. These regulations will provide both an on-going monthly payment to eligible claimants who have already lost the SDP as a consequence of moving to Universal Credit and an additional lump sum payment to cover the period since they moved.
These regulations are subject to parliamentary debate and approval before they come in to force. Once introduced we will implement our processes to identify those who are potentially eligible for payments, aiming to make all payments as quickly as possible and within 6 months of the regulations coming into force. This will be a time consuming process, as we have to identify claimants and assess their eligibility, possibly needing to check some information directly with claimants. We aim to finish making payments within 6 months of the regulations coming into force.
We have also introduced the Severe Disability Premium Gateway which prevents claimants who are receiving the SDP, or have done so within the past month and remain entitled to it, from moving onto Universal Credit from legacy benefits, even if they experience a change in their circumstances. These claimants will continue to receive legacy benefits including their SDP until they are moved onto Universal Credit by the Department.