Asked by: Baroness Browning (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address the Access to Work scheme backlog.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are committed to reducing waiting times for Access to Work and are considering the best way to deliver that for customers. We have increased the number of staff processing Access to Work claims and applications from customers who are about to start a job or who are renewing are prioritised.
The Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to get Britain Working’ Green Paper was published on 18 March. Alongside the Access to Work reform proposals introduced in the Green Paper, we are considering further options to reduce the waiting time for customers.
Asked by: Baroness Browning (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Royal National Institute of Blind People's "Visibly Better Employer" quality standard.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We welcome the Royal National Institute of Blind People’s initiative to encourage employers to create inclusive workplaces through the Visibly Better Employer standard to attract and retain more blind and partially sighted individuals in the workforce.
Through the Department’s Disability Confident Scheme newsletter, we have made members aware of the quality standard. The Disability Confident Scheme provides employers with the skills and knowledge to remove barriers that might be preventing disabled people and those with long term health conditions from accessing employment and allows them opportunities to fulfil their potential and realise their aspirations.
Asked by: Baroness Browning (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether employers will be required to produce action plans for tacking disability pay gaps under the draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill, as is the case for gender pay gap reporting.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
On 18 March 2025, the Government launched a consultation on mandatory pay gap reporting for both disability and ethnicity. Responses to the consultation will help to shape proposals which will be included in the Equality (Race and Disability) Bill, which was announced in the King’s Speech in July 2024. One of the questions we are consulting on is the potential role that action plans might play in reducing the disability pay gap. We will use the consultation responses to develop the proposed legislation, which will include considering whether there should be a requirement for large employers to produce action plans.
Asked by: Baroness Browning (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the average time taken to process applications to Access to Work from applicants in employment.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are committed to reducing waiting times for new applications for Access to Work and are considering the best way to deliver that for customers. We have increased the number of staff processing Access to Work claims, applications from customers who are about to start a job or who are renewing claims are prioritised.
The Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to get Britain Working’ Green Paper was published on 18 March. Alongside the Access to Work reform proposals introduced in the Green Paper, we are considering further options to reduce the waiting time for customers.
From April 2024 to February 2025, the average waiting time from initial date of contact to a decision being made stands at 56.9 days.
Please note that the data supplied is derived from unpublished management information, which was collected for internal Departmental use only, and have not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. They should therefore be treated with caution.
Asked by: Baroness Browning (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the role of Access to Work in supporting people with disabilities and long-term health conditions to enter and stay in work.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
To assess the role of Access to Work in supporting people with disabilities and long-term health conditions to enter and stay in work, the Department commissioned qualitative evaluations of Access to Work in 2018 and 2009.
The 2018 evaluation ‘Access to Work: Qualitative research with applicants, employers and delivery staff’ gathered evidence on the value of Access to Work to employers and employees.
The 2009 evaluation: ‘Evaluation of Access to Work: Core Evaluation’ explored customer, employer, assessor and other views relating to: marketing and awareness, application process, assessments, outcomes, impact and areas for improvement.
Also in 2018, the Department commissioned NatCen to explore the feasibility of evaluating the impacts of AtW: ‘Feasibility of evaluating the impact of the Access to Work programme' . The report uncovered several challenges, mainly around identifying an appropriate counterfactual and the difficulties in constructing a comparison group. We therefore face challenges with conducting an impact evaluation of AtW.
We are consulting on the future of the AtW scheme in the Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper - GOV.UK,
Asked by: Baroness Browning (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made in establishing the "Get Britain Working" disability panel; and whether it will include representation from people with a range of disabilities, including sight loss.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This Government is committed to championing the voices of disabled people and taking an open and collaborative approach to engagement. As part of wider efforts to put disabled voices at the heart of policy, the Get Britain Working White Paper announced a commitment to establishing a panel to consult disabled people.
We are working to establish the Disability Advisory Panel and are undertaking the due process required to ensure the panel is set up in the most accessible and inclusive way. The panel will consist of people who have lived experience of disability, and it will include representation from people with a range of disabilities.
Asked by: Baroness Browning (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether people with disabilities who are not in receipt of out of work benefits are eligible to receive support to return to work from Job Centre Plus coaches; if not, why not; and what plans they have to extend the provision of such support to those receiving disability related benefits including personal independence payments.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We want everyone who can work to get into and get on in work, and for all people with disabilities to enjoy independence, control and dignity.
This is why our new jobs and careers service will be open to all, not just claimants. The digital offer puts a Jobcentre in everybody’s pocket, offering tailored and personalised support which recognises that people are individuals with different support needs.
Access to the right work and health support in the right place and at the right time is key. Our Get Britain Working reforms will empower local areas to design a joined-up work, health and skills offer that meets the needs of local people whilst our Work Well pilots provide holistic support for those facing health-related barriers to employment that are open to all, regardless of whether they’re in receipt of benefits or not.
The Health Transformation Programme is modernising health and disability benefit services and aims to support individuals with a disability or health condition to move closer or into the labour market. The Programme is bringing a small number of job centre staff and health care professionals together to build evidence around what effective employment support looks like for people claiming Personal Independence Payments.
We look forward to working with stakeholders on the detailed policy development and implementation of these reforms, including through our new Disability Panel.
Asked by: Baroness Browning (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many assessors trained and qualified in autism will work in each of the five regions under the Department for Work and Pension's Health Assessment Advisory Service.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The department and the Health Assessment Advisory Service (HAAS) are fully committed to supporting those with mental health conditions.
All health professionals (HPs) within the five regions of HAAS are fully qualified in their health discipline and have passed strict recruitment and experience criteria. They must also be registered with a relevant regulatory body such as the General Medical Council, the Nursing and Midwifery Council, Health and Care Professions Council or European Economic Area equivalent. The department has not specified that HAAS employ HPs who are specialists in specific conditions or impairments. Instead, the focus is on ensuring they are experts in disability analysis, focusing on the effects of health conditions and impairments on the claimant’s daily life.
All HPs receive comprehensive training in the functional assessment of mental health conditions and disabilities, including Autism. From 09 September 2024 the educational material for all HAAS HPs was provided by DWP. As part of our review, we identified best practice in the NHS and have implemented the Oliver McGowan training as part of the mandatory training requirements for every HP. This training is recognised to be of significant value to HPs in ensuring they have the skills and knowledge to provide safe, informed, and compassionate assessments to claimants with autism and learning disabilities. This is in addition to our comprehensive education programme for HPs.
Following the completion of core training to undertake the role, HPs will engage in an annual training programme, and HAAS has been provided with materials (such as Continual Professional Development modules) to support the development of their HPs where learning needs are identified. This approach ensures that both service wide and individual training needs are met and will be of benefit to those with neurodiversity where applicable.
Asked by: Baroness Browning (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what qualifications are stipulated for assessors of people on the autism spectrum by the Health Assessment Advisory Service.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The department and the Health Assessment Advisory Service (HAAS) are fully committed to supporting those with mental health conditions.
All health professionals (HPs) within the five regions of HAAS are fully qualified in their health discipline and have passed strict recruitment and experience criteria. They must also be registered with a relevant regulatory body such as the General Medical Council, the Nursing and Midwifery Council, Health and Care Professions Council or European Economic Area equivalent. The department has not specified that HAAS employ HPs who are specialists in specific conditions or impairments. Instead, the focus is on ensuring they are experts in disability analysis, focusing on the effects of health conditions and impairments on the claimant’s daily life.
All HPs receive comprehensive training in the functional assessment of mental health conditions and disabilities, including Autism. From 09 September 2024 the educational material for all HAAS HPs was provided by DWP. As part of our review, we identified best practice in the NHS and have implemented the Oliver McGowan training as part of the mandatory training requirements for every HP. This training is recognised to be of significant value to HPs in ensuring they have the skills and knowledge to provide safe, informed, and compassionate assessments to claimants with autism and learning disabilities. This is in addition to our comprehensive education programme for HPs.
Following the completion of core training to undertake the role, HPs will engage in an annual training programme, and HAAS has been provided with materials (such as Continual Professional Development modules) to support the development of their HPs where learning needs are identified. This approach ensures that both service wide and individual training needs are met and will be of benefit to those with neurodiversity where applicable.
Asked by: Baroness Browning (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many cases of suicide have been reported by (1) coroners, and (2) other sources, since the establishment of the coroner focal point in March 2016.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has recorded 22 contacts related to possible suicides via its Coroner focal point since 2016.
Coroners determine the cause of death, including whether it is by suicide. Coroners do not routinely inform the department when they return a conclusion of suicide in a case where the deceased person was claiming benefits. There is no requirement for them to do so, unless they have named it as an Interested Person at that inquest, or they decide to send it a Prevention of Future Deaths report.
DWP becomes aware of the majority of deaths through the Tell Us Once (TUO) service. It is offered by all 391 councils across England, Scotland and Wales on behalf of DWP. This service lets citizens report a death to most government organisations in one go. Once verified, the Customer Information System (CIS), a cross-government system, is updated and DWP will take the appropriate action on a case.
However, this service does not notify DWP of the cause or circumstances of a death, and DWP has no legitimate business reason to obtain or record this information.