Correspondence Feb. 28 2024
Committee: Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice CommitteeFound: You can get further free advice and assistance by visiting the Money & Pensions Service's MoneyHelper
Mar. 18 2024
Source Page: Letter dated 14/03/2024 from Viscount Younger of Leckie to Baroness Sherlock regarding the Draft Social Security Benefits Up-rating Order 2024 debate: questions on deferral and up-rating, and child poverty statistics. 2p.Found: House of Lords London SW1A 0PW Parliamentary -Under - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to extend Cost of Living Payments beyond the Spring.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
There are currently no plans to extend the Cost of Living Payments beyond the Spring. Cost of Living payments enabled us to target further support during the rising cost of living pressures. Delivering lump sum payments got support faster to those who needed it, reflecting our commitment to providing direct and timely relief to those who need it most. The rate of inflation has slowed, and we have been able to implement uprating to other benefits in the meantime to reflect increased costs. This includes increasing benefits and the state pension by 10.1% in April 2023 in line with inflation. The Secretary of State has completed his annual statutory review of pensions and benefits and his decisions were announced to Parliament on 22 November. From April 2024, Universal Credit amounts will be up-rated by 6.7%.
Report Mar. 14 2024
Committee: Social Justice and Social Security CommitteeFound: Policy Note states that a 6.7% increase is also applied to other benefits not subject to the mandatory uprating
Mentions:
1: Baroness Vere of Norbiton (Con - Life peer) national insurance contributions are paid into the National Insurance Fund, which is used to pay state pensions - Speech Link
2: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Lab - Life peer) Even allowing for this uprating, child benefit needs to rise by 25% to restore its real value.I can remember - Speech Link
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
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 potential merits of increasing discretionary housing payments to help reduce homelessness.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Current rental data and the broader fiscal context were considerations in the Secretary of State’s review of Local Housing Allowance rates last Autumn.
As announced in the Autumn Statement (AS) from April 2024 the Government is investing £7bn over five years to increase Local Housing Allowance rates to the 30th percentile of local market rents in 2024/25. This is in addition to the around £30bn spent annually on housing support. Taken together with the wider benefits uprating, this will improve housing affordability for low-income households on benefits renting in the private sector, helping them afford their rent and reducing the risk of rent arrears and homelessness.
Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) 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 This is not restricted to those who meet the statutory definition of being at risk or homeless, which allows DHPs to be used to stabilise tenancies and thus preventing the need to access to homelessness services.
We’re providing £300m for DHPs between 2022-25. In addition to the central government contribution, English and Welsh local authorities can top up DHP funding up to a maximum of two and a half times this figure using their own funds.
In addition, there has been an investment of over £1bn in DLUHC’s Homelessness Prevention Grant (HPG) over three years, including a £109m top-up this year (2023-24). There has also been funding of £120m to help councils address Ukraine and homelessness pressures in 2024/25, including funding for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Mentions:
1: Chris Stephens (SNP - Glasgow South West) to home, the Minister may be aware that food bank usage among staff at the Department for Work and Pensions - Speech Link
2: Jo Churchill (Con - Bury St Edmunds) This includes uprating working-age benefits by 6.7%, well ahead of the current inflation rate, and uplifting - Speech Link
3: Chris Stephens (SNP - Glasgow South West) One concern that has been reported to us is that the Department for Work and Pensions is no longer helping - Speech Link
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
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 carers are made aware when they have exceeded the threshold for claiming carer's allowance.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP remains focussed and passionate about ensuring that the experience for our DWP customers is at the forefront of the decisions that we make, the processes we deliver, and the improvements that we design.
We have made it easier for customers to contact DWP via the channel that makes the most sense for them. DWP customers can report change of circumstances by telephone, letter, and online via GOV.UK which outlines the routeway of how a customer should notify DWP for each benefit where changes occur. This includes the use of Universal Credit Journal to report changes directly to the appropriate benefit affected where earnings increase or decrease accordingly.
For customers seeking advice on Carer’s Allowance (CA) entitlement, GOV.UK provides detail on eligibility. The CA threshold for earnings is £151 a week from April 2024, after tax, National Insurance, and expenses.
Following a successful claim to CA customers are issued with an ‘award letter’ which includes a reminder that ‘You must tell us if your earnings or expenses change.” This helps to ensure that their CA claim runs smoothly, and the earnings threshold for claiming Carer's Allowance is not exceeded.
As benefit and pension rates are uprated, CA customers are further issued with new benefit rate ‘uprating letters’ which also include reminders to report changes in circumstances.
For irregular earners, CA work closely with our customers to ensure CA is only paid for the periods when the customer’s earnings fluctuate and are below the earnings limit. In this way, this should ensure that CA is not overpaid, as information is obtained from the customer for set periods of time to ensure CA is paid correctly for that period.
As our customers rightly expect, DWP is committed to continuous improvement, and we have many mechanisms in place to measure, and analyse the experience of our customers, providing DWP with a rich source of feedback that helps us to review and improve our services.
Mentions:
1: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Lab - Life peer) poverty but to worsen and even deepen it.No doubt the Minister will refer to this month’s benefits uprating - Speech Link
2: Viscount Younger of Leckie (Con - Excepted Hereditary) Since then, we have taken further action to support those on low incomes, including uprating benefits - Speech Link
3: Viscount Younger of Leckie (Con - Excepted Hereditary) April’s benefit uprating of 6.7% will see an average increase in universal credit of £470. - Speech Link
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an estimate of how many children would be lifted out of poverty if the household benefit cap was (a) uprated with inflation since 2016 and (b) abolished.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
It is not possible to produce robust estimates of the effect of the impact of uprating the household benefit cap by inflation on the number of children in child poverty or similar impacts of the removal of the household benefit cap on the same group.
There was a significant increase to the benefit cap levels following a review last year. The benefit cap continues to provide a strong work incentive and fairness for working taxpaying households and encourages people to move into work, where possible.
Where possible it is in the best interests of children to be in working households and, of course, returning to employment will significantly increase the likelihood of a household not being affected by the cap.
Both rates and numbers of children in absolute poverty (60% of 2010/11 median income, both before and after housing costs) were lower in 2021/22 than in 2009/10. In 2021/22 there were 400,000 fewer children in absolute low income after housing costs than in 2009/10.