Asked by: Tahir Ali (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
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 people claim each benefit to which they are entitled.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) provides information on eligibility and how to make a claim for benefits, including signposting to telephony routes (including textphone and Relay UK) for people who are unable to complete forms online. There are videos on the DWP YouTube channel that provide further information on a range of benefits including Personal Independence Payment, Universal Credit, Winter Fuel Payment, Pension Credit and DLA for Children and these explain how to claim and what to expect once a claim has been made.
Guidance on GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) includes information on benefits people may be able to claim and other financial support. This includes housing support, help with council tax and direct payments for social care. Where appropriate DWP letters include signposting to additional help and support.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has undertaken an impact assessment on the roll out of Universal Credit to Tax Credit claimants including those that are farmers.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Universal Credit (UC) was legislated for in 2012. We continue to learn and iterate our approach as we progress our Move to UC activity and remain committed to ensuring that the transition to UC 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: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of people affected by (a) respiratory and (b) fatigue conditions who may have their Universal Credit awards changed under the recently announced Work Capability Assessment reforms.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In November last year we announced changes to the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) criteria, to deliver the right outcomes and reflect changes in work since the criteria were last comprehensively reviewed in 2011.
Changes to the WCA activities and descriptors will be implemented nationally no earlier than 2025. The majority of existing Universal Credit or Employment and Support Allowance claimants will not be affected by the WCA changes if they have already been assessed as having limited capability for work and work-related activity.
With these changes to the WCA criteria, 424,000* fewer people will be assessed as having limited capability for work and work-related activity by 2028-29 and will receive personalised support to help them move closer to employment. A further 33,000* individuals will be found fit for work by 2028-2029 and will receive more intensive support to search for and secure work than would be the case under the current WCA rules.
Estimates are not based on specific conditions because the WCA considers the impact that a person’s disability or health condition has on their ability to work, not the condition itself.
We will publish an Impact Assessment in due course.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance his Department provides to work coaches on the flexible work fund; and what steps he is taking to promote uptake of that funding.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department provides comprehensive guidance which is regularly updated to support our Work Coaches use of the Flexible Support Fund (FSF). We are currently reviewing our guidance to increase both usage and clarity of FSF.
We have recently promoted the availability of FSF on Gov.uk specifically in relation to Upfront Child Care costs Universal Credit childcare costs - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has made an estimate of how many people entitled to the Employment and Support Allowance did not claim it in (a) 2018, (b) 2019, (c) 2020 and (d) 2021.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Estimates for the number of entitled non-recipients and caseload take-up are available for income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and Income Support (IS) up to financial year 2018/19. These can be found here. Figures for 2018/19 were affected by no new claims for income-related ESA and IS from December 2018 as a result of Universal Credit rollout. No figures have been published for ESA/IS since 2018/19 due to the roll out of Universal Credit.
No estimates of the volume of entitled non-recipients of New Style (contributory) ESA have been made.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Prevention of Future Deaths Reports have related to (a) universal credit and (b) other benefits in each of the last five years.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department has received 6 Prevention of Future Death (PFD) reports in the last five years to date. 1 report did not relate to a customer who was in receipt of benefits. The breakdown of the reports by year and the benefit claimed is provided in the table below:
Number of PFD reports received in the last 5 years | Universal Credit (UC) | Personal Independence Payment (PIP) | Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and PIP | Not in Receipt of Benefits |
2020 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2021 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1* |
2022 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2023 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
2024 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* This report related to Child Maintenance.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 25 March 2024 to Question 19031 on Universal Credit: Housing, for what reason there are different qualifying criteria for (a) Support for Mortgage Interest and (b) support that homeowners receive in respect of service charges.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) and help with service charges cover different costs and different eligibility criteria apply.
SMI is paid at a rate that the lending industry generally accept as sufficient to avert the threat of repossession. This help is often significantly less than the homeowner’s contractual liability, although eligibility was recently extended to assist homeowners with rising interest rates. While SMI provides support at the point of need, this help is in the form of an interest-bearing loan that is recoverable from equity when the property is sold.
Eligible service charges are met in full and this help is in the form of a non-recoverable benefit.
Given these differences the Department see no compelling argument for aligning entitlement rules.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to help encourage individuals out of work to undertake (a) digital and (b) IT qualifications.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Jobcentre Plus Work Coaches will engage with customers to better understand the steps needed to support their work search ambitions. Where digital skills are identified as a barrier to securing or progressing in employment, customers can be referred to available local provision. For customers in England, we have ongoing collaboration at a national and local level with the Department for Education who fund adult education provision via the Adult Education Budget (AEB). Learning providers, many of which are Further Education colleges, deliver training to address claimant skills needs in line with Labour Market demand. As skills is a devolved matter, similar discussions take place with key stakeholders in the Scottish and Welsh Governments to help ensure the employment and skills support offered to customers in the devolved nations is aligned.
In addition, Work Coaches in England can use the additional flexibility available through DWP Train and Progress to signpost claimants to the Department for Education’s Digital Skills Bootcamps, which can last up to 16 weeks.
For digitally excluded working age out-of-work and in-work Universal Credit customers, Work Coaches can also use the Flexible Support Fund (FSF) to procure devices, dongle, talk time, and 6 months superfast broadband in the home where the Work Coach believes this will support Labour Market progression. DWP has also ensured that all operational staff in Jobcentres, Universal Credit service centres, Pension Centres, and partnership managers who engage with customers and stakeholders are able to signpost to information promoting broadband social tariffs made accessible to claimants through DWP’s Application Programme Interface.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
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 reduce the number of active personnel on Universal Credit.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Serving armed forces personnel can claim Universal Credit in exactly the same way as any other citizen. Any entitlement will depend on a number of factors, including earnings and any other income; capital; constitution of household; and housing costs.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to help individuals out of work improve their (a) numeracy and (b) literacy skills.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Jobcentre Plus Work Coaches engage with customers to better understand the steps needed to support their work search. Where essential skills needs are identified as a barrier to securing or progressing in employment, customers can be referred to available local provision which can include essential maths and numeracy training available through Multiply, English (literacy and English as a Second Language, ESOL) and digital skills, as well as other key vocational focussed opportunities.
Through DWP Train and Progress the length of time Universal Credit (UC) customers can undertake work-focused training has been extended. UC claimants are now able to attend full-time work-related training for up to 16 weeks.
For customers in England, we have ongoing collaboration at a national and local level with the Department for Education who fund adult education through the Adult Education Budget (AEB). Learning providers, many of which are Further Education colleges, deliver training to address customer skills needs in line with labour market demand. As skills is a devolved matter, similar discussions take place with key stakeholders in the Scottish and Welsh Governments to help ensure the employment and skills support offered to claimants in the devolved nations is aligned.