Asked by: Carol Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many universal credit claimants are owed compensation for losing their Severe Disability Premium as a result of natural migration, and how many of those claimants are veterans.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
I refer the Hon. Member to the response to Question 215614, answered on 6th February 2019.
The Department does not hold information regarding the number of Universal Credit claimants that are veterans.
The Department continues to consider opportunities to improve our understanding of those claiming Universal Credit, including ways in which we might identify claims from veterans.
Asked by: Carol Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of full service universal credit claimants who have had their claims stopped re-apply the following month, in the latest period for which figures are available.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
The table below shows the number Universal Credit reclaims in the month following a claim closure. It includes claims that are closed at any stage of the claim and includes those that fall within the re-claim process. This is where claimants who meet certain conditions and return to Universal Credit within 6 months of their previous award ending, can make a claim under an easier reclaim process.
The majority of the reclaims in August 2018, had their initial claim closed because of a split in a couple claim (28%); the claimant making an additional claim linked by National Insurance Number resulting in the original claim being closed (26%); and because the Claimant did not accept their Claimant Commitment (22%).
Closure month | Claimants re-applying within 30 days | Proportion of closed claims |
July-2018 | 16,400 | 21% |
August-2018 | 19,000 | 21% |
Asked by: Carol Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of full service universal credit claimants have had their claims stopped each month due to a zero award.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
Below are the number/proportion of Universal Credit Full Service claims by the month of closure:
Closure Month | Number of claims closed due to zero award | As percentage of monthly caseload |
September 2018 | 9,300 | 1.0% |
October 2018 | 11,800 | 1.1% |
Notes:
Claim closed count rounded to the nearest 100 and the percentages to nearest 0.1%
Where the claimant had not confirmed their address prior to the case being closed, it has not been possible to exclude a small number of UC cases from Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Carol Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many full service universal credit claimants have had their claims stopped each month due to a zero award.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
Below are the number/proportion of Universal Credit Full Service claims by the month of closure:
Closure Month | Number of claims closed due to zero award | As percentage of monthly caseload |
September 2018 | 9,300 | 1.0% |
October 2018 | 11,800 | 1.1% |
Notes:
Claim closed count rounded to the nearest 100 and the percentages to nearest 0.1%
Where the claimant had not confirmed their address prior to the case being closed, it has not been possible to exclude a small number of UC cases from Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Carol Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons her Department's policy changed from live service universal credit to full service universal credit to end a claim after one month of zero award.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
In both Live Service and Full Service, if a Universal Credit award is reduced to zero, for example as a result of increased earnings, then the Universal Credit award will end.
However, on Live Service if a claimant’s Universal Credit ended because earnings had reduced their award to zero and they subsequently had a change of circumstances that meant Universal Credit would become payable e.g. their earnings dropped, they would return to the same assessment period without having to make a new claim. This is as long as they made contact within 6 months of their previous award ending.
On Full Service, if a claimant’s Universal Credit award ended and they met certain conditions, they will also return to the same assessment period, however, they will need to make a new Universal Credit claim within 6 months of their previous award ending. This new claim is quicker and easier than the one they originally made, as they will only have to tell the department about any changes of circumstances which they have experienced since their previous award ended.
Claimants who become unemployed in a Full Service area also have to make a new claim within 7 days of their job ending (or have a good reason for not doing so) in order for them to be paid for the whole of the assessment period to which they return. If they do not, they will only receive a payment from the point they made their Universal Credit claim until the end of that assessment period.
The changes between Live and Full Service were made for a variety of reasons including:
An equality analysis was produced for this change.
Asked by: Carol Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has conducted an impact assessment on the change in policy from live service universal credit to full service universal credit on the automatic ending of claims after a zero award.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
In both Live Service and Full Service, if a Universal Credit award is reduced to zero, for example as a result of increased earnings, then the Universal Credit award will end.
However, on Live Service if a claimant’s Universal Credit ended because earnings had reduced their award to zero and they subsequently had a change of circumstances that meant Universal Credit would become payable e.g. their earnings dropped, they would return to the same assessment period without having to make a new claim. This is as long as they made contact within 6 months of their previous award ending.
On Full Service, if a claimant’s Universal Credit award ended and they met certain conditions, they will also return to the same assessment period, however, they will need to make a new Universal Credit claim within 6 months of their previous award ending. This new claim is quicker and easier than the one they originally made, as they will only have to tell the department about any changes of circumstances which they have experienced since their previous award ended.
Claimants who become unemployed in a Full Service area also have to make a new claim within 7 days of their job ending (or have a good reason for not doing so) in order for them to be paid for the whole of the assessment period to which they return. If they do not, they will only receive a payment from the point they made their Universal Credit claim until the end of that assessment period.
The changes between Live and Full Service were made for a variety of reasons including:
An equality analysis was produced for this change.
Asked by: Carol Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what financial support he plans to make available for customers who have already incurred significant telephone charges through contacting his Department about their benefit claims.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The administrative process of identifying and compensating call charges retrospectively would present an unacceptable cost to the tax payer.
Asked by: Carol Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the criteria are for the equality analysis being carried out on the use of Anniesland Jobcentre.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The criteria for equality analysis requires us to pay due regard to the requirements of the Equality Act 2010 and enables us to consider equality as part of our decision making processes. We are legally required to consider the equality impacts of policies and processes on people who share protected characteristics and provide evidence that this has been taken into account. This helps us comply with our Public Sector Equality Duty as part of the Equality Act 2010, which covers the protected characteristics of:
We will be undertaking an equality analysis as part of the detailed planning for service reconfiguration. This will include feedback from public consultation in those locations where this applies.
Asked by: Carol Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people with disabilities use the Anniesland Jobcentre.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The information requested is not available. However, there were 54 new claims made to Employment and Support Allowance at Anniesland Jobcentre in December 2016.
It is worth noting that the extent to which people claiming Employment and Support Allowance and Incapacity Benefits are required to attend the Jobcentre will vary depending upon the specific requirements of the benefit they receive.
Asked by: Carol Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people use the Anniesland Jobcentre.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The information requested is not available. However, in the month of December 2016 there were 970 people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance and Universal Credit. This does not include people claiming Employment and Support Allowance and Incapacity Benefits as the extent to which these claimants are required to attend the Jobcentre will vary, depending upon the specific requirements of the benefit they receive.