Contributions
635 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Universal Credit FraudI pay tribute to the work of the APPG and in particular the hon. Member for Bridgend (Mrs Moon), who has campaigned tirelessly with organisations such as the Motor Neurone Disease…10 Jul 2019HANSARD Universal Credit FraudThe hon. Lady simply does not understand what has happened. Under the legacy benefits, people at the end of their claim as they moved into employment would lose the financial…10 Jul 2019HANSARD Universal Credit FraudI know that the hon. Gentleman is being constructive with his two suggestions. I recognise the point about people engaging with the formal process, which is one reason why I was…10 Jul 2019HANSARD Universal Credit FraudI cannot at this stage, but we are looking at this as we work through the cases referred. Regardless of the amounts, for each and every victim it is incredibly serious, which is…10 Jul 2019HANSARD Universal Credit FraudWhen we talk to work coaches up and down the country, they tell us that for the first time in generations they feel empowered to deliver a personalised and tailored level of…10 Jul 2019HANSARD Universal Credit FraudUniversal credit is now in all jobcentres, with around 2 million people claiming this benefit. In accordance with our approach to test and learn while rolling out universal…10 Jul 2019HANSARD Universal Credit FraudI thank the hon. Gentleman, who has taken a proactive approach to this important issue. I share his comment that it is alarming. These are criminal actions by what are, frankly…10 Jul 2019HANSARD Universal Credit FraudYes, of course we did. That is why we have created a team of 120 dedicated members of staff specifically looking at the area of advance payments, why we have been improving…10 Jul 2019HANSARD Universal Credit FraudWe are still considering how we can do this correctly. We are still on track to do the planned managed migration from the summer. We are aware that it needs to come back to the…10 Jul 2019HANSARD Universal Credit FraudThis is in relation specifically to the cases of fraud relating to advance payments. I understand the point that the hon. Lady raises, and as ever we will continue to consider all…10 Jul 2019HANSARD Universal Credit FraudAs is very clear, any claimant can access financial support from day one where it is needed. We will continue to do all that we can to ensure that everybody benefits from the…10 Jul 2019HANSARD Universal Credit FraudOn the specifics of the meetings, I will have to write to provide a full answer. However, we are seeing that the cases that are being reported are clustered around particular…10 Jul 2019HANSARD Universal Credit FraudI pay tribute to the hon. Lady, who raised this case with the Minister for Employment, who is responsible for this area. It helped to focus our minds on what more could be done.…10 Jul 2019HANSARD Universal Credit FraudI understand the hon. Lady’s passion on this subject. She is right that we should be doing everything we can to protect vulnerable claimants, but I remind her that there have been…10 Jul 2019HANSARD Universal Credit FraudMy hon. Friend makes a really important point. We must not forget the need to balance making advances available quickly to claimants with ensuring that payments are paid based on…10 Jul 2019HANSARD Universal Credit FraudThank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. We treat every case seriously and we encourage claimants who feel they may be a victim of fraud to report it immediately either directly to…10 Jul 2019HANSARD Universal Credit FraudI will have to write to the right hon. Gentleman to give him a specific answer. Any case that is referred is treated seriously. We have a dedicated team— [ Interruption. ]10 Jul 2019HANSARD Universal Credit FraudMy hon. Friend is absolutely spot on. It is absolutely vital that we strike the balance between having absolute confidence that money is being correctly paid out and ensuring that…10 Jul 2019HANSARD Universal Credit FraudBe patient. I am answering the questions. I can only address one point at a time. The legacy benefits system was complex. Claimants had to deal with local authorities, HMRC and…10 Jul 2019HANSARD Universal Credit FraudI am afraid there was a bit of a muddle, mixing the difference between the verification process with advance payments and the main claims for universal credit. As a Government, we…10 Jul 2019