Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much his Department spent on housing benefits in the last financial year; and how much of that was spent on housing provided by (a) local authorities, (b) other social housing providers and (c) private sector landlords.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
In 2022/23 the Department spent £28.97 billion on Housing Benefit and Universal Credit Housing Element combined.
£15.00 billion was spent on Housing Benefit and £13.97 billion was spent on Universal Credit Housing Element. The quoted Housing Benefit expenditure excludes expenditure funded by Local Authorities.
Housing Benefit expenditure by tenure in 2022/23:
Universal Credit Housing Element expenditure by tenure in 2022/23:
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
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 merits of increasing local housing allowance rates.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The Local Housing Allowance policy is reviewed annually by the Secretary of State. The Department monitors average rents and housing support levels provided to claimants to assess the impact of the policy and the merits of any potential changes prior to a fiscal event.
In 2020 we spent almost £1 billion increasing LHA rates to the 30th percentile of market rents. This significant investment has been maintained ensuring that everyone who benefited continues to do so. LHA rates are not intended to cover all rents in all areas.
For those who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs and need further support. Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) are available from local authorities. Since 2011 the Government has provided nearly £1.6 billion in DHP funding to local authorities.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to collect ethnicity data on Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The Department follows the Government Statistical Service (GSS) harmonised standard for ethnicity classification. The harmonised standard currently uses the ethnic groups from the 2011 Census but is being reviewed by the GSS harmonisation team who published their initial findings in March 2023.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance he has provided to Job Centres on the replacement of the DS1500 form for terminally ill people with the SR1 form.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
All DWP internal processes and supporting guidance have been updated to reflect the introduction of the SR1 form to support claims made under the 12-month Special Rules for End of Life eligibility criteria.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether information submitted by a medical professional to his Department regarding claimants with terminal illness can be shared with a third party without the claimant's consent.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
Claims made under the Special Rules for End of Life are in most cases supported by a short medical evidence form called the DS1500 or SR1, provided by a relevant clinician.
This information can be provided directly to DWP by the claimant’s clinician. DWP may share medical evidence with its commissioned assessment providers so they can advise whether the claimant meets the ‘Special Rules’ eligibility criteria. The DWP would not share medical evidence outside of these secure channels. A third party acting on behalf of the ‘Special Rules’ claimant may ask the claimant’s clinician if they can receive a copy. For PIP, DLA and AA, any person representing the patient can make a third party claim on their behalf. For UC and ESA, only an appointee or a person who has power of attorney can make a third-party claim on the patient’s behalf.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if there is a facility for a third party to submit an SR1 form on behalf of a claimant.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The SR1 form can only be completed by a registered clinician such as; a GP, a hospital consultant, a specialty doctor, a hospice doctor, a senior specialist nurse (such as clinical nurse specialist, advanced nurse practitioner or similar).
Registered clinicians can return the SR1 form directly to the DWP by email or by post. Alternatively, the claimant can return a completed SR1 by post to the relevant address provided on the form.