Asked by: Amy Callaghan (Scottish National Party - East Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the level of Universal Credit to enable claimants to meet the cost of essential items.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
There is no objective way of deciding what an adequate level of benefit should be as every person has different requirements. Income-related benefit rates are not made up of separate amounts for specific items of expenditure such as food or fuel charges, and beneficiaries are free to spend their benefit as they see fit, in the light of their individual commitments, needs and preferences.
The Government is increasing support for low income and vulnerable households with welfare expenditure forecast to rise from £275.6 billion in 2022/23 to £289.4 billion in 2023/24. The Spring Statement made clear, the focus is supporting workforce participation, helping people move into work and higher earnings.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Government plans to take to support parent carers of disabled children with returning to work.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Our Work Coaches already offer employment support to people claiming welfare benefits, who are carers of disabled children. Any work related requirements and support should be tailored to a claimant’s individual circumstances and capabilities, including their caring responsibilities.
Support could include access to skills provision, careers advice, job search support and volunteering opportunities, as well as access to the Flexible Support Fund to aid job entry, and help with childcare costs. Work Coaches can tailor the frequency of interviews and can contact claimants via phone or use the on-line journal to accommodate their caring responsibilities.
Full time carers of severely disabled children are not required to undertake any work-related activities, but can seek support on a voluntary basis if they wish.
Additionally, Universal Credit claimants who start work may be able to access the UC Work Allowance and Taper, enabling them to keep more of what they earn.
Asked by: Tonia Antoniazzi (Labour - Gower)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to end child poverty.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government is committed to reducing child poverty and supporting low-income families. We will spend around £276bn through the welfare system in Great Britain in 2023/24 including around £124bn on people of working age and children.
With 1.12 million job vacancies across the UK, our focus remains firmly on supporting individuals, including parents, to move into, and progress in work, an approach which is based on clear evidence about the importance of employment - particularly where it is full-time - in substantially reducing the risks of child poverty and in improving long-term outcomes for families and children. The latest statistics show that in 2021/22 children living in workless households were around 5 times more likely to be in absolute poverty after housing costs than those where all adults work.
At the Spring Budget, the Chancellor announced an ambitious package of measures designed to support people to enter work, increase their working hours and extend their working lives. The government’s employment package will focus on supporting inactive individuals aged 50+, disabled people, people with long-term health conditions, welfare claimants and parents. We are investing billions in additional childcare support for parents of toddlers, investing in wraparound childcare in schools, and increasing financial support for, and expectations of, parents claiming Universal Credit.
From April, we are uprating benefit rates and State Pensions by 10.1%. In order to increase the number of households who can benefit from these uprating decisions the benefit cap levels are also increasing by the same amount.
To further support those who are in work, including parents, from 1 April 2023, the National Living Wage (NLW) will increase by 9.7% to £10.42 an hour for workers aged 23 and over - the largest ever cash increase for the NLW.
For 2023/24, we have also announced further cost of living support. Households on eligible means-tested benefits will get up to £900 in Cost of Living Payments. This will be split into three payments of around £300 each across the 2023/24 financial year. A separate £300 payment will be made to pensioner households on top of their Winter Fuel Payments and individuals in receipt of eligible disability benefits will receive a £150 payment. Also, the government is maintaining the Energy Price Guarantee at £2,500 for a further three months, from April 2023.
Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he plans to take to help low-income households afford essential appliances; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of using the Household Support Fund to provide funding for these appliances.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work & Pensions will spend £245 billion through the welfare system in 2022/23. This includes £111 billion on people of working age and around £134 billion on pensioners.
Budgeting Advances are available to help finance intermittent or unforeseen expenses (for example, essential items like furniture or household equipment) or expenses related to maternity, obtaining or retaining employment. These advances ensure that low-income families that have an emergency financial need and do not have access to adequate savings or affordable loans can access funding to meet the emergency. Budgeting Advances are available to Universal Credit claimants who have been in receipt of Universal Credit continuously for at least six months or in receipt of a combination of existing benefits and Universal Credit continuously for at least six months.
For claimants currently in receipt of Income Support, income-based Jobseekers Allowance, Income-Related Employment and Support Allowance and Pension Credit, Social Fund Budgeting Loans are available, which mirror the rules for Universal Credit Budgeting Advances.
The Household Support Fund is a discretionary scheme run by Upper Tier Local Authorities in England to provide support to those most in need. The Household Support Fund should primarily be used to provide support vulnerable households with energy, food, and water costs, but may also provide support with essentials linked to these items and wider essentials. The guidance specifically states that this can include white goods such as fridges, freezers, ovens and slow cookers. Local Authorities have the ties and local knowledge to best determine how the Household Support Fund should be provided to their local communities. They have the discretion to design their own local schemes, within the parameters of the grant determination and guidance for the fund.
Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure that the financial support offered to people for buying furniture is equitable across regions.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work & Pensions will spend £245 billion through the welfare system in 2022/23. This includes £111 billion on people of working age and around £134 billion on pensioners.
Budgeting Advances are available to help finance intermittent or unforeseen expenses (for example, essential items like furniture or household equipment) or expenses related to maternity, obtaining or retaining employment. These advances ensure that low-income families that have an emergency financial need and do not have access to adequate savings or affordable loans can access funding to meet the emergency. Budgeting Advances are available to Universal Credit claimants who have been in receipt of Universal Credit continuously for at least six months or in receipt of a combination of existing benefits and Universal Credit continuously for at least six months.
For claimants currently in receipt of Income Support, income-based Jobseekers Allowance, Income-Related Employment and Support Allowance and Pension Credit, Social Fund Budgeting Loans are available, which mirror the rules for Universal Credit Budgeting Advances.
The Household Support Fund is a discretionary scheme run by Upper Tier Local Authorities in England to provide support to those most in need. The Household Support Fund should primarily be used to provide support vulnerable households with energy, food, and water costs, but may also provide support with essentials linked to these items and wider essentials. The guidance specifically states that this can include white goods such as fridges, freezers, ovens and slow cookers. Local Authorities have the ties and local knowledge to best determine how the Household Support Fund should be provided to their local communities. They have the discretion to design their own local schemes, within the parameters of the grant determination and guidance for the fund.
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, if he will publish the review of the Benefit Cap carried out under S96A of the Welfare Reform Act 2012.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Secretary of State’s decision was set out in both the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement on 17 November 2022 and the Written Ministerial Statement following a statutory review of the benefit cap levels.
Following the review, affirmative regulations are required to amend the Welfare Reform Act 2012 and consequential amendments made to the Housing Benefit Regulations and the Universal Credit Regulations. The changes are grouped together in a single statutory instrument, which was laid before Parliament and is currently undergoing Parliamentary approval.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many instances of benefit overpayment that were not attributable to a fault made by the claimant were (a) requested to be waived by claimants and (b) waived by his Department in each year since 2018.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Department for Work and Pensions only started to categorise waiver requests in 2020/21. Information from 2020/21 onwards can be found in the table below.
| Waivers requested relating to Official Error | O/E Waived |
20/21 | 12 | 3 |
21/22 | 97 | 5 |
22/23 (to date) | 104 | 25 |
Section 105 of The Welfare Reform Act 2012 states that any overpayment of Universal Credit, new style JSA or ESA, in excess of entitlement, is recoverable. The department therefore seeks to recover benefit overpayments accordingly, but remains committed to doing so without causing undue financial hardship.
Any claimants struggling with the proposed rate of deductions are encouraged to contact DWP Debt Management to discuss a temporary reduction in their rate of repayment.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to tackle benefit fraud.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
We take all fraud very seriously. Our Fraud Plan, Fighting Fraud in the Welfare System, published on 19 May 2022, sets out our approach and explains how the additional investment is allowing us to recruit 1,400 more staff into our counter-fraud teams, establish a new 2,000-strong team dedicated to reviewing the circumstances of large volumes of the Universal Credit caseload over the next 5 years and develop enhanced data analytics as a means of preventing and detecting fraud and error.
More information on our Fraud Plan, can be found here:
Fighting Fraud in the Welfare System - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
This work is supported by two tranches of additional investment totalling around £900m, which will help prevent a further £2.4bn of loss by 2024/25. This investment includes money allocated via the Autumn Statement, which will help prevent abuse of the system and drive forward our UC case checks.
Collectively, this builds on the existing work and measures DWP has in place to address overpayments, with savings from the correction and prevention of fraud and error totalling £2 billion last year.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
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 introducing additional protections for survivors of domestic abuse during the cost-of-living crisis.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living and is providing £26bn in cost-of-living support for 2023/24. This includes Cost of Living Payments for the most vulnerable. In addition, the Home office Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan invests over £230 million, including over £140 million to support victims.
For those who require extra support, the Government is providing an additional £1 billion of funding, including Barnett impact, to enable the extension of the Household Support Fund in England in the next financial year. This is on top of what we have already provided since October 2021, bringing total funding to £2.5 billion. In England this will be delivered through an extension to the Household Support Fund backed by £842 million, running from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, which local authorities use to help households with the cost of essentials. It will be for the devolved administrations to decide how to allocate their additional Barnett funding.
DWP recognises the pressures and challenges that this group face, which is why we have made Discretionary Housing Payments available to allow LAs to provide financial help with rental costs. These are aimed at a number of groups likely to be affected by welfare reforms, including individuals or families fleeing domestic violence and abuse. Discretionary Housing Payments may also be given to victims that have remained in their home, which has been adapted under a sanctuary scheme.
Jobcentres remain a safe place to share concerns and obtain advice and support for those impacted by domestic abuse.
- Shared Accommodation Rate
From 1 October 2022, up to 11,000 victims of domestic abuse and modern slavery on Universal Credit or Housing Benefit will be able to claim extra help towards their rental costs, as they will no longer be expected to share accommodation. These groups will be able to claim the higher one-bedroom rate of Local Housing Allowance. This is worth approximately £140 on average per month but the amount will vary depending on the area in which they live.
- Benefit cap levels increase
In April 2023, the government will also increase the benefit cap levels in line with inflation by 10.1%. The benefit cap levels will rise from £23,000 to £25,323 for families in Greater London and from £20,000 to £22,020 for families nationally. The levels for single households without children will rise from £15,410 to £16,967 in Greater London and from £13,400 to £14,753 nationally.
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, if he will provide a breakdown of the number of Universal Credit Official Error overpayments from 1 January 2018 to 6 December 2022, broken down by region.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) pays welfare benefits to around 23 million people.
We are unable to provide information on actual Universal Credit official error overpayments referred for recovery, as there is no longer a requirement to categorise a Universal Credit overpayment, other than where fraud has occurred. Overpayment data (both estimates and actuals) is not broken down by region.