Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by Bright Blue Building up: The future of social security, published in January; and what steps they will take to establish the minimum living income proposed in that report.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
No assessment has been made.
We will spend £245bn through the welfare system in 2022/23, including £111bn on people of working age and around £134 billion on pensioners. Of the total amount, around £66 billion will be spent on supporting disabled people and people with health conditions in Great Britain.
In April, we are uprating benefit rates and State Pensions by 10.1%. In order to increase the number of households who can benefit from these uprating decisions, the benefit cap levels are also increasing by the same amount.
To further support those who are in work, from 1 April 2023 the National Living Wage (NLW) will increase by 9.7% to £10.42 an hour for workers aged 23 and over - the largest ever cash increase for the NLW.
There is no objective way of deciding what an adequate level of benefit should be - each household will always have different requirements depending on their circumstances. Income–related benefit rates are not made up of separate amounts for specific items of expenditure, such as food. The Government firmly believes claimants should be free to spend their benefit as they see fit, in line with their individual needs and preferences. The Government does not consider it appropriate to introduce changes that would prioritise one particular area of household expenditure over the cost of other essential goods and services that benefit claimants have to meet.
We recognise the pressures of the rising cost of living which is why households on eligible means-tested benefits will get up to £900 in Cost of Living Payments in 2023/24. This will be split into three payments of around £300 each across the 2023/24 financial year. A separate £300 payment will be made to pensioner households on top of their Winter Fuel Payments and individuals in receipt of eligible disability benefits will receive a £150 payment. Further to this, the Energy Price Guarantee will be extended from April 2023 until the end of March 2024, meaning a typical household bill will be around £3,000 per year in Great Britain.
This support is in addition to that provided in 2022/23, including cost of living payments for people on eligible benefits, the Energy Price Guarantee and the £400 non-repayable discount to eligible households provided through the Energy Bills Support Scheme.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many children are living in households in which a benefit claimant is under sanction.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Sanctions are only ever applied when a claimant fails to meet their agreed conditionality requirements without good reason. These requirements are developed and agreed in discussion with their work coach and tailored to their individual capability, capacity and specific circumstances, including any health conditions or disability, ensuring they are realistic and achievable. The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many and what proportion of benefit claimants currently under sanction (1) are in paid employment, (2) are receiving hardship payments, (3) have a medical condition, or (4) were in hospital or attending a medical appointment when they were deemed to have failed to comply.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested for parts (2), (3) and (4) is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
In November 2022 (4%) of those who received a sanction were in the working – with requirements and working – no requirements conditionality regimes.
Sanctions are only ever applied when a claimant fails to meet their agreed conditionality requirements without good reason. These requirements are developed and agreed in discussion with their work coach and tailored to their individual capability, capacity and specific circumstances, including any health conditions or disability, ensuring they are realistic and achievable.
Those who are not expected to look for work, such as those with severe health conditions, including mental health conditions, are not subject to requirements or sanctions.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many benefit claims were subject to sanctions in the most recent three months for which data is available, broken down by parliamentary constituency; how much was the total and average sum of benefit income lost by claimants due to sanctions in each constituency; what was the (1) shortest, (2) average, and (3) longest, length of time taken to challenge a benefit sanction decision in the most recent 12 months for which data is available; and when, and for what reason, the Department for Work and Pensions ceased requiring a case conference to assess the impact of a sanction before any sanction was imposed.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The latest monthly statistics, taken from Stat-Xplore, on the number of Universal Credit full service claimants with a payment that has been reduced due to a sanction, by Westminster parliamentary constituency, for September to November 2022, are provided in the answer I gave to you on 6 March for HL5653.
The information requested for the total and average sum of benefit income lost and parts (1), (2) and (3) is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Sanctions are only ever applied when a claimant fails to meet their agreed conditionality requirements without good reason.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether all universal credit claimants subject to a deduction are automatically informed of their option to seek a waiver; how many universal credit claimants requested a deductions waiver in the most recent six months for which data is available; and of those requests, what proportion were successful.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
During the last 6-month period ending January 2023, 94 Universal Credit claimants had asked for their debts to be waived. Of these, 14 cases were fully waived and a further 5 cases were partially waived.
Whilst Universal Credit claimants are not automatically informed of their option to seek a waiver, anyone who feels they cannot afford the proposed rate of recovery is encouraged to contact the department to discuss their situation.
The DWP remains committed to working with anyone who is struggling with their repayment terms, and has a well-established process for working with individuals to support them to manage their debts.
Our agents will always look to negotiate affordable and sustainable repayment plans. This includes working with individuals to review their financial circumstances. In most instances, a temporary reduction in their rate of repayment can also be agreed. There is no minimum amount that a claimant has to pay. Other options agents can consider where appropriate is to suspend repayments or refer a case for consideration of waiver.
In addition, customers are routinely referred to the Money Advisor Network, who work in partnership with the DWP, to offer free independent and impartial money and debt advice. We also remain committed to His Majesty’s Treasury’s Beathing Space policy, which provides those with problem debt the right to legal protections from creditor action for a period of 60 days to enable them to receive debt advice and enter into an appropriate debt solution.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many universal credit claims were subject to deductions in the most recent month for which data is available, broken down by parliamentary constituency; how much was the (1) total, and (2) average sum of, deductions in each constituency; what proportion of those sums was deducted to repay advance payments; and how many universal credit claimants were subject to deductions as a result of overpayments where the fault lay entirely with the relevant government department or agency.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the Noble Peer to the answers I gave on the 3rd and 6th of March to questions HL5652 and HL5656.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they will publish their evidence review on the drivers of food bank usage; and whether they have considered the potential merits of including the need to use a food bank, alongside undue hardship, in the criteria which may exempt claimants from having deductions taken from their universal credit claim.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department reallocated resources to prioritise work to help the COVID-19 effort. This caused delays to some work, including this literature review. The department has subsequently decided not to restart the review, as it summarises publicly available information and does not contain any new research carried out by the Department. However, we continue to monitor new research and evidence produced by external organisations.
The Department has recently published new data from the Family Resources Survey on household food security, giving us a better understanding of who is most at risk. We have also included new questions in the family resources survey for 2021/2 which will be published in March 2023 and further expand our evidence in this area. This underlines how seriously we take the issue of food insecurity.
The Government recognises the importance of supporting claimants to manage their liabilities. Under Universal Credit, there is a co-ordinated approach to deductions from benefit, which supports claimants to manage their financial obligations. The primary aim of deductions in Universal Credit is to protect vulnerable claimants by providing a last resort repayment method for arrears of essential services. We continue to aim to strike the right balance between ensuring those protections are in place and allowing claimants to retain as much of their award as possible for day-to-day needs.
There has been no specific consideration around the merits of including food bank usage when considering claimants for an exception from deductions. However, if a claimant is struggling financially, they can ask for the amount of the following deductions to be reconsidered:
For benefit overpayments and Social Fund loans, deductions can be reduced or deferred for a period. DWP will always try to ensure that Government debt is recovered effectively without causing undue hardship.
For rent arrears, claimants can ask Universal Credit staff to exercise their discretion to fix rent arrears deductions at the lowest rate in legislation – 10% of the Standard Allowance. This can be done using the Journal or by phone. However, staff would not agree to remove a rent arrears deduction entirely in order to ensure a claimant is protected from eviction.
For those repaying a New Claim Advance, a deferral of up to 3 months is available, in exceptional circumstances, which allow those claimants to temporarily receive their Universal Credit awards without advance repayments being deducted.
We encourage anyone unable to afford the proposed rate of repayment to contact DWP Debt Management at the earliest opportunity - all DWP notifications advise how to get in touch. We seek to do as much as we are able to support claimants through the recovery of their overpayments.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many benefit claims were subject to sanctions in the most recent three months for which data are available, broken down by parliamentary constituency; and how much was the (1) total, and (2) average, sum of benefit income lost by claimants due to sanctions in each constituency.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The latest monthly statistics, taken from Stat-Xplore, on the number of Universal Credit full service claimants with a payment that has been reduced due to a sanction, by Westminster parliamentary constituency, for September to November 2022, are provided in the attached spreadsheet.
The additional information requested for (1) and (2) is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Sanctions are only ever applied when a claimant fails to meet their agreed conditionality requirements without good reason.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many universal credit claimants requested a deductions waiver in the most recent six months for which data is available; of those requests, what proportion were successful; and whether all universal credit claimants subject to a deduction are automatically informed of their option to seek a waiver.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
During the last 6-month period ending January 2023, 94 Universal Credit claimants had asked for their debts to be waived. Of these, 14 cases were fully waived and a further 5 cases were partially waived.
Whilst Universal Credit claimants are not automatically informed of their option to seek a waiver, anyone who feels they cannot afford the proposed rate of recovery is encouraged to contact the department to discuss their situation.
The DWP remains committed to working with anyone who is struggling with their repayment terms and has a well-established process for working with individuals to support them to manage their debts.
Our agents will always look to negotiate affordable and sustainable repayment plans. This includes working with individuals to review their financial circumstances. In most instances, a temporary reduction in their rate of repayment can also be agreed. There is no minimum amount that a claimant has to pay. Other options agents can consider where appropriate is to suspend repayments or refer a case for consideration of waiver.
In addition, customers are routinely referred to the Money Advisor Network, who work in partnership with the DWP to offer free independent and impartial money and debt advice. We also remain committed to His Majesty’s Treasury’s Beathing Space policy, which provides those with problem debt the right to legal protections from creditor action for a period of 60 days to enable them to receive debt advice and enter into an appropriate debt solution.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many universal credit claimants were subject to deductions as a result of overpayments where the fault lay entirely with the relevant government department or agency, in the most recent month for which figures are available.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
We do not hold data on actual Universal Credit (UC) overpayments as requested, as there is no requirement to categorise UC debt because it is all recoverable in law.
However, our national statistics on fraud and error in the benefit system provide information on the estimated value of UC Official Error, both as a percentage of benefit expenditure and by value.
For UC, the figures show that UC Official Error loss has fallen from 1.3% (£250m) in 2019/20, to 0.9% (£330m) in 2020/21, to 0.7% (£270m) in 2021/22.
The statistics also indicate how many cases were estimated to have an overpayment of this type - in 2019/20 the figure stood at 4.1%; in 2021/22 it was 2.6%. We do not collect data on how many of these overpayments were detected or subsequently recovered. See:
Fraud and error in the benefit system: financial year 2021 to 2022 estimates - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The DWP remains committed to working with anyone who is struggling with benefit debt deductions and encourages customers experiencing hardship to contact the DWP to discuss their repayment plan.