Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the cost to her Department was of ministerial severance payments in each year from 19 December 2019 to 30 May 2024; which Ministers received a severance payment; and how much each Minister received.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The details of severance payments made to former ministers can be found in our Annual Report & Accounts.
Information for the 2024/25 financial year will be published in due course.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
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 means-testing the winter fuel payment on those no longer eligible for that payment.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
This Government is committed to pensioners – everyone in our society, no matter their working history or savings deserves a comfortable and dignified retirement.
Given the substantial pressures faced by the public finances this year and next, the government has had to make hard choices to bring the public finances back under control.
Winter Fuel Payments will continue to be paid to pensioner households with someone receiving Pension Credit or certain other income-related benefits. They will continue to be worth £200 for eligible households, or £300 for eligible households with someone aged 80 and over.
We know there are low-income pensioners who aren’t claiming Pension Credit, and we urge those people to apply. This will passport them to receive Winter Fuel Payment alongside other benefits – hundreds of pounds that could really help them. We will ensure that the poorest pensioners get the support they need.
Over the next five years we expect over 12 million pensioners are likely to see their State Pensions increase by thousands of pounds as a result of our commitment to the Triple Lock. Protecting the Triple Lock even in the current economic climate shows our steadfast commitment to pensioners.
We are also providing support through our Warm Homes Plan which pensioners will benefit from. This will support investment in insulation and low carbon heating – upgrading millions of homes over this Parliament. Our long-term plan will protect billpayers permanently, reduce fuel poverty, and get the UK back on track to meet our climate goals.
The Household Support Fund is also being extended for a further 6 months, from 1 October 2024 until 31 March 2025. An additional £500 million will be provided to enable the extension of the HSF, including funding for the Devolved Administrations through the Barnett formula to be spent at their discretion.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans she has to increase the take-up of pension credit.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is determined to ensure that the poorest pensioners get the support they need.
As part of the current Pension Credit Week of Action, we have joined forces with national charities, broadcasters and local authorities to encourage pensioners to check their eligibility and make a claim.
From 16 September, we will be running a national marketing campaign on a range of channels. The campaign will target potential pension-age customers, as well as friends and family who can encourage and support them to apply.
Our future campaign messaging will also focus on encouraging pensioners to apply for Pension Credit before the 21 December 2024, which is the last date for making a successful backdated claim for Pension Credit in order to receive a Winter Fuel Payment.
We will work with external partners, local authorities and the Devolved Governments to boost the take-up of Pension Credit.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure that social housing tenants who receive Universal Credit are not financially affected by the 53-week rent year in the 2024-25 financial year.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities
In the financial year 2024-25 social housing tenants will face 52 weekly rent payment days so Universal Credit will make provision for the exact amount of their liability.
Universal Credit always converts weekly amounts to monthly sums using 52 weeks. This may lead to a slight advantage to the claimant when converting weekly incomes and to a slight disadvantage when dealing with outgoings. The system is used because it is simple to operate and understand. The department has considered alternative options for those with weekly tenancies, but each have their own limitations and disadvantages for claimants and so there are no plans to change.
The legitimacy of this calculation formula in Universal Credit was confirmed by the High Court in 2020 who found it to be neither irrational or discriminatory.
Discretionary Housing Payments can be paid to those entitled to Housing Benefit or the housing element of Universal Credit who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs. Since 2011, the government has provided nearly £1.7 billion in Discretionary Housing Payments to local authorities.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
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 adequacy of current guidance for Job Centre staff on assessing the education status of Ukrainian refugees.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The Department for Work and Pensions has provided immediate access to Universal Credit, and jobs support, for those arriving in the UK from Ukraine because of the Russian invasion; individuals must still meet the eligibility criteria, in order to receive Universal Credit and other Social Security benefits.
There are some exceptions where students may be eligible for Universal Credit such as where they are responsible for a child or are enrolled on a part time course and are seeking employment.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to take steps to improve the application process for Personal Independence Payments.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The Personal Independence Payment (PIP) application process is kept under continual review to ensure it meets the needs of claimants and helps the department reach an accurate assessment of an individual’s entitlement. Since PIP was introduced, we have introduced a range of accessibility improvements such as the Video Relay Service and Relay UK, improved the clarity of the PIP2 questionnaire to make it easier to complete, expanded the assessment methods to include video and telephone, and introduced recording by request for telephone and face-to-face appointments. Claimants are also kept informed and updated at each stage of the application process, including through our improved text message service.
Alongside this, the Health Transformation Programme is transforming the entire PIP service which will reduce the time it will take to process a claim and create a vastly improved claimant experience and a more efficient service for the taxpayer. We will introduce an option to apply for PIP online, giving claimants a greater choice in how they interact with the DWP and the ability to save, resume and upload medical evidence. We are currently operating a small-scale test of the new online apply service, taking a small number of claims to begin with before we gradually and carefully increase the number of people using the service. This approach allows us to develop, test and evaluate the service, exploring and making improvements as we gradually increase its availability. We are also exploring options to re-use evidence we currently hold, removing the need for claimants to upload or re-submit it, and we are reviewing what evidence is relevant to a decision, to enable more accurate data gather and decision making.
We published Transforming Support: The Health and Disability White Paper on 15 March 2023 (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/transforming-support-the-health-and-disability-white-paper). The White Paper responds to feedback from The Health and Disability Green Paper consultation and sets out proposals to support more disabled people and people with health conditions to start, stay and succeed in work, as well as to improve the overall experience of, and trust in, the benefits system. We will continue to work with disabled people, people with health conditions and their representatives, to reach the important goals set out in the White Paper.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the note on his Department's website, dated 17 October 2022, on the loss of Maternity Allowance statistics for May 2022, for what reason this data was lost; and whether his Department (a) has received and (b) expects to receive financial compensation for the data loss.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities
The 5% Maternity Allowance data scan for May 2022 has not been produced following an administrative error by data suppliers in the scheduling of the run of the data. The scan containing MA data was run a month ahead of schedule and therefore reflected an incomplete count.
Since discovery, suppliers have implemented safeguards to prevent a reoccurrence.
Data for the next data point, August 2022, were created successfully using the new safeguards and will be released at 9:30 on 14 February 2023.
Provision of this data is core funded with an internal Service Level Agreement with no financial compensation in the agreement. Therefore, no compensation is expected.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the calculation of Local Housing Allowance rates applicable in financial year 2022-23.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates are not intended to cover all rents in all areas. For Great Britain in May 2022, 55% of the households on LHA had rents higher than the LHA rates. For these households the average gap was £146 per month.
In April 2020 LHA rates were increased to the 30th percentile of local rents. This significant investment of nearly £1 billion provided 1.5 million claimants with an average £600 more housing support in 2020/21 than they would otherwise have received.
LHA rates have been maintained at their increased levels since then, so that everyone who benefitted from the increase will continue to do so.
For those who require additional support with housing costs, Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP) are available. Since 2011 we have provided almost over £1.5 billion in DHPs.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Government's Growth Plan 2022, published in September 2022, if she will make an estimate of the number of people on Universal Credit who will be placed in the Intensive Work Search regime following the increase in the Administration Earnings Threshold announced in that plan by (a) constituency, (b) region and (c) nation.
Answered by Victoria Prentis
DWP forecasts that approximately 120,000 claimants will be affected by increase in the Administrative Earnings Threshold planned from January 2023. The information is not held in the format requested. The forecasts indicate that there is not a significant geographical variation in the number of claimants that will move into the Intensive Work Search Regime as a result of the planned changes.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department plans to increase the level of maternity pay for self-employed mothers.
Answered by Guy Opperman
Maternity Allowance, which is payable to eligible self-employed women, is reviewed annually, alongside other state benefits, and is generally increased in line with the Consumer Prices Index (CPI). From April 2022 the standard rate of Maternity Allowance increased to £156.66, in line with the September 2021 CPI rate of 3.1%. The Government has no plans to increase the standard rate of Maternity Allowance outside of annual uprating.