Asked by: Lord Bishop of Southwark (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the transfer to Universal Credit of those with a long-term disability which inhibits them from entering the job market.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP continue to learn and iterate our approach as we progress our Move to Universal Credit activity. We remain committed to ensuring that the transition to Universal Credit works as smoothly as possible for all customers, including enhanced customer support for vulnerable customers.
Our latest insight publication is available on GOV.UK - Move to Universal Credit – insight on Tax Credit migrations and initial Discovery activity for wider benefit cohorts.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Hereford (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of transiting from tax credits to Universal Credit on people who live in accommodation tied to their work; and whether they undertook any consultation with ministers of religion or other cohorts particularly affected by these proposed changes.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Universal Credit (UC) was legislated for in 2012. We continue to learn and iterate our approach as we progress the Move to UC activity and remain committed to ensuring that the transition works as smoothly as possible for all individuals. Latest findings of the Move to UC process were published here: Move to Universal Credit – insight on Tax Credit migrations and initial Discovery activity for wider benefit cohorts - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Leicester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Viscount Younger of Leckie on 24 April (HL3765), what plans they have to collect data to evaluate the success of the two-child benefit cap, especially in relation to the statements in the 2015 Impact Assessment which suggest the two-child limit would (1) encourage parents to consider their readiness to support an additional child, (2) help people move into sustained employment, and (3) provide incentives to have fewer children.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
There are no such plans to collect data to evaluate the success of the two-child benefit cap. The Department committed to publishing statistics related to the policy to provide support for a maximum of two children annually. The latest statistics were published in July 2023 and can be accessed at: Universal Credit and Child Tax Credit claimants: statistics related to the policy to provide support for a maximum of two children, April 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
DWP is committed to supporting families and helping parents into work. This requires a balanced system that provides strong work incentives and support for those who need it, but that also ensures a sense of fairness to the taxpayer and many working families who do not see their incomes rise when they have more children.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Southwark (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to undertake an impact assessment of the closure of the Work and Health Programme this autumn and the impact of this on enabling disabled people to enter the job market.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
As part of the government’s Back to Work Plan we have launched and plan to deliver a range of other support which will put in place an offer to a broader range of disabled people, for example, Universal Support will support up to 100,000 disabled people, people with health conditions and people with additional barriers to employment per year, once fully rolled out, helping them to find, enter, and remain in work.
The Work and Health Programme (WHP) has supported 300k people since it was introduced in 2017 to the end of November 2023, of whom over 130k have entered employment in this time. More recently WHP Pioneer, which is part of the first phase of Universal Support, aims to support up to 25k people through DWP contracts. The next publication of WHP Statistics on Gov.UK is due at the end of May 2024.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Hereford (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to address the fact that people living in tied accommodation are not eligible to claim Universal Credit if they own more than £16,000 of a property in which they do not live.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
People who own a second property that they do not live in, will have the equity value of that property taken into account as part of their capital when assessing their claim for Universal Credit. If this causes the total capital they hold to exceed £16,000 then they will no longer be eligible for Universal Credit support.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to help support people to save for a private pension.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Automatic Enrolment (AE) has transformed participation in workplace pension saving. More than 11 million workers have been automatically enrolled into workplace pensions to date, with the participation rate of eligible employees in the private sector increasing from 42% in 2012 to 86% in 2022. Over £115bn was saved into workplace pensions for eligible individuals in 2022.
Expanding AE to younger people and helping all eligible workers save from the first pound of earnings will boost overall saving levels, once fully implemented, by an extra £2 billion a year in pension contributions.
The Pensions (Extension of Automatic Enrolment) Act 2023 provides the necessary powers to deliver the expansion of AE.
We are committed to implementing these measures in the mid-2020s. We intend to carry out a consultation on the detailed implementation at the right time. We will report to Parliament before using the powers in the Act.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what data his Department holds on the number of people who were claiming (a) Employment Support Allowance and (b) out of work Universal Credit where their main disabling condition was (i) attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, (ii) anxiety and depression and (iii) autistic spectrum disorders, in each month since November 2008.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
On Employment Support Allowance and out of work Universal Credit, the information requested is not readily available due to how the medical condition is recorded so to collate and provide it would incur disproportionate cost. However, Monthly statistics on the outcomes of Employment and Support Allowance work capability assessments are available by primary high-level medical condition on Stat-Xplore. The latest statistics are available by date of decision from November 2008 to September 2023, or date of claim start from October 2008 to June 2023. Statistics on the outcomes of Universal Credit work capability assessments (UC WCA) are available by high-level medical condition for the period from January 2022 to November 2023 in Table 7 of the latest UC WCA data tables.
On Disability Living Allowance (DLA), the information requested is in the attached document.
Points to note:
The latest available data on Personal Independence Payment claims can be found at https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/. The volume of PIP claimants with certain conditions can be found in the ‘PIP Cases with Entitlement’ dataset by going to ‘Disability’ and selecting the relevant conditions. To show the data since April 2013, select all months and then ‘Add to Column/Row’.
The data is based on primary disabling condition as recorded on the PIP computer systems. Claimants may often have multiple disabling conditions upon which the decision is based but only the primary condition is shown in these statistics. PIP was first introduced in April 2013, so there is no data available before this point.
Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here. An account is not required to use Stat- Xplore, the ‘Guest Login’ feature gives instant access to the main functions.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will provide an update on the situation for pensioners in receipt of tax credits ending in 2025 in relation to the 'Move to Universal Credit'; and what steps they will take to ensure that they will not be financially disadvantaged.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Pension Age Tax Credit customers will be asked to move to either Universal Credit or Pension Credit depending on their circumstances. We are committed to ensuring that the transition to Universal Credit or Pension Credit works as smoothly as possible for all individuals.
We will bring forward legislation which ensures that pensioner households who move to Universal Credit or Pension Credit will receive Transitional Protection where applicable.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the 'Move to Universal Credit' for pensioners in receipt of tax credits in England and Wales.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
No formal assessment has been made.
We aim to ensure that pensioners in receipt of Tax Credits are migrated as smoothly as possible.
At the point of migration, where applicable, transitional protection ensures individuals will not receive a lower Universal Credit (UC) or Pension Credit (PC) award than they received on Tax Credits.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what data his Department holds on the number of people who were claiming (a) Disability Living Allowance and (b) Personal Independence Payment where their main disabling condition was (i) attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, (ii) anxiety and depression and (iii) autistic spectrum disorders, in each month since November 2008.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
On Employment Support Allowance and out of work Universal Credit, the information requested is not readily available due to how the medical condition is recorded so to collate and provide it would incur disproportionate cost. However, Monthly statistics on the outcomes of Employment and Support Allowance work capability assessments are available by primary high-level medical condition on Stat-Xplore. The latest statistics are available by date of decision from November 2008 to September 2023, or date of claim start from October 2008 to June 2023. Statistics on the outcomes of Universal Credit work capability assessments (UC WCA) are available by high-level medical condition for the period from January 2022 to November 2023 in Table 7 of the latest UC WCA data tables.
On Disability Living Allowance (DLA), the information requested is in the attached document.
Points to note:
The latest available data on Personal Independence Payment claims can be found at https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/. The volume of PIP claimants with certain conditions can be found in the ‘PIP Cases with Entitlement’ dataset by going to ‘Disability’ and selecting the relevant conditions. To show the data since April 2013, select all months and then ‘Add to Column/Row’.
The data is based on primary disabling condition as recorded on the PIP computer systems. Claimants may often have multiple disabling conditions upon which the decision is based but only the primary condition is shown in these statistics. PIP was first introduced in April 2013, so there is no data available before this point.
Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here. An account is not required to use Stat- Xplore, the ‘Guest Login’ feature gives instant access to the main functions.