Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had regarding the extension of the Household Support Fund after September.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
£500 million is being provided to enable the current Household Support Fund, including funding for Devolved Administrations through the Barnett formula to be spent at their discretion. This means Local Authorities in England are receiving £421 million to support those in need locally.
The current Household Support Fund will be in place until 30 September 2024.
As a new government, we are reviewing all policies, including the Household Support Fund.
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 Household Support Fund.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
There have been five separate iterations of the Household Support Fund (HSF). Since the first iteration was introduced over £2.5 billion has been allocated to Local Authorities in England to distribute to those in need (October 2021- September 2024).
DWP requires that Local Authorities provide Management Information (MI) returns to the Department, which demonstrate that they are delivering the scheme in accordance with the guidance and grant determination that the Department have set out for the scheme. This includes information on the type of household supported, category of spending, types of support and how support has been accessed.
MI has been published for the first three iterations of HSF following their completion. The latest MI covering HSF3 was published in August 2023 and can be found here: Household Support Fund 3 management information for 1 October 2022 to 31 March 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
The MI shows that just under £1.3 billion was spent in England during HSF1-3, corresponding to 26 million individual awards. Approximately 66% of funding of HSF1-3 (around £800 million) was spent on households with children.
Additionally, DWP is conducting a process and impact evaluation of the fourth iteration of the Household Support Fund. This includes research with a selection of representative Local Authority case study areas, consisting of interviews with Local Authority officials and their delivery partners, and surveys and interviews with recipients of the HSF. This evaluation will provide key evidence on how Local Authorities are delivering the scheme and the impacts of the funding for recipients.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that carers are not pushed into benefit debt through lack of awareness about the earnings rules.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what the percentage of people who moved to Universal Credit under the 'Move to UC' policy have been awarded 'transitional protection' (1) between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024, and (2) between 1 to 30 April 2024.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)
The latest published statistics show for households sent a migration notice between April 2023 and end of March 2024, and who went on to claim Universal Credit, 60% were awarded transitional protection.
The relevant information can be found in ‘table 9a’ published here: Move to Universal Credit statistics, July 2022 to March 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Data for April 2024 will be published as part of the next Move to Universal Credit statistics release.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many people are in receipt of Personal Independence Payment assessments in England and Wales.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)
All claims to Personal Independence Payment (PIP), except those made under Special Rules for End of Life, are subject to a PIP assessment. From when PIP was introduced in 2013 until January 2024 there were 7,016,000 PIP claims cleared in England and Wales under normal rules. This number has been rounded to the nearest 1,000 and may include multiple claims made by the same person.
This data is available on Stat-Xplore at https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/ in the ‘PIP Clearances’ dataset. Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/index.html. 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 what steps they plan to take to ensure that people are safeguarded from serious harm as a result of the new policies currently under consultation in relation to Personal Independence Payments.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)
The purpose of the consultation is to open a conversation on Personal Independence Payment. The consultation is guided by three priorities: providing the right support to the people who need it most; targeting our resources most effectively; and supporting disabled people and people with long-term health conditions to live independently and reach their full potential. As we develop any proposals, we will carefully consider the impacts of any potential changes.
We recognise that as a Department we come into contact with some claimants who are potentially very vulnerable. We have a range of policies and procedures in place to help those individuals with difficult personal circumstances and/or life events to access benefits and use our services and will continue to provide this support should any changes be taken forward as a result of the consultation.
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 - Shadow Minister (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 - Shadow Minister (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: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is (1) the percentage, and (2) the total number, of people who have moved to Universal Credit and who used transitional protection in England and Wales from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)
Statistics to March 2024 will be published on 14 May 2024 as announced here:
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they will respond to the report from the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman Women’s State Pension age: our findings on injustice and associated issues laid before Parliament on 21 March.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)
In laying the report before Parliament at the end of March, the Ombudsman has brought matters to the attention of this House, and a further update to the House will be provided once the report's findings have been fully considered.