To match an exact phrase, use quotation marks around the search term. eg. "Parliamentary Estate". Use "OR" or "AND" as link words to form more complex queries.


View sample alert

Keep yourself up-to-date with the latest developments by exploring our subscription options to receive notifications direct to your inbox

Written Question
Universal Credit
Monday 25th March 2024

Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)

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 reducing the maximum benefit deduction rate for people on Universal Credit.

Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The primary aim of the deductions in Universal Credit is to protect claimants by providing a last resort repayment method for arrears of essential services.

Making deductions from a claimant’s benefit is a cost effective and efficient mechanism to recover third party debt and benefit debt. Regulations protect claimants from excessive deductions. There are limits set for individual deduction items, there is also an overall deduction cap set at 25% of standard allowance, although where necessary to support the claimant, this can be exceeded for rent and fuel debts.


Written Question
Local Housing Allowance and Universal Credit
Tuesday 13th February 2024

Asked by: Alison McGovern (Labour - Wirral South)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information her Department holds on the median (a) difference between the cost of rent and the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) in households where rent exceeds the LHA and (b) deduction of universal credit claims due to (i) universal credit advances, (ii) universal credit overpayments, (iii) tax credit overpayments and (iv) other reasons for people in the private rented sector for whom the LHA does not fully cover their rent.

Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Government spends around £30bn annually on housing support. In addition, Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates will be increased from April 2024 to the 30th percentile of local market rents. This will mean 1.6 million private renters in receipt of Housing Benefit or Universal Credit (UC) will gain on average around £800 a year in additional help towards their rental costs in 2024-25. This is at a cost of £7bn over five years.

The Secretary of State has committed to review LHA rates annually. That review includes consideration of current rents, as well as the broader fiscal context. LHA rates are not intended to meet all rents in all areas: instead, it ensures that claimants in similar circumstances and area are treated the same.

For those who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs and require additional support Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP) are available from local authorities. Since 2011 the Government has provided nearly £1.7 billion to local authorities for households who need additional support with their housing costs.

The requested information is provided below

Table 1: Median deduction amount for households where Local Housing Allowance does not cover rent in August 2023.

Deduction type

Median deduction amount for the selected deduction type

Advance Repayments

£43

DWP non-fraud overpayments

£49

Tax Credit overpayments

£42

Other (Not in the above)

£25

Table 2: Number of households where Local Housing Allowance does not cover rent in August 2023.

Deduction type

Number of Households

Advance Repayments

270,000

DWP non-fraud overpayments

140,000

Tax Credit overpayments

90,000

Households with any combination of: advance repayments, DWP non-fraud overpayments or tax credit overpayments

380,000

I refer the member to the answer provided on 31 January 2024, that shows the median difference between the cost of rent and the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) in households where rent exceeds the LHA, available here: Written questions and answers - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament

Notes:

1. Household numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10,000 and deduction amounts have been rounded to the nearest £1.

2. Deductions include advance repayments, third party deductions and all other deductions, but exclude sanctions and fraud penalties which are reductions of benefit rather than deductions.

3. "Advances" include all four UC advance types: New Claim, Benefit Transfer, Budgeting and Change of Circumstances.

4. The tables include the number of distinct Universal Credit households subject to a deduction in August 2023.

5. Households could have more than one deduction type so adding claims by deduction type may not sum to the total.

6. The 'other' category in table 1 includes households with a deduction, where the deduction type is not the following: universal credit advances, DWP non-fraud overpayments, tax credit overpayments. The median given is of the sum of all 'other' deductions for each household.

7. It is not possible to separate UC overpayments from other DWP non-fraud overpayments.

8. Figures are provisional and are subject to retrospective change as later data becomes available.


Written Question
Local Housing Allowance and Universal Credit
Tuesday 13th February 2024

Asked by: Alison McGovern (Labour - Wirral South)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many universal credit claims for which the local housing allowance did not cover rent were subject to deductions for (a) universal credit advances, (b) universal credit overpayments, (c) tax credit overpayments and (d) any combination thereof.

Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Government spends around £30bn annually on housing support. In addition, Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates will be increased from April 2024 to the 30th percentile of local market rents. This will mean 1.6 million private renters in receipt of Housing Benefit or Universal Credit (UC) will gain on average around £800 a year in additional help towards their rental costs in 2024-25. This is at a cost of £7bn over five years.

The Secretary of State has committed to review LHA rates annually. That review includes consideration of current rents, as well as the broader fiscal context. LHA rates are not intended to meet all rents in all areas: instead, it ensures that claimants in similar circumstances and area are treated the same.

For those who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs and require additional support Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP) are available from local authorities. Since 2011 the Government has provided nearly £1.7 billion to local authorities for households who need additional support with their housing costs.

The requested information is provided below

Table 1: Median deduction amount for households where Local Housing Allowance does not cover rent in August 2023.

Deduction type

Median deduction amount for the selected deduction type

Advance Repayments

£43

DWP non-fraud overpayments

£49

Tax Credit overpayments

£42

Other (Not in the above)

£25

Table 2: Number of households where Local Housing Allowance does not cover rent in August 2023.

Deduction type

Number of Households

Advance Repayments

270,000

DWP non-fraud overpayments

140,000

Tax Credit overpayments

90,000

Households with any combination of: advance repayments, DWP non-fraud overpayments or tax credit overpayments

380,000

I refer the member to the answer provided on 31 January 2024, that shows the median difference between the cost of rent and the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) in households where rent exceeds the LHA, available here: Written questions and answers - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament

Notes:

1. Household numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10,000 and deduction amounts have been rounded to the nearest £1.

2. Deductions include advance repayments, third party deductions and all other deductions, but exclude sanctions and fraud penalties which are reductions of benefit rather than deductions.

3. "Advances" include all four UC advance types: New Claim, Benefit Transfer, Budgeting and Change of Circumstances.

4. The tables include the number of distinct Universal Credit households subject to a deduction in August 2023.

5. Households could have more than one deduction type so adding claims by deduction type may not sum to the total.

6. The 'other' category in table 1 includes households with a deduction, where the deduction type is not the following: universal credit advances, DWP non-fraud overpayments, tax credit overpayments. The median given is of the sum of all 'other' deductions for each household.

7. It is not possible to separate UC overpayments from other DWP non-fraud overpayments.

8. Figures are provisional and are subject to retrospective change as later data becomes available.


Written Question
Universal Credit
Wednesday 31st January 2024

Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many Universal Credit claims were subject to (1) deductions (advance repayments), third party reductions and all other deductions, (2) reductions (sanctions and fraud penalties), and (3) suspension (stop in payment due to doubt over entitlement), in the 2022–23 financial year; and what was the (a) average, and (b) total, amount (i) deducted, (ii) reduced, and (iii) suspended; and what proportion does this represent.

Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

Information on 1) deductions and 2) fraud penalties for Universal Credit are provided in the tables below.

Table 1: Number of households with a Universal Credit Claim subject to at least one deduction, broken down by deduction type; the number of households with a deduction as a proportion of all universal credit households; what the total sum of deductions was; how much on average was deducted, in the 2022-23 financial year.

2022/23

Number of distinct UC claims

Proportion of Universal Credit Claims subject to Deduction

Total Amount Deducted

Average Deduction Amount

Claims with deduction for an advance

2,400,000

38%

£690,000,000

£40

Claims with deduction for third party

950,000

15%

£227,000,000

£33

Claims with other deductions

2,200,000

34%

£684,000,000

£49

All UC claims with at least one deduction

3,500,000

55%

£1,601,000,000

£62

All UC claims

6,400,000

Table 2: Number of households with a Universal Credit Claim subject to at least fraud penalty; the number of households with a fraud penalty as a proportion of all universal credit households; what the total sum of fraud penalties was; the average fraud penalty, in the 2022-23 financial year.

Table 2

Number of distinct UC claims in the 2022-23 Financial Year

Number of households with at least one fraud penalty in the 2022-23 Financial Year

Households with at least one fraud penalty as a proportion of all UC households

Total amount of Fraud Penalties across the 22/23 financial year

Average Fraud Penalty Amount for those households with a fraud penalty

6,400,000

330

0.01%

£65,000

£200

Notes:

1. Average deduction amounts have been rounded to the nearest £1 and proportions have been rounded to the nearest percentage point. Fraud penalty reduction amounts are rounded to nearest £10 and proportions to the nearest 0.01 percentage point.

2. Deductions include advance repayments, third party deductions and all other deductions, but exclude sanctions and fraud penalties which are reductions of benefit rather than deductions.

3. "Advances" include all four UC advance types: New Claim, Benefit Transfer, Budgeting and Change of Circumstances.

4. The table includes the number of distinct Universal Credit households subject to a deduction in the period 2022-2023. Any household with deductions in more than one assessment period within the period requested will only be counted once. Where a household has multiple deductions in the same assessment period, these figures provide the total of all deductions taken.

5. The table includes the number of distinct Universal Credit households subject to a fraud penalty in the period 2022-2023. Any household with fraud penalty in more than one assessment period within the period requested will only be counted once. Where a household has multiple fraud penalties in the same assessment period, these figures provide the total of all fraud penalties taken.

6. Figures are provisional and are subject to retrospective change as later data becomes available.

7. This method for calculating the proportion is different to the usual reported figure which looks at a given month and historically has been around 45% for all UC households. See PQ UIN: 203044.

8. Households could have more than one deduction type so adding claims by deduction type may not sum to the total of all deductions.

Information on 2) reductions due to sanctions is provided below

Monthly statistics for April 2022 to March 2023, on the number of Universal Credit full service claimants with a payment that has been reduced due to a sanction, are published on Stat-Xplore, and are shown in the following table.

UC claimants in conditionality regimes where sanctions can be applied by month and sanction indicator from April 2022 to March 2023

Sanction indicator

Yes

No

Total

April 2022

106,172

5,439,955

5,546,129

May 2022

108,969

5,432,866

5,541,837

June 2022

110,438

5,450,340

5,560,774

July 2022

117,527

5,502,514

5,620,041

August 2022

114,874

5,546,078

5,660,952

September 2022

117,671

5,566,557

5,684,229

October 2022

122,293

5,608,895

5,731,191

November 2022

117,397

5,639,386

5,756,783

December 2022

119,744

5,660,360

5,780,103

January 2023

118,395

5,681,209

5,799,601

February 2023

113,352

5,722,976

5,836,324

March 2023

120,086

5,733,100

5,853,189

Source: Stat-Xplore, Department for Work and Pensions

Notes:

  1. The sanction indicator for claimants can take the following values: Yes - Claimants payment is being reduced due to a sanction; No - Claimants payment is not being reduced due to a sanction.
  2. Statistical disclosure control has been applied to this table to avoid the release of confidential data. Totals may not sum due to the disclosure control applied.
  3. Statistics for Universal Credit Sanctions relate to the second Thursday of each month.
  4. These statistics include those sanctions which subsequently go on to be overturned. Claimants whose sanction is overturned will be repaid any deduction.

The information requested for average and total amount of benefit reduced due to sanction is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Information for part 3) suspensions is not readily available and to provide these would be at disproportionate cost.


Written Question
Universal Credit: Gower
Wednesday 17th January 2024

Asked by: Tonia Antoniazzi (Labour - Gower)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many universal credit recipients were subject to deductions in Gower constituency in the last 12 months.

Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

There were 3,000 Universal Credit households in the Gower constituency that were subject to a deduction in the period September 2022 to August 2023.

Notes:

1. Household level figures have been provided as deductions are applied at the household level.

2. The number of households has been rounded to the nearest 100.

3. Data for September 2022 - August 2023 has been provided in line with the latest available UC Household Statistics.

4. Deductions include advance repayments, third party deductions and all other deductions, but exclude sanctions and fraud penalties which are reductions of benefit rather than deductions.

5. The figure includes the number of distinct Universal Credit households subject to a deduction in the period September 2022 - August 2023. Any household with deductions in more than one assessment period within the period requested will only be counted once.

6. Figures are provisional and are subject to retrospective change as later data becomes available.


Written Question
Universal Credit: Deductions
Monday 15th January 2024

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, how many Universal Credit claims were subject to deductions in each local authority area in the 2022-23 financial year; what the (a) average and (b) total amount deducted was; and what proportion of deductions were used to repay advance payments.

Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The requested analysis of Universal Credit claims with deductions, in the 2022-23 financial year, by Local Authority in Great Britain (GB) is provided in the separate spreadsheet, with the following points to note:

1. Average deduction amounts have been rounded to the nearest £1 and proportions have been rounded to the nearest percentage point. The sum of individual constituencies may not sum to the total figure due to rounding.

2. Deductions include advance repayments, third party deductions and all other deductions, but exclude sanctions and fraud penalties which are reductions of benefit rather than deductions.

3. The' unknown' parliamentary constituency label relates to claims for which a constituency could not be determined due to incomplete postcode information. Unknown parliamentary constituency accounts for 0.4% of all UC households.

4. "Advances" include all four UC advance types: New Claim, Benefit Transfer, Budgeting and Change of Circumstances.

5. The table includes the number of distinct Universal Credit households subject to a deduction in the period 2022-2023. Any household with deductions in more than one assessment period within the period requested will only be counted once. Deduction amount represents the total deduction taken for a particular household. Where a household has multiple deductions in the same assessment period these figures provide the total of all deductions taken.

6. Figures are provisional and are subject to retrospective change as later data becomes available.


Written Question
Universal Credit: Children
Wednesday 13th December 2023

Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many children were living in households (a) in receipt of Universal Credit and (b) subject to deductions in each parliamentary constituency in the most recent month for which data is available; what the (i) total and (ii) average sum of Universal Credit deductions was for households with children in each constituency; and what proportion of those sums was deducted to repay advance payments.

Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The requested information is provided in the separate spreadsheet and are subject to the following caveats:

1. For low level geography: volumes have been rounded to the nearest 100, total amounts have been rounded to the nearest £1,000 and average amounts have been rounded to the nearest £1. For totals at GB level: volumes have been rounded to the nearest 100,000, total amounts have been rounded to the nearest £1,000,000 and average amount has been rounded to the nearest £1. Proportions have been rounded to the nearest percentage point.

2. The sum of individual low level geographies may not sum to the total figure due to rounding.

3. Deductions include advance repayments, third party deductions and all other deductions, but exclude sanctions and fraud penalties which are reductions of benefit rather than deductions.

4. Children are defined here as being people who are declared as living in the same household as the UC claimant(s) and who are under the age of 20. The number of children may not be equal to the number of dependent children in the household who are eligible for child element for various reasons. This includes children over the age of 16 in non-advanced full-time education, looked-after children and, other young people living in multigenerational households whose parents are not the claimant. Those affected by the policy to provide support for a maximum of two children may also have a larger number of children compared to the number of children entitled to the child element in their household.

5. Figures are provisional and are subject to retrospective change as later data becomes available.

6. The ‘unknown' parliamentary constituency equates to 0.4% of all households and relates to households for which a constituency could not be determined due to incomplete postcode information.

7. Data for August 2023 has been provided in line with the latest available UC Household Statistics.

8. Claim numbers and numbers of children on UC will not match official statistics caseloads due to methodological differences.


Written Question
Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing
Monday 4th December 2023

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, what estimate he has made of the amount of deductions made under the Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy to (a) Housing Benefit and (b) Universal Credit claimants in each year since 2013.

Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

Information on the Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy (RSRS) sufficient to produce such an estimate can be found on Stat-Xplore. Stat-Xplore includes the mean of RSRS reduction, the number subject to the RSRS and the number of spare rooms for both Housing Benefit and Universal Credit Housing Element Claimants.

Stat-Xplore can be found here.


Written Question
Universal Credit: Selby and Ainsty
Thursday 30th November 2023

Asked by: Keir Mather (Labour - Selby and Ainsty)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many universal credit claims were subject to deductions in the most recent month for which data is available in Selby and Ainsty constituency.

Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

In August 2023, 2,200 Universal Credit households in the Selby and Ainsty constituency had one or more deductions from their award.

Notes:

1. The number of claims for Selby and Ainsty are rounded to the nearest hundred.

2. Deductions include advance repayments, third party deductions and all other deductions, but exclude sanctions and fraud penalties which are reductions of benefit rather than deductions.

3. Household level figures have been provided as deductions are applied at the household level.

4. Data for August 2023 has been provided in line with the latest available UC Household Statistics.

5. Unknown parliamentary constituency accounts for 0.4% of all UC households.

6. Figures are provisional and are subject to retrospective change as later data becomes available.


Written Question
Universal Credit: Deductions
Thursday 23rd November 2023

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, how many Universal Credit claims were subject to deductions; how much on average was deducted; what the total sum of deductions was; what proportion of each of those sums was deducted to repay advance payments in each local authority in the 2021-22 financial year; and if he will make a statement.

Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The requested analysis of Universal Credit claims with deductions, in the 2021-22 financial year, by Local Authority in Great Britain (GB) is provided in the separate spreadsheet, with the following points to note:

1. Average deduction amounts have been rounded to the nearest £1 and proportions have been rounded to the nearest percentage point. The sum of individual constituencies may not sum to the total figure due to rounding.

2. Deductions include advance repayments, third party deductions and all other deductions, but exclude sanctions and fraud penalties which are reductions of benefit rather than deductions.

3. The' unknown' parliamentary constituency label relates to claims for which a constituency could not be determined due to incomplete postcode information. Unknown parliamentary constituency accounts for 0.2% of all UC households.

4. In April 2021, the maximum deductions limit was reduced from 30% of the standard allowance to 25%. In May 2021, the additional court fines deduction was removed lowering the rate to 5% of standard allowance.

5. "Advances" include all four UC advance types: New Claim, Benefit Transfer, Budgeting and Change of Circumstances.

6. The table includes the number of distinct Universal Credit households subject to a deduction in the period 2021-2022. Any household with deductions in more than one assessment period within the period requested will only be counted once. Deduction amount represents the total deduction taken for a particular household. So if a household has multiple deductions in the same assessment period these figures provide the total of all deductions taken.

7. Figures are provisional and are subject to retrospective change as later data becomes available.

__________________________________________________________________________