Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
What assessment her Department has made of the potential effect of ending the universal credit uplift on levels of in-work relative poverty.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The uplift to Universal Credit was a temporary measure, that is why an assessment has not been completed on its withdrawal.
This Government is wholly committed to supporting those on low incomes, and continues to do so through many measures. We expect to spend over £111 billion on welfare support for people of working age in 2021/22.
Universal Credit recipients in work will soon benefit from a reduction in the Universal Credit taper rate from 63% to 55%, and increasing the work allowance by £500 per year means that 1.9m working households will be able to keep substantially more of what they earn. These changes represent an effective tax cut for low income working households in receipt of UC worth £2.2 billion a year in 2022-23, for the lowest paid in society, and are combined with a rise in the National Living Wage to £9.50 per hour.
We recognise that some people may require extra support over the winter as we enter the final stages of recovery, which is why vulnerable households across the country will now be able to access a new £500 million support fund to help them with essentials. The Household Support Fund will provide £421 million to help vulnerable people in England with the cost of food, utilities and wider essentials. The Barnett Formula will apply in the usual way, with the devolved administrations receiving almost £80 million (£41m for the Scottish Government, £25m for the Welsh Government and £14m for the NI Executive), for a total of £500 million.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
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 on poverty levels of reintroducing universal credit sanctions and conditionality in the next six months.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
New and updated claimant commitments for Universal Credit claimants have been reintroduced from 1 July 2020 in a phased approach and as capacity allows. Only once a new or updated claimant commitment has been agreed, can claimants receive a sanction if they fail to meet those commitments without good reason.
Work Coaches are empowered to make reasonable adjustments to ensure that conditionality is tailored to a claimant’s individual circumstances, that only realistic and reasonable requirements are set, and that they can apply easements and take additional steps to help protect the most vulnerable.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what representations she has received from food bank providers on levels of demand for emergency food assistance in the last six months.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department engaged with food bank providers throughout the Covid pandemic and will continue to do so.
The Department quickly introduced welfare changes worth over £9 billion and worked closely with other departments on the cross-government Task Force on Food and Other Essential Supplies for Vulnerable People, led by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what her plans are for the future of face-to-face assessments for welfare payments.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The health and safety of our claimants and staff is our key priority. We suspended all face-to-face assessments for sickness and disability benefits in March. This temporary suspension, brought in to protect people from unnecessary risk of coronavirus at the outset of the pandemic, remains in place, and is being kept under review in line with the latest public health guidance.
We continue to do telephone-based assessments, and as usual also undertake paper-based assessments where possible. Any re-introduction of face-to-face assessments would involve additional Covid-related safety measures, and guidance for claimants and assessment providers to ensure compliance with the relevant public health guidance.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate she has made of the number of families with children affected by the benefit cap.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The available information on the number of households, receiving Housing Benefit or Universal Credit, who were affected by the Benefit Cap, by Family Type, is published and can be found at:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/
Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
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 investigate and rectify underpayment made in error of the state pension to retired women.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We are aware of a number of cases where individuals have been underpaid Category BL basic State Pension. We are checking for further cases, and if any are found awards will also be reviewed and any arrears paid in accordance with the law.
As soon as any underpayments are identified the individuals affected are reimbursed and their records corrected. Any individual who believes they are being underpaid State Pension should contact the Department on the Freephone number 0800 731 0469. Further details on how to do this through the Pension Service are available on the gov.uk website.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of families who will be newly subject to the benefit cap after the end of the current grace period.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Information relating to households who will be newly affected by the Benefit Cap at the end of their current grace period is not readily available, and to provide it would incur disproportionate costs.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will publish her Department's assessment of the effect of the £20 a week uplift to universal credit during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department has insufficient data at this time to estimate the effect of increasing the four standard allowances in Universal Credit by £20 a week in 2020/21.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the £20 a week uplift to universal credit introduced during the covid-19 outbreak will be made permanent.
Answered by Will Quince
The standard allowance in Universal Credit has been increased by £87.67 a month (equivalent to £20 per week) on top of the planned annual uprating. All Universal Credit households will see an increase in their payment and this additional increase means claimants will be up to £1040 better off over the next 12 months.
This uplift is part of a wider package of measures which represent an investment of over £6.5 billion into the welfare system. These measures, along with the other job and business support programmes announced by the Chancellor, represent one of the most comprehensive packages of support by an advanced economy in response to the coronavirus outbreak.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in London have submitted claims for universal credit by local authority area since 23 March 2020.
Answered by Will Quince
Information on new Universal Credit claims is not available by local authority. However, data surrounding starts to UC by postcode area is published online and can be found at:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/
This includes data on the number of new Universal Credit claims in the postcode areas of London up to 9th April 2020.
Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html