Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how universal credit is calculated for people who (a) are in work and (b) would formerly have claimed working tax credits; and what comparative assessment he has made of the level of entitlement of such people to (i) universal credit and (ii) those benefits which universal credit has replaced.
Answered by Lord Sharma
Under the legacy system £2.4 billion of welfare benefits did not get paid at all because claimants could not navigate the complexity of the system. Universal Credit is putting this right, ensuring this money goes to 700,000 claimants who need it.
Universal Credit replaces six benefits with one, to simplify the system and make work pay. As a result, people claiming Universal Credit move into work faster, stay in work longer and spend more time looking to increase their earnings. Universal Credit also provides more help with childcare costs, a dedicated Work Coach, scraps the 16-hour ‘cliff edge’ and the prohibitive tax rates should someone start work. When it is fully rolled out we expect Universal Credit will boost employment by 200,000, lifting people out of poverty and generating £8 billion in economic benefits every year.
Universal Credit includes a Standard Allowance and separate elements to provide support for housing costs, children and childcare costs and support for disabled people and carers.
Many claimants will have higher entitlements under Universal Credit but for those who do not, anyone on existing benefits or tax credits whose circumstances remain the same will not lose out in cash terms when claiming Universal Credit, as part of the managed migration process. These claimants will be given transitional protection to avoid cash loss at the point of change.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assistance job centres provide to claimants who struggle to complete benefits applications forms; and what procedures are followed by jobcentres when a claimant requests assistance with filling in forms or expresses that they have difficulty in doing so.
Answered by Lord Sharma
Where our customers advise us that they need assistance to access our services and information, we make reasonable adjustments to meet their individual needs. This means the Department communicates with customers in a variety of different formats such as Braille, audio, large print, through third party interpreters or by arranging for a member of staff to visit the customer in their home.
Service delivery teams within jobcentres provide a professional and supportive environment for our customers, providing digital coaching, helping claimants set up their Universal Credit claims and also maintaining them.
Claimants who require additional support to complete a claim form have the option to book a one to one appointment with a member of the Service Delivery team to receive assistance. In addition telephony support is in place for those vulnerable claimants who cannot ‘self-serve’ online and where a claimant is unable to manage their own affairs, an appointee can act on their behalf, taking responsibility for making and maintaining any benefit claim.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what procedures her Department has in place for when a claimant requests weekly rather than monthly payments of benefits; what advice her Department issues on whether claimants should be informed that they can request weekly payments of benefits that would usually be paid monthly; how many and what proportion of such requests from claimants were (a) granted and (b) refused in each of the last five years.
Answered by Lord Sharma
The payment arrangements for Universal Credit are designed to mirror the world of work through a single monthly award.
Our staff works closely with claimants, ensuring they can identify any vulnerability, such as financial hardship, at an early stage; and tailor support according to their individual needs. This includes a conversation with every claimant to establish any financial or budgeting support required.
The Government recognises that the move to a single monthly household payment is a significant change for some claimants and where it is identified that a claimant is finding it difficult to budget monthly, it may be possible to have their Universal Credit divided over the month so it is paid more frequently, for example: twice monthly or, in exceptional circumstance, four times a month. These More Frequent Payments (MFP) are explained under the Alternative Payment Arrangements heading within ‘Universal Credit and You’ (paragraph 7.2), which is available to claimants via their online account.
Universal Credit and You can be accessed at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-and-you/universal-credit-and-you-a
Around 2 per cent (20,000) of households on Universal Credit received a MFP in this way in June 2018, including those that have chosen to be paid more frequently via Universal Credit Scottish Choices.
These figures will be updated in the next release of households on Universal Credit, on 13 November 2018. We do not hold information on the type of MFP these households receive and do not hold data on the number of refused applications for MFP. Further information can be accessed at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/universal-credit-29-april-2013-to-9-august-2018#
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if her Department will publish statistics on the number of employees of Amazon who have been in receipt of (a) working tax credits and (b) universal credit in each of the last five years for which figures are available; and if he will publish the total amount paid to such employees in (a) working tax credits and (b) universal credits in that same period.
Answered by Lord Sharma
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Written Statement of 4 September 2018 on Pensions Update, HCWS933, what role industry will have in the delivery of the pensions dashboard; whether the Government plans to fund that dashboard; and how the Government plans to facilitate the delivery of that dashboard.
Answered by Guy Opperman
As set out in the Written Statement, https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2018-09-04/HCWS933/
an industry-led dashboard, facilitated by Government, will harness the best of industry innovation while safeguarding consumer interests and protecting their information. The Department for Work and Pensions will continue to engage with industry, consumer groups and other stakeholders on this model. The Government will protect pension savers and personal information by legislating where necessary. As part of our feasibility work we are still considering the many complex issues involved in developing a dashboard, including those of funding and delivery models. We will shortly report on the findings of the Feasibility Study.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average waiting time has been for calls to the (a) employment support allowance and (b) the personal independence payment helpline in each of the last five years.
Answered by Sarah Newton
Gov.uk directs Employment and Support Allowance enquiries to the Jobcentre Plus Benefit line (0800 169 0310), where they are referred to the appropriate team, and Personal Independence Payment enquiries to the PIP helpline (0800 121 4433). These do not include new claims.
The table below shows the average speed of answer (in hours:minutes:seconds) for telephone calls to the Jobcentre Plus Benefit Enquiry Line relating to Employment and Support Allowance enquiries and the Personal Independence Payment enquiries received for the last 5 years from April to March for each year. No data is available for November 2017 due to migration to the NGCC telephony system.
Average Speed of Answer | Employment Support Allowance Enquiries | Personal Independence Payment Enquiries |
2013 – 2014 | 00:01:25 | 00:02:05 |
2014 – 2015 | 00:03:41 | 00:01:16 |
2015 – 2016 | 00:04:00 | 00:01:40 |
2016 – 2017 | 00:09:56 | 00:05:40 |
2017 – 2018 | 00:13:01 | 00:04:11 |
|
The Average Speed of Answer is the average customer wait time from the point of entering a queue to connection to an agent. This figure excludes any time spent in pre-queue messaging and any wait time for calls ultimately abandoned by callers.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average processing time has been for mandatory reconsiderations for (a) employment support allowance and (b) personal independence payment in each of the last five years.
Answered by Sarah Newton
Average clearance times for ESA-WCA Mandatory Reconsiderations are published in Table 16 in the statistical release “ESA: outcomes of Work Capability Assessments including mandatory reconsiderations and appeals: June 2018”, available here:
During the mandatory reconsideration period claimants can claim Jobseeker’s Allowance, or Universal Credit where eligible. Following mandatory reconsideration ESA can usually be paid at the assessment phase rate pending an appeal hearing. Should the decision be revised, we will backdate the payment to cover the mandatory reconsideration period.
Information on MR clearance times for PIP are not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether additional resources will be allocated to the Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman as a result of the increase level of caseload from WASPI complainants.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) is independent of Government and is accountable to Parliament through the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee for its performance. The DWP plays no part in allocating resources to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman’s Office.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 24 May 2018 to Question 146091 on State Retirement Pensions: Females, what the duties of the additional 13 staff will be; assessment she has made of the effect of the additional staff on the time taken to conclude (a) all complaints and (b) WASPI complaints; and when he plans for the additional staff to begin (a) training and (b) work with the Independent Case Examiner.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The thirteen additional staff referenced in answer to question 146091 will be deployed on investigation casework. Given the range and complexity of the complaints examined by the Independent Case Examiner’s Office and the demand led nature of the service it provides, it is not possible to provide reliable predictions of the impact the additional staff will have on the time taken to conclude any particular group of complaint investigations. Whilst the process of recruiting new staff is ongoing, start dates and training schedules cannot be agreed until the successful candidates have been identified.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to allocate additional resources to the Pensions Ombudsman as a result of the level of caseload from WASPI complainants.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The Pension Ombudsman was set up in 1991 by the then Conservative Government. It’s remit is to look at complaints about personal and occupational pension schemes. It also considers complaints about the actions and decisions of the Pension Protection Fund and some decisions made by the Financial Assistance Scheme.
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman is responsible for investigating WASPI complaints. Once a complainant has exhausted the DWP complaints process, including the Independent Case Examiner’s, they can escalate their complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman’s Office in the event that they are dissatisfied with the outcome. The DWP` plays no part in allocating resources to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman’s Office. The Pensions Ombudsman does not answer WASPI complaints.