Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to tackle benefit fraud.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
We take all fraud very seriously. Our Fraud Plan, Fighting Fraud in the Welfare System, published on 19 May 2022, sets out our approach and explains how the additional investment is allowing us to recruit 1,400 more staff into our counter-fraud teams, establish a new 2,000-strong team dedicated to reviewing the circumstances of large volumes of the Universal Credit caseload over the next 5 years and develop enhanced data analytics as a means of preventing and detecting fraud and error.
More information on our Fraud Plan, can be found here:
Fighting Fraud in the Welfare System - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
This work is supported by two tranches of additional investment totalling around £900m, which will help prevent a further £2.4bn of loss by 2024/25. This investment includes money allocated via the Autumn Statement, which will help prevent abuse of the system and drive forward our UC case checks.
Collectively, this builds on the existing work and measures DWP has in place to address overpayments, with savings from the correction and prevention of fraud and error totalling £2 billion last year.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing additional protections for survivors of domestic abuse during the cost-of-living crisis.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living and is providing £26bn in cost-of-living support for 2023/24. This includes Cost of Living Payments for the most vulnerable. In addition, the Home office Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan invests over £230 million, including over £140 million to support victims.
For those who require extra support, the Government is providing an additional £1 billion of funding, including Barnett impact, to enable the extension of the Household Support Fund in England in the next financial year. This is on top of what we have already provided since October 2021, bringing total funding to £2.5 billion. In England this will be delivered through an extension to the Household Support Fund backed by £842 million, running from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, which local authorities use to help households with the cost of essentials. It will be for the devolved administrations to decide how to allocate their additional Barnett funding.
DWP recognises the pressures and challenges that this group face, which is why we have made Discretionary Housing Payments available to allow LAs to provide financial help with rental costs. These are aimed at a number of groups likely to be affected by welfare reforms, including individuals or families fleeing domestic violence and abuse. Discretionary Housing Payments may also be given to victims that have remained in their home, which has been adapted under a sanctuary scheme.
Jobcentres remain a safe place to share concerns and obtain advice and support for those impacted by domestic abuse.
- Shared Accommodation Rate
From 1 October 2022, up to 11,000 victims of domestic abuse and modern slavery on Universal Credit or Housing Benefit will be able to claim extra help towards their rental costs, as they will no longer be expected to share accommodation. These groups will be able to claim the higher one-bedroom rate of Local Housing Allowance. This is worth approximately £140 on average per month but the amount will vary depending on the area in which they live.
- Benefit cap levels increase
In April 2023, the government will also increase the benefit cap levels in line with inflation by 10.1%. The benefit cap levels will rise from £23,000 to £25,323 for families in Greater London and from £20,000 to £22,020 for families nationally. The levels for single households without children will rise from £15,410 to £16,967 in Greater London and from £13,400 to £14,753 nationally.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will provide a breakdown of the number of Universal Credit Official Error overpayments from 1 January 2018 to 6 December 2022, broken down by region.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) pays welfare benefits to around 23 million people.
We are unable to provide information on actual Universal Credit official error overpayments referred for recovery, as there is no longer a requirement to categorise a Universal Credit overpayment, other than where fraud has occurred. Overpayment data (both estimates and actuals) is not broken down by region.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the answer of 1 December to Question 95843, what was the total number of Universal Credit Official Error overpayments in Hounslow from 1 January 2018 to 6 December 2022.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) pays welfare benefits to around 23 million people.
We are unable to provide information on actual Universal Credit official error overpayments referred for recovery, as there is no longer a requirement to categorise a Universal Credit overpayment, other than where fraud has occurred. Overpayment data (both estimates and actuals) is not broken down by region.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 1 December to Question UIN 95843, how many Universal Credit Official Error overpayments there were from 1 January 2018 to 6 December 2022.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) pays welfare benefits to around 23 million people.
We are unable to provide information on actual Universal Credit official error overpayments referred for recovery, as there is no longer a requirement to categorise a Universal Credit overpayment, other than where fraud has occurred. Overpayment data (both estimates and actuals) is not broken down by region.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
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 raising the level of Bereavement Support Payment in line with inflation since 2017.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The rate of Bereavement Support Payment is reviewed on a discretionary basis as part of the annual uprating process. Following this year’s review, Bereavement Support Payment will stay at the current rate. This means that claimants on the standard rate will continue to receive a first payment of £2,500 and 18 monthly payments of £100, and those on the higher rate will receive £3,500 followed by 18 monthly payments of £350.
Bereavement Support Payment is intended to provide working people with short-term financial support following the death of a spouse or civil partner, to help towards the additional costs associated with a death. It is not means-tested unlike income replacement benefits such as Universal Credit, which we are increasing in line with inflation to protect the least well-off. Families needing extra financial support are protected by this welfare safety net.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
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 the cost of giving access to the State Pension to unpaid carers who meet the qualifying criteria for Carer’s Allowance up to five years earlier than State Pension Age.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
This Government is committed to providing a financial safety net for those who need it, including when they near or reach retirement. Support is available through the welfare system for those who are unable to work or are on a low income but are not eligible to pensioner benefits because of their age.
Unpaid carers of working age will have access to a range of support from the social security system where they meet the conditions. This includes Carer’s Allowance and Universal Credit for example, where the Carer’s Element is worth around £2,000 a year.
We believe it is important to ensure that people have certainty about when they can expect to receive their State Pension and a universal state pension age ensures the State Pension system is sustainable and fair to future generations.
Unlike a personal or workplace pension, which can potentially be drawn earlier, it has always been the case that nobody can claim their State Pension early, before they reach their State Pension age.
We have no plans to allow early access to State Pension.
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, with reference to the Autumn Statement 2022, published on 17 November 2022, CP 751, if he will take steps to ensure that the in-work conditionality measures will not be accompanied by sanctions.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
In-line with the 2012 Welfare Reform Act and the Universal Credit regulations of 2013 and 2015, we will expect claimants to undertake certain reasonable activities, such as meeting with their work coach, or they could face a sanction.
As happens now, claimants will only ever be sanctioned where, without good reason, they have failed to meet these reasonable requirements and all claimants will retain the right to mandatory reconsideration or appeal a decision should they disagree.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to uprate the value of the Bereavement Support payment which was introduced at its current level in 2017; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The rate of Bereavement Support Payment is reviewed on a discretionary basis as part of the annual uprating process. Following this year’s review, Bereavement Support Payment will stay at the current rate. This means that claimants on the standard rate will continue to receive a first payment of £2,500 and 18 monthly payments of £100, and those on the higher rate will receive £3,500 followed by 18 monthly payments of £350.
Bereavement Support Payment is intended to provide working people with short-term financial support following the death of a spouse or civil partner, to help towards the additional costs associated with a death. It is not means-tested unlike income replacement benefits such as Universal Credit, which we are increasing in line with inflation to protect the least well-off. Families needing extra financial support are protected by this welfare safety net.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to reduce benefit fraud.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Our Fraud Plan, Fighting Fraud in the Welfare System, published on 19 May 2022, sets out our approach and explains how the additional investment is allowing us to recruit 1,400 more staff into our counter-fraud teams, establish a new 2,000-strong team dedicated to reviewing 2 million existing Universal Credit (UC) claims and develop enhanced data analytics as a means of preventing and detecting fraud and error. More information on our Fraud Plan can be found here:
Fighting Fraud in the Welfare System - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The Government is investing £1.4billion of funding over the next three years in order to combat fraud and error, which includes a further £613 million to facilitate a number of new initiatives, which collectively will stop an estimated £2.0 billion of loss in fraud and error over the next three years. An additional £280m to help prevent abuse of the system and drive forward UC case checks was announced in the recent Autumn Statement.
This builds on the existing work DWP have done to address overpayments, with savings from the correction and prevention of fraud and error totalling £2 billion last year.