Asked by: David Linden (Scottish National Party - Glasgow East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Department's publication entitled Benefit sanctions statistics to October 2022 (experimental) and pursuant to the Answer of 27 September 2022 to Question 49219 on Social Security Benefits: Disqualification, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the deterrent effect of benefit sanctions on Universal Credit claimants who have been subject to repeat adverse sanction decisions in the last year.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
There are currently no plans to undertake further research on sanctions.
Asked by: David Linden (Scottish National Party - Glasgow East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will publish the data used to inform the review of the Benefit Cap carried out under S96A of the Welfare Reform Act 2012.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
There are no plans to publish the data used to inform the review of the Benefit Cap levels carried out under S96A of the Welfare Reform Act 2012.
Asked by: David Linden (Scottish National Party - Glasgow East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason his Department has not published online versions of its Touchbase newsletter since March 2020.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Touchbase newsletter was previously published online monthly as well as being shared by email to those who had subscribed for updates.
At the start of the pandemic in March 2020, a decision was made to create a weekly version of the email. Digital resources were focussed on updating online guidance available for everyone. The online version was no longer published to avoid any confusion with historical versions giving out of date messages.
The weekly email version of Touchbase still continues and anyone can subscribe to these updates. Touchbase editions after March 2020 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: David Linden (Scottish National Party - Glasgow East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to her Department's publication Benefit sanctions statistics to October 2022, how many full time equivalent (a) payroll and (b) non-payroll staff are tasked exclusively with the investigative work on sanction durations data.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We do not hold the information requested.
We will provide updates on progress of the investigative work through the quarterly bulletins and the DWP Statistical Work Programme.
Asked by: David Linden (Scottish National Party - Glasgow East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to her Department's publication Benefit sanctions statistics to October 2022, how many hours of (a) payroll and (b) non-payroll staff were dedicated to the investigative work on sanction durations data in each month for which data is available since November 2020.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We do not hold the information requested.
We will provide updates on progress of the investigative work through the quarterly bulletins and the DWP Statistical Work Programme.
Asked by: David Linden (Scottish National Party - Glasgow East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 7 February to Question 135449, how many work coaches were asked by his Department to provide feedback on their experience of working with claimants who have been moved into the Intensive Work Search labour market regime as a direct result of the provisions in the Universal Credit (Administrative Earnings Threshold) (Amendment) Regulations 2022 between 26 September 2022 and 29 January 2023.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We are constantly seeking feedback from Work Coaches across the business on any changes that might impact claimants.
Asked by: David Linden (Scottish National Party - Glasgow East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answers of 7 February 2023 to Questions 135446 and 135447 on Universal Credit, when data for the period stated will be available.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
It is not possible to answer with precision at this stage. Data on the impact of the change in the AET change on claimant earnings will not be available for some time. This is due to the time it takes for the policy to have an effect on claimant earnings, and the time it will take to conduct a robust analysis of that data.
Asked by: David Linden (Scottish National Party - Glasgow East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Written Statement of 8 February 2023 from the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Social Mobility, Youth & Progression on Decommissioning of Temporary Jobcentres, UIN HCWS549, (a) on what date the decision was made to decommission and (b) on what date Jobcentre staff were notified of the decommissioning of the temporary Jobcentres at (i) Aylesbury; (ii) Bath; (iii) Blyth; (iv) Burnley; (v) Dundee; (vi) Gateshead; (vii) Halifax; (viii) Inverness; (ix) Ipswich; (x) Kettering; (xi) Leeds; (xii) Lincoln; (xiii) London Hackney; (xiv) London Kentish Town; (xv) London Sutton Carew; (xvi) London Tooting; (xvii) Stevenage; (xviii) Sunderland; (xix) Swindon; and (xx) Wigan.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department have always made it clear these sites are temporary, linked to the Plan for Jobs, and the interventions needed due to impact of the pandemic, and that we would look to decommission them at the appropriate time and move back into business as usual – as set out in two updates to Parliament on 23 March 2021 and 20 July 2022.
To that end, the Department’s governance process, and decision to decommission the temporary Jobcentres listed in the Written Statement of 8 February 2023, was finalised on 10 January 2023.
The Department shared the decision to decommission the temporary Jobcentres with the relevant staff for the sites listed in that Written Statement as soon as it was ready to do so – this took place via co-ordinated announcements at 9am on 8 February 2023.
Asked by: David Linden (Scottish National Party - Glasgow East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 7 February to Question 135449 on Universal Credit, when he expects to be able to evaluate the impact of the Universal Credit (Administrative Earnings Threshold) (Amendment) Regulations 2022 on claimants.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We are monitoring the implementation of the changes in the Administrative Earnings Threshold in order to gather insights into how to best support people in work to increase their earnings. The impact evaluation of the September AET rise will not take place for some time, as it will take a while for earnings increases to materialise given claimants need time to discuss their goals and situation with their Work Coach, consider their options with their employer and family, and take the necessary steps to grow their income.
Asked by: David Linden (Scottish National Party - Glasgow East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 7 February 2023 to Question 133686 on Universal Credit: Young People, how many single claimants on Universal Credit in payment and entitled to the housing element were aged (a) 25-29, (b) 30-34, (c) 35-39, (d) 40-44, (e) 45-49, (f) 50-54, (g) 55-59, (h) 60-65 and (i) over 65 in August 2022.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.