'THINK' May - June 2024 Edition

Prime Minister Announces Renewed Plan for Reform of Disability and Ill-health Benefits

In a speech to the Centre for Social Justice on 19 April 2024, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak declared his intention to address rising economic inactivity through changes to the administration of disability benefits, including tightening up assessment procedures in Personal Independence Payment for claimants with mental health conditions and bringing forward the managed migration of Employment and Support Allowance recipients onto Universal Credit.
 
Setting out his agenda, Mr Sunak said:
 
“We now spend £69 billion on benefits for people of working age with a disability or health condition. That’s more than our entire schools budget; more than our transport budget; more than our policing. And spending on PIP alone is forecast to increase by more than 50 per cent over the next four years... That’s not right; it’s not sustainable and it’s not fair on the taxpayers who fund it. So in the next Parliament, a Conservative government will significantly reform and control welfare.”
 
The speech included five specific proposals:

• Changes to ‘tighten up’ the Work Capability Assessment.
• Reform of the Fit Note process, including providing ‘easy and rapid access to specialised work and health support’ and transferring responsibility for issuing Fit Notes from GPs to ‘specialist work and health professionals’.
• Expanded conditionality by increasing the number of hours claimants are expected to work and removing benefits entirely from the long-term unemployed who don’t accept a job.
• Consultation on changes to Personal Independence Payment assessment procedures to focus on ‘increased living costs’ arising from the claimant’s disability.
• Making use of ‘developments in modern technology’ to prosecute fraud and introducing a new Fraud Bill.

It is important to note that most of the reforms outlined in the speech are only proposals at this stage, and in some cases are premised on Mr Sunak and his party still leading the government in the next parliament following the general election. Only changes to the Administrative Earnings Threshold in Universal Credit and the Department for Work and Pensions’ consultation on reform of the Work Capability Assessment were already in progress when Mr Sunak delivered his speech.
 
Prime Minister’s speech on welfare: 19 April 2024
Rishi Sunak sets out plans to tackle 'sick note culture'

 

Managed Migration of ESA Claims to be Accelerated

An important announcement in the Prime Minister’s speech was his intention to bring forward the managed migration of income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) claims to 2025. Existing policy with regard to the migration of ESA claims was established by the Chancellor in his 2022 Autumn Statement, which pushed back managed migration for those claimants back to 2028.
 
The summary of the Prime Minister’s speech from the Department for Work and Pensions rationalises the move as follows:
 
More than six million people are already benefiting from the modern digital Universal Credit system which allows claimants to access their benefits more easily and amend their claim should their circumstances change.
 
Many of these individuals will also be better off on Universal Credit and we are committed to providing transitional protection for eligible claimants that are migrated to Universal Credit. This ensures that those claimants will not have a lower entitlement to UC than they did on legacy benefits at the point they transition.
 
In light of the Prime Minister’s announcement, the Department for Communities has written to stakeholders to advise its position:
 
The Department is working to assess the impact of [the] speech and will continue to liaise closely with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to understand the effect of these future plans in Northern Ireland.
 
In the short term, those people in receipt of income-related ESA, with the exception of those who also receive Child Tax Credit, should not be expected to take any action. However, we would strongly encourage all those affected by the Move to UC to seek independent advice to clarify their rights and help them to decide when a claim to Universal Credit may be appropriate.
 
Disability benefits system to be reviewed as PM outlines "moral mission" to reform welfare

 

Welfare Rights Campaigners Criticise Government’s Justification for Proposed Reforms

In response to the Prime Minister’s speech, as well as recent comments about mental health made by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Mel Stride, a number of welfare rights campaigners have highlighted the inaccuracies in the government’s rhetoric about benefit claimants, and those on disability benefits especially.
 
In response to Mr Stride’s comments, the New Economics Foundation’s Head of Social Policy, Tom Pollard, told the Guardian:
 
“[T]here is this idea that there’s an easy path to a life on benefits from that point, with a flick of a switch – but after you get signed off by a GP, then you have to be assessed by the benefits system. The work capability assessment (WCA) often leaves people in limbo for six months or more, and then a lot of people are put off by the long form they have to fill in, or get told that they have to work.”
 
Similarly, the Health Foundation’s Lead Economist, Christopher Rocks, who has directed recent research into working age health challenges, emphasized that the picture is far more complicated than the politicians make it sound. He told the BBC:
 
"The 2008 financial crisis had a major impact on society - we saw an economic downturn and public spending cuts. That had an impact on people's health in many different ways. The pandemic and subsequent cost of living crisis exacerbated trends, but the signs were there before Covid hit.
 
"Access to health care has become more difficult, while those fundamental building blocks of health - such as good housing and adequate incomes - are under strain."
 
In a blog post on the Prime Minister’s speech, Becca Stacey, Senior Research Officer at Money and Mental Health, explained how the proposed reforms represent ‘the wrong approach’:
 
Instead of making it harder for people to get the financial support they need, the government should focus on identifying and addressing what’s driving this concerning rise in poor mental health, including improving people’s access to mental health support. As it stands, long wait times and overstretched services mean millions of people are not getting the support they need for their mental health. Suggesting people should receive NHS Talking Therapies instead of PIP, or that the fit note process should shift to focus on what work people can do with the right support in place, fails to recognise that the fabric of support is threadbare. And financial support should be provided alongside greater mental health and employment support. It should not be an either-or situation.
 
Finally, CPAG’s Chief Executive, Alison Garnham, summarised the concerns of all welfare rights organisations:
 
“The Prime Minister must know he can’t scare people into good health, but his words this morning will be chilling for low income families up and down the country who rely on our social security system for help.
 
“His government needs to address the reasons people can’t go to work – like poor health – rather than make life harder for those who are struggling.
 
“PM should focus on delivering investment in the NHS, improving employment support and providing social security for everyone who needs it, including the record number of children currently living in poverty.”
 
Monday briefing: The truth about claims people ‘use’ their mental health to avoid work
Why are we so ill? The working-age health crisis
The government’s proposed benefits reforms are a worrying step backwards
Response to the Prime Minister’s speech on welfare reform
New Economics Podcast: Why is the benefits system failing disabled people
Sicknote culture wars and Angela Rayner – Politics Weekly UK

 

Figures Show Proposed WCA Changes Unlikely to be Effective

Analysis by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) shows that the planned changes to the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) are unlikely to move as many more people into paid work as the government hopes.
 
Three changes to the WCA descriptors (for new claims from 2025) were announced at Autumn Statement 2023:

• The removal of the ‘mobilising’ descriptor that enables entry into the limited capability for work and work-related activity (LCWRA) caseload.
• The amendment of the ‘substantial risk’ descriptor that enables entry into the LCWRA caseload.
• The amendment of the ‘getting about’ descriptor that enables entry into the limited capability for work (LCW) caseload.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) launched a consultation into the proposed reforms on 5 September 2023 and received 1,348 written responses. However, DWP’s consultation response shows that despite the views shared by those affected and the organisations that represent them, only limited changes have been made to the proposals, of which the addition of a Chance to Work Guarantee for claimants with Limited Capability for Work-Related Activity (LCWRA) is the most substantial.
 
Although it has revised its projections up from the estimations it made in November, the OBR is now of the view that only 15,400 more people in employment as a result of the changes. In addition, the increase from the earlier figures is attributed largely to ‘a higher flow of claimants joining the ESA support group and universal credit LCWRA.’ This is from a cohort of 450,000 people that DWP figures suggest will be affected by the planned changes by 2029.
 
DWP disability benefit cuts will impact 450,000 people – but very few will actually find paid work
Supplementary forecast information on work capability assessment reform

 

Academic Study Highlights Need for a More Holistic Approach to Work, Welfare and Mental Health

Research conducted by academics at the ESRC Centre for Society and Mental Health at King’s College London into the ways in which people’s lived experience of distress shapes their interactions with work and the welfare system show clearly that the role mental health problems play in people’s work trajectories over time is highly contextual:
 
For some people, at some points in their life, mental distress is absolutely the key factor which makes work outright impossible. But our analysis reveals that we cannot treat mental health problems as a discrete, sole or independent factor in how people’s working lives play out over the long term. Mental health problems very rarely occur ‘out of nowhere’ and the things that have happened to people leading up to their distress and the wider social and economic context of their lives when they become unwell, are also fundamental shapers of work and welfare outcomes.
 
Factors identified through the research include both early childhood adversities, such as abuse or parental illness, and adulthood experiences like domestic violence and poverty. Likewise, ‘structural influences’ – for example, insecure work and ‘punitive’ social security provision – play an important role.
 
In light of their findings, the authors contest the recent rhetoric from politicians about rising mental health and the impact on benefits, and conclude, in contrast, ‘that – in the context of the welfare system – the mental health conversation may have got too narrow.’
 
The mental health conversation hasn't gone too far, but has it become too narrow?

 

Call for Evidence on Fit Note Reform

Following on from the Prime Minister’s speech, the Department for Work and Pensions has issued a public call for evidence on its proposed reforms to the Fit Note process. DWP encourage all responses, but particularly from:

• employers
• healthcare professionals
• patients, carers and those who access fit notes
• representatives of local systems or local system partners (for example, local authority, integrated care board and voluntary community social enterprise)
• interested academics and stakeholder organisations

 You can respond on behalf of an organisation or as an individual. The easiest way to participate in this call for evidence is by completing this online form.
 
This call for evidence is part of a wider suite of activity to reform the fit note and will act as a prelude to a full consultation on specific policy proposals which will be launched later this year.
 
Fit Note Reform: call for evidence

 

DWP Publishes Green Paper on Disability Reform

On 29 April the Department for Work and Pensions published Modernising support for independent living: the health and disability green paper, which outlines its proposals for the reform of disability benefits, with particular emphasis on overhauling Personal Independence Payment (PIP).
 
According to DWP, the Green Paper looks at ‘how our welfare system could be redesigned to ensure people with disabilities and long-term health conditions get the support they need to achieve the best outcomes, with an approach that focuses support on those with the greatest needs and extra costs.’
 
What is clear from the document is that the government is particularly focused on the increase in successful claims for PIP, which DWP estimate will cost £28 billion per year by 2028/29. Specific emphasis is placed on the role played by claims based on mental health conditions.
 
The Green Paper sets out proposals across the government’s three key priorities:

• Providing the right support to the people who need it most.
• Targeting our resources most effectively.
• Supporting disabled people to reach their full potential and live independently.

 
These priorities inform the proposed policy changes:

• Making changes to eligibility criteria for PIP.
• Redesigning the PIP assessment to better target it towards the individual needs of disabled people and people with health conditions.
• Reforming the PIP assessment so that it is more linked to a person’s condition.

DWP has opened a consultation in relation to the Green Paper, and welcomes responses from all interested parties. The closing date for responses is Monday 22 July 2024.
 
Disability Benefits system to be overhauled as consultation launched on Personal Independence Payment
Modernising support for independent living: the health and disability green paper

 

Minister Questioned About Plans for Community and Independent Advice Sectors

During the Assembly session on Monday 20 May 2024 the Minister for Communities was asked to provide an update on support for the community and independent advice sectors through the Community Support Programme to ensure their services are sustainable.
 
Responding to a question from Paula Bradshaw, Minister Lyons advised that the current two-year funding was in the process of being extended for a third year. However, the Minister was not able to give any firm indication about additional or further funding on the grounds that the Department’s budgetary position was still to be fully determined.
 
Following on from this, the Chair of the Committee for Communities, Colm Gildernew, asked Mr Lyons when the Department’s public consultation on the independent advice and debt policy and delivery framework will be published. The Minister advised that he expected this would happen ‘in the summertime.’
 
AQO 456/22-27
Official Report: Monday 20 May 2024: Community Support Programme

 

Latest Extension of Move to UC Begins

On 13 May the Department for Communities started issuing migration notices to claimant in receipt of Tax Credits with Housing Benefit. Deputy Secretary of Work and Health at the Department for Communities (DfC), Paddy Rooney said:
 
“We continue to take a measured and carefully managed approach to migrating legacy benefit recipients to Universal Credit.
 
“We have already successfully completed issuing Migration Notices to tax credit only recipients and we will continue to take every step possible to ensure that everyone receives the help and support they need during this next phase of Move to UC.”
 
This stage will be followed over the coming months by moves for those still in receipt of other benefits and tax credits being replaced by Universal Credit, including Income Support and income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, as well as a limited number of those in receipt of income-related Employment and Support Allowance.
 
In advance of this announcement, the Department engaged directly with stakeholders in the independent advice sector to provide an update about the enhanced support measures that will be put in place for all remaining legacy benefit claimants to support them in making the move. This will include regular reminders to claimants of the need to submit a claim following receipt of a migration notice, as well as signposting to appropriate sources of support. Claimants have 3 months from the date on their migration notice to make a claim to UC in order to avail of transitional protections.
 
Tax credit with housing benefit recipients next to ‘Move to UC’

 

Assembly Debates Proposal to Remove the Two-Child Limit

On 16 April the Northern Ireland Assembly debated a motion from the SDLP Leader of the Opposition, Matthew O’Toole, calling for the removal of the two-child limit from Universal Credit in Northern Ireland.
 
Ahead of the debate Mr O’Toole said:
 
“The failure to address the poverty that afflicts so many families and communities across the North is deeply shameful and something that cannot be allowed to continue. There can be no tacit acceptance that thousands of children will grow up living in poverty, without enough to eat or the basic essentials that so many of us take for granted. Nor can we allow people to be left living in cold homes, with hundreds dying each winter, or renters forced out of their homes at short notice into an increasingly challenging housing market.”
 
Speaking directly about the two-child limit Mr O’Toole continued:
 
“This is the most impactful and direct way in which the Executive can address child poverty and this is an opportunity they cannot afford to waste. The SDLP Opposition is calling on the Communities Minister to bring forward a plan to end this cap by the end of 2024 and I cannot see why any party would fail to support this proposal.”
 
Motion: Removing the Universal Credit Two-Child Limit (niassembly.tv)
O’Toole: Ending two-child Universal Credit cap most effective way to tackle poverty
 
Support for the motion came from the Cliff Edge Coalition, for whom removal of the two-child limit is one of three key asks to help alleviate poverty in Northern Ireland. However, the coalition was ‘disappointed’ by the DUP’s decision to water down the motion to remove a time-bound commitment to develop a plan to remove the cap, replacing it instead with a broad intention to ‘consider’ the introduction of a Better Start Larger Families payment.
 
In light of this, the Cliff Edge Coalition is now asking that the Northern Ireland Executive does two things urgently:

• Produces a plan and timeline for the implementation of measures which would fully mitigate the impact of the two-child limit on families in Northern Ireland.
• Produces a report on any barriers to removing the two-child limit, including financial and IT implications and how the Northern Ireland Executive plans to overcome these barriers, including timelines.

Cliff Edge Coalition calls for Northern Ireland Executive to act to remove the two-child limit

 

Further Changes to the EU Settlement Scheme

On 21 May the Home Office announced further changes to the EU Settlement Scheme, following on from their practical implementation of the High Court judgement in the judicial review proceedings brought by the Independent Monitoring Authority for the Citizens’ Rights Agreements (IMA). Previous changes mean that people with pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme will automatically have their status extended by 2 years before it expires if they have not obtained settled status.
 
These new changes focus on making it easy for status holders to demonstrate their rights in the UK. Specifically, the Home Office will change the duration of pre-settled status extensions from 2 to 5 years. It will also remove the pre-settled status expiry date from the digital profiles shown to third parties in the online checking services for Right to Work, Right to Rent and View and Prove.
 
Alongside this change, employers, landlords and letting agents will not be required to conduct a further right to work or rent check where the individual remains in their employment or as part of that tenancy agreement.
 
Responding to the changes, Miranda Biddle, Chief Executive of IMA said:
 
“From the outset we have always been clear that the court’s ruling is implemented in a manner that provides clarity and practical resolution for citizens.
 
“At the same time, it is crucial that in implementing the judgment, the uncertainties being faced in relation to citizens’ ability to access and prove their rights are addressed and concluded.
 
“We therefore welcome the package of measures which the Home Office has announced they will be putting in place as a pragmatic way of ensuring the principles of the judgment are upheld.
 
“This will mean that citizens with pre-settled status are assured they will not experience issues when proving their rights to work and rent as their digital status end-date will not be visible to landlords, employers and other external third parties.
 
“The IMA will continue to hold the Home Office to account and will now be monitoring how these measures are implemented.”
 
Home Office confirms changes to the EU Settlement Scheme
IMA Welcomes Home Office Decisions On Measures To Implement Landmark Judgment

 

Department for Communities Launches New Online Claim Form for Budgeting Loan Applications

A new online claim form for Social Fund Budgeting Loans is available via nidirect, which it is hoped will reduce the time it takes to receive a loan payment.
 
DfC says that it has introduced the online claim form as part of ongoing digital enhancements to welfare services and in response to customer requests for an online option.
 
This new digital process will enhance but not replace the current paper form process. Therefore, claimants can still choose their preferred method of application.
 
Claim Social Fund Budgeting loan

 

OISC Announces New Code of Standards

The Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC) has published its new Code of Standards for regulated advisers and organisations, developed following a consultation on the Commissioner’s proposals for a more principle-based rather than prescriptive regulatory approach.
 
It is intended that the Code should meet the OISC’s regulatory objectives, which are to: 

• promote good practice to immigration advisers;
• set standards for immigration advice and services;
• make sure those standards are upheld.

The Code will come into effect on 1 September 2024. Up until that date, the existing 2016 Code will apply. Guidance Notes to support with the implementation of the new Code will follow.
 
OISC Code of Standards

 

Latest NI Benefit Statistics Published

The Department for Communities has published its latest quarterly update of the benefit statistics for Northern Ireland, covering the period ending February 2024. Data shows an ongoing increase in both claims for and active awards of the two principal reformed benefits, Universal Credit (UC) and Personal Independence Payment (PIP). In the case of UC, this is set against an ongoing decrease in the number of active awards of the three main working-age legacy benefits – Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support and Jobseeker’s Allowance.
 
As of February 2024, there were 149,240 households in Northern Ireland on UC, which is an increase of 5.7% compared to November 2023 and 15% on February 2023. In addition, the statistics demonstrate for the first time the important role played by managed migration, with 43% of new claims made in both January and February 2024 being made as part of the Move to UC process, compared to approximately 7% in November and 13% in December 2023.
 
In terms of conditionality, the number of UC claimants not subject to work-related requirements continues to rise, and now represents half of the current caseload, a figure which rises to 65% if those who are working with earnings above the relevant conditionality threshold. This is reflected in the fact that 38% of households have the limited capability for work element included in their award, while 18% are entitled to the carer element.
 
There were 205,840 claimants in receipt of PIP on 29 February 2024, an increase of 3% from the previous quarter and 11.4% from last year. PIP’s monthly claim rate remains high, with 3760 registrations in February 2024 and 3820 in January 2024. Of the 4700 new claim decisions made in February 2024, which was the highest figure since July 2019, 59% (2780) were entitled to an award. However, by contrast claim clearance times fell from a peak of 20 weeks from registration in September 2023 to 14 weeks in February 2024.
 
Of the PIP claims in payment as of February 2024, 42% (86,260) were entitled to the enhanced rate of both the mobility and daily living components. Overall, 81% of claimants were entitled to both components at some level. In terms of reported conditions, 45% of claimants reported a mental illness as their main disabling condition, a significant statistic in light of the government’s proposals outlined above. 32% of claimants reported some form of musculoskeletal disease.
 
Benefits Statistics Summary Publication (National Statistics) - February 2024
Universal Credit Publication
Personal Independence Payment Statistics

 

JRF to Develop its Work in Northern Ireland

Following on from a scoping study it commissioned from Pivotal, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) has announced its intention to establish a new team in Northern Ireland, ‘with a clear focus on collaborating with those already working on issues around poverty and economic security locally.’
 
JRF is particularly concerned about statistics showing a ‘significant increase’ in child poverty in Northern Ireland, and aims to use the restoration of the Assembly and the Executive to pressure decision makers to take decisive action on the anti-poverty agenda.
 
As a result, JRF will be creating a dedicated team based in Northern Ireland to develop a strategy and build relationships with partner organisations within the sector.
 
JRF to establish new team in Northern Ireland

 

Third Increase in the Universal Credit Administrative Earnings Threshold

Following an announcement in the House of Commons on 19 April from the Minister of State for Employment, the Department for Communities have laid an amendment to make a further increase in the level of the Administrative Earnings Threshold (AET) that applies in Universal Credit (UC). The AET establishes the level of earnings above which work search and availability requirements cannot be imposed on a UC claimant – in other words, that determines which claimants will fall under the ‘light touch’ conditionality regime.
 
This is the third increase in the AET in 18 months and raises the threshold to 18 hours per week at National Minimum Wage for single claimants and 29 hours per week for couples.
 This is equivalent to earnings of £892 pe month for individual claimants and £1437 per month for couples. The amendment applies from Monday 13 May.
 
According to the Minister of State, the change will mean that in Britain some 400,000 more claimants will come under the intensive work search regime and will now be required to carry out job search activities to increase their earnings.
 
Changes to the Administrative Earnings Threshold
The Universal Credit (Administrative Earnings Threshold) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2024
 
In its scrutiny of the draft amendment, the Social Security Advisory Committee stated that they ‘remain concerned that many gaps in the evidence base remain, and that the potential risks and impacts are not fully understood.’ In addition, the Committee highlighted that the Department for Work and Pensions equality impact assessment was incomplete.
 
As a result of its analysis, the Committee has made 12 recommendations to the Department to encourage ‘a more evidence-based approach’, particularly with regard to the impact of the broader policy. The Department’s response to the Committee’s recommendations has also been published.
 
The Universal Credit (Administrative Earnings Threshold) (Amendment) Regulations 2024 (A report by the Social Security Advisory Committee)
 
The Committee also wrote directly to the Minister for Communities in Northern Ireland to highlight two of its recommendations, which call specifically on the Department here to mitigate negative impacts on claimants, particularly those in vulnerable situations.
 
In the first case, the Committee suggest exempting lead carers from the increased threshold – this is due to Northern Ireland’s more proscribed childcare provision relative to the rest of the UK. In addition, the Department is advised to carry out further engagement work with employers to improve the support they offer to employees, including those with a health condition and caring responsibilities. At the time of writing, there has been no response from the Minister.
 
Administrative Earnings Threshold: letter to the Minister for Communities (Northern Ireland)

 

Increase to Compensatory Awards in Employment Rights Cases

The Department for the Economy have legislated to increase the limits for payments and awards to workers in relation to certain employment rights.
 
Taking effect from April 6, the limit on the compensatory award for unfair dismissal rises from £105,915 to £115,341. Also, the maximum amount for one week’s pay for the purpose of calculating redundancy payments rises from £669 to £729.
The increased limits relate to a range of employment rights including:

• statutory redundancy payments;
• the basic and compensatory awards for unfair dismissal;
• the limit on guarantee payments made when employees are not provided with work; and
• the minimum basic award for unfair dismissal in health and safety and certain other cases.

 
Economy Minister Conor Murphy announced the proposals:
 
“One of my leading priorities is to protect the rights and entitlements of workers and employees. This Order will ensure that if they find themselves in the unfortunate circumstances of receiving these types of payments or awards, they will be compensated fairly and that their rights will be protected by law.
 
“While the payments cannot undo the events that are the cause of them being made, it is my hope that the increased limits will go some way to help those entitled workers and employees at what is clearly a difficult time.”
 
Economy Minister announces annual increase in limits for unfair dismissal and redundancy payments
New limits for unfair dismissal and redundancy payments from 6 April 2024
The Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order (Northern Ireland) 2024

 

Third-Sector Funding Crisis Undermines Support for Jobseekers

A new report from academics at De Montfort University in England have exposed the devastating impact of funding gaps on third-sector organisations (TSOs) helping those furthest from the labour market into work, education or training.
 
According to the report, developed with the support of the Employment Related Services Association (ERSA), 74% of survey respondents had experienced a reduction in funding and over half (59%) had experienced “very significant” reductions in funding since access to the EU’s European Social Fund (ESF) ended. Around four in 10 respondent organisations had laid off staff in the last year, and almost 15% considered their organisation to be under threat of closure in the next 12 months.
 
Although ESF funding has nominally been replaced by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), the amounts on offer are significantly reduced, and funding being made available for ‘people and skills’ priorities’ has been delayed. Providers are also deeply concerned about uncertainty surrounding what will happen when UKSPF ends on 31 March 2025.
 
The funding environment has also become more fragmented, with third-sector providers required to make multiple funding bids to different local authorities for relatively small pots of short-term funding, typically of 12 months or less. Many TSOs regard this as inefficient, diverting resources from supporting users. It also makes long-term planning extremely difficult for providers and makes it harder to recruit and keep knowledgeable key workers. Short-term funding also makes it harder to meet the needs of vulnerable users who require long-term support.
 
Professor Jonathan Payne of De Montfort’s People, Organisations and Work Institute (POWI) commented:
 
“The third-sector plays a vital role in supporting some of the most vulnerable in society to take the steps needed to progress towards jobs or training that they want to do and which fits with their life circumstances. It is vital that government acts quickly to provide clarity on the future of UKSPF to avoid another cliff edge occurring next March and puts in place long-term funding that can stabilise the sector and prevent the further loss of experienced support workers.”
 
Funding crisis threatens vulnerable jobseekers, say DMU academics
Funding crisis threatens vulnerable jobseekers

 

UC Migration Under the Microscope

The Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) latest statistical bulletin on the Move to Universal Credit (UC) shows that between July 2022 and March 2024:

• a total of 824,050 individuals in 540,070 households have been sent migration notices.
• a total of 400,940 of these individuals, living in 275,980 households, who were sent migration notices have made a claim to Universal Credit.
• of those who have claimed Universal Credit, 166,860 households have been awarded transitional protection.
• a total of 238,990 of individuals who were sent migration notices are still going through the Move to UC process.
• a total of 184,120 of individuals who were sent migration notices have had their legacy benefit claims closed.

 
Completing the move to Universal Credit: Statistics related to the move of households claiming Tax Credits and DWP Benefits to Universal Credit: data to end of March 2024
 
In addition, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has published its latest report into the DWP’s transfer of 900,000 claimants of legacy benefits to UC.
 
In light of its findings, the PAC has called on DWP to do more to support claimants to make the switch to UC. The PAC is also concerned that UC is not leading to the expected economic benefits DWP envisaged, and accuses the Department of having ‘cherry-picked positive facts and also made other assumptions not supported by empirical evidence.’
 
Dame Meg Hillier MP, Chair of the Committee, said:
 
“Our Committee has scrutinised Universal Credit since its inception. We must not forget how massive a change it is to how benefits are delivered, impacting millions of people. This means if the transition from legacy benefits to UC fails even an apparently small proportion of people, it will lead to real world misery for thousands. The DWP must make sure that people are not cast into financial hardship due to a bureaucratic change, and that robust support is in place for those vulnerable claimants who need it most.”
 
Universal Credit: PAC raises alarm over risk of vulnerable claimants losing benefits
 
Responding to both publications, the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) highlighted the ‘truly alarming’ level of non-claiming, with 39% of Tax Credits claimants in the latest figures not moving to UC and losing entitlement to all benefits as a result.
 
Chief executive of Child Poverty Action Group Alison Garnham said:
 
“Today’s ‘no-claim’ figures are truly alarming. Claimants are losing money they need while the DWP buries its head in the sand. The department must slow down the managed migration to UC and put in place robust support mechanisms that will enable people to move safely to UC. Without action from the DWP this is a disaster in-the-making.”
 
New figures show ‘truly alarming’ no-claim rate for universal credit

 

Economic Inactivity in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland think tank Pivotal have produced a briefing document on the topical issue of economic activity. As the report explains, economic inactivity is an important indicator of the state of the economy, the cohesion of society and public health.
 
Economic inactivity describes people aged between 16 and 64 who are not in formal employment or actively seeking employment. In Northern Ireland, rates of economic inactivity are amongst the highest in the UK.
 
The briefing identifies a number of factors driving economic inactivity, with increasing levels of ill health nationally and economic deprivation regionally particularly important features of present data trends.
 
Pivotal’s report provides a helpful introduction to the issue and the data, and more detailed research is required to identify and evaluate suitable policy responses.
 
Economic inactivity in Northern Ireland

 

Energy Consumer Experiences Revealed in Latest Utility Regulator Survey

The Utility Regulator has published the results of its fourth Domestic Consumer Insight Tracker survey, which is the regulator’s annual investigation of consumer outcomes, awareness and behaviour in the Northern Ireland domestic energy market.
 
This latest survey was carried out between October and November 2023 with a representative sample of over 1500 domestic consumers in Northern Ireland. Some key headline findings from respondents are:

• Overall awareness of support services offered by electricity and gas companies has increased from 41% in 2022 to 51% in 2023.
• Less than 5% of respondents in vulnerable circumstances have signed up to special services offered by energy companies to consumers who require extra support.
• 43% of domestic electricity consumers and 42% of domestic gas consumers were spending £100 or more each month compared to only 13% of domestic electricity consumers and 9% of domestic gas consumers spending this amount in 2021.
• 9% of electricity and 10% of gas domestic consumers say they have gone without other essentials to pay for their energy at least once in the previous year.
• 20% of electricity and 21% of gas consumers who use a prepayment meter reported running out of credit and going without energy.
• 82% of consumers who did not have internet access had never switched their electricity supplier, and 76% had never compared their electricity deal.

 
Launch of the latest Domestic Consumer Insight Tracker survey results

 

Effectiveness of Debt Advice Services for People with Mental Health Problems

A new report from Money and Mental Health concludes that mainstream debt advice services are ill-suited to the needs of people with severe mental illness (SMI) and in crisis. Common symptoms of SMI can mean people are at serious risk of financial harm when acutely unwell. However, these symptoms can also make accessing and engaging with mainstream debt advice impossible. As a result, the report concludes that people with SMI need a service that understands how mental health problems can impact their capabilities and services that are tailored to their needs.
 
Money and Mental Health are calling on HM Treasury and the Money and Pensions Service to invest in a specialist mental health and debt advice service targeted at people with SMI and in crisis. This service should be designed and delivered around the needs of people with SMI and:

• Offer support proactively and reach out to people with SMI
• Deliver the service (remotely and in-person) where people with SMI are – in psychiatric hospitals and Community Mental Health services
• Equip advisors with the training to understand how SMI can impact people’s capabilities
• Offer casework as standard and tailor tasks to people’s capabilities
• Train advisors to deliver welfare rights support in tandem with debt advice
• Design a Quality Assurance framework around the needs of people with SMI

 
A specialist service should be ring-fenced for people with SMI or in crisis. This would ensure the needs of people with SMI in accessing debt advice are catered for and go a long way to ensuring those most at risk of harm to their finances and mental health are supported.
 
Access to debt advice: the needs of people with serious mental health problems

 

Ofcom Publishes Research Into Debt Support in the UK Telecoms Market

Ofcom has published research that looked at the experiences of telecoms customers and the information from their telecoms provider on debt support. The research explored whether customers had experienced telecoms debt in 2023 (i.e. having missed one or more payment to their telecoms provider between January and November) and where they looked or would look (if they did not have any recent telecoms debt experience) for information about support.
 
Key findings from the study were that four in five (83%) of those who had looked for information about debt support had turned to their provider for it. The most popular sources for advice were providers (48%), friends and family (32%) and a charity/organisation that gives free debt advice (22%).
 
However, Ofcom also found that only around half (53%) of those who experienced telecoms debt last year were able to recall receiving information from their provider about debt support. In light of this, Ofcom has highlighted its existing policies and procedures to make sure vulnerable customers are treated fairly, as well as cost-of-living guidance recently published by the UK Regulators Network.
 
Telecoms customers turning to their providers for debt advice
The importance of debt support information from providers

 

Joint Report Highlights Energy Security Challenges for the UK and Ireland

The Economic Affairs Committee of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly has published a report into the policy responses of the BIPA jurisdictions to energy challenges.
 
The report calls on governments to make clear plans for developing their energy grids for the renewable transition, and ensure their planning systems can cope with rapid grid expansion.
 
Speaking on the report, Committee Chairperson Deputy Brendan Howlin TD said:
 
“One of the most pressing challenges facing the UK and Ireland is ensuring that the electricity grid is ready to serve the market by accommodating new sources of renewable electricity generation. It is clear that grid capacity across BIPA jurisdictions needs to be significantly strengthened in order to make use of the planned expansion in renewable electricity generation. This will require careful long-term planning and major investment, and coordination to ensure that the grid is able to support new generation.”
 
The report also examined how consumers could be more effectively protected by government interventions during future energy shocks, drawing from lessons of the recent energy crisis. Among its recommendations were for Governments to identify vulnerable households, people without direct relations with their supplier or alternative fuel users by using existing data that they hold.
 
BIPA consists of politicians from the UK Parliament, the Oireachtas, the Northern Ireland Assembly, the Scottish Parliament, the Senedd and the Crown Dependencies. It was established to deepen relations between the UK and Ireland.
 
British and Irish lawmakers issue report on energy security

 

JRF Draws Attention to Impact of ‘Poverty Stigma’ on Policy

A new report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation extends its work on poverty stigma, presenting findings from the design team’s efforts ‘to develop a deeper understanding of what we mean when we talk about poverty stigma.’
 
In addition to providing a ‘redefinition’ of poverty stigma, the report grounds the following recommendations:

• Reframe poverty as an issue of economic injustice, and in relation to wealth inequality, and take an intersectional approach to addressing it.
• Develop rights-based understandings and approaches to poverty mitigation.
• Reject the stigmatising classification of disabled people and those with unpaid caring responsibilities as ‘economically inactive’.
• Combat rising in-work poverty by challenging the stigmatisation of low-paid work as 'low skilled', and by campaigning for real living wages, pay equity and maximum wage ratios.
• Destigmatise policy design and service delivery through the creation of anti-stigma poverty strategies and training tools for the public, third and charitable sectors.
• Work with journalists, artists, creative practitioners, community activists and people with lived experience to create images and stories which challenge stigmatising poverty narratives.

 
Phase 2 of the project’s activity will focus on 3 key areas of action:

1. Creating tools that can support organisations to design stigma out of policies and services.
2. Building communities of action to test these tools.
3. Commissioning creative projects with people on the receiving end of stigma to produce ‘anti-stigma’ image and story banks for journalists, news and charitable organisations.

 
Poverty stigma: a glue that holds poverty in place

 

Inflation Surging and the UK Economy

A new briefing note from the Resolution Foundation aims to set the ‘welcome’ recent news on inflation into a wider context. In particular, the authors aim to ‘take a step back’ to assess how the recent cost of living crisis ‘has reshaped our economy’, and whether the UK has really turned the corner.
 
In particular, the report identifies the following major changes to the structure of the economy:

• Big rise in the relative price of essentials, such as energy and food, which have forced major cutbacks in consumption for households.
• Imbalance between different income sources, with wages falling for most people, benefits just about keeping up with inflation and returns from savings increasing dramatically.
• Both real household disposable income and real per-person consumption have fallen compared to pre-pandemic figures, the latter by almost 5%.
• In contrast to previous periods of high inflation in the 1950s and 1970s, public debt has increased by 6% since 2021-22.

 
Paying the price: How the inflation surge has reshaped the British economy

 

Adoption Leave and Pay

 

AQW 8677/22-27, tabled by Robbie Butler (UUP) on 12/03/2024

To ask the Minister for the Economy why self-employed adoptive parents are not entitled to Statutory Adoption Pay.
 
Answered on 05/04/2024
Statutory adoption pay is available to employed earners whose employer makes class 1 national insurance contributions on their behalf. A different class of national insurance is payable by self-employed people; therefore, they are unable to receive statutory adoption pay. This approach is common with other forms of statutory payment.
 
Support for self-employed adopters is available, including means-tested financial support, advice, information and counselling, and other services. Universal Credit, the child element to that benefit, and child benefit are also available to provide support with the costs of raising children.
 
The Department of Health will bring forward regulations under the Adoption and Children Act (Northern Ireland) 2022 which will put in place transitional adoption support service arrangements. I understand this will include additonal provisions intended to improve and enhance financial and other support for all adoptive families.
 
 

AQW 8678/22-27, tabled by Robbie Butler (UUP) on 12/03/2024

To ask the Minister for the Economy whether he has requested options to review the support available for adopters who are self-employed, with a view to bringing their rights in line with those of employed parents.
 
Answered on 03/04/2024
Entitlement to statutory adoption pay, and many other forms of statutory payments, are linked to the type of national insurance contributions made. This often results in a difference between the rights and entitlements of employees and those who are self-employed. Other forms of support may be available depending on individual circumstances.
 
Leave and pay arrangements for working parents who adopt are currently operated on a consistent basis between Britain and the north of Ireland. This is a long-standing approach that generally enjoys the support of stakeholders. I will continue to keep differences in treatment between self-employed and employed people under review.

 

 

Dentistry

 

AQW 9004/22-27, tabled by Ciara Ferguson (SF) on 15/03/2024

To ask the Minister of Health to detail the number of dental practices that provide health service dentistry, broken down by constituency.
 
Answered on 03/04/2024
There were 364 General Dental Practices across Northern Ireland at 31st December 2023, the latest publicly available quarterly Accredited Official Statistics.
 
The number of General Dental Practices broken down by Assembly Area is detailed in Table 1. Information is only available for those dental practices and dentists who have made arrangements with the SPPG (previously HSCB) to provide health service dentistry. Information is not held in relation to dental practices that are wholly private.
 
Table 1: Number of General Dental Practices by Assembly Area at 31st December 2023

Assembly Area	Dental Practices
Belfast East	20
Belfast North	27
Belfast South	33
Belfast West	19
East Antrim	16
East Londonderry	17
Fermanagh and South Tyrone	24
Foyle	20
Lagan Valley	19
Mid Ulster	15
Newry and Armagh	29
North Antrim	26
North Down	19
South Antrim	11
South Down	20
Strangford	13
Upper Bann	20
West Tyrone	16
Northern Ireland	364

Source: Family Practitioner Services Dental Payment System, Business Services Organisation

 

 

Department for Communities Budget

 

AQW 10788/22-27, tabled by Daniel McCrossan (SDLP) on 24/04/2024

To ask the Minister for Communities to detail (i) what areas his Department is unable to retain parity with the Department for Work and Pensions due to staff shortages; and (ii) what he plans to do to address these issues.
 
Answered on 02/05/2024
My Department is unable to maintain parity with the Department for Work and Pensions’ plans for maximising employment by reducing economic inactivity and supporting the progression of claimants into work, and for tackling fraud and error as set out in the Government's Back to Work plan and successive budget statements, without the allocation of the funding made available to address these issues.
While the additional workloads created by the Move to Universal Credit exercise and ongoing legislative changes are currently being absorbed on a priority basis by existing work areas within Universal Credit, this situation serves only to further erode our capacity and capability to maintain parity with the Department for Work and Pensions.

 

 

Disability Discrimination

 

AQW 11478/22-27, tabled by Michelle McIlveen (DUP) on 07/05/2024

To ask the Minister for Communities whether he intends to bring forward legislation to prohibit indirect disability discrimination.
 
Answered on 28/05/2024
Ensuring that disabled people have the same rights and opportunities as the rest of our community is a key priority for me.
 
I am considering the next steps to be taken in the development of an Executive Disability Strategy. This will include consideration of the need for a review and reform of disability legislation.

 

 

Discretionary Housing Payments

 

AQW 9514/22-27, tabled by Mark Durkan (SDLP) on 22/03/2024

To ask the Minister for Communities, pursuant to AQW 5805/22-27, to detail (i) when this Equality Impact Assessment will be completed; (ii) how many claimants have lost their Discretionary Housing Payment since August 2023; and (iii) how many of these were also in receipt of a disability benefit.
 
Answered on 22/04/2024
This issue is an operational matter for the Housing Executive. I have sought the requested information from the Chief Executive, who has advised me as follows:
The EQIA process is currently ongoing.
 
The Housing Executive is unable to confirm the number of customers who have lost their DHP from August 2023, due to the reporting periods that the Housing Benefit system generates; however, between April 2023 & February 2024, 5,697 DHP awards have ended. The Housing Executive has advised that DHPs will end for the following reasons:

• When a person changes address, a new DHP application will be required in all cases.
• When the Housing Executive becomes aware of a change in the customer’s financial / personal circumstances and is satisfied that this change results in the customer no longer being in financial / medical stress.
• When the Housing Executive is satisfied that the customer misrepresented or failed to disclose a material fact (fraudulently or otherwise) and had the true information been available at the time of the decision, no DHP award would have been made.
• When a DHP award has been made as the result of an error.
• When a person no longer satisfies the conditions of entitlement e.g. their Housing Benefit or Universal Credit housing costs end.
• When a customer’s shortfall between their eligible rent charge and the rent charged by their landlord is less than £5 per week.
• When an award has been in payment for two years.

 
In answer to the final question the Housing Executive is unable to confirm the number of customers in receipt of a disability benefit who have had their DHP award ended.
 
A decision to award a DHP is made and recorded manually as the software used does not record the grounds for the award being made, and takes account of several factors including disability, domestic abuse, risk of homelessness and vulnerability.  In some cases, more than one of these factors may be present.
 
For any future queries relating to operational matters, you may wish to contact the Housing Executive directly. Making direct contact with the Housing Executive will ensure that you receive the information in the shortest possible timeframe and make best use of public resources.

 

 

Help with Health Costs

 

AQW 9305/22-27, tabled by Sorcha Eastwood (APNI) on 20/03/2024

To ask the Minister of Health whether his Department plans to create a young patient travel fund.
 
Answered on 05/04/2024
Help with travel costs associated with medical treatment is provided via the Help with Health Costs (HwHC) scheme, which also provides financial help towards the cost of dental treatment, eyesight tests, glasses or contact lens. The scheme is open to individuals and their dependants, primarily on low incomes. The eligibility criteria are set out in legislation and certain benefit recipients automatically passport on to the scheme. Eligibility in terms of age is determined by the eligibility rules for benefits.
 
Preparatory work has recently commenced in advance of updating the Travelling Expenses and Remission of Charges Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2004. The focus of the update is to reinstate automatic passporting for those eligible to receive free sight tests and free Health Service dental treatment through the Help with Health Care (HwHC) scheme following the migration of their benefits to Universal Credit by the Department for Communities (DfC).
 
The commencement of a wider review of the provisions within these Regulations and associated HwHC scheme will be considered once this urgent work is completed and in line with available resources.

 

 

House

 

AQW 10149/22-27, tabled by Ciara Ferguson (SF) on 16/04/2024

To ask the Minister for Communities to detail his Department's consideration of removing the barriers to housing access for people in the private rented sector, particularly in relation to estate agent requests for homeowner guarantors for all applicants, regardless of their income and employment status.
 
Answered on 29/04/2024
Large up-front costs including deposits are a barrier for many people accessing the private rented sector.
 
To help address this issue, my Department introduced legislation to restrict landlords from asking for or holding a deposit for more than one month’s rent. This legislation was operational from 01 April 2023 and therefore covers tenancy agreements made on or after this date.
 
Of course, deposits are not the only cost for those accessing and living in the PRS. At present, some letting agents charge a wide range of fees to both prospective and existing tenants, including credit check fees, application fees and other administrative fees. My Department has commissioned research to aid considerations on potential letting agent regulation including banning of fees, as a way of further reducing the affordability barrier. The research report is scheduled to be provided to my Department by the end of June.
 
My Department has no responsibility for guarantors nor does private tenancies legislation stipulate the need for guarantors.

 

 

Intimidation Points

 

AQW 9081/22-27, tabled by Justin McNulty (SDLP) on 15/03/2024

To ask the Minister for Communities for his assessment of the benefits of updating the criteria for the awarding of intimidation points through the Housing Executive.
 
Answered on 28/03/2024
The Housing Selection Scheme, including intimidation points, has been in place relatively unchanged for decades. Long-awaited updates are underway via the implementation stage of the Fundamental Review of Social Housing Allocations. This includes exploration of options for intimidation points. I will consider next steps in due course.
 
(NB: Advice NI recently responded to a research enquiry on future provision for victims of violence in light of the proposed changes to the NI Housing Selection Sechem, which can be read at the Advice NI website. Response: Investigating future provision for victims of violence)

 

 

Local Housing Allowance

 

AQW 10213/22-27, tabled by Daniel McCrossan (SDLP) on 16/04/2024

To ask the Minister for Communities to detail the average gap between rent and the Local Housing Allowance for households in the private rented sector, broken down by constituency, in the last three years.

Answered on 30/04/2024
The average (median) gap between rent and the Local Housing Allowance for households in the private rented sector, broken down by constituency, in the last three years is shown below.
 
Median gap between rent and the Local Housing Allowance for Universal Credit households in the private rented sector with rents that exceeded the LHA

PC2024	Nov-21	Nov-22	Nov-23
BELFAST EAST	£89	£105	£139
BELFAST NORTH	£89	£94	£114
BELFAST SOUTH AND MID DOWN	£114	£126	£151
BELFAST WEST	£102	£114	£134
EAST ANTRIM	£94	£95	£120
EAST LONDONDERRY	£98	£103	£116
FERMANAGH AND SOUTH TYRONE	£121	£132	£146
FOYLE	£107	£114	£116
LAGAN VALLEY	£110	£113	£142
MID ULSTER	£101	£110	£123
NEWRY AND ARMAGH	£111	£118	£141
NORTH ANTRIM	£86	£95	£109
NORTH DOWN	£112	£122	£139
SOUTH ANTRIM	£107	£119	£145
SOUTH DOWN	£91	£106	£118
STRANGFORD	£82	£95	£112
UPPER BANN	£94	£104	£121
WEST TYRONE	£96	£107	£108
Northern Ireland	£101	£111	£129

Data source: Universal Credit Full Service system (UCFS). Note that due to retrospection of UCFS data UC figures are subject to change.

 
Median gap between rent and the Local Housing Allowance for Housing Benefit claimants in the private rented sector with rents that exceeded the LHA

PC2024	Nov-21	Nov-22	Nov-23
BELFAST EAST	£73	£64	£75
BELFAST NORTH	£79	£71	£78
BELFAST SOUTH AND MID DOWN	£113	£89	£115
BELFAST WEST	£115	£115	£124
EAST ANTRIM	£69	£63	£78
EAST LONDONDERRY	£87	£79	£91
FERMANAGH AND SOUTH TYRONE	£108	£97	£107
FOYLE	£103	£88	£103
LAGAN VALLEY	£127	£114	£134
MID ULSTER	£97	£85	£96
NEWRY AND ARMAGH	£120	£111	£115
NORTH ANTRIM	£78	£74	£87
NORTH DOWN	£120	£98	£112
SOUTH ANTRIM	£87	£83	£94
SOUTH DOWN	£101	£87	£96
STRANGFORD	£84	£74	£88
UPPER BANN	£88	£81	£97
WEST TYRONE	£103	£93	£96
Northern Ireland	£96	£85	£97

Data source: NIHE Housing Benefit Data

 
In producing the geographical analysis, records were attributed to an LHA area and parliamentary constituency based on their postcode. Not all records can be correctly allocated using this method and some cannot be allocated at all. All claimant / household figures are rounded to the nearest pound.
 
Note that the rate of LHA used to calculate Housing Benefit/Universal Credit housing costs award depends on the area where the customer chooses to live, who lives with them and the number of bedrooms they need. This may have an impact on the median monthly difference as some customers may be under-occupying their property and will therefore have a larger shortfall between their eligible rent used to calculate their Housing Benefit/Universal Credit housing costs award and the contractual rent charged by their landlord.
 
The median figures above are an average across all household size requirements (number of bedrooms needed). The median difference will be affected by both the household size requirements and the Broad Rental Market Area (BRMA) rates within each parliamentary constituency. This should also be considered when drawing comparisons between UC and HB due to the differences in their caseload characteristics.
 
 

AQW 10214/22-27, tabled by Daniel McCrossan (SDLP) on 16/04/2024

To ask the Minister for Communities how many households in the private rented sector have rents that exceed the Local Housing Allowance, broken down by constituency, in the last three years.

Answered on 30/04/2024
The number of households in the private rented sector with rents that exceed the Local Housing Allowance, broken down by constituency, in the last three years is shown below.
 
Universal Credit households in the private rented sector with rents that exceeded the LHA

PC2024	Nov-21	Nov-22	Nov-23
BELFAST EAST	1,090	1,150	1,290
BELFAST NORTH	1,490	1,670	1,890
BELFAST SOUTH AND MID DOWN	1,050	980	1,090
BELFAST WEST	1,100	1,160	1,310
EAST ANTRIM	1,220	1,350	1,490
EAST LONDONDERRY	1,760	1,890	2,090
FERMANAGH AND SOUTH TYRONE	1,470	1,610	1,850
FOYLE	1,720	1,830	1,980
LAGAN VALLEY	780	740	870
MID ULSTER	1,300	1,470	1,610
NEWRY AND ARMAGH	1,790	2,030	2,280
NORTH ANTRIM	1,410	1,620	1,840
NORTH DOWN	890	950	1,060
SOUTH ANTRIM	1,060	1,140	1,280
SOUTH DOWN	1,380	1,510	1,730
STRANGFORD	930	1,070	1,270
UPPER BANN	2,020	2,270	2,640
WEST TYRONE	1,660	1,870	2,140
UNKNOWN	2,360	2,610	2,350
Northern Ireland	26,460	28,910	32,020

Data source: Universal Credit Full Service system (UCFS). Note that due to retrospection of UCFS data UC figures are subject to change.

 
Housing benefit claimants with rents that exceeded the LHA

PC2024	Nov-21	Nov-22	Nov-23
BELFAST EAST	710	570	550
BELFAST NORTH	1,690	1,300	1,230
BELFAST SOUTH AND MID DOWN	740	550	500
BELFAST WEST	1,610	1,280	1,210
EAST ANTRIM	1,160	940	890
EAST LONDONDERRY	1,670	1,280	1,220
FERMANAGH AND SOUTH TYRONE	1,390	1,070	1,010
FOYLE	2,330	1,700	1,530
LAGAN VALLEY	790	590	530
MID ULSTER	1,400	1,020	950
NEWRY AND ARMAGH	1,770	1,290	1,180
NORTH ANTRIM	1,350	1,020	970
NORTH DOWN	1,110	760	720
SOUTH ANTRIM	1,050	760	690
SOUTH DOWN	1,760	1,270	1,210
STRANGFORD	1,020	800	760
UPPER BANN	1,990	1,500	1,460
WEST TYRONE	2,140	1,640	1,530
UNKNOWN	30	0	10
Northern Ireland	25,720	19,340	18,130

Data source: NIHE Housing Benefit Data

 
In producing the geographical analysis, records were attributed to an LHA area and parliamentary constituency based on their postcode. Not all records can be correctly allocated using this method and some cannot be allocated at all.
 
All claimant / household figures are rounded to the nearest ten. Totals may not sum due to rounding.
 
Note that the reduction in the number of Housing Benefit cases over the three years is due to the natural migration of working age customers from Housing Benefit to Universal Credit.

 

 

Make the Call

 

AQW 9728/22-27, tabled by Kellie Armstrong (Alliance) on 09/04/2024

To ask the Minister for Communities how he will ensure Make the Call is not duplicating the work of the Independent Advice sector.
 
Answered on 22/04/2024
My Department’s Make the Call Service aims to ensure that individuals and their families are receiving the benefits, supports and services they are entitled to claim.
This Service is unique in that it has direct access to benefit systems enabling efficient and effective potential entitlements to social security benefits to be identified. Make the Call also has a team of Community Outreach officers, who conduct home visits with people who are vulnerable through age, disability, illness, or adverse circumstances to provide face to face assistance and support and who can also assist with benefit claim completion.
 
Make the Call and the Independent Advice sector both have important complementary roles in helping to ensure individuals and their families are receiving the benefits, supports and services they are entitled to claim.
 
My officials are currently developing a fresh policy framework for independent advice and debt services which will review the existing collaborative partnerships between the advice sector and government services including Make the Call to ensure citizens receive the necessary support and advice from the organisation best placed to provide it.

 

 

Private Rents

 

AQO 463/22-27, tabled by Matthew O'Toole (SDLP) on 09/05/2024

Answered On Date: 22/05/2024
To ask the Minister for Communities, further to the Office of National Statistics figures published in April 2024 which state that average rents have increased by 10.1 per cent in the last year, to outline the action he is taking to support private renters.
 
Answered on 22/05/2024
I am acutely aware of the sharp increases in rents in the private rented sector since the pandemic.
 
Research carried out by my Department concluded that the best ways of relieving pressure on affordability for renters was by increasing housing supply, and ensuring the benefit system properly takes account of the cost of housing.
 
Therefore, the increase in Local Housing Allowance rates, which set the level of housing support that households receive through Housing Benefit and Universal Credit, from last month will go some way in helping renters pay their rent and relieve pressure on their household budgets.
 
Last year, my Department paid out over £325m to cover housing costs in the private rented sector, this will increase this year with the LHA uplift.
 
Some of these rates have increased by over 40 percent, which is a stark illustration of the scale of the impact that the LHA freeze had on households in the private rented sector.
 
I will be advocating for these rates to keep track of the market rents, so this does not prove to be a very temporary fix for our lower income households.
 
In addition, those households who are still experiencing a shortfall in their housing support against their rental costs after the uplift in LHA, may be able to access Discretionary Housing Payments.
 
As I have already stated in this chamber, one of my key priorities is to increase the supply of safe, warm, and affordable homes.
 
To help achieve this, I will continue to spend most of my Department’s capital budget on building new social homes and exploit new funding sources to support the delivery of affordable housing. A quarter of a million people live in social homes, with highly subsidised rent. My Department will help about 800 households into home ownership this year, around half of whom we expect to live in the private rented sector.
 
Last week I made an announcement to the Assembly on the development of a new intermediate rent product, another way we will help private renters. 
I am also working to finalise a Housing Supply Strategy, aimed at unlocking supply across all tenures, with the intention of bringing it to the Executive for consideration as soon as possible.

 

 

SmartPass Travel

 

AQW 9087/22-27, tabled by Mark Durkan (SDLP) on 15/03/2024

To ask the Minister for Infrastructure whether he will take action to allow the 60+ SmartPass to remain active until holders receive their Senior 65+ SmartPass, in order to ensure a smooth transition.
 
Answered on 04/04/2024
60+ SmartPasses are active until the end of the calendar month in which a person turns 65, rather than the actual date they turn 65. SmartPass holders are written to 3 months prior to the expiry of their SmartPass to inform them of the steps to take to apply for a 65+ SmartPass. 60+ SmartPass holders who renew their pass will receive their SmartPass towards the end of their birth month. This ensures continuous and uninterrupted eligibility for public transport discounts. There are currently no plans to change this process.

 

 

Social Inclusion

 

AQW 8925/22-27, tabled by Carál Ní Chuilín (SF) on 14/03/2024

To ask the Minister for Communities to detail when the social strategies that are within his responsibility will be published with a costed action plan.
 
Answered on 05/04/2024
I want to ensure that the Executive’s Social Inclusion Strategies are sustainable, deliverable and make a meaningful difference to people’s lives particularly for those who are vulnerable and are affected by social isolation in all its forms.
 
I am currently considering the next steps to be taken in relation to the Strategies and final decisions on the content and timeline for implementation will be subject to Executive agreement.

 

 

Two-Child Limit

 

AQW 9399/22-27, tabled by Mark Durkan (SDLP) on 21/03/2024

To ask the Minister for Communities, pursuant to AQW 5806/22-27 (i) how many of those impacted are single parent households; and (ii) whether his Department has carried out any assessments to determine whether the two-child rule disproportionately affects women.
 
Answered on 12/04/2024
In November 2023, 8,430 households receiving Universal Credit were impacted by the two-child policy, of which 5,660 were single parent households.
 
The legislation on the two-child policy is contained in the Welfare Reform and Work (Northern Ireland) Order 2016. This Order ensured that the welfare reforms enabled by the Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016 in Great Britain are delivered in Northern Ireland. The Order brought Northern Ireland social security into parity with the rest of the UK, as agreed in the Fresh Start Agreement in 2015.
 
Prior to the introduction of the Great Britain Welfare Reform and Work Bill in the House of Commons, HM Treasury and the Department for Work and Pensions completed an Impact Assessment of Tax Credits and Universal Credit, changes to Child Element and Family Element including the introduction of the two-child policy. It was acknowledged that on an individual basis women may be more likely to be affected than men as more women are lone parents.
 
My Department has not carried any assessment to determine whether the two-child policy disproportionately affects women.
 
 

AQW 10723/22-27, tabled by Mark Durkan (SDLP) on 23/04/2024

To ask the Minister for Communities to provide clarity on the IT infrastructure which would be required to remove the Two Child Limit.
 
Answered on 01/05/2024
The Universal Credit IT system is owned and developed by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) for the delivery of Universal Credit on a UK wide basis.
 
DWP would therefore have to deploy developers to complete a comprehensive assessment of the scope and functionality required to support the removal of the Two Child Limit for Northern Ireland only.
 
As there are both legislative and technical barriers to making this change, it would take considerable time and cost to resolve and could not be scoped further without agreed funding.

 

 

Universal Credit - Five Week Wait

 

AQW 10067/22-27, tabled by Sian Mulholland (APNI) on 12/04/2024

To ask the Minister for Communities whether there are any plans to fully mitigate the five-week wait in Universal Credit for care experienced young people who are leaving care.
 
Answered on 24/04/2024
There are currently no plans to fully mitigate the five-week wait for Universal Credit for young people who are leaving care.
 
Care leavers can prepare their claim to Universal Credit up to 28 days before and including their 18th birthday, although the claim details must not be submitted until their 18th birthday. This helps to ensure that support is in place as early as possible.
 
There is a range of support available for those people facing financial difficulty while waiting for their first full Universal Credit payment, including the Universal Credit Contingency Fund, a non-repayable grant that is only available in Northern Ireland.
 
New claims advances of up to 100% of potential Universal Credit entitlement are also available if a person needs support. The repayment period for new claim advances is 24 months.

 

 

Universal Credit - Identity Verification

 

AQW 11557/22-27, tabled by Mark Durkan (SDLP) on 08/05/2024

To ask the Minister for Communities to detail any engagement his Department has had with the Department for Work and Pensions in relation to Universal Credit online identity verification issues for customers with a Northern Ireland-issued driving licence or Irish passport.
 
Answered on 29/05/2024
The Universal Credit online Identity Verification system currently used by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) does not have the capability to recognise non-UK passports or Northern Irish driving licences.
 
I can confirm that this has been raised with DWP on a number of occasions, before and after implementation of Universal Credit in Northern Ireland.
DWP are reviewing identity verification functionality and have been advised of the Northern Ireland specific requirements.
 
In the meantime, ID verification can be completed using non-UK passports and Northern Ireland driving licences, as well as many other acceptable forms of documentation, at a face to face appointment in a Jobs & Benefits office. ID can also be verified via biographical questions or through a third party.

 

 

WASPI Compensation

 

AQW 8887/22-27, tabled by Tom Buchanan (DUP) on 14/03/2024

To ask the Minister for Communities to detail (i) the number of women in Northern Ireland born in the 1950s affected by the increase in the State Pension age; (ii) whether his Department has had any communication with the Department of Works and Pensions in relation to compensation for these women; and (iii) whether his Department has considered any proposals to compensate these women for the financial loss they have sustained.
 
Answered on 29/03/2024
The number of women in Northern Ireland born in the 1950s affected by the changes in State pension age is estimated to be 100,700.
 
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman report into how changes to women’s State pension age were communicated by DWP was published on 21 March 2024. I await the Westminster Government’s response to that report.
 
In the meantime, my officials will continue to engage with the Department for Work and Pensions on this matter.

 

 

Welfare Reform Mitigations Funding

AQW 8864/22-27, tabled by Mark Durkan (SDLP) on 13/03/2024

To ask the Minister for Communities whether his Department is considering changes to the Social Sector Size Criteria-Bedroom Tax mitigation, including tapering the provision depending on household income.
 
Answered on 29/03/2024
My Department has a statutory obligation to produce a report on the operation of the existing mitigation schemes before 31 March 2025. This report will include proposals for the future delivery of the welfare mitigation schemes, including the Social Sector Size Criteria (Bedroom Tax).
 
This matter along with other recommendations that have been made for a future mitigation package in Northern Ireland will need to be assessed in the climate of financial constraint and the requirement to ensure that budgets remain sustainable over the coming years.
 

AQW 11016/22-27, tabled by Justin McNulty (SDLP) on 29/04/2024

To ask the Minister for Communities (i) for his assessment of the £45 million allocated to his Department for welfare reform mitigations in the Budget 2024-25; and (ii) what welfare reform mitigations his Department will implement through utilisation of that funding allocation.
 
Answered on 13/05/2024
The funding allocated in relation to welfare mitigations for the 2024-25 financial year will allow my Department to continue to deliver the existing mitigation schemes, including providing support in full for those people impacted by the Benefit Cap and Social Sector Size Criteria.
 
This allocation will provide funding for the Universal Credit Contingency Fund, the Social Supermarket Scheme and support for the Independent Advice Sector. Associated administration and IT costs for the existing mitigation schemes will also be met through this funding allocation.
 
Finally, there is funding made available to progress with my Department’s statutory obligation to assess and report on the operation of the welfare mitigation schemes.

 

Bereavement Benefits

 

UIN 26180, tabled on 14 May 2024 by Martyn Day, Scottish National Party

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) creating a team in his Department that specifically supports bereaved benefit claimants and (b) providing training to all staff in his Department on bereavement support.
 
Paul Maynard, Conservative, answered on 22 May 2024
DWP provides a cross government service called Tell Us Once. The Tell Us Once service allows bereaved citizens to inform all the relevant government departments when someone dies. This is available on gov.uk. What to do after someone dies: Tell Us Once. Bereaved claimants who are unable to use the online service via Gov.uk can contact the DWP Bereavement Service on 0800 151 2012, to cancel the person’s benefits and entitlements, including their State Pension. The service will also signpost bereaved claimants who may be eligible for help with funeral costs or other benefits such as bereavement support payment.
 
All colleagues undergo a comprehensive learning journey when they join the DWP. The learning provides staff with the knowledge and skills to enable them to treat each claimant as an individual regardless of additional or complex needs.
 
In addition, DWP offer training on Vulnerable Customers and Complex Needs, which is available to all colleagues in DWP. This learning product includes specific bereavement content including:

• explain the effects bereavement might have on our customers.
• provide examples of good practice when talking to recently bereaved customers.
• state the sources of help that are available to customers.

 

 

Children Maintenance

UIN 25914, tabled on 13 May 2024 by Stephen Morgan, Labour

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Child Maintenance Service in securing funds from paying parents.
 
Paul Maynard, Conservative, answered on 21 May 2024
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) has a range of strong enforcement powers that can be used against those who consistently refuse to meet their obligations to provide financial support to their children. These include forcing the sale of property, disqualification from driving or commitment to prison.   We are committed to making the most effective use of these strong enforcement powers and have made a number of improvements to our enforcement processes to make it quicker and more efficient.
 
Since December 2022, there has been an increase from 65% to 68%, in those paying something towards their maintenance through Collect & Pay.
 
We have recently concluded a public consultation on proposals to introduce administrative liability orders, which will significantly speed up the process and get money to children quicker, reducing the time it takes to secure an order from 22 weeks to as low as 6 weeks. The Government published their response on 12 February 2024 and will bring forward legislation as soon as possible.

 

 

Disability

 

UIN 26633, tabled on 15 May 2024 by Stephen Farry, Alliance

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his planned timetable is for ensuring that the (a) National Disability Strategy is and (b) related policies are compliant with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
 
Mims Davies, Conservative, answered on 22 May 2024
The commitments set out in the National Disability Strategy are designed to support the UK to become as accessible and inclusive as possible, in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities’ aims of progressive realisation. The strategy, together with other work such as the Disability Action Plan, demonstrate this Government's commitment to implementing the Convention through its legislation, policies and services.

 

 

Employment Schemes - Older Workers

 

UIN 26760, tabled on 16 May 2024 by Wendy Chamberlain, Liberal Democrat

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure that people over the age of 50 receive adequate support through the Back to Work Plan.
 
Jo Churchill, Conservative, answered on 23 May 2024
The Government offers comprehensive support for eligible older jobseekers across the UK through the 50 Plus Choices Offer. This includes the provision of over 70 50plus Champions who play a key role in supporting delivery of a comprehensive package of support across the country.
 
The 2.5 billion Back to Work Plan, announced in the Autumn Statement 2023 includes measures to support all customers, including the over 50s, to find a job, progress in work and thrive in the labour market.
 
Through this Plan, the Government is boosting four key programmes, NHS Talking Therapies, Individual Placement and Support, Restart and Universal Support – to benefit up to 1.1 million people over the next five years and help those with mental or physical health conditions stay in or find work.
 
On 7 May, we announced that 15 areas across England will be piloting a new health support service as part of the Government’s plan to help people with health conditions back to work.

 

 

Food Banks

 

UIN 26778, tabled on 16 May 2024 by Fleur Anderson, Labour

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the reasons for trends in the level of the use of food banks in the last five years.
 
Jo Churchill, Conservative, answered on 22 May 2024
Foodbanks are independent, charitable organisations and the Department does not have any role in their operation.
 
The latest statistics on foodbank usage can be found in the household food security data tables found here.

 

 

Personal Independence Payment

 

UIN 25662, tabled on 10 May 2024 by Vicky Foxcroft, Labour

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Department's publication entitled Modernising support for independent living: the health and disability green paper, published on 29 April 2024, how the outcome of the Personal Independence Payment consultation will interact with the reforms proposed in Transforming Support: The Health and Disability White Paper, published 16 March 2023.
 
Mims Davies, Conservative, answered on 20 May 2024
The Government is removing the Work Capability Assessment because it is committed to doing everything it can to help disabled people and people with long-term health conditions start, stay and succeed in work.
 
The consultation, Modernising Support for Independent Living: The Health and Disability Green Paper, considers potential changes to the welfare system. Currently, no decisions have been taken on potential changes.
 
As we develop any proposals, we will consider the interactions with the removal of the Work Capability Assessment. This will be carefully worked through before we consider introducing any changes.
 

UIN 26896, tabled on 17 May 2024 by Vicky Foxcroft, Labour

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Department's statistical release Unfulfilled eligibility in the benefit system: financial year 2023 to 2024 estimates, publish on 16 May 2024, whether his Department has made an assessment of the reasons for unfulfilled Personal Independence Payment eligibility.
 
Mims Davies, Conservative, answered on 23 May 2024
We are committed to ensuring people can access financial support in a timely manner and understand the importance of paying people their correct entitlement. For PIP, we encourage all claimants in our communications with them and on Gov.UK to inform us if their needs have changed for better or worse.  We are also prioritising claims where a claimant reports a change in their needs to ensure we are paying individuals the right amount.
 
The statistical release notes that all unfulfilled eligibility for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) awards was due to claimants failing to inform the department they needed more help or their condition had deteriorated.

 

 

Personal Independence Payment - Appeals

 

UIN 26871, tabled on 17 May 2024 by Stephen Kinnock, Labour

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much his Department spent on Personal Independence Payment tribunals in each year since 2021.
 
Mims Davies, Conservative, answered on 22 May 2024
The full cost of a tribunal cannot be ascertained. This is because appeals are a joint process between DWP and HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS). DWP do not handle tribunals for appeals; the cost of handling appeal tribunals sits with HMCTS and we do not hold their cost information. If this information were required, we would suggest that this element of your request be submitted to HMCTS.
 
The department holds information relating to the initial PIP appeals process and that can be provided for financial years 2021/22 to 2023/24. The costs of processing the appeals would include expenditure relating to DWP Presenting Officers who attend some Tribunals. The DWP PIP Presenting Officers costs are detailed below:
 

PIP	2021-22 (£m)	2022-23 (£m)	2023-24 (£m)
Presenting Officers	£2.6	£2.5	£3.6

Cost figures are rounded to the nearest £0.1m.
Data Source: ABM
 
The cost figures quoted are estimated DWP level 1 operating costs, including both direct delivery staff and non-staff costs. Non-staff costs are only those costs incurred in local cost centres, relating to direct delivery staff.
 
The figures provided are for PIP Presenting Officers only and excludes Admin Support or Decision Making staff dealing with the initial appeals processing work.
 
Please note that the data supplied is from the Departmental Activity Based Models. This data is derived from unpublished management information, which was collected for internal Departmental use only, and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standards. It should therefore be treated with caution. The Departmental Activity Based staffing models are a snapshot of how many people were identified as undertaking specified activities as assigned by line managers. The data is frequently revised and changes to definitions / benefits / DWP structure effect comparisons over time. It should therefore be treated with caution and must be seen as an indication of cost, rather than the actual cost.
 
The 2023/24 model is still in DRAFT and these are not the final approved figures.
 

UIN 26874, tabled on 17 May 2024 by Stephen Kinnock, Labour

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average cost to his Department was of a Personal Independence Payment mandatory reconsideration in each year since 2021.
 
Mims Davies, Conservative, answered on 22 May 2024
The information for the financial years covered by the request are detailed in the tables below:
 

PIP Unit Costs	2021-22.	2022-23.	2023-24.
Mandatory Reconsiderations	£113	£81	£87

Cost figures are rounded to the nearest pound.
Data Source: ABM
 
The cost figures quoted are estimated DWP level 1 operating costs, including both direct delivery staff and non-staff costs. Non-staff costs are only those costs incurred in local cost centres, relating to direct delivery staff. They show the average Unit Cost of processing one PIP Mandatory Reconsideration. The reduction in Unit Cost in the latter years follows an improvement in productivity.
 
Please note that the data supplied is from the Departmental Activity Based Models. This data is derived from unpublished management information, which was collected for internal Departmental use only and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standards. It should therefore be treated with caution. The Departmental Activity Based staffing models are a snapshot of how many people were identified as undertaking specified activities as assigned by line managers.
 
The 2023/24 model is still in DRAFT and these are not the final approved figures.

 

 

Personal Independence Payment - Chronic Illnesses

 

UIN 25864, tabled on 13 May 2024 by Marion Fellows, Scottish National Party

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to end informal observations under Personal Independence Payment for people living with (a) MS and (b) other fluctuating conditions.
 
Mims Davies, Conservative, answered on 21 May 2024
Informal observations during an assessment for claims to Personal Independence Payment can be a useful tool in assessing functional capability. They can reveal abilities and limitations not mentioned in the claimant questionnaire, supporting evidence or during the history-taking for the consultation. They may also show discrepancies between the reported need and the actual needs of the claimant.
 
Informal observations included in a health professional’s assessment report to DWP are considered alongside all other available evidence including evidence from professionals who may have observed the claimant more regularly to determine entitlement. As informal observations are a useful addition to an assessment, we have no intention to end their use, including for those people with MS or other fluctuating conditions.

 

 

Poverty

 

UIN 902774, tabled on 7 May 2024 by Jeff Smith, Labour

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of people in destitution.
 
Jo Churchill, Conservative, answered on 13 May 2024
The Government is committed to reducing poverty and supporting low-income families. We expect to spend around £306bn through the welfare system in Great Britain in 2024/25 including around £138bn on people of working age and children.
 
From April, working age benefits increased by 6.7% and, Local Housing Allowance rates were raised to the 30th percentile of local market rents, benefiting 1.6 million low-income households.

 

 

Poverty - Children

 

UIN HL4544, tabled on 9 May 2024 by Lord Sikka, Labour

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the two-child benefit cap on child poverty.
 
Viscount Younger of Leckie, Conservative, answered on 21 May 2024
It is not possible to produce a robust estimate of the effect of the impact of the two-child limit on the number of children in poverty.

 

 

Social Security Benefits - Medical Examinations

 

UIN 26581, tabled on 15 May 2024 by Emma Hardy, Labour

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has considered the potential merits of allowing claimants' limited capability for work status to be reinstated without further assessment when (a) they have had their Universal Credit claim closed through no fault of their own, (b) they are in receipt of Personal Independence Payment and (c) their condition has not changed.
 
Mims Davies, Conservative, answered on 22 May 2024
Depending on the circumstances, if the department accepts that a Universal Credit claim should not have been closed, the claim would be reopened. If there has been no change in the claimant’s circumstances, and no changes to any health conditions they have declared, the claim would be reinstated at the same rate of payment as before it was closed, including any additional allowances due to the claimants’ limited capability for work. There would be no need for a further Work Capability Assessment in this scenario. Being in receipt of Personal Independence Payment would have no bearing on this decision.

 

 

Social Security Benefits - Temporary Accommodation

 

UIN 27512, tabled on 21 May 2024 by Mike Amesbury, Labour

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of taper rates for (a) housing benefit and (b) Universal Credit housing elements on people in temporary accommodation.
 
Mims Davies, Conservative, answered on 23 May 2024
The taper rates in Universal Credit (UC) and Housing Benefit (HB) are different and the Department acknowledges the challenge that this creates for those moving into work whilst living in Temporary Accommodation - when transitioning between receiving UC and HB to receiving HB only as their earnings increase.
 
Officials continue to develop policy and delivery options to improve the customer experience for those reliant on Housing Benefit. Any options involving further investment to strengthen work incentives would require fiscal approval in the normal way.

 

 

Universal Credit

 

UIN 26788, tabled on 16 May 2024 by Dean Russell, Conservative

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to amend Universal Credit regulations to take into account the 53-week rent year for 2024.
 
Mims Davies, Conservative, answered on 22 May 2024
Universal Credit payments are designed to mirror the world of work, with calendar monthly calculations and payments reflecting the way most working people are paid.
 
As no calendar year contains 53 weeks, Universal Credit always converts weekly amounts to monthly sums using 52 weeks.  The legitimacy of this approach was confirmed by the High Court having been tested via a judicial review.
 
All of our policies are open to review and may be subject to change in the future; however, we have no plans at present to make changes to this policy.
 

UIN 27197, tabled on 20 May 2024 by Gen Kitchen, Labour

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people who have not moved over to Universal Credit since its introduction.
 
Jo Churchill, Conservative, answered on 23 May 2024
The information requested is published and is available here: Move to Universal Credit statistics, July 2022 to March 2024.
 
 
UIN HL4601, tabled on 13 May 2024 by Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick, Labour
To ask His Majesty's Government what the percentage of people who moved to Universal Credit under the 'Move to UC' policy have been awarded 'transitional protection' (1) between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024, and (2) between 1 to 30 April 2024.
 
Viscount Younger of Leckie, Conservative, answered on 22 May 2024
The latest published statistics show for households sent a migration notice between April 2023 and end of March 2024, and who went on to claim Universal Credit, 60% were awarded transitional protection.
 
The relevant information can be found in ‘table 9a’ published here: Move to Universal Credit statistics, July 2022 to March 2024.
 
Data for April 2024 will be published as part of the next Move to Universal Credit statistics release.

 

 

Universal Credit - Employment

 

UIN 24972, tabled on 7 May 2024 by Vicky Foxcroft, Labour

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Universal Credit claimants in the limited capability for work and work related activity group are in some form of paid employment as of May 2024.
 
Jo Churchill, Conservative, answered on 15 May 2024
The latest available statistics are shown in the following table.
 
Number of people on Universal Credit Health caseload on 14 December 2023 by stage, and those with employment earnings in the UC assessment period

Stage of UC Health	People on UC health	With employment earnings	Percentage with employment earnings
Live fit note (Pre-wca)	271,675	49,541	18%
Limited capability for work	347,472	47,486	14%
Limited capability for work and work-related activity	1,355,441	84,907	6%
Total	1,974,587	181,931	9%

Source: Stat-Xplore and DWP People on UC and UC Health Caseload datasets
 
Notes:

1. Statistical disclosure control has been applied to avoid the release of confidential data. Totals may not sum due to the disclosure control applied.
2. People on UC health are a count of the number of people on UC Health Caseload on the second Thursday of the month.
3. An individual on Universal Credit on the second Thursday of the month will be recorded as in employment if they have employment earnings within the Universal Credit assessment period which spans the count date. They may not be in employment precisely on the count date. Employment for this measure is defined as being employed as an employee. It does not include self-employment.
4. These figures are derived from data underlying published information, but this analysis has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard and so should be treated with caution.

 

UIN 26707, tabled on 16 May 2024 by Vicky Foxcroft, Labour

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 15 May 2024 to Question 24972 on Universal Credit: Employment, what the criteria are for classifying people as live fit note (pre-wca).
 
Mims Davies, Conservative, answered on 23 May 2024
People on the Universal Credit Health caseload are in the ‘Live fit note (pre-wca)’ stage if they have accepted medical evidence of a restricted ability to work, usually a statement of fitness for work (or ‘fit note’), on the caseload date, and have not yet had a Work Capability Assessment or received a Work Capability Assessment decision.
 
More information about the Universal Credit Health caseload, process and WCA official statistics can be found in the published UC WCA stats background information document.
 
 

UIN 26447, tabled on 15 May 2024 by Alison McGovern, Labour

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in receipt of Universal Credit who were (a) in the intensive work-search labour market regime, (b) assessed to have limited capability for work and (c) assessed to have limited capability for work and work-related activity were (i) in and (b) not in work in each month for which data is available since April 2013.
 
Mims Davies, Conservative, answered on 23 May 2024
Statistics for people on Universal Credit at the second Thursday of each month are published monthly on Stat-Xplore. The latest statistics are available in the People on UC dataset for the conditionality regime category of ‘searching for work’, by employment status monthly from April 2015 to March 2024.
 
Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access guidance on how to extract the information required.
 
The monthly statistics from April 2019 to December 2023 are provided in the attached spreadsheet. Monthly caseload statistics for the same time period are available in the UC Health caseload dataset on Stat-Xplore.