Asked by: Baroness Thomas of Winchester (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, under Universal Credit to stop the automatic deduction of a claimant’s debts from the standard rate of Universal Credit if creditors have agreed a reduction in the rate of repayment.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
The Department’s deductions policy strikes a fair balance between a claimant’s need to meet their obligations and their ability to ensure they can meet their day-to-day needs. From October 2019, Universal Credit deductions have been reduced to 30% of a claimant’s standard allowance down from 40% to better achieve these objectives.
Creditors can request debts to be collected through Universal Credit, typically where other repayment methods have been unsuccessful. We are led by the creditor, and at any time any creditor could inform us they wish to take back responsibility for collecting the debt from Universal Credit - such requests would trigger an end to deductions as soon as possible. The rate at which repayments are recovered from Universal Credit are set out in Schedule 6 to the Social Security Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payment, Jobseeker’s Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance (Claims and Payments) Regulations 2013 – SI 2013/380.
For any of the deductions laid out in the regulations, creditors can approach Universal Credit directly and typically there is no requirement for them to proactively get the claimant’s consent. Any requests for deductions are considered by the Department on an individual basis.
Where recovery relates to benefit overpayments, this is managed in a sensitive way. Maximum deduction rates are set out in legislation (Regulation 11 of the Social Security (Overpayments and Recovery) Regulations 2013) and where a claimant cannot afford the proposed rate of recovery they can contact the Department’s Debt Management team so this can be reviewed. If a reduction in the repayment rate is agreed, we will implement it quickly so that payments are adjusted accordingly.
The Department is always developing our understanding on the impact deductions can have on claimants, and has heard evidence from external organisations on this issue. Ultimately, we have to balance these impacts with the need for claimants to meet their obligations.
Asked by: Baroness Thomas of Winchester (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Buscombe on 29 April (HL15269), what existing forums they were engaged with on the design of the feasibility test for a single assessment for Employment and Support Allowance/Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment.
Answered by Baroness Buscombe
We committed to working with stakeholders to inform our approach to Work Capability Assessment (WCA) reform in the Improving Lives Command Paper published in 2017 and have been engaging on this broader issue through a number of forums. This has included our Policy Forum, a small group involving academics, think tanks and a number of disability charities.
Specifically, on the single assessment, we are currently gathering evidence to support the design of the feasibility test and will be involving stakeholders to inform this in the coming months. The outcomes from the feasibility test will enable us to establish if a single assessment would improve the customer journey and deliver quality and accurate outcomes.
Asked by: Baroness Thomas of Winchester (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have opened consultation on merging Personal Independence Payment and Employment and Support Allowance assessments; and if not, when they intend to do so.
Answered by Baroness Buscombe
In their responses to the 2016 Improving Lives: Work, Health and Disability Green Paper consultation and through several other forums, stakeholders have raised concerns about the feeling of duplication across the current assessment processes. We have therefore been exploring options to reduce this, and make improvements to the customer experience. By testing the feasibility of a single assessment for Employment and Support Allowance/Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment we can seek to understand if it will improve the assessment process for our customers, and ensure that they still get the right decision.
The design of the feasibility test will be informed by existing evidence and through our continued engagement with external stakeholders and disabled people themselves using existing forums, between now and over the course of Summer 2019. Beyond this we are continuing to work with stakeholders on other improvements to the assessment process, including the introduction of an integrated service, and reform of the Work Capability Assessment.