Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
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 potential impact of proposed reductions to the level of the Personal Independence Payment on people in Epsom and Ewell constituency.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No estimate has yet been made.
Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course, and some information was published alongside the Spring Statement. These publications can be found in ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper’.
A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the potential merits of removing the (a) two-child cap and (b) benefit cap for families in receipt of Universal Credit.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Tackling child poverty is at the heart of the Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and improve the life chances of every child. The Child Poverty Taskforce is exploring how we can harness all available levers to reduce child poverty, including considering social security reforms, before publishing a strategy that will deliver lasting change.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to (a) improve response times and (b) ensure mandatory reconsiderations are adequately assessed.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Whilst we aim to make the right decision as early as possible in the claim journey, Mandatory Reconsideration (MR) is a key element of the Department’s decision-making process. MR offers customers an opportunity to challenge decisions and provide any additional information which may be relevant to their claim.
In law there is no time limit within which a MR decision must be made. This reflects the overarching policy that the focus should be on making the right decision and not on the speed of response. Decisions should always be made without delay, but if the Decision Maker believes more time is needed to gather or consider evidence, they must give themselves that time to ensure they are confident that the decision made is correct. However, for PIP we are recruiting MR decision makers and making overtime available to increase productivity.
We have a multi-tiered Quality Assurance Framework to ensure MR decisions are legal and payments are accurate, and Decision Makers receive thorough training on all aspects of decision-making.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of trends in the level of inflation for food products; and what steps she is taking to help support people with the cost of food.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are committed to tackling food poverty and reducing mass dependence on emergency food parcels. Economic factors including the Covid-19 pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis have resulted in record levels of need for food banks. This issue is being discussed as part of the Child Poverty Taskforce.
We have announced additional support to address financial pressures on households. These measures include tripling investment in breakfast clubs to over £30 million, introducing a Fair Repayment Rate for deductions from Universal Credit, and increasing the National Living Wage to £12.21 an hour from April 2025 to boost the pay of 3 million workers. In England, Healthy Starts supports over 356,000 beneficiaries, 3 million pupils are eligible for a Free School Meal, we have invested over £200 million every year into the Holiday Activities and Food Programme. Additionally, the Household Support Fund has provided billions of pounds of support to millions of households across England since its inception, helping vulnerable households with the cost of household essentials and supporting those most in need, and provided further funding of £742 million, extending the Household Support Fund until 31 March 2026.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to provide financial support for families during the three-month waiting period before applying for Disability Living Allowance; and if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of a short-term financial grant for parents in this situation.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The three month qualifying period is not a waiting period. Its purpose is to help establish that the disability or health condition, and the resulting care, supervision or mobility needs are of a long-standing nature. This ensures that disability benefits are targeted to support those with long term health conditions or disabilities.
Children applying for DLA do not always have to wait for the full three months from the date of their claim before they become entitled to the benefit. The case manager will always look at whether, and for how long, the person has required the necessary level of help for care/daily living and/or mobility purposes before the date of claim and consider whether some or all of the qualifying period has already been completed.
Children claiming DLA under the special rules for end of life do not have to satisfy the three--month qualifying period. Their claim is fast tracked, and they are eligible for the higher-rate care component from the date of claim.
Financial and practical support may be available during the qualifying period, for example through the Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme or support provided by Local Authority.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if her Department will take steps to support households with one-off unexpected costs including boiler repairs.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Budgeting Advances help Universal Credit customers meet intermittent miscellaneous expenses, such as buying essential items like furniture or household equipment. These advances ensure that low-income families that have an emergency financial need and do not have access to adequate savings or affordable loans can access funding to meet the emergency.
Only eligible customers are able to access Budgeting Advances and there are limits set out in regulation on the amount that can be awarded. Information on the eligibility criteria can be found in the House of Commons Library.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
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 impact of not increasing Local Housing Allowance rates in 2025-2026 on families.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The decision to maintain Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates at current levels for 2025/26 considered a range of factors such as, rental data, the impacts of LHA rates, the Government’s missions and wider fiscal context and the fact that rates were increased in April.
We are also investing £1bn in funding for both the Household Support Fund (HSF) and Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) (including Barnett impacts) for 2025/26 and will be ensuring DHP funding is maintained at current levels. DHPs are available from local authorities for those unable to meet a shortfall in their rent.
We are publishing a Long-Term Housing Strategy in the Spring, to reform the housing market so that it works better for communities, to build 1.5 million high-quality homes, and deliver the biggest increase in affordable housing for a generation, this includes an extra £500m in new funding for the Affordable Homes Programme.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will take steps to (a) improve the financial educational resources and tools available for adults who are no longer in formal education and (b) increase awareness of the resources currently available.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Given the current cost of living it is essential for individuals to possess the knowledge and skills necessary to effectively manage their finances. DWP invests in upskilling their staff to increase their confidence in guiding customers through conversations about enhancing their financial skills and understanding the advantages of doing so.
DWP supports customers to improve their financial skills by signposting them to MoneyHelper in order to help them make better financial choices. MoneyHelper operates across the UK, however, as financial skills is a devolved matter, additional support is available in Scotland and Wales.
DWP is consistently striving to enhance the services provided to our customers, ensuring they receive the most effective guidance by directing them to bodies that can assist in improving their financial skills.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to help mitigate the impact of increases in the cost of living on disabled people.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The extra costs disability benefits are not means–tested, paid regardless of any income or savings and worth up to £9,580 a year, tax free.
They were uprated by 6.7 per cent from April and will be uprated by 1.7 per cent from next April subject to Parliamentary approval.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has made an estimate of the number of armed forces veterans who will no longer be eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment as a result of proposed changes to eligibility criteria.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
We have made no such estimate and are not able to do so as we do not collect specific data on veterans over pension age receiving benefits and pensions.
Winter Fuel Payments will continue to be paid to pensioner households with someone receiving Pension Credit or certain other income-related benefits. They will continue to be worth £200 for eligible households, or £300 for eligible households with someone aged 80 and over.
This means that the Winter Fuel Payment will be better targeted to low-income pensioners who need it. The UK Government wants those eligible for Pension Credit but not currently claiming it to receive the benefits they are entitled to, including their Winter Fuel Payment.