Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of households in the Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough constituency that will be in receipt of universal credit by year-end (a) 2018, (b) 2019 and (c) 2020.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost, as we do not currently forecast at constituency level.
The national rollout of Universal Credit will complete in December 2018. During 2019 we will test and refine our processes on a small scale to ensure they are working well before we take on larger volumes from 2020 onwards, and complete the process in 2023.
No more than 10,000 claimants will be migrated in 2019.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support her Department provides to (a) the families of children who are severely disabled and (b) other families in similar circumstances in completing applications for disability living allowance.
Answered by Sarah Newton
DWP offers sign-posting to families, initially through access to Gov.UK. This provides a basic overview of DLA for children, eligibility and how to claim. The site additionally sign-posts access to Carer’s Allowance.
The claim pack is accompanied by an information booklet which provides support in completion of the questions, with examples. Both the claim pack and booklet have recently been revised to provide clearer information when completing the form. DWP offers advice and support by telephone on specific points where advice is sought.
The DLA Service Line receives a limited number of calls for support on completion of certain questions and DLA Child Case Managers may contact other parties for clarification if they feel a claim pack has missing or conflicting evidence. This may involve contact with the parent if they are the most appropriate source, but may also include a school or Health Care Professional who is familiar with the child.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether claimants of employment support allowance (ESA) judged by a tribunal to be eligible to be in the support group after the expiry of their 365 days of contribution-based ESA, become eligible for indefinite contributions-based ESA.
Answered by Sarah Newton
People in the Support Group who are claiming Contributions based Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) will not have their benefit time limited.
Anyone who meets the criteria for Contributions based ESA, who appeals the outcome of their Work Capability Assessment, and is subsequently placed in the Support Group, will not be subject to a 365 day restriction. The decision of the tribunal applies back to the date of our original decision, hence any payments they are found to be entitled to will be awarded from that date.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to Answer of 21 December 2017 to Question 120097, what his definition of first contact is.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
Universal Credit entitlement starts from first contact, assuming the claim is declared and submitted on that day and followed through within a month. This contact could be online, over the phone, by attending a jobcentre for digital support, or via home visit where appropriate.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 15 December 2017 to Question 117837, what estimate his Department has made of the average length of time it takes from a new applicant for universal credit beginning their application and at the point at which their date of entitlement for that credit is triggered.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Universal Credit entitlement starts from first contact, assuming the claim is followed through within a month.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the average length time it takes from a new applicant for universal credit beginning their application and the point at which the six week period wait for that credit is triggered.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Universal Credit claimants receive the first payment 5 weeks after their date of entitlement (6 weeks if waiting days are served). The assessment period runs for a full calendar month from the date of entitlement, and the UC pay date is 7 calendar days after the end of the assessment period. The most vulnerable are already exempt from waiting days, and waiting days will be abolished from all new Universal Credit claims from February 2018. This will further reduce the waiting period for a claimant’s first monthly payment by 1 week and create entitlement from the very first day of their claim.
Data published on 2 October 2017 shows that, nationally, 81% of new full service claims received their first payment in full and on time. Across the whole of Universal Credit 92% of all households received full payment on time. The published data can be found here.
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/universal-credit-payment-timeliness-january-to-june-2017.