Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the potential merits of changing the universal credit childcare payments system to allow parents looking for work to claim costs upfront.
Answered by Will Quince
No assessment has been made. There is currently an on-going Judicial Review on Universal Credit childcare and the payment of upfront costs. An appeal hearing took place in the Court of Appeal in July and a decision is awaited. It is therefore not appropriate to comment directly on this matter at this time. It should be noted there are no changes to the current processes and the legislation remains the same.
Childcare costs should not be a barrier to getting into work – this Government is committed to helping parents into work. Universal Credit pays up to 85% of childcare costs for working parents, compared to 70% in legacy benefits, and childcare costs can be claimed up to a month before starting a job.
In cases where people need to pay for childcare upfront, prior to starting work, Work Coaches may be able to use the Flexible Support Fund for eligible claimants to meet these costs until their first wage is received. Budgeting advances are also available to eligible claimants who require help with upfront costs, for example when altering hours worked or changing childcare providers. Claimants on Universal Credit are encouraged to manage their own finances and budgets to better mirror the world of work and the majority of claimants can, and do, manage their childcare payments effectively.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of universal credit claimants had deductions made to their monthly payment (a) in March 2020 and (b) in the most recent month for which figures are available, by (i) categories of third party debt deductions, (ii) advance payments and (iii) benefit overpayments and (iv) other types of deductions.
Answered by Will Quince
We carefully balance our duty to the taxpayer to recover overpayments, with support for claimants. Safeguards are in place to ensure deductions are manageable. From 12 April 2021, we further reduced the cap on deductions from Universal Credit awards to 25 per cent and lengthened the period from 12 to 24 months, meaning in effect someone can receive 25 payments over 24 months, giving them more flexibility over the payments of their Universal Credit award. This will also allow claimants to retain more of their award, giving additional financial security, and follows a previous change in October 2019 that reduced the cap from 40% to 30%.
Customers can contact the Department if they are experiencing financial hardship to discuss a reduction in their rate of repayment, depending on their financial circumstances, whilst work coaches can also signpost claimants to other financial support.
The information requested is provided in the attached spreadsheet.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Department for Education’s Skills for Jobs: Lifelong Learning for Opportunity and Growth White Paper, published in January 2021, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that people move into good quality employment; and what relationship officials in her Department has with the Department for Education's Skills and Productivity Board.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The Department works closely with Department for Education and others, including the Skills Productivity Board, to understand current and future skills shortages. Our DWP Train and Progress initiative expands claimants’ access to training, with new offers under the Lifetime Skills Guarantee such as the Skills Bootcamps, ensuring they gain new skills and obtain good jobs.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has plans undertake a review of the state pension age in accordance with the provisions of section 27 of the Pensions Act 2014.
Answered by Guy Opperman
Yes. The statutory deadline for the publication of the next Government Review of State Pension age is May 2023.