Asked by: Stuart C McDonald (Scottish National Party - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure that EU citizens with status and British citizens living in the UK who have received letters from the Department stating that they must apply for immigration status, following the UK's departure from the EU, within 28 days or their benefits will stop, do not have their entitlements terminated.
Answered by David Rutley
Following the end of the grace period on 30 June 2021, EU, EEA and Swiss citizens have been required to have a valid UK immigration status in order to access non-contributory benefits, such as Universal Credit.
As part of our extensive efforts to contact all those believed to be without status, people naturalised as British citizens, Irish citizens or with an existing valid immigration status may have received letters asking them to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS). The letters urged people with an immigration status to contact DWP to confirm their status and no action was taken with respect to their benefit payments as a consequence of receiving these letters.
We have since updated our data lists to ensure people with an existing immigration status do not receive further correspondence. No action will be taken to suspend or terminate the benefits of people with a valid immigration status.
The Department’s extensive engagement with this cohort, including targeted letters, outbound calls, SMS text messages, digital journal messages, face to face appointments and home visits, has been to ensure that people acquire the correct status and maintain their benefit entitlement by doing so.
Before suspending a claim, DWP officials will seek information on the customer’s immigration status held by the Home Office and contact the customer themselves to determine whether or not an individual holds a valid immigration status, or has applied to the EU Settlement Scheme. These steps are repeated at the termination stage, to ensure claims are not closed for individuals who hold a valid immigration status.
Asked by: Stuart C McDonald (Scottish National Party - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps EU nationals with settled and pre-settled status need to take to access a National Insurance number; and when procedures will be in place for EU nationals without settled or pre-settled status to access National Insurance numbers.
Answered by Guy Opperman
When applying for a National Insurance Number (NINo) all applicants are required to have their identity verified. For some applicants whose identity has been verified by another UK Government Department, primarily the Home Office, we are able to offer a postal service. For the remainder, UK and EU/EEA citizens, their ID is verified at a face-to-face appointment.
Due to COVID-19, the face-to-face identity verification appointment process is presently suspended.
The NINo allocation service has continued to offer a service, throughout the pandemic, to our most vulnerable customer groups and students who are entitled to Student Finance. In June 2020, we resumed our postal service for visa applicants.
DWP started testing a partial digital solution on a small scale in mid-October to support the issuing of NINos, which is still ongoing. This solution enables collection of the applicant’s data, but not the online verification of their identity. Alternative identity verification solutions to reduce the need for a face-to-face identity check for some customer groups, including EU nationals with Settled or Pre-Settled status, is under development as part of this test.
The digital solution will be considered by the Government Data Service for its ability to move into Public Beta, and thereby deliver a service to a greater number of customers early next year.
EU nationals without Settled or Pre-Settled status will still be required to attend a face-to-face appointment with DWP for identity verification.
Asked by: Stuart C McDonald (Scottish National Party - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants have moved from legacy benefits to universal credit in each of the last six months through (a) natural migration and (b) managed migration.
Answered by Will Quince
a) Claimants move from existing benefits to Universal Credit when they experience a significant change in their circumstances that triggers a new claim to benefit. We do not centrally collate the number of claimants that have made a new claim to Universal Credit as a result of such a change in circumstances.
Data surrounding Universal Credit caseload growth at national, regional and constituency level is published at: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk
Guidance for users is available at:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html
b) The Move to UC Pilot has been temporarily suspended following the outbreak of COVID-19.
Asked by: Stuart C McDonald (Scottish National Party - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make it her policy to suspend repayment of all universal credit advances during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Will Quince
As part of the Government’s strategy to support people affected by the COVID-19 public health emergency, DWP is making a number of changes to its benefit processes to ensure people who need financial help have access to the benefit system.
Universal Credit New Claims Advances are available to support those in immediate financial need until their first Universal Credit payment is made and the Department is committed to delivering advances as soon as possible to claimants who have requested them. Face-to-face checks for Universal Credit advances have been suspended and claimants can apply for an advance by phone or online without attending their Jobcentre.
Universal Credit is already much more generous than the legacy benefit system it replaces. From 6th April 2020, we have increased the standard allowance for everyone by over £80 a month for one year. This is on top of the existing 1.7% increase already announced. The increase in the Universal Credit standard allowance provides additional support to claimants in order to help them manage the economic impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak, including the repayment of new claim advances.
The Government has reduced the maximum deduction from 40% to 30% of a claimant’s standard allowance from October 2019 and this will be further reduced to 25% from October 2021. The repayment time for advances has already been extended from 6 months to 12 months, and will be further extended to 24 months from October 2021.
If a claimant is in financial difficulty as a result of the level of deductions being made they can contact the Department to request that a reduction in deductions be considered. Any adjustment to repayments will be based on the individual circumstances of the claimant.
Asked by: Stuart C McDonald (Scottish National Party - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she plans to take to ensure that people that are unable to access the internet as a result of the closure of libraries and other public institutions during the covid-19 outbreak can (a) apply for universal credit and (b) manage their claim.
Answered by Will Quince
As both the Prime Minister and Chancellor have made clear, the Government will do whatever it takes to support people affected by COVID 19 and we have been clear in our intention that no one should be penalised for doing the right thing. These are rapidly developing circumstances, we continue to keep the situation under review and will keep Parliament updated accordingly.
Asked by: Stuart C McDonald (Scottish National Party - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what additional support will be made available to pregnant women who lose earnings as a result of advice to avoid social contact as a precaution against covid-19.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
As both the Prime Minister and Chancellor have made clear, the Government will do whatever it takes to support people affected by COVID 19 and we have been clear in our intention that no one should be penalised for doing the right thing. These are rapidly developing circumstances, we continue to keep the situation under review and will keep Parliament updated accordingly.