Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to exclude future increases to the State Pension from the calculation of income for the purpose of housing benefit eligibility.
Answered by Will Quince
Housing Benefit is an income-related benefit which is intended to assist people who need help to pay their rent. Any income that is available to meet those expenses, such as a State Pension, is normally taken fully into account when working out how much Housing Benefit can be paid.
There are no plans to amend regulations to allow a disregard for State Pension income, including any increases each year.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she plans to take through the benefits system to support tenants to meet their rent payments during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Will Quince
We have increased the Local Housing Allowance rates for Universal Credit and Housing Benefit claimants so that it covers the cheapest third of local rents – which is on average £600 in people’s pockets.
The government has brought forward a package of measures to protect renters affected by coronavirus. With these in force, no renter in either social or private accommodation will be forced out of their home.
From 26 March, landlords have had to give all renters 3 months’ notice if they intend to seek possession (i.e. serve notice that they want to end the tenancy) – this means the landlord can’t apply to start the court process until after this period.
This extended buffer period will apply in law until 30 September 2020 and both the end point, and the 3 month notice period can be extended if needed.
From 27 March, the court service has suspended all ongoing housing possession action – this means that neither cases currently in the system or any about to go in to it can progress to the stage where someone could be evicted.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether people with a reduced income after following guidance on coivd-19 are eligible for assistance with rented housing costs through the Discretionary Housing Payments scheme; and whether additional funding has been allocated to local authorities for that payment scheme.
Answered by Will Quince
We have increased the Local Housing Allowance rates for Universal Credit and Housing Benefit claimants so that it covers the cheapest third of local rents – which is on average £600 in people’s pockets.
Discretionary Housing Payments are made at local authority discretion, including the amount and duration of any award.
Local authorities administer the scheme as they are best placed to make informed judgements about relative priorities and needs in their area to ensure that the most vulnerable are supported and the limited funds are targeted effectively.
As we have announced at the spending round for 2020/21 there is £179.5m in DHPs for Local authorities to support renters with housing costs in the private and social rented sector. The increase to the Local Housing Allowance rates will help alleviate shortfalls in the private rented sector and relieve pressure on DHPs.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect of the introduction of fees in the Child Maintenance Service on collection rates of child maintenance.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
Evaluation and research on the effects of the introduction of fees and charges in the Child Maintenance Service was published in December 2016, in line with our statutory obligation. The Department expects to publish a Review Report in spring this year, including a summary of the key findings from the research and statistics.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department has taken to make sure that British Sign Language users are made aware that the two-ticks scheme is being transferred to Disability Confident.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
Disability Confident is a pan-disability scheme that has been designed and developed by disabled people, disability organisations and employers. The scheme provides employers with the tools they need to recruit, retain and develop disabled employees. Embedded within the scheme are links to useful videos, information and a range of guidance.
The scheme went live in a test and learn phase in July and was formally launched on 2nd November 2016 at the Recruitment Employment Confederation in London, with press releases and promotion through mainstream media, social media, Jobcentre Plus, disability organisations, and Disabled People's User Led Organisations. Further promotion of the scheme is being planned, including material in BSL.
The aim of the scheme is to reach the widest possible number of employers, covering all sizes and sectors. This includes employers from the construction industry, a number of whom have already signed up. Officials from my Department have worked with representatives from the Construction Industry Council (CIC) to help the construction industry become Disability Confident.
The Disability Confident scheme contains embedded links to information for employers about supporting staff with hearing loss, including references to Access to Work. The Access to Work scheme can assist where disabled people need support above and beyond employer-provided reasonable adjustments. Access to Work features specialist teams who provide a dedicated service to particular groups of customers, including deaf customers. The Government has committed to supporting an additional 25,000 people through Access to Work by 2021.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that employers based within the construction industry are engaged with the Disability Confident scheme.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
Disability Confident is a pan-disability scheme that has been designed and developed by disabled people, disability organisations and employers. The scheme provides employers with the tools they need to recruit, retain and develop disabled employees. Embedded within the scheme are links to useful videos, information and a range of guidance.
The scheme went live in a test and learn phase in July and was formally launched on 2nd November 2016 at the Recruitment Employment Confederation in London, with press releases and promotion through mainstream media, social media, Jobcentre Plus, disability organisations, and Disabled People's User Led Organisations. Further promotion of the scheme is being planned, including material in BSL.
The aim of the scheme is to reach the widest possible number of employers, covering all sizes and sectors. This includes employers from the construction industry, a number of whom have already signed up. Officials from my Department have worked with representatives from the Construction Industry Council (CIC) to help the construction industry become Disability Confident.
The Disability Confident scheme contains embedded links to information for employers about supporting staff with hearing loss, including references to Access to Work. The Access to Work scheme can assist where disabled people need support above and beyond employer-provided reasonable adjustments. Access to Work features specialist teams who provide a dedicated service to particular groups of customers, including deaf customers. The Government has committed to supporting an additional 25,000 people through Access to Work by 2021.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that employers who engage with the Disability Confident scheme are provided with the information they need to be able to employ people with hearing loss.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
Disability Confident is a pan-disability scheme that has been designed and developed by disabled people, disability organisations and employers. The scheme provides employers with the tools they need to recruit, retain and develop disabled employees. Embedded within the scheme are links to useful videos, information and a range of guidance.
The scheme went live in a test and learn phase in July and was formally launched on 2nd November 2016 at the Recruitment Employment Confederation in London, with press releases and promotion through mainstream media, social media, Jobcentre Plus, disability organisations, and Disabled People's User Led Organisations. Further promotion of the scheme is being planned, including material in BSL.
The aim of the scheme is to reach the widest possible number of employers, covering all sizes and sectors. This includes employers from the construction industry, a number of whom have already signed up. Officials from my Department have worked with representatives from the Construction Industry Council (CIC) to help the construction industry become Disability Confident.
The Disability Confident scheme contains embedded links to information for employers about supporting staff with hearing loss, including references to Access to Work. The Access to Work scheme can assist where disabled people need support above and beyond employer-provided reasonable adjustments. Access to Work features specialist teams who provide a dedicated service to particular groups of customers, including deaf customers. The Government has committed to supporting an additional 25,000 people through Access to Work by 2021.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if his Department will bring forward legislative proposals to apply provisions equivalent to those of the British Sign Language (Scotland) Act 2015 to England.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government currently has no plans to bring forward legislative proposals to apply provisions equivalent to those of the British Sign Language (Scotland) Act 2015 to England.
Last year the Minister for Disabled People published a written statement announcing that DWP would lead a Market Review of British Sign Language (BSL) interpreting provision, which would engage with Deaf people and stakeholder groups to examine opportunities that could strengthen and improve the market in the long term.
The Call for Evidence for this review opened in January 2016 and closed in March 2016. We received hundreds of comprehensive submissions of evidence, which we are currently analysing.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much expenditure was incurred by the Child Support Agency in making ex-gratia or special payments as a result of poor service or errors by that agency in each of the last three years.
Answered by Priti Patel
The information on the total amount paid as ex-gratia or special payments across child maintenance in the last three years is in the attached table.
Financial Year | £'000s |
2013 - 2014 | £1,090 |
2014 - 2015 | £847 |
2015 – 2016 * | £941 |
Notes -
These amounts include payments made across the Child Support Agency and Child Maintenance Service for the following:
Ex-gratia – Actual Financial Loss
Ex-gratia – Consolatory
Compensation for Delay
*The figure for 2015/16 is draft and subject to audit.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answers of 8 March 2016 to Questions 30341 and 30342 and with reference to the Answers of 5 December 2013 to Question 179450 and 21 January 2014 to Question 182897, when his Department (a) decided to stop collecting the required information and (b) began to collect information in such a way that it can only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The information requested can only be provided at a disproportionate cost.
For questions 179450 and 182897 volumes of prosecutions and number of errors identified were provided, however these were not all fraud cases, including cases where the error was not deliberate. This did not explicitly answer the enquiry, however was given to provide helpful context. It is not possible to separate cases into those which are a mistake and those where fraud has been accepted without individual case by case analysis.
Again, we cannot directly answer 30341 and 30342 but have provided the below extra information to assist;
| 2013-14 | 2014-15 | 2015-16 |
Total Fraud Investigations (1) | 125,140 | 116,480 | 171,730 |
of which total positive outcomes (2) | 20,800 | 20,050 | 24,600 |
of which total fraud cases (3) | 15,350 | 12,870 | 13,600 |
over which total prosecuted (4) | 11,390 | 8,490 | 7,150 |
(1) Total cases investigated by Local Service or complex criminal Investigations. |
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(2) Total cases where an error has been identified and corrected. |
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(3) Prosecutions + admin Penalties + cautions: cases where fraud has been proven or accepted. | |||
(4) Cases accepted by CPS for prosecution. |
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