Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people (a) claimed and (b) were eligible to claim Pension Credit in each of the last three financial years.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The latest available Pension Credit take-up statistics for Great Britain cover the financial year 2021 to 2022 and are available at: Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up: financial year ending 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). These statistics were suspended for financial year ending (FYE) 2021 due to data issues following the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. More recent caseload statistics are made publicly available via DWP Stat-xplore. These are published quarterly. It should be noted that any numbers regarding eligibility are estimates based on the number of Pension Credit recipients in each of the last three financial years and the estimated number of Pension Credit entitled non-recipients in each of the last three financial years).
FYE | Number of recipients (millions) |
2020 | 1.49 |
2021 | 1.41 |
2022 | 1.35 |
FYE | Estimated number of people eligible (millions) |
2020 | 2.26 |
2021 | Not available |
2022 | 2.15 |
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much pension credit was unclaimed in (a) 2021, (b) 2022 and (c) 2023.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The latest available Pension Credit take-up statistics cover the financial year 2021 to 2022 and are available at: Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up: financial year ending 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). These statistics were suspended for financial year ending 2021 due to data issues following the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
In the financial year ending 2022, the estimated amount of unclaimed Pension Credit was £1.72 billion.
Asked by: Ian Blackford (Scottish National Party - Ross, Skye and Lochaber)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of claimants of New Style Employment Support Allowance were refused assistance because of insufficient National Insurance contributions during the covid-19 pandemic; and if he will make it his policy to reduce the requirement for National Insurance contributions in that period.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
As part of the Government's strategy to support people affected by the Coronavirus, we made a number of changes to ensure people who needed financial help could have access to the benefit system. People who were unable to claim New Style ESA due to insufficient National Insurance credits could alternatively make a claim for Universal Credit, which is a means tested benefit. There are no plans to change the New Style ESA contribution conditions for this period of the Coronavirus pandemic.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 8 March 2023 to Question 161211 on Universal Credit: Coronavirus, how much was not collected in deductions from Universal Credit as a result of the suspension of deductions during the covid-19 pandemic in the period between January 2020 and January 2021.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and in agreement with His Majesty’s Treasury and the Chancellor, debt recovery was paused for 3 months from April 2020.
Due to the number of variables involved, and taking account of the phased reintroduction of debt recovery, we cannot accurately provide details of the amount not collected in deductions from Universal Credit for the period January 2020 to January 2021.
The department continues to have a well-established process for working with individuals to support them to manage their debts; this might result in agreeing a reduced rate of deduction or, in exceptional cases, suspending repayments. Individuals impacted by the pandemic may have contacted the department seeking a reduction in, or suspension of, their rate of repayment, had the department not suspended all recovery.
Processing of newly identified overpayments was also suspended, and we are unable to accurately estimate the rate of repayment that would have been negotiated given the impact of the pandemic.
Additionally, as we recommenced recovery, changes to individual circumstances may have led to a lower rate of repayment than was in place prior to the pandemic.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people claiming Personal Independence Payments have covid-19 classified as their primary reason for claiming that benefit.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
As of March 2021, a new code, ‘Coronavirus Covid 19’, has been added to the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) disability coding system in Infectious disease, Viral disease B01-B10 section with other viral diseases.
Claimants under ‘Coronavirus Covid 19’ are a group of people who remain unwell at 12 weeks, with a wide variety of symptoms whose long-term prognosis is unknown. These people meet the diagnostic criteria for post Covid-19 syndrome. Some may recover in a few more months, some may recover over a longer time period. Others may remain unwell or become more unwell over time. Fluctuating functional impairment and wide-ranging symptoms that change over time seem to be a feature of the condition. It is those claimants who have significant functional impairment at 12 weeks, who do not seem to be recovering, who may have entitlement to PIP. Claimants do not have to have had a positive test result to be diagnosed with the syndrome. Testing has not always been easily available.
Data on PIP applications can be found on Stat-Xplore.
In particular, the PIP cases with entitlement dataset allows you to view the number of cases with entitlement split by primary condition. ‘Coronavirus Covid-19’ can be selected by expanding ‘Infectious disease’ then ‘Viral diseases’. Please note that there may be other claimants where the ongoing impact of a Coronavirus infection has influenced the award of PIP. Data is based on primary disabling condition as recorded on the PIP computer systems. Claimants may often have multiple disabling conditions upon which the decision is based but only the primary condition is shown in these statistics. There may be claimants with long Covid who came onto the benefit before March 2021 who are not recorded under the new code.
You can log in, or access Stat-Xplore as a guest user, which still gives instant access to the main functions, and, if needed, you can access guidance on how to extract the information required.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people claiming Personal Independence Payments with covid-19 classified as their primary reason for claiming that benefit are awaiting a tribunal hearing.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
As of March 2021, a new code, ‘Coronavirus Covid-19’, has been added to the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) disability coding system in the Infectious disease, Viral disease B01-B10 section with other viral diseases.
Claimants under ‘Coronavirus Covid-19’ are a group of people who remain unwell at 12 weeks, with a wide variety of symptoms whose long-term prognosis is unknown. These people meet the diagnostic criteria for post Covid-19 syndrome. Some may recover in a few more months, some may recover over a longer time period. Others may remain unwell or become more unwell over time. Fluctuating functional impairment and wide-ranging symptoms that change over time seem to be a feature of the condition. It is those claimants who have significant functional impairment at 12 weeks who do not seem to be recovering, who may have entitlement to PIP. Claimants do not have to have had a positive test result to be diagnosed with the syndrome. Testing has not always been easily available.
For Personal Independence Payment (PIP) initial decisions made up to 30th June 2022, where ‘Coronavirus Covid-19’ was recorded as a claimant’s primary condition, there were 290 lodged appeals (8% of initial decisions) with no appeal outcome recorded by 30th September 2022.
Please note:
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure that children with long covid are (a) assessed for and (b) awarded Disability Living Allowance.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
Disability Living Allowance (DLA) is an extra-costs benefit available as a contribution to the extra costs associated with being disabled to those children under the age of 16 who, due to a disability or health condition, have mobility issues and/or have needs which are substantially in excess of a child the same age without the disability or health condition. Entitlement to DLA depends on the effects that severe disability has on a child’s life, and not on a particular disability or diagnosis. The needs arising from Long Covid are assessed in the same way as for all other health conditions or disabilities.
From March 2021 we amended DLA statistical classifications to include the category “Coronavirus COVID-19”. Data on the DLA caseload by a range of factors, including main disabling condition, can be extracted from Stat-Xplore - Log in (dwp.gov.uk). Information on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found at Getting Started (dwp.gov.uk).
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, pursuant to the Answer of 30 January 2023 to Question 132435 on Jobcentres: Closures, whether any Jobcentre staff have been advised of the closure of the temporary centre at which they are employed.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities
Further to question 132435 answered in the House of Commons on 30 January 2023 and question 127881 answered in the House of Commons on 24 January 2023, the Department has not made any formal announcements to staff regarding decommissioning temporary Jobcentres as part of its ongoing review of the Jobcentre estate.
The review is in progress and the Department will communicate outcomes with Jobcentre staff when a decision has been made on any sites that may impact them. MPs will be contacted should a decision regarding a Jobcentre estate be made that could affect their constituents.
A full list of the temporary Jobcentre sites can be found on GOV.UK.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 24 January 2023 to Question 127881 on Jobcentres: Closures, if he will list the locations and proposed closure dates of the temporary Jobcentres that his Department has already made a decision to close.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities
Further to question 127881 answered in the House of Commons on 24 January 2023, the Department can confirm that it continues to review its Jobcentre estate with a view to start returning to its pre-pandemic size.
Once the Department is ready to provide more information on proposed closure locations, and dates, it will share the news with staff first and I can assure the House that all MPs will be contacted when a decision has been made on any sites that may impact on their constituents.
A full list of the temporary sites can be found on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Lord Green of Deddington (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many arrivals by (1) Ukrainians and their dependants, (2) Hong Kong BNOs and their dependants, and (3) Afghan citizens and their dependants, are included in the latest Office for National Statistics net migration figures, published on 24 November.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon. Member's Parliamentary Question: HL3965 and HL3966 are attached.
Professor Sir Ian Diamond | National Statistician
Lord Green of Deddington
House of Lords
London
SW1A 0PW
12 December 2022
Dear Lord Green,
As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Questions asking how many arrivals by (1) Ukrainians and their dependants, (2) Hong Kong BNOs and their dependants, and (3) Afghan citizens and their dependants, are included in the latest Office for National Statistics net migration figures, published on 24 November; and when the International Passenger Survey (IPS) stopped being used as a significant element in calculating net migration; and what has taken its place (HL3965;HL3966).
In the Office for National Statistics (ONS) bulletin published on 24 November, Section 4, Migration Events[1] details the following published Home Office data included in the ONS’ total long-term international migration estimates:
Ukrainians: around 89,000 arrived in the UK in the year to June 2022
Afghans: around 21,000 arrived in the UK in the year to June 2022
For British nationals overseas (BN(O)) status holders and their families from Hong Kong, colleagues from the ONS and the Home Office are working together to resolve how we identify those that are long-term international migrants in the data. Home Office statistics show that around 76,000 visas were issued for the BN(O) route in the year ending June 2022. This will represent the upper bound for arrivals, as not all of those with a visa will arrive in the UK or stay long term. The ONS is also working to identify BN(O) status holders in their International Passenger Survey (IPS) data using country of birth and country of last residences as this may help provide a more robust estimate. Current analysis suggests that 28,000 British nationals with a country of birth of Hong Kong immigrated into the UK in the year ending June 2022.
The long-term international migration data from the IPS was the largest component of the LongTerm International Migration (LTIM) estimates until its suspension in March 2020 because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
In August 2020 the ONS announced that they would not return to producing official migration statistics from the IPS because it had been stretched beyond its original purpose. The ONS now focuses on measuring actual migration, as opposed to intentions, using primarily administrative data (admin-based migration estimates (ABMEs)). The ONS’ International migration statistical design progress report: July 2022 provides more information.[2]
For the latest long-term international migration estimates; non-EU figures are based on Home Office Border Systems data, EU figures are based on Registration and Population Interaction Database (RAPID) data received from Department for Work and Pensions and HM Revenue and Customs, and British Nationals figures are based on the International Passenger Survey (IPS). See the Measuring the data section[3] for more detail. Thank you for your continued interest in our international migration estimates.
Yours sincerely,
Professor Sir Ian Diamond
[1] https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/internationalmigration/ bulletins/longterminternationalmigrationprovisional/yearendingjune2022#migration-events
[2] https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/internationalmigration/ articles/internationalmigrationstatisticaldesignprogressreport/july2022
[3] https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/internationalmigration/ bulletins/longterminternationalmigrationprovisional/yearendingjune2022#measuring-the-data