Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the effect of the No Recourse to Public Funds condition on (a) rough sleeping levels and (b) transmission of covid-19 in the next six months; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government remains committed to protecting vulnerable people and has acted decisively to ensure that we support everyone through this pandemic. During this time the Home Office has continued to work closely with Public Health Officials, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, and local authorities.
The Government has introduced a range of measures to ensure people can stay safe and many of these such as the Coronavirus Job retention scheme, and self-employment income support scheme are available for those with a no recourse to public funds (NRPF) condition. Contribution-based benefits are also not classed as public funds for immigration purposes. Testing and treatment for Covid-19 is also free of charge to all regardless of immigration status.
We have also launched the Test and Trace Support Payment scheme in England, which provides a £500 payment to people on low incomes who cannot work from home and have been told to self-isolate by NHS Test and Trace. Support is also available for those who are not in receipt of one of the seven means-tested benefits that are part of the eligibility criteria for the main scheme, but who will still face hardship if they have to self-isolate, in the form of a £500 discretionary payment, paid by local authorities. This payment is available to those with NRPF, provided they meet the criteria set by the local authority for discretionary payments in their area. Further information on this scheme can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/test-and-trace-support-payment-scheme-claiming-financial-support/claiming-financial-support-under-the-test-and-trace-support-payment-scheme
The Government has provided an unprecedented £7.2 billion of package of support to councils to help their communities through this pandemic, which includes their work to support rough sleepers. This includes £4.6 billion in un-ringfenced funding, £1.1 billion from the Infection Control Fund, £300 million to support Test and Trace as well as funding allocated to councils from the new Local Alert Level system and a number of grants to support communities and vulnerable people.
Migrants with leave under the Family and Human Rights routes can apply to have their NRPF condition lifted by making a ‘change of conditions’ application if they are destitute or at risk of destitution, if the welfare of their child is at risk due to their low income Since the onset of the pandemic, we have continued to prioritise NRPF ‘change of conditions’ applications and deal with them compassionately.
In light of?all the support that is?currently?available for?people in the UK, including those with an NRPF condition, we have no plans?to temporarily suspend NRPF.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to support fee-paid judges who have not earned enough this year to repay the loan offered by the judicial hardship fund.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The Ministry of Justice is committed to supporting fee-paid judges who have been affected by reduced sittings as a result of COVID-19.
We introduced the hardship scheme in May to enable advance payments to be made to fee-paid judges who were struggling financially. This was on the understanding that this money would be recovered gradually from recipients as sittings resumed.
We reviewed the repayment terms in August and, as a result, have made the following changes to make it easier for fee-paid judges to repay the advance:
We will continue to monitor the situation and will review repayment arrangements, on request, for anyone in the scheme who is concerned that they may struggle to make payment in full by March 2022.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to provide long-term sustainable funding to local government for councils (1) to undertake preventative work to address the causes of hardship and disadvantage, and (2) provide support to those households who need it.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
Spending Review 2020 confirmed that Core Spending Power is forecast to rise by 4.5 per cent in cash terms- a real terms increase. This package means local authorities will be able to access an estimated additional £2.2 billion to support Adult and Children’s Social Care and to maintain universal services.
Within their Core Spending Power, councils will have access to an additional £1billion for social care next year, made up of a £300 million increase to the social care grant and 3 per cent Adult Social Care precept. The additional £1 billion of grant funding announced at SR19 for Adult and Children’s Social Care will be continuing, along with all other existing social care funding including the improved Better Care Fund. The Settlement is unringfenced to ensure local areas can prioritise based on their own understanding of the needs of their local communities.
We also recently announced that the Troubled Families Programme, which provides early, effective and joined up support for families with complex needs, will continue into a new phase in 2021-21. Up to an additional £165 million has been available for the programme, which will continue to drive system change, both locally and nationally, to serve vulnerable families with the intensive, integrated support they need to overcome their problems before they escalate
The Troubled Families Programme’s evaluation shows that it has been successful in improving outcomes for vulnerable families and driving progress towards intensive, integrated support services. As of September 2020, the programme had funded areas to work with 439,956 families?in most need of help.?However, we know that local authorities are working in a whole family way with at least 865,000 families. As of September 2020, 382,626 families have made sustained improvements with the problems that led to them joining the programme. In 31,798 of these families one or more adults has moved off benefits and into sustained employment
At the Spending Review we announced an unprecedented package of support for local authorities to combat the Covid-19 pandemic, including measures worth an estimated circa £3 billion of additional support for Covid-19 pressures next year, along with extending the current Sales, Fees and Charges scheme (which refunds 75 per cent of eligible income loss beyond a 5 per cent threshold) into the first three months of 2021-22.
This is on top of the support committed this financial year, including over £7.2 billion for local authorities, even before the extension of the Contain Outbreak Management Fund for those authorities under the highest level of restriction – potentially worth over £200 million a month – announced as part of the Covid-19 Winter Plan. This takes the total support committed to councils in England to tackle the impacts of Covid-19 to over £10 billion.
Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will allocate funding to the Department for Work and Pensions to (a) make the £20 uplift to universal credit permanent and (b) extend that uplift to legacy benefits.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The £20 per week increase to the Universal Credit (UC) standard allowance and Working Tax Credit basic element is specifically aimed at providing significant temporary support to low income families who have seen their income fall as a result of the immediate impact of the crisis, and will run until March. It is right that we wait for more clarity on the economic and health context before making any further decisions, particularly given how quickly things can move, as demonstrated by recent developments on a vaccine.
The increase is just one part of wide-ranging Government measures to support people through the Covid-19 crisis, which are worth £280bn this year. Low income families are also benefiting from higher Local Housing Allowance rates, mortgage holidays, a temporary suspension of the UC Minimum Income Floor, a £500m local authority Hardship Fund, a £170m local authority Covid Winter Grant scheme, and £500 payments to help people self-isolate under NHS Test and Trace.
In recent years the Government has invested significantly in UC, including by raising work allowances by £1,000 from April 2019, benefitting working parents and people with disabilities by up to £630 per year.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans his Department has to allocate funding to maintain the £20 per week uplift to universal credit beyond spring 2021.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The £20 per week increase to the Universal Credit (UC) standard allowance and Working Tax Credit basic element is specifically aimed at providing significant temporary support to low income families who have seen their income fall as a result of the immediate impact of the crisis, and will run until the beginning of April. It is right that we wait for more clarity on the economic and health context before making any further decisions, particularly given how quickly things can move, as demonstrated by recent developments on a vaccine.
The increase is just one part of wide-ranging Government measures to support people through the Covid-19 crisis, which are worth £280bn this year. Low income families are also benefiting from higher Local Housing Allowance rates, mortgage holidays, a temporary suspension of the UC Minimum Income Floor, a £500m local authority Hardship Fund, a £170m local authority Covid Winter Grant scheme, and £500 payments to help people self-isolate under NHS Test and Trace.
In recent years the Government has invested significantly in UC, including by raising work allowances by £1,000 from April 2019, benefitting working parents and people with disabilities by up to £630 per year.
While social security policy is devolved to Northern Ireland, the Executive will continue to be appropriately funded to deliver in NI any changes to GB benefits such as UC.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department plans to provide financial support to student nurses for their time on placement during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
Students who volunteered on a paid placement as part of the COVID-19 response received a salary and automatic NHS pension entitlement at the appropriate band. Since September 2020, all eligible new and continuing nursing, midwifery and many allied health students on pre-registration courses at English universities can benefit from at least £5,000 per academic year of additional maintenance grant funding, which they will not need to pay back. This funding is in addition to the support that students can already access through the student loans system, subject to eligibility, and the existing learning support fund, which includes funding for childcare, specific support for placements through travel and dual accommodation expenses and support for exceptional hardship.
Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on the number of households in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England that have fallen into Council Tax arrears.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
The Department does not collect data on the number of households that have fallen into council tax arrears. The Government has made available a £500 million Hardship Fund to councils in England to provide support to economically vulnerable households, including through further reductions in council tax to recipients of working age local council tax support.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Government's steps to tackle problem debt.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government has delivered unprecedented support for living standards during this challenging time, protecting livelihoods with the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, and temporary welfare measures
The Government has extended the Coronavirus Jobs Retention Scheme until 31 March 2021. Eligible employees will continue to receive 80% of their usual salary for hours not worked, up to a maximum of £2,500 per month. The Government has increased the overall level of the third grant under the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme to 80 per cent of average trading profits, meaning that the maximum grant available has now increased to £7,500
The Government has provided Local Authorities with £500 million to support people who may struggle to meet their council tax payments this year. The Government expects that this will provide all recipients of working age local council tax support with a further reduction in their annual council tax bill of £150 this financial year
These measures are in addition to the changes this Government has made to make the welfare system more generous, worth over £7 billion according to recent OBR estimates. This includes a £20 per week increase to the Universal Credit standard allowance and Working Tax Credit basic element, and a nearly £1 billion increase in support for renters through increases to Local Housing Allowance rates
We have also worked with mortgage lenders, credit providers and the Financial Conduct Authority to ensure the financial sector provides support for people across the UK to manage their finances by providing payment holidays on mortgages and consumer credit products
The Government has also provided unprecedented support for businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. This support includes the Coronavirus Business Interruption Scheme, Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Scheme, Bounce Back Loan Scheme and the Future Fund which, as of 18th October, have collectively supported over 1.4 million businesses with facilities worth more than £62 billion. The Chancellor has announced that the Government has extended the application deadline for these schemes to a single date, 31 January 2020, meaning that even more businesses will have access to financial support
To help people in problem debt get their finances back on track, an extra £37.8 million support package is being made available to debt advice providers this financial year, bringing this year's budget for free debt advice in England to over £100 million
In May, the Government also announced the immediate release of £65 million dormant assets funding to Fair4All Finance, an independent organisation that has been founded to support the financial wellbeing of people in vulnerable circumstances. The funding is used to increase access to fair, affordable and appropriate financial products and services for those in financial difficulties
From May 2021 the Breathing Space scheme will offer people in problem debt a pause of up to 60 days on most enforcement action, interest, fees and charges, and will encourage them to seek professional debt advice
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many universal credit claims have been subject to deductions; what the average amount was of those deductions; what the total sum deducted from those claims was; and what proportion of those deductions was, on average, for the purposes of repaying advance payments, in each constituency, in the most recent month for which data are available.
Answered by Will Quince
From 3rd April 2020, deductions from Universal Credit for some government debt, such as Tax Credits, benefit overpayments and Social Fund Loans were suspended for 3 months. This was done to ease the financial pressure of debt recovery on benefit claimants and to also allow Debt Management staff to be re-deployed to focus on the unprecedented volume of new claims received during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Universal Credit advance repayments are made gradually over 12 months, and deductions are capped at 30% of a claimant’s standard allowance. This is further to the reduction of the overall maximum level of deductions from 40% to 30% of the standard allowance since October 2019.
From October 2021, the repayment period will be extended from 12 months to 24 months deductions cap will be reduced from 30% to 25%.
For those who find themselves in unexpected hardship, advance repayments can be deferred for up to three months in certain cases.
The requested information surrounding deductions to Universal Credit payments by parliamentary constituency is shown in the attached table.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many organisations in Christchurch constituency have applied for funding through the Coronavirus Community Support Fund; and what criteria are used to assess those applications.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Government has made available an unprecedented £750 million package of support, specifically for charities, social enterprises and the voluntary sector. This will ensure charities and other civil society organisations, including those at risk of financial hardship, can continue their vital work during the Covid-19 outbreak.
£200 million of this package is being administered and distributed by the National Lottery Community Fund (TNLCF) through the Coronavirus Community Support Fund which is mainly targeting smaller and local VCSE organisations. TNLCF received 7 total applications from Christchurch constituency for the Coronavirus Community Support Fund. 3 were successful, 3 were unsuccessful and 1 was withdrawn by the applicant. Each of the unsuccessful applicants were provided with the results of their application and the reason for being unsuccessful.
Applications to the CCSF are assessed on the extent to which they meet the objectives of the Programme as set out in guidance published on the NLCF website, including among other criteria: Organisations that support people and communities who have experienced disproportionate challenge and difficulty as a result of the COVID-19 crisis; Organisations providing services and support for vulnerable people, for which there will be increased demand as a result of the COVID-19 crisis; and Organisations which connect communities and support communities to work together to respond to Covid-19.