Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Disability Unit has made a recent assessment of the (a) level of demand for and (b) adequacy of the availability of courses in British Sign Language.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The Disability Unit in the Cabinet Office has not made any recent assessments of the (a) level of demand for and (b) adequacy of the availability of courses in British Sign Language (BSL) as this is the remit of the Department of Education. However, following the passage of the BSL Act (2022), the Government established a non-statutory BSL Advisory Board who will continue to consider and advise the Government on matters of importance to the d/Deaf community.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of extending the repayment period for Advance Payments to 36 months as a means of reducing the monthly rate of deductions from Universal Credit.
Answered by Guy Opperman
No assessment has been made.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of (a) oral and (b) written communication with Universal Credit claimants at explaining how to request a lower rate of deductions from Universal Credit.
Answered by Guy Opperman
We are regularly reviewing and improving the UC service and have recently updated our overpayment notifications to more clearly explain how to get in touch if deductions are too much.
In addition, there are standing messages available in the Universal Credit journal which can be accessed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Alternatively, claimants can seek support from staff in their local job centre or by contacting the Universal Credit helpline.
DWP Debt Management have an established process whereby trained agents are available to discuss repayment rates and, in most cases, negotiate reduced repayment rates with anyone struggling to repay.
The department is also committed to HM Treasury’s 'Breathing Space' policy.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans he has for the Household Support Fund beyond the 2023-24 financial year.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
There are currently no plans to extend the Household Support Fund which runs to the end of March 2024. As with all policies, this is kept under continuous review.
We are proud that, the Household Support Fund has been used to support many households in need in England with the cost of essentials. For example, over 10 million awards were made between 1 October 2022 to 31 March 2023.
The government continues to focus on the Prime Minister’s priority to halve inflation by the end of the year. Through the ambitious package announced at the Spring budget we are also delivering measures that are designed to support people to enter work, increase their working hours and extend their working lives.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the of Answer of 22 September 2022 to Question 49117 on Universal Credit, if she will instruct the Universal Credit Programme Board to collect and publish monthly data on the number and proportion of people who missed the initial deadline day to claim specified in their Migration Notice.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The department is currently completing its analysis of the first 500 legacy claimants who were issued with a Universal Credit Migration Notice. We intend to publish our learnings and observations from the initial Discovery tests in due course, but it is important to do this at such point we have a complete set of data to avoid releasing information prematurely which could be inadvertently misleading.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in the context of the 500 legacy benefit claimants in Bolton and Medway issued with Universal Credit Migration Notices in May 2022, how many were known by her Department to have had a complex need or disability; and how many of those claimants missed their initial deadline.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The department is currently completing its analysis of the first 500 legacy claimants who were issued with a Universal Credit Migration Notice. We intend to publish our learnings and observations from the initial Discovery tests in due course, but it is important to do this at such point we have a complete set of data to avoid releasing information prematurely which could be inadvertently misleading.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in the context of the 500 legacy benefit claimants in Bolton and Medway issued with Universal Credit Migration Notices in May 2022, how many had (a) made their claim by the initial deadline day specified in their Migration Notice, (b) made their claim between the initial deadline day specified in their Migration Notice and their extended deadline and (c) had missed their initial or extended deadline and had their legacy benefits suspended or terminated.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The department is currently completing its analysis of the first 500 legacy claimants who were issued with a Universal Credit Migration Notice. We intend to publish our learnings and observations from the initial Discovery tests in due course, but it is important to do this at such point we have a complete set of data to avoid releasing information prematurely which could be inadvertently misleading.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the report of the Social Security Advisory Committee on the Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2022, if she will respond to Recommendation 8 of that report.
Answered by Victoria Prentis
Following the conclusion of the Social Security Advisory Committee’s formal referral on the regulations, the Department published its response on 4th July 2022.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the report of the Social Security Advisory Committee on the Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2022, if she will respond to Recommendation 4 of that report.
Answered by Victoria Prentis
Following the conclusion of the Social Security Advisory Committee’s formal referral on the regulations, the Department published its response on 4th July 2022.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the report of the Social Security Advisory Committee on the Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2022, if she will respond to Recommendation 3 of that report.
Answered by Victoria Prentis
Following the conclusion of the Social Security Advisory Committee’s formal referral on the regulations, the Department published its response on 4th July 2022.