Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what data his Department holds on the average monthly deduction taken from households with children in receipt of Universal Credit in (a) Enfield North constituency, (b) the London Borough of Enfield and (c) London.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The requested information is provided in the table below.
Table 1 : Number of Households with Children, May 2023 |
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Administrative Area | Number of Households on Universal Credit | Number of Households with Children on Universal Credit | Number of Households with Children on Universal Credit with a Deduction | Total amount deducted for Households with Children | Average Amount Deducted for Households with Children |
Enfield North Parliamentary Constituency | 12,700 | 6,700 | 3,200 | £230,000 | £73 |
London Borough of Enfield | 38,200 | 18,600 | 8,500 | £630,000 | £74 |
London | 813,000 | 352,000 | 153,000 | £11,400,000 | £75 |
Table 1 shows the requested analysis of Universal Credit households with children with a payment due in May 2023 for each of the requested administrative areas.
Notes:
1. Volumes have been rounded to the nearest 100, total amounts have been rounded to the nearest £10,000 and average amounts have been rounded to the nearest £1. For region level: volumes have been rounded to the nearest 1,000, total amount has been rounded to the nearest £100,000 and average amount has 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. 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.
4. Figures are provisional and are subject to retrospective change as later data becomes available.
5. The ‘unknown' parliamentary constituency equates to 0.2% of all households and relates to households for which a constituency could not be determined due to incomplete postcode information.
6. Data for May 2023 has been provided in line with the latest available UC Household Statistics.
7. Claim numbers and number of children on UC will not match official statistics caseloads due to methodological differences.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to page 5 of the British Medical Journal article entitled Impact of Universal Credit in North East England, published in 2019, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of that article's findings on the impact of Universal Credit deductions on (a) incidences of self-harm, (b) suicidal ideation, (c) alcohol and substance-use, (d) debt and (e) use of foodbanks in the North East of England.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
No assessment has been made.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what data his Department holds on the average monthly deduction taken from households with children in receipt of Universal Credit by (a) region (b) Parliamentary constituency in the North East.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The requested information is provided in the separate spreadsheet, subject to the caveats below:
Table 1 shows the requested analysis of Universal Credit households with children with a payment due in May 2023 by region.
Table 2 shows the requested analysis of Universal Credit households with children with a payment due in May 2023 in parliamentary constituencies in the North East.
Notes:
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.
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 0.2% of all households and relates to households for which a constituency could not be determined due to incomplete postcode information.
7. Data for May 2023 has been provided in line with the latest available UC Household Statistics.
8. Claim numbers and number of children on UC will not match official statistics caseloads due to methodological differences.
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 in (a) receipt of Universal Credit and (b) subject to deductions in each Parliamentary constituency in the most recent month for which data is available; how much was the (i) total and (ii) average sum of such deductions in each constituency; and what proportion of those sums was deducted to repay advance payments.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
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 £10,000, average amounts have been rounded to the nearest £1 and percentages have been rounded to the nearest percent. 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, average amount has been rounded to the nearest £1 and percentages have been rounded to the nearest percent.
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 0.2% of all households and relates to households for which a constituency could not be determined due to incomplete postcode information.
7. Data for Universal Credit awards made in May 2023 has been provided in line with the latest available UC Household Statistics.
8. Claim numbers and number of children on UC will not match official statistics caseloads due to methodological differences.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many households in receipt of Universal Credit and subject to deductions had (a) up to 5%, (b) between 5%-6% (c) between 6%-7%, (d) between 7%-8%, (e) between 8%-9%, (f) between 9%-10%, (g) between 10%-11%, (h) between 11%-12%, (i) between 12%- 13%, (j) between 13%- 14%, (k) between 14%-15%, (l) between 15%-16%, (m) between 16%-17%, (n) between 17%-18%, (o) between 18%-19%, (p) between 19%-20%, (q) between 20%-21%, (r) between 21%-22%, (s) between 22%-23%, (t) between 23%-24%, (u) between 24%-25% and (v) more than 25% of the Standard Allowance deducted in the most recent month for which data is available.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The information requested is provided in the table, subject to caveats set out below.
Notes
1. The number of households has been rounded to the nearest 100.
2. The definition of 'Deductions between x and y% of standard allowance' is deductions between exactly x% and up to y%. For example, 'Deductions between 5 and 6%' means deductions greater than or equal to 5% of standard allowance and less than 6% of standard allowance.
3. Some households will be repaying more than one deduction. The table presents the total of all deductions per household.
4. Claimants may request more than one new claim advance, up to 100% of their entitlement.
5. ‘Last resort deductions’ continue to be taken, even if it means that more than 25 per cent is deducted. This is to protect vulnerable claimants from being made homeless or having their fuel disconnected.
6. Data for February 2023 has been provided, in line with the latest available Universal Credit Household Statistics.
7. Figures are provisional and are subject to retrospective change as later data becomes available.
Table 3: Level of Deduction for Universal Credit Households, February 2023 | ||
Deductions as a Percentage of Standard Allowance | Number of Households with a Deduction |
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Deductions between 0 and 5% | 177,000 |
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Deductions between 5 and 6% | 124,700 |
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Deductions between 6 and 7% | 41,500 |
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Deductions between 7 and 8% | 74,500 |
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Deductions between 8 and 9% | 138,800 |
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Deductions between 9 and 10% | 62,300 |
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Deductions between 10 and 11% | 62,000 |
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Deductions between 11 and 12% | 39,200 |
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Deductions between 12 and 13% | 55,800 |
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Deductions between 13 and 14% | 53,400 |
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Deductions between 14 and 15% | 52,800 |
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Deductions between 15 and 16% | 195,200 |
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Deductions between 16 and 17% | 24,000 |
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Deductions between 17 and 18% | 30,000 |
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Deductions between 18 and 19% | 27,800 |
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Deductions between 19 and 20% | 65,400 |
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Deductions between 20 and 21% | 86,100 |
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Deductions between 21 and 22% | 23,300 |
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Deductions between 22 and 23% | 29,800 |
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Deductions between 23 and 24% | 41,700 |
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Deductions between 24 and 25% | 628,400 |
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Deductions at 25% or above | 215,100 |
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Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many households with deductions in Universal Credit and other social benefit payments for Budgeting Advances are on a repayment schedule for this loan of (a) 0-3 months, (b) 3-6 months, (c) 6-9 months, (d) 9-12 months and (e) more than 12 months in the most recent month for which data is available.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Figures for households on other social benefits with a deduction for budgeting advances is not held. Figures relating to Universal Credit are provided in the table below.
Notes
1. The number of budgeting advances has been rounded to the nearest 100.
2. Data for February 2023 has been provided, in line with the latest available Universal Credit Household Statistics.
3. Figures are provisional and are subject to retrospective change as later data becomes available.
4. Some households are repaying more than one budgeting advance. Each advance will be recorded so affected households will appear more than once in the table. This impacts about 1% of households.
Table 1: Repayment Schedule for Budgeting Advances in February 2023 | |
Repayment Schedule (in months) | Number of Budgeting Advances being Repaid |
0 to 3 months | 1,500 |
4 to 6 months | 22,600 |
7 to 9 months | 21,800 |
10 to 12 months | 873,700 |
More than 12 months | - |
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Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many households with deductions in (a) Universal Credit and (b) other social benefit payments for benefit overpayments are on a repayment schedule of (i) zero to six, (ii) six to 12, (iii) 12 to 18 months, (iv) 18 to 24 months and (v) more than 24 months in the most recent month for which data is available.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The information requested is not available.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many households with deductions in Universal Credit payments for New Claim Loans are on a repayment schedule for this loan of (a) 0-6 months, (b) 6-12 months, (c) 12-18 months, (d) 18-24 months and (e) more than 24 months in the most recent month for which data is available.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The information requested is provided in the table below, subject to the caveats set out below
Notes
1. The number of new claim & benefit transfer advances has been rounded to the nearest 100.
2. Some households are repaying more than one new claim or benefit transfer advance. This impacts about 19% of households. For example, a household may take a further New Claim advance within the same assessment if they are within the maximum New Claim Advance amount available. This will appear as two different advances on the system.
3. "New Claim Loan" has been interpreted as new claim advance and figures presented also include benefit transfer advances.
4. Data for February 2023 has been provided, in line with the latest available Universal Credit Household Statistics.
5. Figures are provisional and are subject to retrospective change as later data becomes available
Table 2: Repayment Schedule for New Claim & Benefit Transfer Advances in February 2023 | |||
Repayment Schedule (in months) | Number of New Claim & Benefit Transfer Advances being Repaid |
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0 to 6 months | 17,300 |
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7 to 12 months | 111,800 |
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13 to 18 months | 69,600 |
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19 to 24 months | 714,300 |
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More than 24 months | - |
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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, pursuant to the Answer of 8 June 2023 to Question 187662 on Universal Credit: Deductions, if he will provide the data set out in table one for the periods (a) March 2020 to February 2021 and (b) March 2021 to February 2022.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The information requested is provided in the table below.
Table 1: Number and value of third party debts registered against Universal Credit households
between March 2020 and February 2021 and March 2021 and February 2022
Type of Debt | Mar-20 to Feb-21 | Mar-21 to Feb-22 | ||
Number of Debts registered | Total Amount of Debt Registered | Number of Debts registered | Total Amount of Debt Registered | |
Council Tax | 134,100 | £63,600,000 | 177,800 | £88,500,000 |
Electricity Arrears | 7,200 | £9,330,000 | 8,500 | £11,820,000 |
Fines | 250,300 | £207,460,000 | 274,400 | £216,810,000 |
Gas Arrears | 5,900 | £5,580,000 | 6,600 | £6,740,000 |
Mortgage Interest | 10 | £10,000 | 10 | £5,000 |
Owner Occupied Service Charges | 80 | £120,000 | 60 | £100,000 |
Water Arrears | 34,200 | £33,980,000 | 48,800 | £53,640,000 |
Total | 431,800 | £320,080,000 | 516,300 | £377,620,000 |
Notes:
1. The number of debts has been rounded to the nearest hundred, except for Mortgage Interest and Owner Occupier Service charges, which have been rounded to the nearest 10 due to low numbers. Total debt amounts have been rounded to the nearest £10,000 except Mortgage Interest, which has been rounded to the nearest £1,000 due to low values.
2. The registration date for debts is defined as the date the Third Party debt was created.
3. Ongoing consumption deductions for gas, water and electricity are excluded from the total amount of debt. These don’t have a debt amount as they are deductions to pay for ongoing monthly usage. They should only be applied to claims with existing energy / water arrears so households with both arrears and ongoing consumption deductions will be counted in the number of debts registered in the water and energy debt categories.
4. From April 2020 to July 2020, a temporary freeze on government and third party deductions was introduced as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
5. On 12th 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.
6. Some households may have had more than one debt registered against their Universal Credit claim, so may appear more than once in these statistics.
7. Figures are provisional and are subject to retrospective change as later data becomes available
Asked by: Karen Buck (Labour - Westminster North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for the most recent 12-month period for which this information is available, how many claims for Universal Credit were subject to deductions for (a) new claims advances, (b) change of circumstances advances, (c) budgeting advances, (d) tax credit overpayments, (e) Universal Credit overpayments and (f) any combination of the above; and for each type of deduction, what was the average value of the deduction.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The requested information is provided in the separate spreadsheet.