Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to provide support to those whose livelihoods previously relied on employment at the Port Talbot steel works.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) stands ready to support anyone affected by redundancy with our Rapid Response Service offer. This is a service designed to give support and advice to employers and their employees when faced with redundancy.
This service is co-ordinated nationally by the National Employer and Partnership Team and is managed by Jobcentre Plus. Delivery partners include Careers Wales, local training providers, Money Helper and ReAct Plus in Wales.
The Rapid Response Service offer is flexible and can include a range of options (see below) that can be pulled together into an appropriate support package. This package will be tailored to meet the needs of the employer, the individuals affected and the local community.
The range of support available from Jobcentre Plus and partners may include:
DWP are also working closely with the Transition Board that was established to support the people, businesses and communities affected by the proposals for Tata Steel in Port Talbot.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether the current level of benefits is sufficient to meet the rising costs of living.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
The Secretary of State undertakes an annual review of benefits and pensions using the Consumer Prices Index in the year to September. This is the latest figure that the Secretary of State can use to allow sufficient time for the required legislative and operational changes before new rates can be introduced at the start of the following April. All benefit up-rating since April 1987 has been based on the increase in the relevant price inflation index in the 12 months to the previous September.
The government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living. These are global challenges, and the government has taken action to support families with help worth over £22 billion in 2022-23.
The £22bn of extra support includes the £9.1bn energy package, the Universal Credit taper rate reduction from 63% to 55%, the increase in the Universal Credit work allowance by £500 per annum and the doubling of the Household Support Fund to £1bn by providing an extra £500 million from April 2022, on top of the £500 million already provided since October 2021.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what impact assessment they carried out ahead of the cessation of the Universal Credit uplift on 6 October.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
No Impact Assessment has been made of ending the Universal Credit Uplift, as it was always intended to be temporary.
The Chancellor announced a temporary six-month extension to the £20 per week uplift at the Budget on 3 March to support households affected by the economic shock of Covid-19. Universal Credit has provided a vital safety net for six million people during the pandemic, and the temporary uplift was part of a COVID support package worth a total of £407 billion in 2020-21 and 2021-22.
There have been significant positive developments in the public health situation since the uplift was first introduced. With the success of the vaccine rollout and record job vacancies, it is right that our focus is on helping people back into work.
Through our Plan for Jobs, we are targeting tailored support schemes of people of all ages to help them prepare for, get into and progress in work. These include: Kickstart, delivering tens of thousands of six-month work placements for Universal Credit claimants aged 16-24 at risk of unemployment; we have also recruited an additional 13,500 work coaches to provide more intensive support to find a job; and introduced Restart which provides 12 months’ intensive employment support to Universal Credit claimants who are unemployed for a year. Our Plan for Jobs interventions will support more than two million people.
We recognise that some people continue to require extra support, which is why we have introduced a £421 million Household Support Fund to help vulnerable people in England with essential household costs over the winter as the economy recovers. The Barnett Formula will apply in the usual way, with the devolved administrations receiving around £80 million (£41m for the Scottish Government, £25m for the Welsh Government and £14m for the NI Executive), for a total of £500 million.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the extent of food price rises in the event of the UK and the EU not agreeing a deal on their future relationship; and what plans they have, if any, to increase pensions and other benefits to help people to cover these costs.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is required by law to conduct an annual review of benefit and pension rates to determine whether they have retained their value in relation to the general level of prices or, in some cases, earnings. The measure used for prices is the Consumer Price Index, which measures the aggregate change in prices of a sample of items that represent the spending patterns of a typical household, including food items.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to maintain the £20 increase to the weekly standard allowance of Universal Credit, made during the COVID-19 pandemic, indefinitely.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
The Government introduced a package of temporary welfare measures worth around £9.3 billion this year to help with the financial consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. This included the £20 weekly increase to the Universal Credit Standard Allowance rates as a temporary measure for the 20/21 tax year.
Future decisions on spending will be made at the next appropriate fiscal event, and Parliament will be updated accordingly.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what support they provide to low-income families to help pay for the funeral costs of family members who have died of COVID-19.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
For those in receipt of income related benefits or tax credits, the Funeral Expense Payments scheme can offer a significant contribution to the cost of a funeral. The scheme meets the necessary costs of a burial or cremation in full, and additionally offers up to £1000 to meet other funeral expenses. The value of this additional element was raised from £700 to £1000 on 8 April this year, offering additional help at this particularly difficult time.
Budgeting Loans or Universal Credit budgeting advances can also be used for funeral expenses.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government where there is a publicly available list of state benefits and other financial support available to bereaved families.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
The ‘What to do when someone dies’ section of the GOV.UK website provides a step-by-step interactive website guide on what to do after a death, including how to manage financial issues. This guide covers the financial support available to help with paying for a funeral and how to check entitlement to bereavement benefits. The guide also contains a link to benefits calculators to work out entitlement to other state benefits based on individual household circumstances.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government why (1) payments from the Armed Forces Pension Scheme, and (2) War Pension payments to cover the costs of injuries arising from service, are treated as income when being assessed for Universal Credit.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
Payments made under the War Pension Scheme or the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme are not taken into account as income in Universal Credit.
Income-related benefits already partially disregard War Pensions and Armed Forces Compensation Scheme payments for injuries and bereavement. With the introduction of Universal Credit, we have gone a step further, and have ensured that War Pensions and all Armed Forces Compensation Scheme payments are fully disregarded in the assessment of income for Universal Credit.
All other regular, occupational and personal pension payments, that are designed to provide support to help people meet their living costs, are taken fully into account in the assessment of entitlement to Universal Credit.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that no one resident in the UK will suffer hardship with which they cannot cope in the next year.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
This Government’s current focus is on supporting people whose finances have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, including through income protection schemes, mortgage holidays and additional support for renters.
For those most in need, we have injected more than £6.5 billion into the welfare system, increasing Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit by over £1,000 for this financial year. We have also increased Local Housing Allowance rates - putting an average of £600 into people’s pockets.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what public funds are available to those who have no recourse to ordinary benefits.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
Non-UK nationals and family members who are issued with a residence permit with a No Recourse to Public Funds condition are not eligible to access taxpayer-funded benefits such as Universal Credit, Child Benefit or housing assistance for the duration of their leave. Public funds do not include contributions-based benefits and the State Pension. The Department has no powers to award taxpayer-funded benefits to an individual whose Home Office immigration status specifies no recourse to public funds. The Home Office determine whether persons granted leave to enter or remain in the UK are eligible to access public funds.
However, as part of its response to COVID-19, the Government announced in the Budget on 11 March that it would provide local authorities in England with £500 million of new grant funding to support economically vulnerable people and households in their local area.