Asked by: Kate Green (Labour - Stretford and Urmston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of carers received both (a) the carer element of Universal Credit and (b) Carer's Allowance in (i) England, (ii) Wales, (iii) Scotland and (iv) Northern Ireland in the most recent period for which data is available.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The following table shows the latest available statistics in Great Britain at November 2021, of the number of Carer’s Allowance recipients who are also in receipt of the:
These figures are broken down further for England, Wales and Scotland.
| Great Britain | England | Wales | Scotland |
Carer’s Allowance recipients | 921,320 | 783,800 | 56,450 | 80,380 |
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Carer’s Allowance recipients also in receipt of: | ||||
Universal Credit (receiving carer element) | 248,570 | 212,180 | 14,040 | 22,330 |
Universal Credit (not receiving carer element) | 34,770 | 29,900 | 1,930 | 2,940 |
Jobseeker's Allowance carer premium | 700 | 600 | 0 | 100 |
Income Support carer premium | 155,680 | 131,200 | 9,540 | 14,940 |
Pension Credit carer addition | 3,280 | 3,000 | 120 | 170 |
Housing Benefit carer premium | 92,530 | 79,720 | 5,950 | 6,860 |
Source: DWP Quarterly Statistical Enquiry 5% data, 100% DWP Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS) and DWP Single Housing Benefit Extract (November 2021)
Notes
The information requested is not readily available for Employment and Support Allowance claimants, or Carer’s Allowance claimants who are partners of those receiving Income Support or Pension Credit. To provide this additional information would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the amendments to the permitted period contained in The Universal Credit and Jobseeker’s Allowance (Work Search and Work Availability Requirements - limitations) (Amendment) Regulations 2022 include an objective to support claimants to move into sustained, long-term employment.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Way to Work campaign is a move to help job-ready claimants into work sooner, utilising strong relationships with employers to help fill the hundreds of thousands of vacancies in the economy.
We are also providing claimants with more time with their Work Coaches so they are better supported in their search for work as we know that a claimant that can work is better off in work and that those in work have a greater chance of securing a better job and progressing in a career.
Finally, building on the Way to Work campaign, we are rolling out a new in-work progression offer to all Jobcentres. This will extend the support we provide to low-paid benefit claimants in work, providing targeted support to help people progress in their jobs, overcome barriers to fulfil their potential and earn more.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will publish the equalities impact assessment undertaken by her Department in respect of The Universal Credit and Jobseeker’s Allowance (Work Search and Work Availability Requirements - limitations) (Amendment) Regulations 2022.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The department aims to place a copy of the equalities impact assessment for these Regulations in the House Library in due course.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the eligibility criteria for cold weather payments to include people who are (a) unable to work and (b) retired.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Cold Weather Payments are intended to provide extra help to the people most vulnerable to the cold, who are in receipt of certain income-related benefits. This includes:
Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 16 March 2022 to Question 138302, if her Department will carry out a detailed impact assessment analysing the potential effect of the Universal Credit and Jobseeker’s Allowance (Work Search and Work Availability Requirements - limitations) (Amendment) Regulations 2022 on the self-employed, including those with variable and unpredictable income such as performing arts practitioners.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Further to our answer to Question 138302, these Regulations have been introduced as part of the Way to Work campaign, and reflect the evidence that the longer a person is out of work, the harder it is for them to secure a job. Way to Work also means that we are giving new claimants more time with their Work Coach and bringing employers into our jobcentres in order to quickly move claimants into work. Gainfully self-employed claimants are exempt from work search and availability requirements to allow them to focus on their business.
We do not hold data that allows us to identify those with marginal employment or within specific sectors that have been granted a permitted period. As is routine, we will be assessing the impact of the changes on Universal Credit claimants more generally.
We are enhancing our programme of support for workers on Universal Credit starting from April 2022. More people who are in work and on low incomes will be able to access Work Coach support to help them to increase their earnings and move into better paid quality jobs. Work coach support will focus on removing barriers to progression and offering career progression advice, such as considering skills gaps, identifying training opportunities, or looking for progression opportunities for the claimant in their current role or supporting them into a new role. Jobcentres will be supported in this new role by a network of 37 Progression Champions across Great Britain who will spearhead the scheme. Progression Champions will work with key partners, including local government, employers, and skills providers to identify and develop local progression opportunities. They will also work with partners to address local barriers that limit progression such as childcare and transport.
Asked by: Mark Tami (Labour - Alyn and Deeside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the £350 allowance payable to hosts in the Homes for Ukraine scheme will be (a) treated as earned income, (b) treated as unearned income or (c) disregarded for the purposes of (i) universal credit, (ii) employment and support allowance, (iii) jobseeker's allowance, (iv) pension credit, (v) carers allowance and (vi) housing benefit.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are ensuring those who have stepped up to sponsor a Ukrainian individual or family do not see their household benefit entitlements affected as a result. Payment of the £350 ‘thank you’ payment will not be counted as income for the purpose of calculating benefit entitlement.
Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has made an assessment of the effect of the Universal Credit and Jobseeker’s Allowance (Work Search and Work Availability Requirements - limitations) (Amendment) Regulations 2022 on performing arts practitioners.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We have no evidence to suggest that this change will impact the performing arts sector or performing arts practitioners any differently from any other sector. The Regulations in question have introduced changes impacting only those claimants entitled to limit their job search to a preferred sector for a limited time. This period (known as the “permitted period”) has been reduced to a maximum of four weeks. The permitted period is available at the discretion of a Work Coach and only claimants with substantial experience in a certain sector/occupation or at a level of remuneration are eligible. After this period, such claimants will be expected to broaden their job search activity to include any suitable job at or above national minimum wage or national living wage that they are capable of, that can support them while they pursue any longer-term career options.
These changes are part of the Way to Work campaign to move half a million job-ready claimants into work by the end of June 2022. Way to Work also means that we are giving new claimants more time with their Work Coach and bringing employers into our jobcentres in order to quickly move claimants into work.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the total value was of contribution-based Jobseeker’s Allowance payments made to people resident in (a) Scotland and (b) the rest of the UK in each year since 2000.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Information on Contributory and Income Based JSA for England and Scotland is available here. A breakdown of the value of Contribution-based Jobseeker’s Allowance payments made to people resident in Scotland is not currently available.
Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of appeals to the tribunals service in (a) Coventry, (b) the West Midlands and (c) England in respect of (i) personal independence payments, (ii) employment and support allowance, (iii) jobseeker's allowance and (iv) universal credit were successful in each of the last three years.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Information about the outcomes of appeals in the First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support) (SSCS) is published at:
www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics
SSCS appeals are listed into the hearing venue nearest to the appellant’s home address. The published data (which can be viewed at the link above) provide information about the outcomes of (i) Personal Independence Payment (PIP), (ii) Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and (iv) Universal Credit (UC) appeals for hearing venues covering (a) Coventry, (b) the West Midlands and (c) England for the period requested.
The table below contains this information for (iii) Job Seekers Allowance (JSA):
| Coventry | West Midlands1 | England2 |
2018/19 | ~ | 25% | 34% |
2019/20 | 50% | 27% | 39% |
2020/21 | ~ | ~ | 27% |
Q1 2021/22P | 100% | ~ | 17% |
Q2 2021/22p | 86% | 39% | 30% |
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Notes:
SSCS data are normally registered to the venue nearest to the appellant’s home address. We cannot retrieve data based on the appellant’s actual address but can produce reports detailing the numbers of cases that were dealt with at one of our Regional centres or heard at a specific venue. The proportion of successful appeals is based on the number of cases found in favour of the appellant at a tribunal hearing as a percentage of the cases heard at a tribunal hearing. |
1West Midlands includes the venues: Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Walsall, Coventry, Nuneaton, Stoke, Telford, Hereford and Worcester. | |||||
2 Excludes SSCS Scotland Region and Wales Region. |
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~ Equates to a value of fewer than five |
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P Provisional, in line with published data |
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Although care is taken when processing and analysing the data, the details are subject to inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale case management system and are the best data that are available. These data may differ slightly to that of the published statistics as these data were run on a different date. | |||||
Asked by: David Linden (Scottish National Party - Glasgow East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to her Department's publication entitled Benefit sanctions statistics to October 2021, what recent assessment she has made of the ability of the Social Security Advisory Committee to undertake its statutory scrutiny of the Universal Credit and Jobseeker's Allowance (Work Search and Work Availability Requirements - limitations) (Amendment) Regulations 2022 in the context of the benefit sanction decisions and durations data available to it.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No assessment has been made.
The Social Security Advisory Committee will continue its role to scrutinise statutory regulations and provide advice whilst continuing to have access to sanction statistics.