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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in each of the 11 pilot areas of universal support delivered locally (a) participated in that programme and (b) consented to have their information used for the purposes of evaluating that programme between September 2014 and September 2015.

Priti Patel

The assessment of the Universal Support trials is currently underway. The final evaluation will be published in late Spring 2016 and this will include the numbers of those who participated in the trials and the evaluation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to paragraph 2.50 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, to which claimants the announcement of an extension of job search conditionality relates.

Priti Patel

By 2020 Universal Credit (UC) will extend support to over a million more claimants than under Jobseeker’s Allowance. The majority of people in this group are not in work and currently have no employment support available. A small proportion of the group may be earning very small amounts – less than the Administrative Earnings Threshold – and will benefit from the out of work support.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to reform the (a) work allowances and (b) taper rate within universal credit during the current Parliament.

Priti Patel

There are no plans to amend the work allowances and taper rates beyond those set out by the Government at the 2015 Autumn Statement.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he plans to answer Question 19086, tabled on 8 December 2015.

Justin Tomlinson

I have done so, on the 17 December 2015.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, under what circumstances a person within one of the universal credit north west pathfinder jobcentres, who meets the eligibility criteria for universal credit under the pathfinder programme, may start a claim for jobseeker’s allowance instead of universal credit.

Priti Patel

A person who meets the eligibility requirements for claiming Universal Credit (UC) anywhere in Great Britain where UC is available can claim contributory-only Jobseeker’s Allowance, either alongside a UC claim or on its own. If a person meets the conditions for claiming UC they cannot claim income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect of uprating the Minimum Income Floor for the self-employed on universal credit inline with the National Minimum Wage on the number of people moving into self-employment.

Priti Patel

An estimate of the overall impact on self-employment is not available. The Minimum Income Floor is intended to encourage those reporting very low self-employed income to increase their earnings either through increasing their earnings from self-employment, or through other employment.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to page 7 of the Government’s response to the Fifth Report from the Work and Pensions Committee, on Benefit Sanctions: Beyond the Oakley Review, HC 557, when the Government plans to publish the results of its evaluation of the pilot programme of in-work sanctions.

Priti Patel

Following a successful Proof of Concept stage, national roll-out of the Universal Credit In-Work Progression Randomised Control Trial commenced from 7 December 2015. Recruitment into the trial will continue until the target sample of 15,000 in-work participants is achieved. We currently expect to reach this number by Autumn 2016, after which time the trial will continue to run for a period of 12 months. An evaluation report will follow in 2018.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the report entitled, Estimating the Early Labour Market Impacts of Universal Credit, published by his Department in December 2015, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of (a) the finding reported on page 27, that the additional work undertaken by participants in the study who were claiming universal credit is likely to consist of relatively few hours at relatively low wages and (b) the findings of the independent peer review, published in Annex B of the report, that the differences between the earnings of people in receipt of universal credit and people in the control group were not satisfactory significant.

Priti Patel

The main and most robust finding in the report is that UC has a substantial impact on the chances of people moving into work after they make a new claim. UC claimants were 8 percentage points more likely to get a job within 270 days of claiming than equivalent new claims to JSA made at the same time in similar areas by similar individuals.

The report and the peer review also set out findings on earnings. These are consistent with the extra people in work and suggest that the policy is working by making it more worthwhile and easier for claimants to do small amounts of work. That is, UC ensures that all work pays.

Most of the findings on earnings are statistically significant. As the report explains, we will be able to improve these estimates over time as we get more data.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he expects to submit the full business case for universal credit to HM Treasury; and when he expects final approval of that case to be granted.

Priti Patel

The Strategic Business Case was submitted and signed off by HMT in 2014. As HMT colleagues stated at the PAC on 7 December (link below) the Outline Business Case was approved in December 2015 and the Full Business Case will be submitted in 2017.

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmselect/cmworpen/1082/1082.pdf

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