Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Gateshead South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the total deductions for Universal Credit claimants aged under 25 were in the most recent month for which figures are available; and what the average such deduction was.
Answered by Guy Opperman
Household level figures have been provided as deductions are applied at the household level and not at claimant level.
In May 2022, the total deductions for Under 25 households on Universal Credit was £9,783,000 and the average deduction was £41. For the same period, the total number of households on Universal Credit with a deduction was 238,000. This accounts for 36% of all under 25 households.
Notes:
1. Total deductions have been rounded to the nearest thousand pounds and average deductions to the nearest pound
2.Total number of households on UC have been rounded to the nearest thousand and percentages to the nearest percent.
3. For couple claims an under 25 household has been defined as both claimants in the household being under 25.
4. Figures are provisional and are subject to retrospective change as later data becomes available.
5. The methodology used is different to those used to derive the Official Statistics Household series and therefore, figures may not be comparable.
6. Data for May 2022 has been provided in line with the latest available UC Household Statistics
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Gateshead South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of Universal Credit claimants had deductions taken in the most recent month for which figures are available.
Answered by Guy Opperman
Household level figures have been provided as deductions are applied at the household level and not at claimant level.
In May 2022, the total deductions for Universal Credit households was £130,530,000 and the average deduction was £62. For the same period, the total number of households on Universal Credit with a deduction was 2,100,000. This accounts for 45% of all households on Universal Credit.
Notes:
1. Total deductions have been rounded to the nearest thousand pounds and average deductions to the nearest pound
2.Total number of households on UC have been rounded to the nearest thousand and percentages to the nearest percent
3. Figures are provisional and are subject to retrospective change as later data becomes available.
4. The methodology used is different to those used to derive the Official Statistics Household series and therefore, figures may not be comparable.
5. Data for May 2022 has been provided in line with the latest available UC Household Statistics
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Gateshead South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the (a) total and (b) average size of deductions from Universal Credit claimants were in the most recent month for which data is available.
Answered by Guy Opperman
Household level figures have been provided as deductions are applied at the household level and not at claimant level.
In May 2022, the total deductions for Universal Credit households was £130,530,000 and the average deduction was £62. For the same period, the total number of households on Universal Credit with a deduction was 2,100,000. This accounts for 45% of all households on Universal Credit.
Notes:
1. Total deductions have been rounded to the nearest thousand pounds and average deductions to the nearest pound
2.Total number of households on UC have been rounded to the nearest thousand and percentages to the nearest percent
3. Figures are provisional and are subject to retrospective change as later data becomes available.
4. The methodology used is different to those used to derive the Official Statistics Household series and therefore, figures may not be comparable.
5. Data for May 2022 has been provided in line with the latest available UC Household Statistics
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Gateshead South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, If she will bring the taper rate for Housing Benefit in line with the Universal Credit taper rate.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
There are currently no plans to amend the taper rate in Housing Benefit.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Gateshead South)
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 effect of the lower rate of Universal Credit for claimants aged under 25 on the ability of young people living independently to meet essential living costs.
Answered by Guy Opperman
No such assessment has been made.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Gateshead South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to vary the nature of Support for Mortgage Interest, in the context of rises to the Bank of England base rate.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
There are currently no plans to amend the calculation of Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI).
SMI is calculated by applying a standard rate of interest to the outstanding capital balance. The rate is set at a level equal to the Bank of England's published monthly average mortgage interest rate. A change to the standard interest rate will occur when the Bank of England’s average mortgage rate differs by 0.5 percentage points or more from the rate in payment.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Gateshead South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many children of (a) infant school age, (b) primary school age inclusive of infant years, (c) primary school age excluding infant years and (d) secondary school age are from families in receipt of Universal Credit.
Answered by David Rutley
The available statistics on the number of households with children on Universal Credit, by number of children and by the age of the youngest child, 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
Plans to extend the statistics to include the age breakdown of all children in Universal Credit households are under development, as detailed in the Department’s Statistical work programme.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Gateshead South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether additional travel support will be provided to civil servants employed at the Durham House site which has been identified for consolidation.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The changes the Department is making to estates will both improve the working environment for staff, become greener by becoming smaller, helping meet the Government’s carbon reduction target, and provide value for money for the taxpayer.
As of March 2022, 905 colleagues located in Washington Durham House are being asked to relocate, with their role, to Sunderland Wearview House. Each colleague will have a discussion with their line manager to assess the impact of the move on them and if they are able to relocate. The Department’s priority will be to retain, retrain and redeploy colleagues either within DWP, or within other Government Departments in the area. As a responsible employer, we will make provision for redundancies if it is necessary. However, this will be a very last resort after all efforts to redeploy have been exhausted.
An overarching Equality Assessment has been completed which considers the impact on colleagues. This has been made available in the House Library. Individual site Assessments have also been prepared. The planning of an office closure includes consideration of factors including the ‘Index of Multiple Deprivation’ for each location, which considers many factors, including:
The Department currently expects to exit Washington Durham House by November 2022. Should redeployment mean additional travel costs, colleagues may qualify for an Excess Fares payment to cover those costs. These costs would be paid for up to three years.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Gateshead South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, on what date the Durham House site will close.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The changes the Department is making to estates will both improve the working environment for staff, become greener by becoming smaller, helping meet the Government’s carbon reduction target, and provide value for money for the taxpayer.
As of March 2022, 905 colleagues located in Washington Durham House are being asked to relocate, with their role, to Sunderland Wearview House. Each colleague will have a discussion with their line manager to assess the impact of the move on them and if they are able to relocate. The Department’s priority will be to retain, retrain and redeploy colleagues either within DWP, or within other Government Departments in the area. As a responsible employer, we will make provision for redundancies if it is necessary. However, this will be a very last resort after all efforts to redeploy have been exhausted.
An overarching Equality Assessment has been completed which considers the impact on colleagues. This has been made available in the House Library. Individual site Assessments have also been prepared. The planning of an office closure includes consideration of factors including the ‘Index of Multiple Deprivation’ for each location, which considers many factors, including:
The Department currently expects to exit Washington Durham House by November 2022. Should redeployment mean additional travel costs, colleagues may qualify for an Excess Fares payment to cover those costs. These costs would be paid for up to three years.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Gateshead South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will publish his Department’s (a) equality impact and (b) socio-economic impact assessment of the closure of the Durham House site in Washington.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The changes the Department is making to estates will both improve the working environment for staff, become greener by becoming smaller, helping meet the Government’s carbon reduction target, and provide value for money for the taxpayer.
As of March 2022, 905 colleagues located in Washington Durham House are being asked to relocate, with their role, to Sunderland Wearview House. Each colleague will have a discussion with their line manager to assess the impact of the move on them and if they are able to relocate. The Department’s priority will be to retain, retrain and redeploy colleagues either within DWP, or within other Government Departments in the area. As a responsible employer, we will make provision for redundancies if it is necessary. However, this will be a very last resort after all efforts to redeploy have been exhausted.
An overarching Equality Assessment has been completed which considers the impact on colleagues. This has been made available in the House Library. Individual site Assessments have also been prepared. The planning of an office closure includes consideration of factors including the ‘Index of Multiple Deprivation’ for each location, which considers many factors, including:
The Department currently expects to exit Washington Durham House by November 2022. Should redeployment mean additional travel costs, colleagues may qualify for an Excess Fares payment to cover those costs. These costs would be paid for up to three years.