Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
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 the £20 uplift to universal credit (a) nationally, (b) in York and (c) in York Central constituency.
Answered by Will Quince
The £20 uplift applies to all Universal Credit claimants.
The latest available statistics on the number of people on Universal Credit, by parliamentary constituency and other geographical breakdowns, is published and can be found at:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/.
Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to reduce the number of people living poverty related to housing costs.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
Individuals who are unable to afford their housing costs may be eligible for a range of support through the welfare system. We lifted Local Housing Allowance rates to the 30th percentile of local rents in April 2020, and in 2021/22 maintained them at their increased level in cash terms.
For those who require additional support Discretionary Housing Payments are available. We have made £140 million in Discretionary Housing Payments funding available for local authorities this financial year, to distribute for supporting renters with housing costs in the private and social rented sectors. This builds on the £180 million in payments made available last financial year.
Moreover, we have banned lettings fees paid by tenants and capped tenancy deposits through the Tenant Fees Act, which came into force on 1 June 2019 and reduced the upfront costs associated with moving in the private rented sector.
During the Coronavirus pandemic the Government has put in place an unprecedented financial package, which is supporting renters to sustain tenancies and to afford their housing costs. We have provided support for business to pay staff salaries through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, which is in place until the end of September 2021. We also extended the £20 per week uplift in Universal Credit until September 2021 and provided a one-off payment of £500 to eligible Working Tax Credit claimants.
In the longer term we need to build more homes to tackle affordability. We have made strong progress towards our aim of building 300,000 homes a year by the mid-2020s – delivering around 244,000 last year, the highest in over 30 years. This is backed by £20 billion in investment, which includes over £12.2 billion for the Affordable Homes Programme – to deliver up to 180,000 affordable homes – the biggest funding commitment to affordable housing in over a decade. We have also made initial funding of £7.1 billon available for the National Home Building Fund to unlock up to 860,000 homes over the lifetime of the projects through the provision of infrastructure, regenerating brownfield sites, and diversifying the market.
Furthermore, our £9 billion Shared Ownership and Affordable Homes Programme, running to 2023, will deliver approximately 250,000 new affordable homes. We are also pushing forward with our planning reforms to establish a simpler, faster and more predictable system and ensure that the right homes are built in the right places where they are needed.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to help ensure that working parents who are unable to work from home are financially supported to stay at home when their child is ill.
Answered by Will Quince
Parents in this situation can be supported through Universal Credit (UC), which means the amount of benefit received by claimants fluctuates in line with their earnings. The value of this has been shown during the Covid-19 pandemic. Where people have seen variations in the hours worked and earnings, UC has provided extra support when their earnings have decreased.
NHS Test and Trace isolation payments are also available to financially incentivise individuals to self–isolate and not to return to work. Legislation within legacy benefits (and also Pension Credit) is already wide enough for these payments to be disregarded. The lump sum payment will not be treated as income or earnings for Universal Credit, and the Coronavirus Act 2020 enables it to be ignored as capital. On 22nd February 2021, the government announced additional funding, including a further £20 million per month, for discretionary payments would be made available from March 2021 and expanded the scheme to cover parents who are unable to work because they are caring for a child who is self-isolating.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
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 potential merits of introducing a Government emergency bridging loan for people who have to miss work in order to care for their child who is absent from school as a result of illness.
Answered by Will Quince
Parents in this situation can be supported through Universal Credit (UC), which means the amount of benefit received by claimants fluctuates in line with their earnings. The value of this has been shown during the Covid-19 pandemic. Where people have seen variations in the hours worked and earnings, UC has provided extra support when their earnings have decreased.
NHS Test and Trace isolation payments are also available to financially incentivise individuals to self–isolate and not to return to work. Legislation within legacy benefits (and also Pension Credit) is already wide enough for these payments to be disregarded. The lump sum payment will not be treated as income or earnings for Universal Credit, and the Coronavirus Act 2020 enables it to be ignored as capital. On 22nd February 2021, the government announced additional funding, including a further £20 million per month, for discretionary payments would be made available from March 2021 and expanded the scheme to cover parents who are unable to work because they are caring for a child who is self-isolating.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to introduce a system of (1) means-tested grants, or (2) interest-free loans, to repay arrears in order to prevent an increase in homelessness.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The UK Government has provided an unprecedented package of financial support which is available to tenants.
We have extended the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and £20 per week uplift in Universal Credit until the end of September helping renters to continue paying their rent. Local housing allowance rates have been maintained at their increased level in cash terms in 2021/22, meaning claimants renting in the private rented sector continue to benefit from the significant increase in the local housing allowance rates applied in April 2020. For those who require additional support, Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP) are available. For 2021-22 the Government has made £140 million available in DHP funding, building on the £180 million provided last year.
Renters will continue to benefit from longer notice periods, giving them more time to make alternative arrangements. As of 1 June, until at least 30 September, notice periods will be at least 4 months except in the most egregious cases.
We are also providing local authorities with £310 million through the Homelessness Prevention Grant. This funding represents a £47 million increase on the previous year’s funding and can be used to offer financial support for people to find a new home, to work with landlords to prevent evictions, and to ensure families have a roof over their head.
We do not wish to encourage more debt and have prioritised non-repayable support. We believe the best way to support people in need is through the existing welfare system, and this is what our extensive package of economic support is doing.
We continue to monitor the effectiveness of other examples of support, such as those from the devolved administrations in the UK, and note that uptake for loan support has been relatively low in Scotland and Wales.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will publish her Department's impact assessments for the removal of the uplift to universal credit.
Answered by Will Quince
No assessment has been made.
Universal Credit has provided a vital safety net for six million people during the pandemic, and we announced the temporary uplift as part of a £400 billion package of measures put in place that will last well beyond the end of the roadmap. Our focus now is on our multi-billion Plan for Jobs, which will support people in the long-term by helping them learn new skills and increase their hours or find new work.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure that early intervention support is available for tenants experiencing difficulties in meeting the cost of their rent.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The UK Government has provided an unprecedented package of financial support during the pandemic, which is available to tenants.
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and £20 per week uplift in Universal Credit are in place until the end of September helping renters to continue paying their rent. Local housing allowance rates have been maintained at their increased level in cash terms in 2021/22, meaning claimants renting in the private rented sector continue to benefit from the significant increase in the local housing allowance rates applied in April 2020.
For those who require additional support, Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP) are available. For 2021-22 the Government has made £140 million available in DHP funding, building on the £180m provided last year.
To help those at risk of homelessness we are providing local authorities with £310 million through the Homelessness Prevention Grant. This funding represents a £47 million increase on the previous year's funding and can be used to offer financial support for people to find a new home, to work with landlords to prevent evictions, and to ensure families have a roof over their head. Tenants in need of additional support should speak to their local council for more information.
Renters also continue to benefit from longer notice periods, giving them more time to make alternative arrangements. As of 1 June, until at least 30 September, notice periods must be at least 4 months except in the most egregious cases. Bailiffs have been asked not to carry out an eviction if anyone living in the property has Covid-19 symptoms or is self-isolating.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made for the distribution of wealth in real terms per (a) household and (b) person among the UK population for years (i) 2019, (ii) 2020 and (iii) 2021 by quintile or decile.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The most recent comprehensive data on the distribution of wealth is available for the period 2016-18, collected by the Office for National Statistics and published in its biennial ‘Wealth in Great Britain’ publication. Owing to the time lag in more recent data becoming available, the Treasury has not conducted analysis of the distribution of wealth by quintile or decile in the years 2019, 2020 and 2021.
The government is committed to supporting household living standards during this difficult time for the country, and has announced an unprecedented package of support – including a boost to Universal Credit, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), and the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) – helping to protect incomes, jobs, and support those most in need. Treasury analysis has shown that these interventions have supported the poorest working households most (as a proportion of income).
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the total cost to employers of retaining employees who are currently using the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme once the scheme ends.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
As of 14 June 2021, there have been 11.6 million unique jobs supported by the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) since its inception. At the end of May, the number of jobs furloughed was as its lowest since the scheme began and has halved in the last 3 months, with 2.4 million jobs furloughed.
From July, employers are asked to contribute 10 per cent of wages for hours not worked up to £312.50 per month. This is the same approach the Government introduced successfully last summer, where comparable restrictions were in place. Ending the CJRS at the end of September 2021 strikes the right balance between supporting the economy as it opens up, continuing to provide support and protect incomes, and ensuring incentives are in place to get people back to work as demand returns.
The Government has been clear that it will not be possible to preserve every job or business, and it should not stand in the way of the economy adapting, people finding new jobs or starting new businesses. As part of the comprehensive Plan for Jobs, the Government announced the £2 billion Kickstart scheme which will create hundreds of thousands of new, fully subsidised jobs for young people, and the new three year Restart programme, which will provide support to over one million unemployed Universal Credit claimants across England and Wales and help them find work.
If needed, businesses can also benefit from support past the end of September through the Recovery Loan Scheme, which runs until the end of the year and Business Rates relief for retail, hospitality and leisure until next April.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if his Department will bring forward policy proposals to support tenants with rent arrears whose income was reduced as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The UK Government has provided an unprecedented package of financial support during the pandemic, which is available to tenants.
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and £20 per week uplift in Universal Credit are in place until the end of September helping renters to continue paying their rent. Local housing allowance rates have been maintained at their increased level in cash terms in 2021/22, meaning claimants renting in the private rented sector continue to benefit from the significant increase in the local housing allowance rates applied in April 2020.
For those who require additional support, Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP) are available. For 2021-22 the Government has made £140 million available in DHP funding, building on the £180 million provided last year.
Renters also continue to benefit from longer notice periods, giving them more time to make alternative arrangements. As of 1 June, until at least 30 September, notice periods must be at least 4 months except in the most egregious cases. Bailiffs have been asked not to carry out an eviction if anyone living in the property has Covid-19 symptoms or is self-isolating.