Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of extending the Covid Local Support Grant scheme.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Covid Winter Grant and the Covid Local Support Grant provided Local Authorities in England with total funding of £429m to September 2021, to help them to support the most vulnerable households in their areas with the costs of household essentials during the COVID-19 pandemic. These schemes have now ended.
However, we recognise that some people may require extra support over the winter as we enter the final stages of recovery, which is why vulnerable households across the country will now be able to access a new £500 million support fund to help them with essentials. The Household Support Fund will provide £421 million to help vulnerable people in England. The Barnett Formula will apply in the usual way, with the devolved administrations receiving almost £80 million (£41m for the Scottish Government, £25m for the Welsh Government and £14m for the NI Executive), for a total of £500 million.
Asked by: Matt Rodda (Labour - Reading East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will publish her Departments’ analysis supporting the decision to disregard average earnings increases when determining the next State Pension uprating for 2022-23.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
DWP expect average earnings figures for July to be around the level seen in June and this would produce a May to July annual earnings growth figure of 8 to 8.5%.
The Social Security (Up-rating of Benefits) Bill will ensure pensioners’ spending power is preserved and that they are protected from higher costs of living. But it will also ensure that as we are having to make difficult decisions elsewhere across public spending, pensioners are not unfairly benefitting from a statistical anomaly.
Annual growth in average employee pay is being affected by temporary factors that have inflated the increase in the headline growth rate. These are compositional effects where there has been a fall in the number and proportion of lower-paid employee jobs and base effects where the latest months are now compared with low base periods when earnings were first affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of providing a £20 per week uplift to legacy benefits.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
There are no plans to extend the temporary Universal Credit uplift to legacy benefits, and Parliament has voted to bring an end to legacy benefits in Great Britain. Natural migration to Universal Credit (UC) is required when a person needs to claim new support because of a change of circumstances.
Claimants on legacy benefits can voluntarily make a claim for UC if they believe that they will be better off. Claimants considering making a claim should check carefully their eligibility and entitlements under UC before applying, as legacy benefits will end when claimants submit their UC claim and they will not be able to return to them in the future. For this reason, prospective claimants are signposted to independent benefits calculators on GOV.UK. They can also get help through the government funded Help to Claim scheme as well as the Citizens Advice Bureau and Citizens Advice Scotland.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of (a) suspending and (b) raising the benefit cap during the covid-19 outbreak to allow the uplift to reach a greater number of children at risk of poverty.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the Rt. Hon Member to my response to question 182023.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
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 potential merits of suspending, or raising, the benefit cap during the covid-19 outbreak to allow the uplift to reach a greater number of children at risk of poverty.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
There are currently no plans to make changes to the benefit cap. The Benefit Cap restores fairness between those receiving out-of-work benefits and taxpayers in employment. Helping claimants back into work, including through delivery of our Plan for Jobs, remains a primary focus. Returning to employment will significantly increase the likelihood of a household not being affected by the cap, as it does not apply where households have monthly earnings of at least £617.
The Government firmly believes that it is in the best interests of children to be in working households where possible because work, particularly full time work, substantially reduces the likelihood of being in poverty.
Claimants can approach their Local Authority for a Discretionary Housing Payment if they need additional help to meet rental costs.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
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 ensure that people who are claiming benefits as a result of long covid receive the correct claim.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
As research into the long-term health symptoms and impacts of COVID-19 is ongoing, we are collaborating across Government to monitor emerging evidence and consider our response.
People living with a condition arising from exposure to the COVID-19 virus can access the financial support that is available through Statutory Sick Pay, Universal Credit and New Style ESA. They are also able to access Personal Independence Payment in the same way as other people with long-term health conditions or disabilities. Disability benefits do not include or exclude by condition, instead they look at the needs arising from a long-term health condition or disability. People may be able to claim ESA or Pension Credit depending on their individual circumstances.
Claimants are offered additional support where appropriate alongside signposting to independent benefits calculators on GOV.UK. They can also get help through the Government funded Help to Claim scheme as well as the Citizens Advice Bureau and Citizens Advice Scotland to support them in receiving the benefits they are entitled to.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment the Government's Disability Unit has made of the effect on disabled people of the ending of temporary easements in the welfare system introduced during the first lockdown, including a pause on sanctions, a suspension of benefit reassessments, and a suspension of benefit recovery; and what steps she has taken in response to that assessment.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave to PQ UIN 161760 on 8 March 2021.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of providing a £20 per week uplift to legacy benefits.
Answered by Will Quince
The £20 per week uplift to Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit was announced by the Chancellor as a temporary measure in March 2020 to support those facing the most financial disruption as a result of the public health emergency. This measure remains in place until September 2021.
The temporary Universal Credit Standard Allowance uplift was introduced to support those facing the most financial disruption due to the pandemic. There are no plans to extend the uplift to legacy benefits. Claimants on legacy benefits can make a claim for Universal Credit (UC) if they believe that they will be better off. Claimants should check carefully their eligibility and entitlements under UC before applying as legacy benefits will end when claimants submit their claim and they will not be able to return to them in the future.
Support is also available for legacy claimants migrating across to UC. Since 22 July, a two-week run-on of Income Support, income-related Employment and Support Allowance and income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance is paid to eligible claimants to provide additional support to move to Universal Credit.
Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the 0.5 per cent increase in legacy benefits in meeting the costs incurred by claimants as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In April 2020, legacy benefits were increased by £600m (1.7%), and, as part of the Government’s annual up-rating exercise, we will ensure that benefits retain their value against prices by raising benefits by a further £100m (0.5%) from April, in line with CPI
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the financial effect of the covid-19 outbreak on people on legacy benefits; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Legacy benefits were increased by 1.7% in April 2020 following the Government’s announcement to end the benefit freeze and 0.5% this coming year.
We increased the Local Housing Allowance rates for Universal Credit and Housing Benefit claimants, so they now cover the lowest 30% of local rents. This increase, costing almost £1 billion, will mean that 1.5 million households see an increase, on average, of £600 this year. We also increased the additional earnings disregard in Housing Benefit to ensure increases in the maximum rate of the basic element of Working Tax Credit did not impact on a claimant’s Housing Benefit award.
We legislated to allow access to Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) from day one of a claim for Covid-19 related cases and we have made it easier to access ESA by launching a portal for new style ESA online claims.
It has always been the case that claimants on legacy benefits can make a claim for UC if they believe that they will be better off. There are special arrangements for those in receipt of the Severe Disability Premium, who are now able to make a new claim to UC. Claimants should check their eligibility before applying to UC as legacy benefits will end when they submit their claim and they will not be able to return to them in the future.
From 22nd July 2020, a two-week run on of Income Support, Employment and Support Allowance (IR) and Jobseeker’s Allowance (IB) is available for all claimants whose claim to UC ends entitlement to these benefits to provide additional support for claimants moving to UC.