Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Highgate)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of people in (a) Camden (b) Brent (c) the constituency of Hampstead and Kilburn and (d) London who receive contribution-related employment and support allowance.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The information on the number of people who receive contribution-related employment and support allowance is published and can be found at:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/jsf/login.xhtml
Guidance for users is available at:
https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Highgate)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support her Department offers families in receipt of universal credit to meet the cost of childcare deposits.
Answered by Lord Sharma
DWP continues to continuously improve the Universal Credit experience for claimants and to ensure that they are supported throughout their journey. For those with children, this includes ensuring that help with up front childcare costs is available for Universal Credit households with a low income.
Claimants with a firm job offer can claim Universal Credit Childcare costs up to 1 month prior to starting work to enable their children to settle into a new routine. We also offer extra support to enable parents to pay upfront childcare costs or deposits: for example, claimants may be eligible to receive an advance of their future Universal Credit entitlement, which is interest free. Work coaches and claimants work together to ensure that, where this is taken up, repayments are affordable and manageable.
If a budgeting advance is not appropriate, the Flexible Support Fund may also provide assistance. Payments from this fund are non-repayable, and are managed locally to provide tailored and targeted support for claimants to move into work.
From 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: most claimants reporting their in-month childcare costs are not asked to provide further evidence.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Highgate)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what financial support her Department provides to families in receipt of universal credit to meet the costs of childcare deposits.
Answered by Lord Sharma
DWP continues to continuously improve the Universal Credit experience for claimants and to ensure that they are supported throughout their journey. For those with children, this includes ensuring that help with up front childcare costs is available for Universal Credit households with a low income.
Claimants with a firm job offer can claim Universal Credit Childcare costs up to 1 month prior to starting work to enable their children to settle into a new routine. We also offer extra support to enable parents to pay upfront childcare costs or deposits: for example, claimants may be eligible to receive an advance of their future Universal Credit entitlement, which is interest free. Work coaches and claimants work together to ensure that, where this is taken up, repayments are affordable and manageable.
If a budgeting advance is not appropriate, the Flexible Support Fund may also provide assistance. Payments from this fund are non-repayable, and are managed locally to provide tailored and targeted support for claimants to move into work.
From 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: most claimants reporting their in-month childcare costs are not asked to provide further evidence.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Highgate)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department has taken to reduce the waiting time for the reimbursement of upfront childcare deposits for families in receipt of universal credit.
Answered by Lord Sharma
DWP continues to continuously improve the Universal Credit experience for claimants and to ensure that they are supported throughout their journey. For those with children, this includes ensuring that help with up front childcare costs is available for Universal Credit households with a low income.
Claimants with a firm job offer can claim Universal Credit Childcare costs up to 1 month prior to starting work to enable their children to settle into a new routine. We also offer extra support to enable parents to pay upfront childcare costs or deposits: for example, claimants may be eligible to receive an advance of their future Universal Credit entitlement, which is interest free. Work coaches and claimants work together to ensure that, where this is taken up, repayments are affordable and manageable.
If a budgeting advance is not appropriate, the Flexible Support Fund may also provide assistance. Payments from this fund are non-repayable, and are managed locally to provide tailored and targeted support for claimants to move into work.
From 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: most claimants reporting their in-month childcare costs are not asked to provide further evidence.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Highgate)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department has taken in response to the recommendations of the 2017 report of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities relating to its findings on there being a persistent employment and pay gap for disabled people in the UK.
Answered by Sarah Newton
This Government is committed to improving employment outcomes for disabled people and those with long-term health conditions. We have made a great deal of progress: there were 600,000 more disabled people in work in 2017 than in 2013, and the employment rate for disabled people has improved by 5.6% in the same period.
Despite this success, we are committed to going further, which is why in November 2017 we set out our ambition to see 1 million more disabled people in work over the next ten years, as well as the actions we are taking to achieve this goal in the workplace, in health services, and in the welfare system.
Estimates from ONS show that, in 2016, the median hourly wage for disabled people was £11.40, compared with £12.20 for non-disabled people. There are a range of factors which could contribute to a difference in median hourly wage – such as working part-time or a difference in occupation.
In addition, and to progress the broader agenda for disabled people we will be setting up a new Inter-Ministerial Group to co-ordinate work across Government, and seeking to reinvigorate our engagement with disability stakeholders to help shape our plans.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Highgate)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of (a) the accuracy of decisions on Fit for Work assessments, and (b) trends in the level of initial decisions overturned by HM Courts and Tribunal Service between October 2013 and December 2016.
Answered by Sarah Newton
Statistics on appeal outcomes for Fit for Work decisions in initial assessment by month of claim start are given in Table 3 of the quarterly official statistics bulletin, “Employment and Support Allowance: Outcomes of Work Capability Assessments, Great Britain”, available at:
Whilst the statistics indicate an increasing trend in overturned decisions at appeal these need to be considered in the context of ESAWCA decisions as a whole:
The Department has work in progress to drive continuous improvement: recruitment of 150 Presenting Officers for PIP and ESA, to represent DWP and provide valuable insight into why decisions are overturned; tests exploring how we can improve evidence gathering and quality of decision making; and a new quality strategy to ensure a joined up approach across all aspects of mandatory reconsideration, keeping the claimant at the heart of the process.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Highgate)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to page 13 of the DWP claimant service and experience survey 2015 to 2016, published on 17 January 2017, what steps her Department has taken in response to the findings that there was a decline in the proportion of universal credit customers who reported that they had been given correct information over the telephone.
Answered by Lord Sharma
Universal Credit Full Service is now being rolled out across the nation, where the main route to access Universal Credit is instead through digital channels. The digital solution enables the Department to provide full personalised support for every household.
Over 99% of claims are made online and claimants can contact their work coach at any point during their claim via email and their online journal. The Universal Credit telephone helpline has now been made free and face to face support is also available for claimants to make and manage a Universal Credit claim.
The survey only covered Universal Credit Live Service claimants who did not have access to this digital service.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Highgate)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to page 11 of the DWP claimant service and experience survey 2015 to 2016, published on 17 January 2017, what steps her Department has taken in response to the findings that as universal credit continues to expand, a smaller proportion of customers reported that it was easy to get in touch with her Department.
Answered by Lord Sharma
Universal Credit Full Service is now being rolled out across the nation, where the main route to access Universal Credit is instead through digital channels. The digital solution enables the Department to provide full personalised support for every household.
Over 99% of claims are made online and claimants can contact their work coach at any point during their claim via email and their online journal. The Universal Credit telephone helpline has now been made free and face to face support is also available for claimants to make and manage a Universal Credit claim.
The survey only covered Universal Credit Live Service claimants who did not have access to this digital service.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Highgate)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will list the meetings he has attended with former members of the Department’s Ethnic Minority Engagement Stakeholder Group since its closure.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Department publishes on a quarterly basis, meetings with Ministers and external stakeholders.
The most up to date information can be found at www.gov.uk via the following link.
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dwp-ministers-hospitality-and-gifts