Asked by: Alison McGovern (Labour - Wirral South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, on how many occasions an issue at the Universal Credit Programme Board has been escalated to the Portfolio Board in each year since 1 January 2018.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
There has not been an occasion where an issue raised at the Universal Credit Programme Board has required escalation to the Portfolio Board.
Asked by: Alison McGovern (Labour - Wirral South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Universal Credit claimants whose claims were closed in 2021 because they failed to accept their claimant commitment subsequently successfully challenged the (a) claimant commitment and (b) case closure.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Alison McGovern (Labour - Wirral South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Universal Credit claimants whose claims were closed in 2020 because they failed to accept their claimant commitment subsequently successfully challenged the (a) claimant commitment and (b) case closure.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Alison McGovern (Labour - Wirral South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Universal Credit claimants whose claims were closed in 2023 because they failed to accept their claimant commitment subsequently successfully challenged the (a) claimant commitment and (b) case closure.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Alison McGovern (Labour - Wirral South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Universal Credit claimants whose claims were closed in 2022 because they failed to accept their claimant commitment subsequently successfully challenged the (a) claimant commitment and (b) case closure.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Alison McGovern (Labour - Wirral South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what data her Department holds on the number of households in the private rented sector in receipt of universal credit with the housing element in payment; how many and what proportion of those households have rents which exceed the local housing allowance (LHA); and what the median average gap is between the rent and the LHA for those households where rent exceeds the LHA, for each local authority area in (a) England, (b) Scotland and (c) Wales for the most recent period for which data is available.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested if not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Government spends around £30bn annually on housing support. In addition, Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates will be increased from April 2024 to the 30th percentile of local market rents. This will mean 1.6 million private renters in receipt of Housing Benefit or Universal Credit (UC) will gain on average around £800 a year in additional help towards their rental costs in 2024-25. This is at a cost of £7bn over five years.
The Secretary of State has committed to review LHA rates annually. That review includes consideration of current rents, as well as the broader fiscal context. LHA rates are not intended to meet all rents in all areas: instead, it ensures that claimants in similar circumstances and area are treated the same.
For those who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs and require additional support Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP) are available from local authorities. Since 2011 the Government has provided nearly £1.7 billion to local authorities for households who need additional support with their housing costs.
Asked by: Alison McGovern (Labour - Wirral South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many households in the private rented sector are in receipt of housing benefit; how many and what proportion of those households have rents that exceed the local housing allowance (LHA); and what the median difference was between the cost of rent and the LHA for households where rent exceeds the LHA in each local authority area in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested if not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Government spends around £30bn annually on housing support. In addition, Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates will be increased from April 2024 to the 30th percentile of local market rents. This will mean 1.6 million private renters in receipt of Housing Benefit or Universal Credit (UC) will gain on average around £800 a year in additional help towards their rental costs in 2024-25. This is at a cost of £7bn over five years.
The Secretary of State has committed to review LHA rates annually. That review includes consideration of current rents, as well as the broader fiscal context. LHA rates are not intended to meet all rents in all areas: instead, it ensures that claimants in similar circumstances and area are treated the same.
For those who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs and require additional support Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP) are available from local authorities. Since 2011 the Government has provided nearly £1.7 billion to local authorities for households who need additional support with their housing costs.
Asked by: Alison McGovern (Labour - Wirral South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Answer of 17 March 2023 to Question 163847 on Employment Data Lab, when he plans to publish the two further evaluations.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
One of the evaluations was published on 5 December 2023 [https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/employment-data-lab]. The publication date of the next Employment Data Lab report is yet to be confirmed
Asked by: Alison McGovern (Labour - Wirral South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many households are in receipt of local housing allowance (LHA) in payment; of those households, how many and what proportion have rents which exceed the LHA; and what the median gap is between the rent and the LHA for those households also in receipt of (a) income support, (b) income-related employment support allowance and (c) income-related jobseeker’s allowance in (i) England, (ii) Scotland and (iii) Wales, for the most recent period for which data is available.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The requested information is in the provided attachment. Government spends around £30bn annually on housing support. In addition, Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates will be increased from April 2024 to the 30th percentile of local market rents. This will mean 1.6 million private renters in receipt of Housing Benefit or Universal Credit (UC) will gain on average around £800 a year in additional help towards their rental costs in 2024-25. This is at a cost of £7bn over five years.
The Secretary of State has committed to review LHA rates annually. That review includes consideration of current rents, as well as the broader fiscal context. LHA rates are not intended to meet all rents in all areas: instead it ensures that claimants in similar circumstances and area are treated the same.
For those who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs and require additional support Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP) are available from local authorities. Since 2011 the Government has provided nearly £1.7 billion to local authorities for households who need additional support with their housing costs.
Asked by: Alison McGovern (Labour - Wirral South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information his Department holds on the number of households in receipt of the housing element of Universal Credit; how many of those households have rent that exceeds the local housing allowance rate; and whether he has made an estimate of the median gap between household rent and the local housing allowance in (a) England, (b) Scotland and (c) Wales for the most recent period for which data is available.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The requested information is in the provided attachment. Government spends around £30bn annually on housing support. In addition, Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates will be increased from April 2024 to the 30th percentile of local market rents. This will mean 1.6 million private renters in receipt of Housing Benefit or Universal Credit (UC) will gain on average around £800 a year in additional help towards their rental costs in 2024-25. This is at a cost of £7bn over five years.
The Secretary of State has committed to review LHA rates annually. That review includes consideration of current rents, as well as the broader fiscal context. LHA rates are not intended to meet all rents in all areas: instead it ensures that claimants in similar circumstances and area are treated the same.
For those who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs and require additional support Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP) are available from local authorities. Since 2011 the Government has provided nearly £1.7 billion to local authorities for households who need additional support with their housing costs.