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, what assessment he has made of the impact of his Department's policies on food bank use in the UK.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Foodbanks are independent, charitable organisations and the Department for Work and Pensions does not have any role in their operation.
National statistics on food bank use for 2021/22 are available here. We aim to publish statistics for 2022/23 in March 2024.
This Government recognises the pressures on the cost of living. Around 19 million families will have seen their benefit payments increase from April 2023, including the State Pension, Pension Credit, disability benefit and Universal Credit. We are also increasing the benefit cap by 10.1% - from £20,000 to £22,020 for families nationally, so that more households will see their payments increase as a result of uprating.
This Government is also delivering a £94 billion package over this year and next to help households and individuals with the rising cost of living.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the Disability Cost of Living Payment.
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 has taken further, decisive action to support them providing total support of over £94bn over 2022-23 and 2023-24 to help households and individuals, including disabled people, with the rising cost of living.
The Energy Price Guarantee is supporting millions of households with rising energy costs in addition to other cost of living support delivered last year, which includes:
For those who require additional support the current Household Support Fund, running in England from 1 October 2022 to 31 March 2023, is providing £421 million of funding. The devolved administrations have been allocated £79 million through the Barnett formula.
The Household Support Fund will continue until March 2024. This year long extension allows Local Authorities in England to continue to provide discretionary support to those most in need with the significantly rising cost of living. The guidance for Local Authorities for this next iteration has now been published and can be found here: 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024: Household Support Fund guidance for county councils and unitary authorities in England - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). The Devolved Administrations will receive consequential funding as usual to spend at their discretion.
This month we uprated benefit rates and State Pensions by 10.1%. In order to increase the number of households who can benefit from these uprating decisions, the benefit cap levels are also increasing by the same amount.
In addition, for 2023/24, households on eligible means-tested benefits will get up to £900 in Cost of Living Payments. This will be split into three payments of around £300 each across the 2023/24 financial year. The first payment is due to be paid to eligible households from tomorrow (25th May). A separate £300 payment will be made to pensioner households on top of their Winter Fuel Payments and individuals in receipt of eligible disability benefits will receive a £150 payment. Further to this, the Energy Price Guarantee will be extended from April 2023 until the end of March 2024, meaning a typical household bill will be around £3,000 per year in Great Britain.
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, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the carer's allowance earnings threshold in line with inflation.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Earlier this month the weekly Carer’s Allowance earnings limit increased from £132 to £139 net. This increase of 5.5% is in line with growth in Average Weekly Earnings for the year to May-July 2022, as published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
DWP uses the ONS Annual Average Weekly Earnings growth measure for benefit uprating purposes where appropriate, as it is regarded as the most robust and up to date estimate of earnings growth across the economy available at the time we review the earnings limit. Increases in the Carer’s Allowance weekly earnings limit are designed to try and ensure that it maintains its value. Therefore, the appropriate proxy for any increase is changes in wages (wage inflation), rather than a wider price inflation measure. Since 2010, the earnings limit will have increased by nearly 40%.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association’s Out Of Pocket campaign, if he will uplift the disabled child elements of Universal Credit and Child Tax Credit by £15 a month in addition to the CPI-linked uplift.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
There are no plans to further increase the disabled child elements of Universal Credit and Child Tax Credit beyond the annual uprating that occurred in April 2023.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what further support with essential food and energy costs his Department has provided to vulnerable households.
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 taking action to help.
To protect the most vulnerable we have increased benefits in line with inflation. This means that they have risen by September 2022 Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation – 10.1%. In order to increase the number of households who can benefit from these uprating decisions, benefit cap levels have also increased by the same amount.
Households on eligible means-tested benefits will get up to £900 in Cost of Living Payments, paid in three separate payments of £301, £300 and £299 across the 2023/24 financial year. The first payment of £301 will be paid to the majority of those eligible between 25 April and 17 May. In addition, over 6 million people on qualifying disability benefits will receive a separate Disability Cost of Living payment of £150 in the summer and more than eight million pensioner households will receive an additional £300 Cost of Living Payment during winter 2023/24.
Further to this, as announced in the Spring Statement, the government is maintaining the Energy Price Guarantee at £2,500 until the end of June. This will ensure that households across the UK are supported through the spring while retail energy costs are expected to remain high.
For people who require additional support, whether they receive benefits or not, the Household Support Fund will continue until March 2024. This year long extension allows Local Authorities in England to continue to provide discretionary support to those most in need with the significantly rising cost of living. The guidance for Local Authorities for this next iteration has now been published and can be found here. This sets out that the fund should be used to support households in the most need, particularly those who are not eligible for other cost of living support such as Cost of Living Payments. The Devolved Administrations will receive consequential funding as usual to spend at their discretion.
To further support those who are in work, from 1 April, the National Living Wage (NLW) has increased by 9.7% to £10.42 an hour for workers aged 23 and over - the largest ever cash increase for the NLW.
This support is in addition to that provided in 2022/23, including cost of living payments for people on eligible benefits, the Energy Price Guarantee and the £400 non-repayable discount to eligible households provided through the Energy Bills Support Scheme.
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, what steps he is taking to (a) support parents of disabled children and (b) help those parents return to work.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Government is committed to providing extensive support to help parents return to work, including parents of disabled children. Recognising that high childcare costs can affect parents’ decisions about work and hours, the Government has announced improvements to the UC childcare element, offering additional financial support to parents starting work, or increasing their earnings.
The Government believes that the best way to support living standards is through good work, better skills, and higher wages, which is why, on the 24 November 2021, the Universal Credit taper rate was reduced from 63% to 55%, enabling claimants to keep more of their earnings. Parents also benefit from the Work Allowance, which is increasing by £500 a year, in addition to the normal benefits uprating.
When a dependent child is disabled, the claimant may qualify for Disabled Child Addition. To be eligible, the child must be receiving Disability Living Allowance (DLA). DLA is available to eligible children under 16, regardless of the family’s income. Parents of disabled children, like all claimants, agree to commitments that are tailored to their circumstances and improve the likelihood of them moving into work.
Asked by: Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government why British Citizens who are subject to taxation by HM Revenue & Customs and are living in a British Overseas Territory are not eligible for an uplift in their state pension.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
There is no connection between State Pension uprating and taxation.
An individual’s UK State Pension is based on the number of qualifying years on their National Insurance record.
The Government has a clear position, which has remained a consistent policy of successive Governments for around 70 years. UK State Pensions are payable worldwide and are uprated abroad where we have a legal requirement to do so; for example in the European Economic Area, or countries where we have a reciprocal social security agreement that allows for State Pension uprating which include the British Overseas Territories of Gibraltar and Bermuda. We have no plans to change this policy.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Southwark (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what representations they have received from, or on behalf of the governments of (1) Canada, (2) Australia, and (3) New Zealand, in the past 12 months on the subject of UK state pensions paid to individuals resident in their territories, and their annual uprating in line with those paid in the United Kingdom; and what representations have they received from non-governmental groups on the same subject.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The government does not have a policy to increase the number of countries with which the UK has reciprocal agreements on state pensions. The government has no plans to change its social security relationship with these countries on state pensions.
Requests for social security agreements may be raised in formal and informal meetings and in correspondence at both ministerial and official level. The Department for Work and Pensions does not, as a matter of routine, maintain full records of such requests. The department can, however, confirm that a response was provided to the government of Canada in August 2022 on its request to conclude a reciprocal agreement to include state pension uprating, where the department outlined its longstanding position as stated above.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Southwark (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what stage they have reached in negotiations with (1) the government of Canada, (2) the government of Australia, and (3) the government of New Zealand, on the annual uprating and payment of the UK state pension to beneficiaries resident in those countries.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The government does not have a policy to increase the number of countries with which the UK has reciprocal agreements on state pensions. The government has no plans to change its social security relationship with these countries on state pensions.
Requests for social security agreements may be raised in formal and informal meetings and in correspondence at both ministerial and official level. The Department for Work and Pensions does not, as a matter of routine, maintain full records of such requests. The department can, however, confirm that a response was provided to the government of Canada in August 2022 on its request to conclude a reciprocal agreement to include state pension uprating, where the department outlined its longstanding position as stated above.
Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to support (a) visually impaired children and (b) their families with the cost of living.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Government understands the pressures people, including families with a disabled child or children, are facing with the cost of living. Children with a visual impairment may be entitled to Disability Living Allowance (DLA), which is a contribution towards the extra costs associated with being disabled. Recipients are free to choose how they spend DLA, and there is no requirement for them to use it for any particular purpose. Entitlement to DLA depends on the effects that a disability or health condition has on a child’s life and not on a particular disability or diagnosis.
DLA can passport families to a range of additional support including:
o Child disability additions paid within income related benefits;
o Carer’s Allowance for an informal carer;
o The Motability vehicle scheme; and
o The Blue Badge scheme.
DLA also exempts the eligible household from the Benefit Cap.
In April, we are uprating benefit rates and State Pensions by 10.1%. In order to increase the number of households who can benefit from these uprating decisions, the benefit cap levels are also increasing by the same amount.
In addition, for 2023/24, households on eligible means-tested benefits will get up to £900 in Cost of Living Payments. This will be split into three payments across the 2023/24 financial year, with the first payment of £301 being made between 25 April and 17 May. A separate £150 payment will be made to individuals in receipt of eligible disability benefits, including DLA, in the summer. Further to this, the Energy Price Guarantee will be extended from April 2023 until the end of March 2024, meaning a typical household bill will be around £3,000 per year in Great Britain.
The Household Support Fund will continue until March 2024. This year long extension allows local authorities in England to continue to provide discretionary support to those most in need with the significantly rising cost of living. The guidance for local authorities for this next iteration has now been published and can be found here: 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024: Household Support Fund guidance for county councils and unitary authorities in England - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). The devolved administrations will receive consequential funding as usual to spend at their discretion.