Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds South)
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 people in Leeds Central who will be affected by the proposed cut of the universal credit uplift.
Answered by David Rutley
It is not possible to produce a robust estimate of exactly how many people will be affected by the removal of the £20 uplift during October due to uncertainty around the speed of the economic recovery and the resulting effect on the caseload.
The Chancellor announced a temporary six-month extension to the £20 per week uplift at the Budget on 3 March to support households affected by the economic shock of Covid-19. Universal Credit has provided a vital safety net for six million people during the pandemic, and the temporary uplift was part of a COVID support package worth a total of £407 billion in 2020-21 and 2021-22.
There have been significant positive developments in the public health situation since the uplift was first introduced. With the success of the vaccine rollout and record job vacancies, it is right that our focus is on helping people back into work. This approach is based on clear evidence about the importance of employment, particularly where it is full-time, in substantially reducing the risks of poverty.
Through our Plan for Jobs, we are targeting tailored support schemes of people of all ages to help them prepare for, get into and progress in work. These include: Kickstart, delivering tens of thousands of six-month work placements for Universal Credit claimants aged 16-24 at risk of unemployment; Restart, which provides 12 months’ intensive employment support to Universal Credit claimants who are unemployed for a year; and JETS, which provides light touch employment support for people who are claiming either Universal Credit or New Style Jobseekers Allowance, for up to 6 months, helping participants effectively re-engage with the labour market and focus their job search. We have also recruited an additional 13,500 work coaches to provide more intensive support to find a job. In total, our Plan for Jobs interventions will support more than two million people.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when her Department will complete its investigation into the fraud allegedly committed against the hon. Member for Leeds Central's constituent ML and reinstate her tax credits.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department takes fraud very seriously. Where it does enter the benefit system, there are dedicated teams on hand to investigate potential fraud. The Department provides a clear message to claimants on Gov.uk as to what constitutes benefit fraud and what action we will take if benefit fraud is suspected. This can be found at https://www.gov.uk/benefit-fraud
All cases are progressed as quickly as possible, but some cases are complex and can take time to resolve. We cannot provide an update on any particular case by way of a parliamentary response, nor can we provide details on any ongoing fraud investigation. However, we would invite the Rt. Hon member to write to us about the case that has prompted his concerns, which will allow us to respond accordingly.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of cases referred through the benefit fraud portal were found to be fraudulent claims in the last 12 months.
Answered by Will Quince
DWP takes fraud and error very seriously and values the part played by members of the public in reporting potential benefit fraud.
Between 1st September 2020 and 31st August 2021, we estimate that around 6% of allegations received through the GOV.UK on-line reporting tool found evidence of benefit incorrectness that resulted in a range of outcomes, including prosecution, the imposition of an Administrative Penalty, benefit correction and recovery of overpaid monies. This figure is calculated as a proportion of allegations reported via the GOV.UK on-line fraud reporting tool that contained sufficient information for our referral management team to record them on our systems and progress them.
All allegations of fraud are corroborated by DWP in the first instance to decide on the appropriate course of action where there is a concern about entitlement. Where fraud is proven, we are committed to the use of appropriate penalties.
We are increasingly focussed on preventing fraud and error entering the benefit system, with the Chancellor announcing £44m at the Spring Budget to support the expansion of both our Integrated Risk and Intelligence Service and our new Enhanced Checking Service, with the development of Transaction Risking as a means of identifying high risk claims.
Our work with other Government departments and law enforcement agencies, both nationally and across borders, helps ensure appropriate intelligence and resources are shared, enabling the totality of any criminality to be identified and investigated.
Our Annual Report and Accounts published on 15 July 2021 provides more information on what we are doing to prevent fraud from occurring: DWP annual report and accounts 2020 to 2021(opens in a new tab)
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department takes to check that a tenancy agreement and the rent quoted are genuine when considering the housing allowance element of a universal credit claim.
Answered by Will Quince
For those who live in the Private Rented Sector, we have an upload facility available for claimants to submit evidence to support their claim for housing costs support. Where necessary, original documents can be provided face to face to a Work Coach. In some circumstances, housing costs can be verified by directly contacting the landlord. Housing costs are always verified directly with the Social Sector landlord in Social Rented Sector cases.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will prioritise personal independence payment reassessments in cases where the applicant has a known mental health issue.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
Eligible Disability Living Allowance (DLA) claimants are invited to claim Personal Independence Payment (PIP) – “reassessment claims” – in one of four ways:
No invitations to claim PIP are prioritised by the DLA claimant’s health condition or disability.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average waiting time is for a personal independence payment (PIP) renewal assessment to be undertaken; and what comparative assessment she has made of that waiting time with waiting times in April (a) 2020 and (b) 2019.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many personal independence payment renewal assessment cases were awaiting consideration in Leeds Central constituency on 1 January in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds South)
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 merits of repeated DWP assessments where an individual applicant has had a (a) brain tumour or (b) severe head injury when there is no evidence that the person’s condition will improve.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
In both Work Capability Assessments (WCA) and Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessments, healthcare professionals advise on a review period that is appropriate to the individual claimant. In the WCA, if a claimant has a condition that causes severe functional impairment and there is no realistic prospect of recovery of function they can be placed in the severe conditions group and would not be routinely reassessed. In PIP, claimants receiving the highest level of benefit whose functional ability will not improve will receive an ongoing award with a light touch review at the 10-year point. The up-coming Health and Disability Green Paper will focus on how we can make further improvements to assessments and seek views on future changes
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of applications to be KickStart Gateways have been (a) received (b) approved, (c) rejected or (d) received and are still awaiting consideration.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
I refer the Honourable Member to PQ 118516 regarding the number of applications from gateway organisations. Officials are working hard to develop our data gathering and analysis processes.