Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
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 suspending in-work conditionality requirements for universal credit recipients as a result of the economic effect of the covid-19 outbreak on the job market.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Claimants who are in work with earnings above the Administrative Earnings Threshold are not currently expected to undertake any mandatory work-related activity in Universal Credit.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions she has had with the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority on the applicability of the Kickstart scheme to employment in offices of Members of Parliament.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Engagement with stakeholders has been a vital part of developing the Kickstart Scheme. Throughout the rapid policy development phase, we have engaged with over 300 individual stakeholders and/or stakeholder organisations. This includes employers and business representative organisations, local and regional representatives, devolved administrations, and third sector organisations. Following the launch, we will continue to engage with organisations and reach out to those not yet consulted, such as the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, in order to encourage a wide range of delivery partners to support the scheme and make it a success.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what equality impact assessments have been undertaken on the differential effect of No Recourse to Public Funds in relation to (a) race and (b) other protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The Home Office reviewed the policy on removing the No Recourse to Public Funds condition in relation to race and other protected characteristics earlier this year. A Policy Equality Statement was published in April and placed on GOV.UK: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/880531/Policy_Equality_Statement__PES__21_April_2020.pdf
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what equality impact assessments her Department has undertaken on people who have been refused access to social security benefits as a result of being subject to No Recourse to Public Funds restrictions with in relation to (a) race and (b) other protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
I can confirm that there have been no equality impact assessments undertaken. Non-UK nationals and family members who are issued with a residence permit with a NRPF condition are not eligible to access taxpayer-funded benefits such as Universal Credit, Child Benefit or housing assistance for the duration of their leave. Public funds does not include contributions-based benefits and the State Pension. DWP has no powers to award taxpayer-funded benefits to an individual whose Home Office immigration status specifies no recourse to public funds.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make it her policy to allow students in further and higher education to apply for Universal Credit during months when they are not in receipt of (a) grants or (b) loans from relevant awards agencies or loans companies.
Answered by Will Quince
Most students in full-time education do not qualify for Universal Credit (UC) unless an exception applies.
Under covid-19 regulations, those who do not receive student finance and who would ordinarily not have entitlement to UC, such as those undertaking a part-time course which would otherwise not be considered as compatible with the requirements for them to look for and be available for work, will have entitlement to UC. The DWP Secretary of State and Chief Secretary to the Treasury have agreed to dis-apply UC and both legacy and new style JSA work preparation, work search and availability requirements and related sanctions. This will initially be for a three-month period which commenced on the 30th March. After three months, consideration will be given as to whether a further extension is required.
Students are able to access funding to support their education courses through various loans and grants, which are the responsibility of the Department for Education (DfE). Students who do not ordinarily have entitlement to UC and who receive a maintenance loan or grant through the student finance system will continue to be able to draw upon this financial support until the end of this academic year. The adequacy of student finance is a matter for DfE.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants had their social security payments limited by the application of the benefit cap in (a) January (b) February (c) March and (d) April 2020 in each region of the UK.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate costs. However, whilst the stats requested are not readily available, as part of a regular publication, new statistics for Benefit Cap Households to February 2020 are due to be published on Thursday 7th May at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/benefit-cap-statistics
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Government's announcement of 20 March 2020 that the rate of universal credit standard allowance will be increased in response to the covid-19 outbreak, whether the Government plans to increase the rate of jobseeker's allowance.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
There are no current plans to increase the amount of Jobseeker’s Allowance due to COVID19. Of course these benefits were increased by 1.7% from 6 April, following the Government announcement to end the benefits freeze in November 2019.
DWP and HMRC are experiencing significant increased demand and the Government has to prioritise the safety and stability of the benefits system overall, announcing measures that can be quickly and effectively operationalised.
Taken together, DWP’s measures represent an injection of over £6.5 billion into the welfare system and, along with the other job and business support programmes announced by the Chancellor, represent one of the most comprehensive packages of support introduced by an advanced economy in response to COVID19.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants had their social security payments limited by the application of the two child rule in (a) January (b) February (c) March and (d) April 2020 in each region of the UK
Answered by Will Quince
The information requested is currently not available. They will be issued in an official statistics release in accordance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what documentation officials in Job Centres have been instructed to accept as proof of (a) settled status and (b) pre-settled status for EU nationals applying for social security benefits after 31 October 2019.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We have been clear that the rights of EU nationals with settled and pre-settled status who apply for social security benefits after 31 October 2019 will be protected.
DWP recognises leave granted under the EU settlement scheme. EU nationals who claim social security benefits can present their notification of settled or pre-settled status in support of their claim. DWP procedures require staff to verify evidence of immigration status through the Habitual Residence Test Process. Mechanisms are in place between DWP and the Home Office to verify settled status notifications.
EU nationals who are granted settled status and are habitually resident in the UK are eligible to access income-related benefits.
EU nationals who are granted pre-settled status and are exercising an EU qualifying right to reside e.g. worker or self-employed status are eligible to access income-related benefits.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will publish a response to Early Day Motion 2390, Pensions for women born in the 1950s.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The approach of Labour, Conservative and the Coalition governments for the last 24 years since the 1995 pensions Act is the same. This Government’s position on the changes to State Pension age (SPa) remains clear and consistent.
We have considered the alternative options offered by stakeholders and found there are substantial practical, financial and legal problems to all alternative options offered by stakeholders so far to mitigate the impact on those affected. During the passage of the 2011 Act, the Government listened to the concerns of those affected and subsequently introduced a concession worth £1.1 billion in order to limit the impact on those women who would be most affected by the changes.
In the years after the 1995 legislation, equalisation was frequently reported in the media and debated at length in Parliament. The changes were communicated in a variety of ways, for example with leaflets, extensive advertising campaigns were carried out and later individual letters were posted out. Throughout this period, the Department has also provided individuals with their most up-to-date State Pension age when they have requested a Pension statement. Between April 2000 and the end of April 2019, the Department provided more than 28 million personalised State Pension statements to people who requested them (either online or by telephone or post). We continue to encourage people to request a personalised State Pension Statement as part of our on-going communications.
This matter has been comprehensively debated on many occasions in Parliament, and any amendment to the current legislation which creates a new inequality between men and women would be highly dubious as a matter of law. The Government has no plans to publish a response to EDM 2390.