Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of people who have been affected by the underpayment of benefits after transitioning from incapacity benefit to employment and support allowance in Weaver Vale constituency.
Answered by Chloe Smith
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 19th January to question number 104377.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the number of pensionable age people in Weaver Vale constituency who are still awaiting payment of their state pension.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
DWP does not have any claims outstanding. Those where we are awaiting additional information to process a customer’s claim are actioned on receipt of the required information, in the usual way.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made on the effectiveness of the personal independence payment assessment process' (a) timescale from application submission to the result and (b) approach to applicants with disabilities
Answered by Chloe Smith
We are committed to ensuring that people can access financial support in a timely manner and managing customer journey times for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claimants is a priority for the Department. We always aim to make an award decision as quickly as possible, taking into account the need to review all available evidence.
Processing times can vary reflecting factors including customer demand, operational resource and timescales for different parts of the process. Clearance times for new PIP claims in July 2021 (most recent data available) are similar to those pre-pandemic.
PIP focuses support on those experiencing the greatest barriers to living independently; 34% of those on PIP receive the highest level of support, compared to 15% of its predecessor benefit’s (DLA’s) working-age claimants. At the core of PIP’s design is the principle that awards of the benefit should be made according to a claimant’s overall level of need, regardless of whether claimants have a physical or non-physical condition. Entitlement to PIP is therefore assessed on the basis of the needs arising from a health condition or disability, rather than the health condition or disability itself.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
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 introducing a fit and proper person test for providers of exempt accommodation.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The supported housing sector provides essential accommodation and support for the most vulnerable members of society to live as independently as possible in their community.
We are working closely with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on the oversight of supported housing to ensure it is good quality and provides the right support for residents as well as value for money for taxpayers. As part of this work, all available options will be considered. Additionally, following extensive engagement with stakeholders, we are reviewing the guidance for specified accommodation claims to improve consistency in decision-making for exempt accommodation.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
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 strengthening the regulation of exempt accommodation.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The supported housing sector provides essential accommodation and support for the most vulnerable members of society to live as independently as possible in their community.
We are working closely with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on the oversight of supported housing to ensure it is good quality and provides the right support for residents as well as value for money for taxpayers. As part of this work, all available options will be considered. Additionally, following extensive engagement with stakeholders, we are reviewing the guidance for specified accommodation claims to improve consistency in decision-making for exempt accommodation.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of trends in the level of child poverty in Weaver Vale constituency; and what steps the Government is taking to reduce child poverty.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
In 2019/20, the latest year for which data is available, 12% of children in Weaver Vale were in absolute low-income on a before housing costs basis, the same proportion as in 2014/15.
Further information on the number and proportion of children who are in low income families in Weaver Vale, covering the six years, 2014/15 to 2019/20, can be found at: Children in low income families: local area statistics 2014 to 2020 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Given clear evidence that parental employment, particularly where it is full-time, substantially reduces the risks of child poverty, we are focusing on supporting employment. With record vacancies in the economy, there are opportunities available across the UK and our multi-billion-pound Plan for Jobs, which has recently been expanded by £500 million, is helping people to access them.
Universal Credit recipients in work will soon benefit from a reduction in the Universal Credit taper rate from 63% to 55%, while eligible in-work claimants will also benefit from changes to the Work Allowance. These measures represent, for the lowest paid in society, an effective tax cut of around £2.2 Billion in 2022-23, and will benefit almost two million of the lowest paid workers by £1000 a year on average.
We recognise that some people may require extra support over the winter as we enter the final stages of recovery, which is why vulnerable households across the country will now be able to access a new £500 million support fund to help them with essentials. The Household Support Fund will provide £421 million to help vulnerable people in England with the cost of food, utilities and wider essentials. The Barnett Formula will apply in the usual way, with the devolved administrations receiving almost £80 million (£41m for the Scottish Government, £25m for the Welsh Government and £14m for the NI Executive), for a total of £500 million.
This is on top of the £111 billion we are spending this year on support for people of working age.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much her Department recovered from overpayments that were as a result of her Department's and not the claimant's error in each month in the most recent period for which figures are available; and what the average amount of overpayment due to her Department's error was recovered from each such claimant.
Answered by Will Quince
In the last month for which figures are available DWP paid out almost £3.5bn in Universal Credit and it should be noted that fraud and error in the benefits system remains low, with 95% of benefits, worth more than £200bn. paid correctly in 2020/21. Official Error overpayments remained at 0.4% of benefit expenditure last year, with UC Official Error Overpayments falling from 1.3% to 0.9%.
Deductions from UC are now capped at 25% (as of April 2021) having previously been 30%. Where requested deductions exceed the 25% maximum, or there is insufficient UC in payment for all deductions to be made, a priority order is applied, which determines the order in which items should be deducted. ‘Last resort’ deductions, such as rent or fuel costs, are at the top of the priority order, ensuring that claimant welfare is prioritised, followed by social obligation deductions, such as fines and child maintenance, and finally benefit debt, such as Social Fund loans and benefit overpayments.
Anyone with overpayment deductions who does experience financial hardship is encouraged to contact the Department’s Debt Management unit. Where a person cannot afford the proposed rate of these deductions, a lower amount can be negotiated.
Deductions in respect of UC Official Error debt for the last 6 months are shown below:
Month | Value of in month recovery where debt category is official error | Average recovery per Customer in Month |
Jan-21 | £12,470,549 | £67.47 |
Feb-21 | £14,464,840 | £67.15 |
Mar-21 | £16,444,768 | £70.11 |
Apr-21 | £16,524,866 | £69.95 |
May-21 | £13,563,717 | £65.02 |
Jun-21 | £14,584,640 | £63.44 |
* The data shown in the above table is taken from operational data systems, and is not intended for publication. Therefore, the data itself is not quality assured to the standard of published Official Statistics and National Statistics.