Baroness Buscombe: My Lords, with the leave of the House, I will now repeat the Answer to an Urgent Question asked in another place concerning personal independence payment: “The Supreme Court has ruled on the case known as MM, or SSWP v MM. This case was about the definition of ‘social support’, when engaging with other people face to face in the PIP assessment, and how far in advance that support can be...
Baroness Buscombe: If the weekly rates of child benefit had been uprated with CPI the rates would have been: Amount in 2019/20 if they had been uprated with CPI First Child Rate 22.05 Subsequent Child Rate 14.60 If the monthly rates for the Universal Credit standard allowance and child element had been uprated with CPI from 2016/17 to 2019/20 the rates would have been: Amount in 2019/20...
Baroness Buscombe: In 2016-17, 1.81m (60 per cent) of eligible state pensioners claimed Pension Credit. Corresponding figures for 2017-18 and 2018-19 are not yet available. Official statistics on the take-up of income related benefits at Great Britain level, including Pension Credit, can be found in the ‘Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up in 2016 to 2017’ publication on gov.uk. Historic and...
Baroness Buscombe: The reforms to the Social Fund in 2013 allowed local authorities in England and the devolved administrations in Scotland and Wales to deliver their own local provision for people who are in need of urgent help. The Department for Work and Pension's (DWP) 2014 review found that local authorities delivered support more effectively than the previous provision and that councils are best placed to...
Baroness Buscombe: This Government is committed to a sustainable solution to poverty in all its forms, by building a strong economy and a benefit system that supports employment and higher pay. We have acted to increase the incomes of the poorest in society, for example, by increasing the National Living Wage and announcing a £4.5 billion cash boost to Universal Credit in the last Budget. We are also working...
Baroness Buscombe: This Government is committed to a sustainable solution to poverty in all its forms, by building a strong economy and a benefit system that supports employment and higher pay. Households where all adults are in work are around 6 times less likely to be in relative poverty than adults in a household where nobody works. Compared to 2010, there are 3.7 million more people in work and around 1...
Baroness Buscombe: We welcome the Overcoming Poverty of Hope report which provides valuable insight into young people’s views and concerns about their own future. We are committed to providing support for young people so that everyone, no matter what their start is in life, is given the best chance of getting into work. The department has a variety of support for young people such as the Youth Obligation...
Baroness Buscombe: The Government is committed to ensuring that older people receive the support they are entitled to. We work with a wide range of stakeholders, including charities to ensure that accurate information about benefits including Pension Credit is available in the places where people are most likely to go to seek information. The DWP knows that one of the best ways to reach eligible claimants is...
Baroness Buscombe: (1) This statement was due to official error. We are the fourth most generous country according to the UN 2019 World Happiness Report. The UK spends £220bn on welfare each year, providing vital financial support for the most vulnerable in society. (2) and (3) These two statements come from OECD 2015 data (https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?datasetcode=SOCX_AGG). 2015 data is used as it is...
Baroness Buscombe: This Government is committed to providing a strong safety-net for those who need it. We continue to spend over £95 billion a year on working age welfare benefits. We have a well-established system of hardship payments, benefit advances and budgeting loans for those who need extra support, and Jobcentre managers work closely with external partners to help vulnerable claimants. Our local...
Baroness Buscombe: In the 2015 funding settlement, the Government agreed with the BBC that responsibility for the concession would transfer to the BBC. The implementation of the licence fee and the concession from June 2020 is a matter for the BBC and TV Licensing, which are independent of Government. However, we expect the BBC to put in place robust plans to support those who might be affected. The BBC has...
Baroness Buscombe: The Government is committed to ensuring that older people receive the support they are entitled to. We work with a wide range of stakeholders, including charities to ensure that accurate information about benefits including Pension Credit is available in the places where people are most likely to go to seek information. The DWP knows that one of the best ways to reach eligible claimants is...
Baroness Buscombe: In the 2015 funding settlement, the Government agreed with the BBC that responsibility for the concession would transfer to the BBC. The implementation of the licence fee and the concession from June 2020 is a matter for the BBC and TV Licensing, which are independent of Government. However, we expect the BBC to put in place robust plans to support those who might be affected. The BBC has...
Baroness Buscombe: My Lords, I repeat that we take this issue incredibly seriously. First, there is no question of us stopping the rollout; we will not. It is already completed in that it is now in every jobcentre in the country. The termination of legacy benefits is triggered simply where a UC claim is made, not where it is treated as made. It is essential for a smooth transition from legacy benefits to...
Baroness Buscombe: It is entirely correct: 1% of all claims referred by staff are fraud claims. It is important to make it clear that we have trained our staff properly to investigate those claims when they are received, to make sure that the work coach can assess the claims and transfer them on to our fraud and investigation service.
Baroness Buscombe: My Lords, where that is possibly the case, as the noble Baroness rightly said, it is important that we approach each and every case carefully on a case-by-case basis. Each case appears to be different. We do not intend to penalise people who have been duped by others; that is, those who have honestly received benefits incorrectly. We do all we can to support those people throughout the...
Baroness Buscombe: My Lords, I am amazed if the noble Lord seeks to rely too heavily on the BBC. I am grateful that he is asking me, acting as a Minister for the department. To date we have received around 42,000 fraud referrals from staff relating to potentially fraudulent advance claims, and there have been around 4.4 million claims for universal credit; I say that because it is important to put this in...
Baroness Buscombe: My Lords, I absolutely agree with my noble friend. We have had one successful prosecution, and something like 1,420 other cases are live at the moment. I take this to heart, as this area is in my portfolio at the department. We are doing all we can to make sure that we up our game in taking on the whole issue of benefit fraud. Another key point is that universal credit is part of the process...
