Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward proposals in line with the recommendations on an essentials guarantee as set out in the report by Trussell Trust and Joseph Rowntree Foundation on that subject published on 27 February 2023.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No formal assessment has been made.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Scope report entitled Disability Price Tag 2023: the extra cost of disability, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of that report's findings on additional costs for disabled households.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
There have been many studies estimating the costs of disability, including the Scope report. The findings vary due to the definitions of disability and the method being used.
The Government understands the pressures people, including those who are disabled, are facing with the cost of living and has taken further, decisive action to support people with their energy bills. We are providing extensive support to disabled people, and those with a long term health condition, to help them live independent lives. In 2023/24, we will spend around £78.6bn on benefits to support disabled people and people with health conditions in Great Britain.
In April, we uprated benefit rates and State Pensions by 10.1%. In order to increase the number of households who can benefit from these uprating decisions, the benefit cap levels are also increasing by the same amount.
In addition, for 2023/24, households on eligible means-tested benefits will get up to £900 in Cost of Living Payments. This will be split into three payments across the 2023/24 financial year, with the first payment of £301 being made between 25 April and 17 May. A separate £150 payment will be made to individuals in receipt of eligible disability benefits in the summer. Further to this, the Energy Price Guarantee will be extended from April 2023 until the end of March 2024, meaning a typical household bill will be around £2,500 per year in Great Britain.
The Household Support Fund will continue until March 2024. This year long extension allows local authorities in England to continue to provide discretionary support to those most in need with the significantly rising cost of living. The guidance for local authorities for this next iteration has now been published and can be found here: 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024: Household Support Fund guidance for county councils and unitary authorities in England - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). The devolved administrations will receive consequential funding as usual to spend at their discretion.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to take steps to increase state pension rates for (a) men born before 6th April 1951 and (b) women born before 6 April 1953.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
In April, the full basic State Pension, for people reaching State Pension age before 6 April 2016, was increased by 10.1% to £156.20 per week. This is the highest ever increase in the State Pension and means that the basic State Pension has increased by over £3,000 in cash terms since 2010.
In addition to the basic State Pension, most people reaching State Pension age before 6 April 2016 will also either receive an amount of additional State Pension or have benefitted from membership of a contracted-out private pension. Rates of additional State Pension also increased by 10.1% in April 2023.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure that people receive support from local welfare assistance schemes when necessary.
Answered by Will Quince
This Government is wholly committed to supporting those on low incomes, spending an estimated £112 billion on welfare support for people of working age and children in 2020/21 including around £7.4 billion of Covid-related welfare policy measures. In December 2020 we introduced the Covid Winter Grant to help the most vulnerable children and families stay warm and well fed. Recognising that some restrictions on the economy are still in place we have created the Covid Local Support Grant which will run until June, with a total investment of £269m.
Covid Local Support Grant is ring-fenced with at least 80% targeted to assist with food and bills, and at least 80% for families with children. Within these parameters, Local Authorities have discretion to decide how to allocate Government funding in their areas, recognising that they are best placed to understand local needs and they have shown how they are able to respond at pace to put innovative measures in place to support vulnerable households.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure that the UK welfare system provides people with enough funds to access (a) food and (b) other essential supplies.
Answered by Will Quince
This Government is wholly committed to supporting those on low incomes, including by increasing the living wage, and by spending an estimated £112 billion on welfare support for people of working age in 2020/21. This included around £7.4 billion of Covid-related welfare policy measures.
We introduced our Covid Winter Grant Scheme providing funding to Local Authorities in England to help the most vulnerable children and families stay warm and well fed during the coldest months. It will now run to the 20th June as the Covid Local Support Grant, with a total investment of £269m.
We are investing up to £220m in the Holiday Activities and Food programme which has been expanded to every local authority across England this year. Children eligible for benefits-related Free School Meals will have the option to join a holiday club programme that provides healthy food and enriching activities during the summer, Christmas and Easter holidays in 2021. We also increased the value of Healthy Start Vouchers from £3.10 to £4.25 in April.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance his Department gives to local authorities on ensuring that benefit claimants are not given conflicting appointments which carry non-attendance sanctions by both his Department and those authorities.
Answered by Esther McVey - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
DWP does not issue any guidance to local authorities around ensuring that benefit claimants are not given conflicting appointments.
However, whenever a benefit claimant is required to attend an interview with a DWP adviser they are given information, verbally and/or in writing, which includes details about the interview itself and what they are required to do if they are unable to attend that interview.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if his Department will assess the cumulative effect of welfare policy reforms instituted since May 2010; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Esther McVey - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Government regularly produces analysis of the cumulative impact of all coalition changes, including welfare, on households across the income distribution. In the interests of transparency this Government introduced the publication of such documents (produced by HM Treasury), alongside every Budget and Autumn Statement. The most recent update was published with the Budget in March 2014, and can be found using the following link:
Impact on households: distributional analysis to accompany Budget 2014
This analysis estimates the effect of coalition measures from all fiscal events from the Budget in June 2010 to the Budget in March 2014. It also includes changes that were announced before the Budget in June 2010 that have been implemented by this Government.