Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to complete an algorithmic transparency report using the Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard for uses of AI in the Lighthouse programme.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP is already working with the Centre for Data, Ethics and Innovation to ensure the Department uses AI in a safe, ethical, and transparent way. This will include leveraging the Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard (ATRS) to identify and apply governance where appropriate.
The Department has completed elements of the ATRS for AI use cases in the Department and we are working to complete the full standard. This includes those cases under the Lighthouse programme.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many complaints her Department has received about the access to work scheme in each of the last five years.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The Department has received 621 complaints about Access to Work scheme in each of the last five years, comprising of:
16/17 | 17/18 | 18/19 | 19/20 | 20/21 | Total |
197 | 121 | 117 | 135 | 51 | 621 |
Please note, this data is for internal use and is not within the public domain.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer on 20 April 2021 to Question 179299 on Social Security Benefits: Payments, how many cases her Department's Serious Organised Crime team has (a) investigated and (b) prosecuted fully in each of the last five years.
Answered by Will Quince
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Dissolution.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has plans to reform benefits payments in order to protect recipients with complex needs from criminal exploitation.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department currently has no such plans.
We take every care to prevent incorrect payments being made and to ensure that benefits are paid to the correct recipients; and that their payments are accurate from the outset of a claim.
Operational staff also have instructions on how to alert DWP’s Serious Organised Crime (SOC) Team, who work closely with the National Crime Agency and the Home Office to investigate criminal activity, to potential cases of modern slavery, and receive guidance, for example, on raising awareness of the risks County Lines activity poses for our more vulnerable claimants who can be exploited by gangs.
Further information may be found in DWP’s Universal Credit (UC) Guidance which covers all aspects of UC and its administration, including claims and payments. Updated chapters are deposited in the House of Commons Library periodically by the DWP and can be found via the following link:
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/universal-credit-information-sources/
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of Kickstart placements have been offered to young people with a criminal record.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the honourable member to the answer given for PQ 110187
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the number of days for which a person can claim new style job seekers allowance during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
A person’s entitlement to contribution-based Jobseeker’s Allowance is limited to a maximum of 182 days in any period for which entitlement is established by reference to the person’s National Insurance record in the same two income tax years relevant to the claim or claims. The time limit strikes a balance in providing support whilst keeping the cost of this and other contributory benefits affordable based on the overall income to the National Insurance Fund each year.
People who are entitled to contribution-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, or whose entitlement ends before they find employment, may have access to income-related support through Universal Credit. Entitlement will depend on individual circumstances.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Kickstart scheme placements have been offered to young people with a criminal record.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department does not hold the data requested.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 2 June 2020 to Question HL4637 on Universal Credit: Coronavirus, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of enabling claimants of universal credit to be granted a nine month grace period on the basis of average earnings over the previous 12 months before a benefit cap is applied.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Claimants may benefit from a nine-month grace period where their benefit will not be capped if they have a sustained work history with monthly earnings of at least £604 (£569 up to March 2020) in each of the previous 12 months. These earnings can include statutory sick pay, employer sick pay, earnings from self-employment as well as payments from the furlough scheme. It is not considered appropriate to undertake the averaging of earnings for the benefit cap grace period exemption to be applied, as that goes against the fundamental design of UC, which responds to fluctuating earnings monthly based on a claimants circumstances
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)
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 effect of the covid-19 outbreak on child maintenance payments.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government recognises that as with other households, the income of many separated parents is being impacted by the public health emergency and some receiving parents may receive less maintenance as a result of a paying parent’s drop in income.
We are however clear that no parent should be using this time as an excuse not to pay what they owe. Those found to be abusing the system at this difficult time could find themselves subject to the full extent of our enforcement powers once the emergency passes.
We have made a number changes to the welfare system to ensure people are receiving the support they need. These include increasing the standard rate of Universal Credit and working tax credit for this year by around £1000 per year. People who need money urgently continue to be able to access up to a month’s Universal Credit advance upfront by applying online. In addition, Statutory Sick Pay now applies from day one, rather than the fourth day of illness. We are increasing in the Local Housing Allowance rates for Universal Credit and Housing Benefit claimants so that it covers the cheapest third of local rents – which is on average £600 in people’s pockets.
Taken together, these 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 the coronavirus outbreak.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)
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 support more deaf young people into employment.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The Government is committed to reducing the disability employment gap and seeing a million more disabled people, regardless of their disability, in work between 2017 and 2027. The DWP has a range of programmes and support to help disabled people, including deaf people.
These include:
In addition, through the Disability Confident scheme, we are also working with employers to change attitudes and create employment opportunities by enabling businesses to recruit and retain disabled people in their workplace. There are already over 16,500 employers signed up to Disability Confident scheme, and their number continues to grow.