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, how many households are not having their benefits capped as a result of the benefit cap grace period.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Information relating to households not having their benefits capped as a result of the benefit cap grace period is not readily available, and to provide it would incur disproportionate costs.
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, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the eligibility criteria of the benefit cap grace period.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
There are no plans to amend the eligibility of the benefit cap grace period. Helping claimants back into work, including through delivery of our Plan for Jobs, remains a primary focus, as returning to employment will significantly increase the likelihood of a household not being affected by the cap.
Asked by: Neil Gray (Scottish National Party - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will reintroduce the suspension of work-related conditionality and sanctions for the January 2021 covid-19 lockdown period.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
There are no plans to reintroduce the suspension of conditionality and related sanctions for the January 2021 lockdown. Work Coaches will continue to work with claimants to ensure claimant commitments are reasonable for claimants’ circumstances, and allows them to continue to adhere to Covid-19 public health advice.
Asked by: Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party - Lanark and Hamilton East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what financial support is available to people who have been diagnosed with long covid.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
People who are under State Pension Age and have a disability or health condition that affects their ability to work can apply for New Style Employment and Support Allowance (NS ESA), subject to the wider eligibility criteria.
Where an individual is not furloughed, and they are sick or incapable of work, they may be eligible for Statutory Sick Pay from their employer subject to satisfying entitlement conditions.
In addition, where an individual’s income is reduced while off work sick and they require further financial support, they may be able to receive Universal Credit, depending on their personal circumstances. Those with long term health conditions may also be eligible for help with the additional costs that can arise from a long-term health condition or disability through Personal Independence Payment, Attendance Allowance or Disability Living Allowance, depending on their age.
Asked by: Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party - Lanark and Hamilton East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people are in receipt of (a) employment support allowance and (b) personal independence payment as a result of a long covid diagnosis.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
In relation to your question on Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), Information on lower level medical conditions is not currently available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
The available information on the number of Employment and Support Allowance claimants by high level medical conditions is published here:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk
Guidance for users is available at:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html
In respect of your question on Personal Independence Payment (PIP), the information you requested is not held by the Department. A specific diagnosis code for Long Covid does not exist in the PIP Computer System. Claimants who experience Long Covid symptoms will have a disability recorded that links with the claimant’s functional needs.
Statistics on the number PIP Claims with Entitlement broken down by disability for each month from April 2013 – October 2020 is published on Stat-Xplore:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk
Guidance for users is available at:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html
Asked by: Jonathan Reynolds (Labour (Co-op) - Stalybridge and Hyde)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many welfare claimants have seen their benefit cap grace period come to an end since March 2020.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Information relating to the total number of welfare claimants whose benefit cap grace period has ended since March 2020 is not available.
A benefit cap grace period is applied irrespective of whether or not the household has sufficient benefit income to be in scope for the cap. This ensures that a claimant will benefit from the grace period exemption should any change of circumstances bring them into the scope of the cap during that period. Many claimants who have the grace period applied will not be in scope of the cap when the grace period ends.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the consensus statement by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies Housing, household transmission and ethnicity, published on 26 November, and in particular its recommendations on (1) the under-occupancy levy, (2) the benefit cap, and (3) the No Recourse to Public Funds rule.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
No assessment has been made.
(1) The removal of the spare room subsidy has been an important tool to help to manage housing support expenditure and enable mobility within the social rented sector. Making a change to this policy would not increase the size of properties people are currently living in or increase their bedroom entitlement under local authority lettings policies.
(2) There are currently no plans to change the Benefit Cap. The Benefit Cap ensures fairness between those receiving out-of-work benefits and taxpayers. The Government firmly believes that, where possible, it is in the best interests of children to be in working households and the benefit cap provides a clear incentive to move into work. A child living in a household where every adult is working is about 5 times less likely to be in relative poverty than a child in a household where nobody works.
Universal Credit claimants with household earnings of at least £604 in an assessment period are exempt from the cap along with the most vulnerable claimants that are entitled to disability benefits and carer benefits.
(3) The decision to apply a no recourse to public funds (NRPF) condition as part of a non-UK national’s immigration status is a Home Office policy matter. Non-UK nationals and family members who are issued with a residence permit with a NRPF condition are not eligible to access taxpayer-funded benefits such as Universal Credit, Child Benefit or housing assistance for the duration of their leave to remain. DWP has no powers to award taxpayer-funded benefits to an individual whose Home Office immigration status specifies no recourse to public funds. Public funds do not include contributions-based benefits such as New Style Job Seekers Allowance.
Non-UK nationals can apply for a change to their NRPF condition if, since being granted leave to remain, their financial circumstances have changed and they have become destitute or there are now particularly compelling reasons relating to the welfare of their child on account of their very low income, or there are now exceptional circumstances in their case relating to their financial circumstances.
Winter support package funding is being provided to local authorities, with more scope for distribution to individuals with no recourse to public funds. It will be at the discretion of local authorities to ensure those who need it most receive it. Local authorities may also provide basic safety net support if it is established that there is a genuine care need that does not arise solely from destitution, for example, where there are community care needs, migrants with serious health problems or family cases where the wellbeing of a child is in question.
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: 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, how many welfare claimants have a 9-month benefit cap grace period due to end in (a) January, (b) February and (c) March 2021.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department can identify the number of households who have a grace period and when it is due to end. However, those volumes do not equate to the number of people who will be in scope of the cap when their grace period ends. This is because the grace period is applied irrespective of whether or not the household has sufficient benefit income to be in scope for the cap. This ensures that a claimant will benefit from the grace period exemption should any change of circumstances bring them into the scope of the cap during that period. Many claimants who have the grace period applied will not be in scope of the cap.
The Department is not able to provide information on the number of households who will newly be subject to the benefit cap at the end of their grace period because any estimate does not account for changes to personal circumstances which would see some claimants continue to be exempt.
i. The table below shows, for the latest available data as at August 2020, the number of Universal Credit households with a grace period due to end in each calendar month of January 2021 to March 2021.
Calendar Month | Number of grace periods ending in Universal Credit |
January 2021 | 128,100 |
February 2021 | 29,800 |
March 2021 | 25,900 |
ii. A regional breakdown of the number of Universal Credit households in Great Britain with a grace period due to end in December 2020 is provided in the table below for the latest available data, as at August 2020.
Region | Number of grace periods in Universal Credit ending in December 2020 |
England | 139,400 |
of which: |
|
North East | 6,200 |
North West | 18,200 |
Yorkshire and the Humber | 12,200 |
East Midlands | 10,800 |
West Midlands | 13,700 |
East of England | 15,600 |
London | 27,300 |
South East | 21,800 |
South West | 13,600 |
Scotland | 13,200 |
Wales | 7,000 |
Not Known | 700 |
iii. As at August 2020, there are 51,800 couples with dependent children and 18,800 single parents, who have a Universal Credit grace period due to end in December 2020.
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, how many welfare claimants in each region and nation of the UK have a 9-month benefit cap grace period due to end in December 2020.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department can identify the number of households who have a grace period and when it is due to end. However, those volumes do not equate to the number of people who will be in scope of the cap when their grace period ends. This is because the grace period is applied irrespective of whether or not the household has sufficient benefit income to be in scope for the cap. This ensures that a claimant will benefit from the grace period exemption should any change of circumstances bring them into the scope of the cap during that period. Many claimants who have the grace period applied will not be in scope of the cap.
The Department is not able to provide information on the number of households who will newly be subject to the benefit cap at the end of their grace period because any estimate does not account for changes to personal circumstances which would see some claimants continue to be exempt.
i. The table below shows, for the latest available data as at August 2020, the number of Universal Credit households with a grace period due to end in each calendar month of January 2021 to March 2021.
Calendar Month | Number of grace periods ending in Universal Credit |
January 2021 | 128,100 |
February 2021 | 29,800 |
March 2021 | 25,900 |
ii. A regional breakdown of the number of Universal Credit households in Great Britain with a grace period due to end in December 2020 is provided in the table below for the latest available data, as at August 2020.
Region | Number of grace periods in Universal Credit ending in December 2020 |
England | 139,400 |
of which: |
|
North East | 6,200 |
North West | 18,200 |
Yorkshire and the Humber | 12,200 |
East Midlands | 10,800 |
West Midlands | 13,700 |
East of England | 15,600 |
London | 27,300 |
South East | 21,800 |
South West | 13,600 |
Scotland | 13,200 |
Wales | 7,000 |
Not Known | 700 |
iii. As at August 2020, there are 51,800 couples with dependent children and 18,800 single parents, who have a Universal Credit grace period due to end in December 2020.