Asked by: Stephen Twigg (Labour (Co-op) - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the implications for her Department's policies of the statement in the press release by Save the Children on 3 July 2019, that 30,000 families on universal credit face paying up to £800 in childcare costs this summer.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department listens to a range of stakeholders and considers recommendations, such as those from Save the Children’s recent report, that may improve support for our claimants. We have already improved Universal Credit’s (UC) childcare support; for example, our Work Coaches are already providing increased support through the Flexible Support Fund to help eligible claimants who need help with paying upfront childcare costs, as well as allowing greater flexibility in when claimants can report their childcare costs.
As UC is paid as a single monthly amount directly into people’s bank accounts, it helps families have control over their own budget and making the move into work easier. However, we recognise that childcare costs can affect parents’ decisions to both obtain and maintain employment and we are committed to removing barriers that prevent parents moving into work.
Claimants are able to claim up to 85% of their childcare costs on UC, compared to 70% on the legacy system. This can be worth up to £13,000 a year for families with two children. The UC childcare policy aligns with the wider government childcare offer, which includes free childcare hours and tax free childcare and, during 2019/20, a record amount of £6 billion is being spent on childcare support overall. This offer means that reasonable childcare costs should not form a barrier to work.
We are aware of the difficulty that some claimants might have in paying childcare costs over the summer holidays and our work coaches are able to discuss this with them and explain and promote both the UC childcare offer and the wider government childcare offer. In addition to this, budgeting advances are available for eligible claimants that can be used to cover the cost of paying additional upfront childcare cost or a deposit that might be needed during the school holidays.
Asked by: Stephen Twigg (Labour (Co-op) - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 8 May 2019 to Question 237584, if she will place in the Library a copy of letter from the Minister for Disabled People clarifying previous answers on the ministerial requirement to amend the wording of the ESA65B letter to claimants’ doctors.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
A copy of this letter has been placed in the library of the House.
Asked by: Stephen Twigg (Labour (Co-op) - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of providing upfront financial support for childcare to parents claiming universal credit.
Answered by Will Quince
Universal Credit (UC) is paid in a single monthly amount directly into people’s bank accounts, giving them control over their own money and making the move into work easier.
The Government is committed to supporting parents with moving into work and, as part of this, we increased the level of support for childcare costs from 70 per cent in legacy benefits to up to 85 per cent in UC. The UC childcare policy aligns with the wider government childcare offer, which includes free childcare hours and tax free childcare. UC claimants can utilise both the free childcare entitlement and UC childcare costs in conjunction with each other for relevant hours. This offer means that reasonable childcare costs should not form a barrier to work.
We have made other changes to ease the burden on claimants and encourage work. We recognise that upfront childcare costs or deposits may prevent a claimant from starting work so Jobcentres can now use the Flexible Support Fund to support the transition into work. When parents have good reason for late reporting of their childcare costs, the Department is piloting a more flexible approach for reimbursing these costs.
Since February 2018, Universal Credit claimants have been able to upload digital copies of their childcare cost receipts or invoices through their online Universal Credit account.
Asked by: Stephen Twigg (Labour (Co-op) - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 16 May 2018 to Question 142517 on employment support allowance, which Minister authorised revisions to the wording of ESA65B letters to claimants’ GPs.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The Department routinely works with the Cabinet Office, other government departments and stakeholders to ensure its claimant communications are as clear as possible. The final wording in such communications is authorised by DWP Ministers or officials acting on their behalf.
Asked by: Stephen Twigg (Labour (Co-op) - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 16 May 2018 to Question 142517, whether the Cabinet Secretary has issued any further ministerial requirements in relation to the ESA65B letters to employment support allowance claimants’ GPs after the initial requirement in November 2014.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The Department routinely works with the Cabinet Office, other government departments and stakeholders to ensure its claimant communications are as clear as possible. The final wording in such communications is authorised by DWP Ministers or officials acting on their behalf.
Asked by: Stephen Twigg (Labour (Co-op) - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 21 March 2018 to Question 132727, for what reason the revised wording of the ESA65B letters to employment support allowance claimants’ GPs was implemented by a ministerial requirement issued by the Cabinet Secretary instead of the Permanent Secretary of her Department; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The Department routinely works with the Cabinet Office, other government departments and stakeholders to ensure its claimant communications are as clear as possible. The final wording in such communications is authorised by DWP Ministers or officials acting on their behalf.
Asked by: Stephen Twigg (Labour (Co-op) - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many employment support allowance (ESA) claimants were in receipt of the assessment rate on (a) 31 March 2016, (b) 31 March 2017 and (c) 31 March 2018 while awaiting a decision on their appeal to the First Tier Tribunal against the disallowance of ESA following a work capability assessment.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The analytical datasets used to produce the ESA (WCA) Official Statistics only hold information on completed appeals and do not hold the date an appeal is lodged. Consequently, information on the rate of ESA paid whilst a first tier tribunal is in progress, is not available.
Asked by: Stephen Twigg (Labour (Co-op) - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to employment and support allowance, how many ESA65B letters her Department has sent to GPs in each month since May 2018.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The Department does not hold information on the number of ESA65B letters sent to GPs.
Asked by: Stephen Twigg (Labour (Co-op) - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 9 May 2018 to Question 142518 on employment support allowance, what guidance her Department has issued to GPs on the provision of medical notes to claimants of employment and support allowance that are appealing her Department's decision on their claim.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The guidance issued to GPs is published on the gov.uk website. The relevant information can be found on pages 8 and 9 of the following link: