Written question asked by Alex Cunningham (Labour) on Thursday, 20 January 2022, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 25 January 2022 (named day). It was answered by Chloe Smith (Conservative) on Tuesday, 25 January 2022 on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.

Employment and Support Allowance: Tees Valley

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 20 January 2022 to Question 105509, what her timeframe is for providing the number of people affected by the underpayment of benefits in (a) Stockton North constituency and (b) the Tees Valley Combined Authority area.

Answer: The Department published an update on the exercise to correct past ESA underpayments on Gov.uk on 8 July 2021. This reported that as of 1 June 2021, of the 600,000 cases checked, 118,000 arrears payments have been made totalling £613 million. This report showed the numbers of cases paid arrears at a national level only as the data was not available at sub-national level at that time. The Department is investigating the feasibility of providing this analysis at a constituency level and will pre-announce any upcoming publication in line with normal statistical practices.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 108521
Session: 2021-22
Related items: Employment and Support Allowance: Tees Valley
Thursday, 20 January 2022
Written questions
House of Commons
Subjects: Incapacity benefit Tees Valley Employment and support allowance Underpayments
Link: View this Written question on www.parliament.uk