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.
Asked by: Baroness Browning (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many reviews the Serious Case Panel has conducted into the death by suicide of benefits claimants since its establishment.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)
The Serious Case Panel does not discuss individual cases, but the panel considers specific themes that emerge from internal process reviews (IPRs). The IPR process is how the DWP investigates individual cases to document the learning. Whilst several themes will have been drawn from serious cases where suicide featured in some of the customer journeys, the specific cases would not be discussed during the meeting.
Asked by: Baroness Browning (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many times the Department for Work and Pension's Serious Case Panel has met since its establishment in March 2020.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)
The Serious Case Panel has convened, since March 2020, on 13 occasions with the 14th Panel due to meet on 20/6/23.
The minutes are available on GOV.UK: DWP Serious Case Panel - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Baroness Browning (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many Prevention of Death reports the Department for Work and Pensions has received from coroners in each year from 2019 to 2022 inclusive.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)
I am happy to provide a breakdown by year as follows:
Asked by: Baroness Browning (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what training in customer mental health they give to contractors providing assessments of benefits claimants.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)
We are fully committed to supporting those with mental health conditions. The assessment of mental, cognitive, and intellectual function is an integral part of the assessment process.
All healthcare professionals (HPs) undertaking assessments on behalf of the department must be registered practitioners who have undergone comprehensive training in the functional assessment of disability, and mental health conditions. HPs continue to keep this knowledge up to date through continuous professional development.
In addition, mental health function champions support HPs by providing additional expertise about mental health, cognitive, developmental, and learning disabilities, and can be referred to at any time during the assessment process.
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 effectiveness of personal independence payments (PIP) to support the financial needs of people with Parkinson's disease since the introduction of PIP 10 years ago.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)
Entitlement to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is assessed on the basis of the needs arising from a health condition or disability, rather than the health condition or disability itself. Award rates and their durations are set on an individual basis, based on the claimant’s needs and the likelihood of those needs changing. Award reviews allow for the correct rate of PIP to remain in payment, including where needs have increased because of a worsening condition.
PIP is a contribution to the extra costs arising from a disability or health condition. PIP is increased every April by at least the rate of inflation as measured by the Consumer Prices Index in September the previous year. PIP payments were uprated by 10.1% from April 2023.
Asked by: Baroness Browning (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that people with learning disabilities have (1) training on, and (2) access to, IT, so that they are not isolated from information and services.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott - Opposition Whip (Lords)
Government’s Plan for Jobs provides new funding to ensure more people, including those with learning disabilities get tailored Jobcentre Plus support to help them find work and to build the skills they need to get into work. This includes £895 million to recruit an additional 13,500 Work Coaches which the Department is on track to achieve by Quarter 1 2021/22, and £2.9 billion invested in the Restart Programme, which is due to go live from summer 2021. The Restart Programme will support individuals who have been unemployed for over 12 months and through regular, personalised support providers will work with participants to identify the best way to support them into sustained employment.
From April 2021, the Disability Employment Advisors (DEA) Direct Support will be strengthened to include an element of Direct Support to customers with health condition or disability who require additional support over and above the ESA and Universal Credit core offer. DEA Direct Support will deliver work focussed bespoke support to move individuals with a disability or health condition towards a work outcome.
In addition, the Intensive Personalised Employment Support Programme provides highly personalised packages of employment support for disabled people who want to work but have complex needs or barriers and require specialist support to achieve sustained employment. People will get coaching, work experience, and a dedicated key worker who will work with them to overcome complex barriers, including lack of IT skills, which may be preventing them from entering work.
The Help to Claim service provides all UC customers with tailored, practical support at every step of their claim until they receive their first payment. It includes help with setting up an email address or a UC account, verifying identity, accessing a DWP home visit or preparing for their first payment. At a local level, there are a range of digital inclusion courses available, which a work coach can help a learning disabled jobseeker access.