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, how many Universal Credit claimants were employed as nurses for the 12 most recent assessment periods for which data is available.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The requested information is not held.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the accessibility of the Government’s free childcare offer to (a) student nurses and (b) other students who rely on loans and grants rather than job-related income.
Answered by Vicky Ford
All three and four-year-olds are eligible for 15 hours free early education per week, which includes children of parents undertaking full or part time study. This entitlement provides young children with high quality early education and helps to prepare them for school.
30 hours free childcare is an entitlement for working parents of three and four-year-olds. Its aim is to help working parents with the costs of childcare so that they can take up paid work or can work additional hours if they want to.
The Childcare Bill policy statement, published in December 2015, sets out that students are not eligible for the government’s 30 hours free childcare entitlement, unless they are in work. Students who undertake paid work in addition to their studies and meet the income requirements will be eligible. To qualify, students do not have to physically work 16 hours a week, but they do need to earn the equivalent of a weekly minimum of 16 hours at national minimum wage or national living wage (currently just over £7,400 a year for parents aged over 23).
Students on a low income, or whose children have special educational needs, may also be eligible for the government’s 15 hours free childcare per week entitlement for disadvantaged two-year-olds. The full criteria for this entitlement can be found on here: https://www.gov.uk/help-with-childcare-costs/free-childcare-2-year-olds.
Outside of the free early education entitlements, students who are parents may be eligible for support from the Student Loans Company, including the Childcare Grant and the Parents’ Learning Allowance (PLA). More information on support available for students can be found at https://www.gov.uk/browse/education/student-finance.
The PLA is available for full time undergraduate students with one or more dependent children to help with their learning costs. For the academic year 2021/22 students could receive up to £1,821 a year depending on household income.
With regard to student nurses, the government keeps the funding arrangements for all NHS health professionals’ education under close review, to ensure that students are appropriately supported.
The government has introduced new maintenance funding for many healthcare courses. The Department of Health and Social Care offers £2,000 for parental support per academic year. This is available for eligible students attending a full time pre-registration healthcare course, including for student nurses, at English universities. More information can be found at https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/nhs-learning-support-fund/parental-support-formerly-child-dependants-allowance.
Some students may also qualify for Universal Credit and may be eligible for the reimbursement of some of their childcare costs through Universal Credit. To qualify for the childcare costs element of Universal Credit, students need to be in paid work or about to start paid work, and the childcare costs must relate to childcare arrangements (with a registered provider) that enable them to take up or continue in this paid work.
Help with upfront childcare costs for parents starting work, or in full-time training, is also available to eligible Universal Credit claimants through Budgeting Advances and through a Flexible Support Fund award for the first payment of childcare costs. Further details on claiming Universal Credit as a student which includes a list of students who may qualify for Universal Credit can be found on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/universal-credit-and-students.
We encourage all parents to view the full range of childcare support available, which can be found at: https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will extend the 365 day limit for those claiming Employment and Support Allowance who have not had a face-to-face assessment.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
There are no plans to extend the time limit for people claiming contributory Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) who reach their 365-day limit and have not had a Work Capability Assessment (WCA).
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic face-to-face assessments for sickness and disability benefits remain suspended. We are continuing to assess as many people as we are able to on paper evidence or via telephone assessments. Claimants are encouraged to provide all the evidence they have that is relevant to their case at the outset of their claim, including evidence supplied by their GP or other professionals, such as support workers, carers and community mental health nurses. The healthcare professionals who carry out assessments are expected to seek further evidence where it would help them provide advice to a DWP decision maker on a person’s claim.
Furthermore, we now have a ring-fenced operational team in place to identify contributory ESA claims that we can progress in the absence of face-to-face assessments – for instance, those where further evidence might exist on other DWP benefit systems. If claimants have further evidence they think might help progress their claim, they should contact the Department.
Where an individual’s contributory ESA ends, their income is reduced because they cannot work due to disability or a health condition and they require further financial support, they may be able to claim Universal Credit, depending on their personal circumstances.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to enable claimants who are almost at the 365 day limit for Employment and Support Allowance to continue to receive benefit.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
There are no plans to extend the time limit for people claiming contributory Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) who reach their 365-day limit and have not had a Work Capability Assessment (WCA).
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic face-to-face assessments for sickness and disability benefits remain suspended. We are continuing to assess as many people as we are able to on paper evidence or via telephone assessments. Claimants are encouraged to provide all the evidence they have that is relevant to their case at the outset of their claim, including evidence supplied by their GP or other professionals, such as support workers, carers and community mental health nurses. The healthcare professionals who carry out assessments are expected to seek further evidence where it would help them provide advice to a DWP decision maker on a person’s claim.
Furthermore, we now have a ring-fenced operational team in place to identify contributory ESA claims that we can progress in the absence of face-to-face assessments – for instance, those where further evidence might exist on other DWP benefit systems. If claimants have further evidence they think might help progress their claim, they should contact the Department.
Where an individual’s contributory ESA ends, their income is reduced because they cannot work due to disability or a health condition and they require further financial support, they may be able to claim Universal Credit, depending on their personal circumstances.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance his Department has provided to benefit assessment companies to ensure they are proactively seeking further medical evidence from claimants who are almost at the 365 day limit for Employment and Support Allowance and have not yet been assessed.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
There are no plans to extend the time limit for people claiming contributory Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) who reach their 365-day limit and have not had a Work Capability Assessment (WCA).
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic face-to-face assessments for sickness and disability benefits remain suspended. We are continuing to assess as many people as we are able to on paper evidence or via telephone assessments. Claimants are encouraged to provide all the evidence they have that is relevant to their case at the outset of their claim, including evidence supplied by their GP or other professionals, such as support workers, carers and community mental health nurses. The healthcare professionals who carry out assessments are expected to seek further evidence where it would help them provide advice to a DWP decision maker on a person’s claim.
Furthermore, we now have a ring-fenced operational team in place to identify contributory ESA claims that we can progress in the absence of face-to-face assessments – for instance, those where further evidence might exist on other DWP benefit systems. If claimants have further evidence they think might help progress their claim, they should contact the Department.
Where an individual’s contributory ESA ends, their income is reduced because they cannot work due to disability or a health condition and they require further financial support, they may be able to claim Universal Credit, depending on their personal circumstances.
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, whether her Department has any plans to exclude one-time bonus payments for key workers in calculations for universal credit in recognition of their contribution to the response to the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Will Quince
The Government recognises that key workers have kept our country running throughout the response to the COVID-19 outbreak, from doctors and nurses to supermarket assistants and delivery drivers. All have played a vital part that we are truly grateful for.
A Universal Credit (UC) award is calculated on the basis of the set benefit rate against money coming in to ensure fairness of treatment for all claimants against the money that they have earned in each individual assessment period. This means, as earnings increase, UC is gradually reduced. This is a long-standing principle of means-tested benefits.
Bonuses are earnings for all workers and are treated in the same way as any other earnings. This is already true for tax and other purposes, regardless of whether or not an individual is claiming a benefit. All earnings are subject to the taper rate and the UC award is calculated on that basis.
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, whether the new NHS bursary for student nurses will be included as income when calculating a claimant's entitlement for universal credit.
Answered by Will Quince
In Universal Credit, as in the legacy benefit system, the majority of people engaged in full-time education will not be entitled. This is because students in advanced education normally receive, and are expected to access, support from other sources, such as educational grants and loans. Students in non-advanced education are normally expected to remain at home whilst attending school/college and be supported by their family.
The new NHS bursary is payable to degree level student nurses and their course will also be eligible for a maintenance loan. Where an eligible claim to Universal Credit has been made, maintenance loan income is taken into account when calculating an award. Any grant income, such as a student nursing bursary, is fully disregarded, except any specific amount in the total grant which covers the rent costs or maintenance costs of another person which are already included in the Universal Credit award.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for each year since 2016-17, how many universal credit full service claimants submitted a DS1500 form to access universal credit under the special rules for terminal illness; and how many of those applications were (a) accepted and (b) rejected.
Answered by Sarah Newton
We take terminal illness very seriously and treat people in such circumstances with the upmost speed and sensitivity. Our process for supporting people who have a terminal illness with a life expectancy of six months or less has been designed specifically to enable decisions to be fast tracked at all stages. Where we receive a correctly completed form DS1500, the decision that a person has limited capability for work and work related activity is normally made within a few days.
The DS1500 is not a claim form and its use in providing evidential support for claims from people who are terminally ill claiming benefit is not obligatory. GPs, Consultants and specialist nurses have direct access to the blank DS1500 report and either send the completed report to DWP or give it to the claimant or their representative.
The special rules applying to people who are terminally ill, including the reasonable expectation of death within 6-month rule, were first introduced in 1990 for Attendance Allowance following a recommendation from the Social Security Advisory Committee. The rules are common to a range of benefits and are also used elsewhere, for example the Early Access to Financial Assistance Scheme, administered by the Pension Protection Fund. The design of Universal Credit for terminally ill claimants is based on this well tested process. This is not a separate entitlement; this is part of the Universal Credit process, and as such we do not hold the requested data. The Universal Credit Programme is considering what management information and data will be published.
The Department and the Universal Credit Programme have regular meetings with key stakeholders to understand how our policies are working and discuss potential areas for improvement. We will continue to keep procedures under review to ensure that they work as effectively as possible.
Universal Credit provides enhanced personalised support. All claimants, including terminally ill patients, receive continuous tailored support managed through personal work coaches, who know each person. Claimants have several options for how they would like to progress their claim, and we will support them in the most sensitive way possible.
For example, if they would rather not continue submitting information online, our Jobcentre staff can either telephone or visit them, to provide support in making their initial claim and completing any other administrative tasks required to ensure that they receive the correct payment. If a claimant does not want to tell us about their condition themselves, then they can appoint a representative, such as a relative, friend, doctor or charitable organisation to let us know on their behalf. We accept information directly from claimant representatives, such as claimant appointees or third party organisations representing the claimant, as well as details supplied to DWP Universal Credit partnership managers or external engagement officials.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of DS1500 forms issued to claimants of universal credit were not returned to the Department in each year since 2016-17.
Answered by Sarah Newton
We take terminal illness very seriously and treat people in such circumstances with the upmost speed and sensitivity. Our process for supporting people who have a terminal illness with a life expectancy of six months or less has been designed specifically to enable decisions to be fast tracked at all stages. Where we receive a correctly completed form DS1500, the decision that a person has limited capability for work and work related activity is normally made within a few days.
The DS1500 is not a claim form and its use in providing evidential support for claims from people who are terminally ill claiming benefit is not obligatory. GPs, Consultants and specialist nurses have direct access to the blank DS1500 report and either send the completed report to DWP or give it to the claimant or their representative.
The special rules applying to people who are terminally ill, including the reasonable expectation of death within 6-month rule, were first introduced in 1990 for Attendance Allowance following a recommendation from the Social Security Advisory Committee. The rules are common to a range of benefits and are also used elsewhere, for example the Early Access to Financial Assistance Scheme, administered by the Pension Protection Fund. The design of Universal Credit for terminally ill claimants is based on this well tested process. This is not a separate entitlement; this is part of the Universal Credit process, and as such we do not hold the requested data. The Universal Credit Programme is considering what management information and data will be published.
The Department and the Universal Credit Programme have regular meetings with key stakeholders to understand how our policies are working and discuss potential areas for improvement. We will continue to keep procedures under review to ensure that they work as effectively as possible.
Universal Credit provides enhanced personalised support. All claimants, including terminally ill patients, receive continuous tailored support managed through personal work coaches, who know each person. Claimants have several options for how they would like to progress their claim, and we will support them in the most sensitive way possible.
For example, if they would rather not continue submitting information online, our Jobcentre staff can either telephone or visit them, to provide support in making their initial claim and completing any other administrative tasks required to ensure that they receive the correct payment. If a claimant does not want to tell us about their condition themselves, then they can appoint a representative, such as a relative, friend, doctor or charitable organisation to let us know on their behalf. We accept information directly from claimant representatives, such as claimant appointees or third party organisations representing the claimant, as well as details supplied to DWP Universal Credit partnership managers or external engagement officials.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applicants that were refused access to the universal credit special rules for terminal illness died within six months of that refusal in each year since 2016-17.
Answered by Sarah Newton
We take terminal illness very seriously and treat people in such circumstances with the upmost speed and sensitivity. Our process for supporting people who have a terminal illness with a life expectancy of six months or less has been designed specifically to enable decisions to be fast tracked at all stages. Where we receive a correctly completed form DS1500, the decision that a person has limited capability for work and work related activity is normally made within a few days.
The DS1500 is not a claim form and its use in providing evidential support for claims from people who are terminally ill claiming benefit is not obligatory. GPs, Consultants and specialist nurses have direct access to the blank DS1500 report and either send the completed report to DWP or give it to the claimant or their representative.
The special rules applying to people who are terminally ill, including the reasonable expectation of death within 6-month rule, were first introduced in 1990 for Attendance Allowance following a recommendation from the Social Security Advisory Committee. The rules are common to a range of benefits and are also used elsewhere, for example the Early Access to Financial Assistance Scheme, administered by the Pension Protection Fund. The design of Universal Credit for terminally ill claimants is based on this well tested process. This is not a separate entitlement; this is part of the Universal Credit process, and as such we do not hold the requested data. The Universal Credit Programme is considering what management information and data will be published.
The Department and the Universal Credit Programme have regular meetings with key stakeholders to understand how our policies are working and discuss potential areas for improvement. We will continue to keep procedures under review to ensure that they work as effectively as possible.
Universal Credit provides enhanced personalised support. All claimants, including terminally ill patients, receive continuous tailored support managed through personal work coaches, who know each person. Claimants have several options for how they would like to progress their claim, and we will support them in the most sensitive way possible.
For example, if they would rather not continue submitting information online, our Jobcentre staff can either telephone or visit them, to provide support in making their initial claim and completing any other administrative tasks required to ensure that they receive the correct payment. If a claimant does not want to tell us about their condition themselves, then they can appoint a representative, such as a relative, friend, doctor or charitable organisation to let us know on their behalf. We accept information directly from claimant representatives, such as claimant appointees or third party organisations representing the claimant, as well as details supplied to DWP Universal Credit partnership managers or external engagement officials.