Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she had made of the effect of the roll out of universal credit on levels of homelessness in the London borough of Croydon .
Answered by Will Quince
We do not track homelessness at Jobcentre level so the assessment asked for is not available, but statutory homelessness and rough sleeping figures for Croydon are available within Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government’s homelessness statistical release: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-homelessness.
The causes of homelessness are numerous, varied and complex.. A joint study between the Department and the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government, has shown that there is not a direct causal link between welfare and homelessness. This report was published on 25 March 2019 and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/causes-of-homelessness-and-rough-sleeping-feasibility-study. Attributing homelessness to a single Governmental policy would simplify the issue, and this approach would wrongly deny it the multi-faceted approach which we’re committed to delivering.
It is our priority to ensure that those who are homeless, or at risk of homelessness, get the appropriate support to stabilise their lives and move into work. We have provided around £1 billion in Discretionary Housing Payment funding since 2011 to protect the most vulnerable claimants.
There is a range of support available for people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, such as access to Alternative Payment Arrangements, easements to work-search requirements and partnerships between Jobcentres and homeless charities and housing services. By law, work coaches in England must offer a voluntary referral to claimants they consider may be homeless or threatened with homelessness to a Local Housing Authority.
Data on homelessness by local authority level, provided by the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government, is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/homelessness-statistics.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will set out the timeframe for implementing her Department's response to the court judgement of June 2018 on the payment of Severe Disability Premium to claimants who are already in receipt of Universal Credit.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
Written statement HCWS745 on 7 June 2018 , which preceded the Court judgment of 14 June, set out our plans to make provision for claimants already in receipt of Universal Credit, to receive a Severe Disability Premium backdated.
The ‘Universal Credit (Managed Migration) Amendment Regulations 2018’, which contain these provisions, were laid in Parliament on 5 November 2018 and will now be scrutinised and voted on by Parliament.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 25 June 2018 to Question 157171 on Unemployed People: Voluntary Work, what steps she is taking to ensure that Jobcentre Plus staff apply that definition of volunteering.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
DWP recognises the value of voluntary work in developing skills which can be transferred into the world of paid work, as well as benefitting local communities and wider society.
Work coaches will discuss and promote the benefits of voluntary work during all interventions with claimants. The definition is considered when reviewing the Claimant Commitment.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what definition Jobcentre Plus uses for volunteering when it encourages jobseekers to take up volunteering roles.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
A volunteer is defined as a person:
1. who is engaged in voluntary work for someone who is not a relative; and
2. where the only payment that person receives or is due to be paid to that
person is in respect of expenses they have reasonably incurred in connection
with that work.
Source:
Advice for Decision Makers Guide (Chapter R2) - https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/687088/admr2.pdf
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure that access to health and disability assessment centres is compliant with the Equality Act 2010.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
All Assessment Centre buildings [operated by Independent Assessment Services (an Atos company), Capita, and the Centre for Health and Disability Assessments (CHDA)] are compliant with the Equality Act 2010 and are wheelchair accessible.
The assessment providers are required to ensure that the needs of all claimants are considered, including proximity to public transport routes and access to suitable parking. Before attending an assessment, claimants are given the opportunity to alert the assessment provider to any additional requirements they may have. The providers will endeavour to meet any reasonable requests.
If a claimant is unable to travel to, or access an Assessment Centre as a result of their health condition or impairment, a home visit may be offered.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure that health and disability assessment centres are accessible to wheelchair users.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
All Assessment Centre buildings [operated by Independent Assessment Services (an Atos company), Capita, and the Centre for Health and Disability Assessments (CHDA)] are compliant with the Equality Act 2010 and are wheelchair accessible.
The assessment providers are required to ensure that the needs of all claimants are considered, including proximity to public transport routes and access to suitable parking. Before attending an assessment, claimants are given the opportunity to alert the assessment provider to any additional requirements they may have. The providers will endeavour to meet any reasonable requests.
If a claimant is unable to travel to, or access an Assessment Centre as a result of their health condition or impairment, a home visit may be offered.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many health and disability assessment centres are not wheelchair-accessible.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
All Assessment Centre buildings [operated by Independent Assessment Services (an Atos company), Capita, and the Centre for Health and Disability Assessments (CHDA)] are compliant with the Equality Act 2010 and are wheelchair accessible.
The assessment providers are required to ensure that the needs of all claimants are considered, including proximity to public transport routes and access to suitable parking. Before attending an assessment, claimants are given the opportunity to alert the assessment provider to any additional requirements they may have. The providers will endeavour to meet any reasonable requests.
If a claimant is unable to travel to, or access an Assessment Centre as a result of their health condition or impairment, a home visit may be offered.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many universal credit claimants to date have had their payments stopped automatically when their child turned five-years old in (a) England and (b) each local authority area.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
No Universal Credit payments have been automatically stopped where the claimant’s child has reached 5 years old’
Claimants receiving Universal Credit with a child aged 5 continue to receive their payment. The responsible carer with a youngest child aged 5 will be expected to undertake work preparation, work search and be available for work. This will be tailored and agreed with the work coach, taking into consideration caring responsibilities.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the latest annual percentage change was in the claimant court in areas operating universal credit (a) full service and (b) live service; and what reasons he ascribes to the difference in the change in the claimant count between full service and live service areas.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The latest claimant count data is for January 2017.
The cumulative claimant count figure for the offices operating Full Service increased by 25.5% in the 12 months to January 2017. The remaining offices operating Live Service saw an overall fall of 1.5% in the count over the same period.
Universal Credit will tend to increase the claimant count because it extends our support to find work to claimants who have never received this support before. For example, people who, in the past, only claimed Child Tax Credit or Housing Benefit (and not Jobseekers Allowance) and now will claim Universal Credit, will be helped to prepare for and look for work. So will partners of Universal Credit claimants.
The roll out of this support is more advanced in Full Service areas, and as we bring these people onto Universal Credit, it is to be expected that the claimant count will be higher than it would otherwise have been.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance his Department has given to Maximus to ensure that centres used for Fit for Work assessments are accessible to wheelchair users.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
All Assessment Centres utilised by MAXIMUS to undertake Work Capability Assessments meet accessibility standards under the Equality Act 2010.
Before attending an assessment, claimants are given the opportunity to alert the assessment provider to any additional requirements they may have and the provider will endeavour to meet all reasonable requests.
If a claimant is unable to travel to or access an Assessment Centre as a result of their health condition or impairment, a home visit may be offered.
This is unconnected to Fit for Work, a website, telephone line and webchat service that does not involve participants travelling to an assessment centre. Fit for Work provides a supportive occupational health assessment and general health and work advice to employees, employers and General Practitioners (GPs) to help individuals stay in or return to work.