Asked by: Tom Tugendhat (Conservative - Tonbridge)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) mandatory reconsiderations and (b) appeals have been requested in each of the last five years; and what is the average time it takes the Child Maintenance Service to review these requests.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Mandatory Reconsideration (MR) is the process where a parent asks the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) to review a decision before appealing to His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service. It can be requested at any stage of a case or after an unsuccessful application. If CMS finds the original decision incorrect or receives new information, the decision may be revised.
The CMS is committed to ensuring decisions are timely, accurate, fair, and based on all relevant information provided by parents.
The Department publishes quarterly statistics for the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) and the latest statistics are currently available to June 2025.
Table 9 of the latest National tables includes information on the total number of mandatory reconsideration requests received by the CMS and the outcomes occurring each quarter, and the number and percentage cleared within 28 days of receipt, from quarter ending June 2015 to quarter ending June 2025.
Table 10 of the latest National tables includes information on the total number of appeals made by parents to His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service to review a decision made by the CMS each quarter, from quarter ending June 2015 to quarter ending June 2025.
The information requested on the average time it takes the Child Maintenance Service to review these requests and, total value of revised liabilities, is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Tom Tugendhat (Conservative - Tonbridge)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many complaints about the Child Maintenance Service were received in each of the last five years, and how many were (a) upheld, (b) partly upheld and (c) not upheld.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department regularly publishes Child Maintenance Service official statistics. The complaints received for quarter ending June 2015 to quarter ending June 2025 are available in Table 11 of the accompanying National tables.
A new publication containing data on DWP complaints received and their outcomes, including those within the Child Maintenance Service, is due to be published on 16 December 2025. Data within this publication will cover the period quarter ending September 2020 to quarter ending September 2025.
Asked by: Tom Tugendhat (Conservative - Tonbridge)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance her Department provides to college staff on supporting universal credit applications for 18 to 25 year olds with learning difficulties.
Answered by Will Quince
The Advice for decision makers guide (ADM) supports the decision making for various social security benefits, including Universal Credit (UC). This guide is published online, is freely available to the public and the specific guidance which would support a decision as to whether a person as described would have entitlement to UC is referred to below.
A condition of entitlement for UC is that the claimant must not be receiving education. This excludes most students, including those with learning difficulties. In chapter H6 of the ADM, paragraphs H6026 to H6028 set out the meaning of “receiving education” for the purposes of determining entitlement to UC. If a person is treated as receiving education they will not be entitled to UC unless they meet one of the exceptions which are listed at paragraph H6041.
Paragraphs H6026 to H6028 advise that a person is treated as receiving education if;
A student with learning difficulties will likely fall to be considered under the guidance set out at the last bullet point, unless they are of a QYP age. If the student is a QYP, they continue to be treated as receiving education and will only have entitlement to UC if they first meet one of the exceptions listed at paragraph H6041 and, if under age 18, one of the minimum age exceptions listed at chapter E of the ADM, paragraph E1024. A QYP remains to be supported by their parents, who receive benefits for them.
Asked by: Tom Tugendhat (Conservative - Tonbridge)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if the Government will allow people over 65 years of age to be reassessed for a higher rate of Disability Living Allowance if their needs have changed since they were assessed before the age of 65.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
Prior to the introduction of Personal Independence Payment for people of working age, the age limit for new claims to Disability Living Allowance (DLA) was age 65. A claimant, born on or before 8 April 1948, in receipt of DLA can continue to get the benefit beyond age 65 if they continue to satisfy the relevant disability tests. They can also apply for a higher rate of the care component if their care needs increase. People with mobility problems that arise only after they have reached age 65 cannot claim the mobility component for the first time nor can a claimant who was receiving a lower rate mobility component whose mobility needs increase move to the higher rate.
Asked by: Tom Tugendhat (Conservative - Tonbridge)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance her Department has issued to people in receipt of the New Enterprise Allowance on business support schemes available during the covid-19 oubreak.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The New Enterprise Allowance (NEA) programme provides mentoring support for eligible claimants to help them enter into self-employment, or increase their earnings from an existing business. Each NEA participant works with a business mentor as they develop a business idea, and for up to 52 weeks when they are trading.
Although Covid-19 has presented us with many challenges, the NEA programme remains in place and our providers and mentors continue to deliver information and guidance to support participants in their self-employment journey.
Asked by: Tom Tugendhat (Conservative - Tonbridge)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of households in each English region that were eligible for universal credit childcare at 5 April 2017.
Answered by Lord Sharma
The Department has not made an estimate of the number of households who are eligible for the childcare element of Universal Credit.
Asked by: Tom Tugendhat (Conservative - Tonbridge)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of households in each English region that have taken up universal credit childcare since that policy's inception.
Answered by Lord Sharma
The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
The available information on the number of households in receipt of Universal Credit and are claiming childcare can be accessed at:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/.
Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:
https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html
Asked by: Tom Tugendhat (Conservative - Tonbridge)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information her Department collects on the income profile of recipients of universal credit childcare.
Answered by Lord Sharma
The latest available data indicates that the household income of Universal Credit claimants that receive the childcare component can be described by the following distribution:
Income Per Month | Percentage of Households |
Under £1000 | 5% |
£1000 to £1250 | 7% |
£1250 to £1500 | 14% |
£1500 to £1750 | 19% |
£1750 to £2000 | 17% |
£2000 to £2250 | 12% |
£2250 to £2500 | 9% |
£2500 to £2750 | 6% |
£2750 to £3000 | 4% |
Over £3000 | 6% |
The number of people claiming Universal Credit is increasing and we do not necessarily expect this figure to be reflective of household incomes in the future.
Notes:
The data supplied is derived from unpublished management information which was collected for internal Departmental use only, and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. They should therefore be treated with caution.
The figures relate to both Universal Credit Live and Full Service claims as of April 2018.
There may be additional income or support that we do not know of and have not included in the calculation, such as child benefit or passported benefits.
Figures may not add up to 100% due to rounding.
Asked by: Tom Tugendhat (Conservative - Tonbridge)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information his Department holds on the age profile of claimants of universal credit childcare.
Answered by Lord Sharma
The latest available data indicates that the ages of the individuals claiming Universal Credit and that receive the childcare component can be described by the following distribution:
Age Range | Percentage of Individuals |
Under 30 | 11% |
Aged 30-34 | 29% |
Aged 35-39 | 28% |
Aged 40-44 | 19% |
Aged 45-49 | 9% |
Aged 50 or over | 4% |
The figures are based on April 2018 data, which may not be reflective of future claimants because the number of people claiming Universal Credit is increasing.
Notes:
The data supplied is derived from unpublished management information which was collected for internal Departmental use only, and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. They should therefore be treated with caution.
The figures related to both Universal Credit Live and Full Service claims as of April 2018.
Where there are two adults in the household receiving the childcare component we count both of them individually.
Figures may not add up to 100% due to rounding.
Asked by: Tom Tugendhat (Conservative - Tonbridge)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the cost to the public purse of universal credit childcare has been since the introduction of that policy.
Answered by Lord Sharma
The information requested is not held.