Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many social security claimants receive their payments into a Post Office Card Account.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
As of August 2021 the Department makes payments into less than 350k active Post Office Card Accounts. This is down from 1 million in 2019.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many social security claimants have migrated payment of their claims from a Post Office Card Account (POca) to a bank account since the closure of the POca scheme has been announced.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department does not hold information on the number of claimants who have migrated from a Post Office card account to a standard account.
The number of active Post Office card accounts has reduced from 1 million in August 2019 to less than 350k in August 2021.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many job centres and temporary job centres are currently opening on Sundays; and what discussions her Department has had with staff representatives on Sunday opening.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Jobcentres are open Monday to Friday, including Saturdays where this has been agreed. We do not open our Jobcentres on a Sunday, other than in exceptional circumstances to respond to local needs. We have not had any conversations with our Departmental Trade Unions about opening on Sundays.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
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 need for additional measures to increase pension credit uptake.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department assesses levels of take-up of Pension Credit on an annual basis. Latest official statistics on the take-up of income-related benefits at Great Britain level, including Pension Credit, can be found in the publication ‘Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up in 2018 to 2019', available at.
The Department continues to use available channels to promote Pension Credit and reach potential recipients, and their family and friends. This includes using proactive press activity and planned social media posts to encourage older people to check if they are eligible. As part of an internal review of communication products, we have identified improvements in our Pension Credit messaging at key customer “touchpoints” and are updating the products used to claim Attendance Allowance and Carer’s Allowance accordingly. We have also improved the information about Pension Credit in the leaflet accompanying the letters to over 11 million pensioners informing them about the increase in their State Pension from April. No assessment has been made of the need for additional measures to increase Pension Credit take-up.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
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 level of uptake of pension credit.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department assesses levels of take-up of Pension Credit on an annual basis. Latest official statistics on the take-up of income-related benefits at Great Britain level, including Pension Credit, can be found in the publication ‘Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up in 2018 to 2019', available at.
The Department continues to use available channels to promote Pension Credit and reach potential recipients, and their family and friends. This includes using proactive press activity and planned social media posts to encourage older people to check if they are eligible. As part of an internal review of communication products, we have identified improvements in our Pension Credit messaging at key customer “touchpoints” and are updating the products used to claim Attendance Allowance and Carer’s Allowance accordingly. We have also improved the information about Pension Credit in the leaflet accompanying the letters to over 11 million pensioners informing them about the increase in their State Pension from April. No assessment has been made of the need for additional measures to increase Pension Credit take-up.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
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 covid-19 outbreak on the time taken by her Department to process applications for personal independence payments.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Throughout the Covid-19 outbreak, we have been committed to ensuring that people can access financial support through Personal Independence Payment in a timely manner. We always aim to make an award decision as quickly as possible, taking into account the need to review all available evidence.
We are currently operating within expected levels. Average clearance times from initial claim to a decision being made for new claims are currently 16 weeks (October 2020).
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
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 merits of extending the Scottish Government's system of fast-track access to disability benefits for people who have terminal illnesses to (a) universal credit and (b) all other benefits administered by her Department.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department is committed to delivering an improved benefit system for claimants that are nearing the end of their lives and is working across Government to bring forward proposals following the evaluation. I remain committed to implementing the key areas identified in the evaluation; a consensus to change the six-month rule; improving consistency with other services used by people nearing the end of their lives; and raising awareness of the support that is available.
The Scottish Government are able to develop their own policies and procedures as they introduce their replacement benefits. My Department works closely with the Scottish Government to ensure we understand how the two systems interact.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
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 merits of amending the rules for universal credit to ensure that payments received from the Scottish Government’s Taxi and Private Hire Driver Support Fund are fully disregarded so as not to result in deductions to benefit entitlement.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The eligibility criteria for the Scottish Government’s new £1,500 grant for private hire and taxi drivers is a matter for the Scottish Government not the UK government. While DWP was not consulted in advance about the eligibility criteria, it is our understanding that the grant is intended to assist with fixed costs and expenses, including license plate fees, rental fees and insurance payments for taxis not on the road. Legislation already provides that Covid-19 related grants which are intended to cover loss of business income and to aid business recovery will be disregarded for Universal Credit purposes for 12 months.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
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 universal credit claimants in part-time employment who are required by her Department to find alternative full-time work.
Answered by Will Quince
We do not require claimants who are in work with earnings above the Administrative Earnings Threshold to undertake any mandatory activity in Universal Credit. Claimants who work and earn below the Administrative Earnings Threshold may be required to participate in mandatory work-related activity. This depends on their personal circumstances, which vary from one claimant to another. For this reason, we are unable to make any such estimate of claimant numbers.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
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 (a) receipt and (b) non-receipt of furlough payments on in-work claimants in receipt of universal credit as a top-up to their wages.
Answered by Will Quince
No assessment has been made.