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Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 07 Oct 2019
Oral Answers to Questions

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View all Heidi Allen (LD - South Cambridgeshire) contributions to the debate on: Oral Answers to Questions

Written Question
Universal Credit
Monday 7th October 2019

Asked by: Heidi Allen (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of backdating universal credit payments to reduce the five week wait for a first payment.

Answered by Will Quince

Universal Credit new claim advances provide access to a payment for those in financial need, which can be accessed urgently, until their first regular Universal Credit payment is due. Claimants can access up to 100% of the total expected monthly award, which they can pay back over a period of up to 12 months. We have announced that from October 2021, the repayment period for these advances will be extended further, to 16 months.

The Department has delivered a number of improvements to support claimants during their first assessment period, such as removing waiting days and paying those claimants moving from Housing Benefit onto Universal Credit a two week ‘transitional housing payment’. We are also introducing a two-week run on for eligible claimants of Income Support, Jobseeker’s Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance from July 2020.

Claims may be backdated, by up to one calendar month, in limited circumstances for vulnerable claimants who may be delayed in claiming Universal Credit through no fault of their own. Claims may also be backdated in specific circumstances when a couple separates to ensure that there is no gap in entitlement between the couple claim and the new claim made by a single claimant.


Written Question
Social Security Benefits
Monday 7th October 2019

Asked by: Heidi Allen (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of establishing an independent commission to review the value of benefits to ensure they consistently match the cost of living.

Answered by Will Quince

The Secretary of State has a statutory duty to complete an annual review of benefit and pension rates to determine whether they have retained their value in relation to either prices or earnings.

If there has been an increase in prices or earnings she must increase certain benefits by at least the increase in prices or earnings, using ONS data. For other benefits she may take into account the prevailing economic conditions and other relevant factors.

Whilst organisations external to Government are free to make representations to the Secretary of State, the Department has made no assessment around the introduction of an independent commission to review the value of benefits.


Written Question
Universal Credit
Monday 7th October 2019

Asked by: Heidi Allen (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of universal credit payments were subject to a deduction for child maintenance arrears.

Answered by Will Quince

For eligible Universal Credit claims with a payment due in May 2019 (the latest month of available data) 0.6% [11,000 claims] had a deduction for child maintenance arrears.

Notes

- Number of claims rounded to nearest 1000.

- Percentage rounded to nearest 0.1%


Written Question
Social Security Benefits
Monday 7th October 2019

Asked by: Heidi Allen (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the effect of the working age benefit freeze on the household incomes of people with (a) disabilities and (b) long term health conditions.

Answered by Justin Tomlinson

An Impact Assessment of the benefit freeze was published in 2015, this is available in the link below.

https://www.parliament.uk/documents/impact-assessments/IA15-006C.pdf

This benefit freeze excluded Disability Living Allowance, Personal Independence Payment, Attendance Allowance, the Support Group component of Employment and Support Allowance (for those not expected to look for work), disability premia in working-age benefits and the disabled elements of tax credits. This provides protection for those facing the additional cost of disability and long term health conditions.


Speech in Commons Chamber - Tue 23 Jul 2019
Personal Independence Payments: Supreme Court Ruling

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View all Heidi Allen (LD - South Cambridgeshire) contributions to the debate on: Personal Independence Payments: Supreme Court Ruling

Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 01 Jul 2019
Oral Answers to Questions

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View all Heidi Allen (LD - South Cambridgeshire) contributions to the debate on: Oral Answers to Questions

Written Question
Personal Independence Payment: Multiple Sclerosis
Tuesday 23rd April 2019

Asked by: Heidi Allen (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in reference to research published by the MS Society in March 2019, whether her Department has plans to undertake a review the effect of the introduction of the 20-metre rule for personal independence payment on costs to other Departments.

Answered by Justin Tomlinson

The enhanced rate of the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) Mobility component was always intended to be for those "unable" or "virtually unable" to walk.

We believe the current PIP assessment criteria, including the 20 metres distance, are the best way of identifying those whose physical mobility is most limited.

Senior Officials are in contact with the MS Society and will be meeting them in the coming weeks to discuss the latest research.


Written Question
Personal Independence Payment: Disability
Tuesday 23rd April 2019

Asked by: Heidi Allen (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the number of disabled people who have had to leave work as a result of receiving lower rates of support from personal independence payment in comparison to disability living allowance.

Answered by Justin Tomlinson

No such estimate has been made. Personal Independence Payment (PIP) can be paid to disabled people irrespective of their employment status and, as such, no details of an individual’s employment status are gathered during the course of their claim or award.

PIP is a more modern, dynamic and fairer benefit than its predecessor, Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and focuses support on those experiencing the greatest barriers to living independently. 31% of people claiming PIP receive the highest level of support, compared to 15% of DLA’s working-age claimants and 39% of reassessment claimants are getting a higher award on PIP compared to when they were on DLA.

People with a health condition or disability, who require additional support getting to and from work, can apply for an Access to Work grant.


Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 18 Mar 2019
Oral Answers to Questions

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View all Heidi Allen (LD - South Cambridgeshire) contributions to the debate on: Oral Answers to Questions