Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 14 October 2024 to Question 8343 on Universal Credit, what progress his Department has made on reviewing Universal Credit in the context of rent charging years with 53 Mondays.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department will be considering the issue of rent charging years with 53 Mondays as part of its wider Universal Credit Review.
The Department is committed to reviewing Universal Credit to make sure it is doing the job we want it to and meeting our objectives of making work pay and tackling poverty. We have already begun this work with the introduction of the new fair repayment rate announced in the Budget. We will continue to work closely with stakeholders as the review progresses to seek views on proposed areas of focus and untapped opportunities in UC. Parliament will be updated on progress and future changes accordingly.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of the total cost of running Personal Independence Payment is spent on the provision of face-to-face and over the phone assessments.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested is not held by the Department.
For both the legacy Personal Independence Payment contracts (that completed on 6 September 2024) and the new Functional Assessment Service contracts, providers do not/did not split their costs by service channel.
Under the new Functional Assessment Service contracts, the costs provided by the Suppliers are not split between the individual service elements (ie Personal Independence payments, Work Capability Assessments and Specialist Benefits).
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
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 impact of 53 Mondays in this financial year on rent payments for Universal Credit claimants .
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The current financial year, which runs from 06/04/24 to 05/04/25, does not contain 53 Mondays.
Universal Credit always converts weekly amounts to monthly sums using 52 weeks. The legitimacy of this approach was confirmed by the High Court having been tested via a judicial review.
Every five or six years, weekly tenants may have a rent charging year containing 53 charging days. This will not apply in all cases and some claimants will not have a 53-week charging year during the life of their benefit claim.
The rent charging year beginning 1 April 2024 and ending on 6 April 2025 is one such year and is of a period which exceeds one calendar year and is not aligned to a financial year. The 53rd payment covers the tenancy for part of the following calendar year.
Most people in work are paid monthly, as is Universal Credit, and they budget for their outgoings on a monthly basis. Weekly rental liabilities do not map directly onto a monthly cycle and this creates budgeting complexities for tenants. They will be required to make only four payments of rent in some months but five payments in others even though their monthly income remains constant. This problem exists in all rent charging years, not just those with 53 Mondays.
The Government will consider this issue as part of its wider work on Universal Credit.