Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to paragraph 3.25 of the Autumn Statement 2023, CP 977, whether additional benefits includes NHS dental provision.
Answered by Jo Churchill
Claimants in receipt of Universal Credit can access passported benefits, such as help to pay for NHS dental treatment and NHS prescriptions.
As part of the Autumn Statement, we announced the intention to close the claim of those who have been disengaged for 6-months or more, where they are in receipt of a nil Universal Credit award following a sanction decision. If entitlement to passported benefits is reliant solely on a Universal Credit claim to establish eligibility, that eligibility will cease if the Universal Credit claim is closed. Claimants may however still be entitled to access passported benefits through other means.
Where a claimant has failed to comply with a mandatory work-related requirement, they have the opportunity to provide good reason before a sanction decision is made. Claimants receive an automated UC journal message which: informs them of the failure, prompts them to provide a reason, and encourages them to re-engage. Additionally, there is a digital nudge at 6 weeks following the decision where the claimant remains disengaged. Where disengaged continues, the claimant will receive a further notification at month 5 informing them of the claim closure intention and prompting them to re-engage or to inform us of any new circumstances which may impact this.
We will not be closing the claims of anyone with a known vulnerability or the claim of those in receipt of other Universal Credit elements, such as the housing, child, or disability element.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he plans to publish a response to the call for evidence entitled Helping savers understand their pension choices, updated on 11 July 2023.
Answered by Laura Trott - Shadow Secretary of State for Education
The Helping savers understand their pension choices consultation closed on the 5 September 2023.
Government will analyse and consider the responses received after the closing date and will publish our response as soon as is practical after this.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to raise awareness of options for accessing defined contribution pension savings under the Pension Schemes Act (2015).
Answered by Laura Trott - Shadow Secretary of State for Education
The Government is committed to ensuring that people have the support and information they need to make informed choices about their financial future. The Government ensures everyone has access to free impartial pension guidance through the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS).
The Stronger Nudge to pensions guidance regulations, which came into force on 1 June 2022, ensures no-one will be able to access their savings through pension freedoms without having received Pension Wise guidance or opted out of receiving it. As part of the application process, schemes offer to book a Pension Wise appointment for individuals, supporting them to access the right guidance at the right time. This is likely to be one of the reasons for 16% more Pension Wise appointments attended between July 2022 and March 2023 than in the same period in 2021/22.
The midlife MOT is supporting people in their 40s, 50s and 60s to plan their next career move and better prepare for later life by taking stock of their finances, skills and health. We are delivering this through three different channels, providing free online support; face to face to eligible Universal Credit claimants; and to employees via our private sector pilot.
The Department is currently reviewing responses to our recent ‘Helping savers understand their pension choices’ call for evidence around the support and information savers need when accessing their pensions. We will respond to this in due course.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the adequacy of statutory sick pay for people working in the social care sector who are required to self isolate with covid-19.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
No such discussions have taken place. Most care workers are employed by private sector providers who set their pay and terms and conditions.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
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 that the total amount deducted from Universal Credit is having on families living in poverty in City of Durham constituency.
Answered by Guy Opperman
No assessment has been made.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to reduce waiting times for Personal Independence Payment reassessment claims.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Shadow Minister (Equalities)
We are committed to ensuring people can access financial support through Personal Independence Payment (PIP) in a timely manner. We prioritise new claims, while ensuring claimants awaiting award reviews remain in payment until we can make a decision.
We always aim to make an award review decision as quickly as possible, considering the need to review all available evidence, including that from the claimant.
In addition, and in order to improve the service across all PIP activities, we are also:
Claimants are asked to contact us if their condition changes so their review can be looked at more quickly.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made on the level of child poverty in City of Durham constituency.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The Government is committed to reducing child poverty and supporting low-income families. In 2022/23 we will spend over £242 billion through the welfare system in Great Britain including £108 billion on people of working age.
With 1.25 million job vacancies across the UK, our focus is firmly on supporting people to move into, and progress in work. This approach is based on clear evidence about the importance of parental employment - particularly where it is full-time - in substantially reducing the risks of child poverty and in improving long-term outcomes for families and children. The latest available data on in-work poverty shows that in 2019/20, children in households where all adults were in work were around six times less likely to be in absolute poverty (before housing costs) than children in a household where nobody works. In 2021, compared to 2010, there were nearly 1 million fewer workless households and almost 590,000 fewer children in workless households in the UK. In 2020/21, there were 200,000 fewer children in absolute poverty (before housing costs) than in 2009/10.
The Government publishes annual statistics on the number and proportion of children who are in low income families by local area, which can be found in the publication: Children in low income families: local area statistics 2014 to 2021 - https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-in-low-income-families-local-area-statistics-2014-to-2021(opens in a new tab)“
This is on top of the support we have already provided by increasing the National Living Wage to £9.50 per hour and giving nearly 1.7 million families an extra £1,000 a year, on average, through our changes to the Universal Credit taper and work allowances. To further support parents to move into and progress in work, the government provides a range of childcare offers. For more information on what childcare support may be available, we encourage parents to use the Childcare Choices website.
The government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living and has taken further decisive action to support people with their energy bills. The Energy Price Guarantee is supporting millions of households with rising energy costs, and the Chancellor made clear it will continue to do so from now until April next year. This is in addition to the over £37bn of cost of living support announced earlier this year which includes the £400 non-repayable discount to eligible households provided through the Energy Bills Support Scheme.
The £37bn of support also includes the current Household Support Fund in England, which will be providing up to £421m of support to those most in need for the period October 2022 - March 2023 and is being delivered by Upper Tier and Unitary Councils. In the case of Durham, the local authority has been allocated £4,676,099.65 for this period. The devolved administrations will receive £79 million through the Barnett formula as usual.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
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 tackle the level of child poverty in City of Durham constituency.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The Government is committed to reducing child poverty and supporting low-income families. In 2022/23 we will spend over £242 billion through the welfare system in Great Britain including £108 billion on people of working age.
With 1.25 million job vacancies across the UK, our focus is firmly on supporting people to move into, and progress in work. This approach is based on clear evidence about the importance of parental employment - particularly where it is full-time - in substantially reducing the risks of child poverty and in improving long-term outcomes for families and children. The latest available data on in-work poverty shows that in 2019/20, children in households where all adults were in work were around six times less likely to be in absolute poverty (before housing costs) than children in a household where nobody works. In 2021, compared to 2010, there were nearly 1 million fewer workless households and almost 590,000 fewer children in workless households in the UK. In 2020/21, there were 200,000 fewer children in absolute poverty (before housing costs) than in 2009/10.
The Government publishes annual statistics on the number and proportion of children who are in low income families by local area, which can be found in the publication: Children in low income families: local area statistics 2014 to 2021 - https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-in-low-income-families-local-area-statistics-2014-to-2021(opens in a new tab)“
This is on top of the support we have already provided by increasing the National Living Wage to £9.50 per hour and giving nearly 1.7 million families an extra £1,000 a year, on average, through our changes to the Universal Credit taper and work allowances. To further support parents to move into and progress in work, the government provides a range of childcare offers. For more information on what childcare support may be available, we encourage parents to use the Childcare Choices website.
The government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living and has taken further decisive action to support people with their energy bills. The Energy Price Guarantee is supporting millions of households with rising energy costs, and the Chancellor made clear it will continue to do so from now until April next year. This is in addition to the over £37bn of cost of living support announced earlier this year which includes the £400 non-repayable discount to eligible households provided through the Energy Bills Support Scheme.
The £37bn of support also includes the current Household Support Fund in England, which will be providing up to £421m of support to those most in need for the period October 2022 - March 2023 and is being delivered by Upper Tier and Unitary Councils. In the case of Durham, the local authority has been allocated £4,676,099.65 for this period. The devolved administrations will receive £79 million through the Barnett formula as usual.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
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 merits of uprating benefits for blind and partially sighted people before April 2023 in the context of the rising cost of living.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
The Secretary of State has a statutory duty to annually review benefits and State Pensions as outlined in the Social Security Administration Act 1992.
Following the publication of Average Weekly Earnings for May to July and the Consumer Prices Index for September by the Office for National Statistics, the Secretary of State will now commence her annual review of benefits. When undertaking her review the Secretary of State is required to have regard to the Equality Act 2010.
Her decisions will be announced to Parliament shortly and any new benefit / State Pensions rates will become payable from the beginning of the 2023/24 tax year.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when her Department plans to offer reassessments for PIP claimants whose conditions have worsened since their last assessment.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Shadow Minister (Equalities)
Where a Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claimants’ needs arising from a long-term health condition or disability have changed, they should report that change to the Department. Once a change in circumstances has been reported we will always review their existing award to see whether a change is required to their award to reflect their current needs.