Oral Answers to Questions

David Rutley Excerpts

Monday 11th July 2022 Commons Chamber

[Tom Randall (Gedling) (Con)]

1. What estimate she has made of the number of universal credit claimants in Gedling constituency who will receive a cost of living payment.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (David Rutley)]

Despite what has happened today, our spirits will not be dampened, and I am sure that the Chamber will be in full flow before we know it.

Universal credit claimants who received at least 1p during assessment periods that ended between 26 April and 25 May 2022 will be eligible for the first instalment of a cost of living payment worth £326. Latest statistics show that 4,800 households in Gedling were in receipt of universal credit in February 2022.

[Tom Randall]

Will my hon. Friend confirm when the more than 10,000 households in my Gedling constituency that are eligible for a cost of living payment should expect to receive that help from the Government?

[David Rutley]

The first instalment of the means-tested cost of living payment of £326 will be paid to eligible households from 14 July. I am pleased to remind colleagues that the payment is the first in a £15 billion package of measures to help households this year.

[Marion Fellows (Motherwell and Wishaw) (SNP)]

2. What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help ensure that disabled people are supported in work.

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[James Sunderland (Bracknell) (Con)]

5. What steps her Department is taking to reduce the level of fraud and error in the welfare system.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (David Rutley)]

In May this year, we published “Fighting Fraud in the Welfare System”, which details our proposals for reducing fraud and error, including legislative change and closer working across Government.

[James Sunderland]

The claimant rate in Bracknell is way below the national average. My constituency enjoys high employment, but we still have lots of job vacancies. What steps is the Department therefore taking to ensure that the remaining claimants are helped into work?

[David Rutley]

With a record 1.3 million vacancies, our focus is not only on tackling fraud but on continuing to help people to get back into work and to progress in their careers. A multi-billion-pound plan for jobs will continue to help our constituents and people across the UK to find work and progress in employment.

[Christian Matheson (City of Chester) (Lab)]

With regard to DWP issues, one of the largest problems I see in my mailbag is people who go for assessed benefits, such as the personal independence payment, being turned down at the first stage, having to go to appeal and, in huge numbers, winning on appeal. Why are there so many errors in the assessment process?

[David Rutley]

I thank the hon. Member—another good Cheshire MP—for his question. We are working hard to make the right decisions first time, every time. All health professionals undertaking assessments on behalf of the Department must be registered practitioners who have also met requirements around training and competence. We are working hard to make sure that we can further improve the quality of those assessments with clinical coaching and monthly performance meetings.

[Simon Fell (Barrow and Furness) (Con)]

6. What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the proposed closure of her Department’s office based in Phoenix House in Barrow-in-Furness on the ability of her Department to deliver specialist services in that area.

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[Chris Stephens (Glasgow South West) (SNP)]

9. What support her Department is providing to benefit claimants to help meet increased living costs.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (David Rutley)]

Our £15 billion cost of living package includes a one-off £650 cost of living payment to low-income households in receipt of a means-tested benefit, a one-off £150 disability cost of living payment, and a £300 top-up to the winter fuel payment for pensioners. That is on top of a wider package of measures that takes the total Government help for households to £37 billion this year.

[Chris Stephens]

The Minister will be aware that during a recent Work and Pensions Committee meeting, the Secretary of State told me that she was not satisfied with the progress of bereavement benefits for cohabiting partners, and that she was meeting her officials the next day. When will the second remedial order be laid so that people who would qualify for that benefit can meet their living costs?

[David Rutley]

The hon. Member is a determined terrier on this issue, and understandably so. Important issues have been raised and it is vital that we get it right. We are carefully considering the issues and we will lay the order before the House as soon as we are able. In parallel, DWP officials are working at pace on implementation plans for the order, as I have discussed with him separately.

[Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) (Lab)]

11. What assessment she has made of the adequacy of the state pension in meeting the rising cost of living.

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[Sir Robert Neill (Bromley and Chislehurst) (Con)]

16. If she will make an assessment of the impact of the universal credit minimum income floor on performers and creative workers with unpredictable and fluctuating earnings.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (David Rutley)]

We recognise that earnings can fluctuate for all self-employed people, including performers and creative workers, and that it takes time to establish a business. That is why we offer a 12-month start-up period, giving claimants time and support to grow their earnings and reach their agreed minimum income floor before it is applied.

[Sir Robert Neill]

I understand the objective of the minimum income floor, to get into sustainable employment, but perhaps the Minister does not appreciate that for people in the performing arts and creative sectors it is not just a short-term period for which they have unpredictable and fluctuating incomes. By the nature of theatre, music, performance and so on, shows are cancelled at short notice. In fact, established performers with viable careers still get hit disproportionately by the minimum income floor. Would it not be sensible to collect the data on a sector-by-sector basis, so that we do not have a one-size-fits-all approach but can tailor it to achieve the objective he wants, which is to reach the need of each specific sector?

[David Rutley]

Universal credit supports self-employed people and the Department ensures fairness by treating all sectors equally. I have already talked about the 12-month start-up period, which is designed to strike the right balance between supporting claimants to make a success of their business and protecting public funds.

[Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East) (Lab)]

19. What steps her Department is taking to support people in receipt of disability benefits with the rising cost of living.

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[Wendy Chamberlain (North East Fife) (LD)]

Last year there were 337,000 overpayments as a result of errors by the DWP, with the debt waived in only 10 cases. Claimants spend these funds in good faith, but are then required to make repayments that they simply cannot afford. Will the Minister agree to bring universal credit in line with legacy benefits by making no-fault debts non-repayable?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (David Rutley)]

It is obviously important to ensure that we get our payments right, and we are working hard to do that, but it is also important to balance the needs of the taxpayer with those of benefit recipients. We do need to get that balance right.

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

The Department’s annual report, released last week, has revealed that the estimate of the number of women who have been short-changed over their retirement pensions has risen by a further 103,000. That is not quite the rosy impression that the Select Committee was given when the Secretary of State and the permanent secretary appeared before it recently. Just how long will these women have to wait before they receive their legal entitlement, and can the Minister confirm that there will not have to be a further upward revision of these estimates?