Asked by: Baroness Thomas of Winchester (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans the Department for Work and Pensions has to contact all disability claimants who were appealing their decisions and were persuaded to accept a lower offer, to inform them of their right to continue with their appeal.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott - Opposition Whip (Lords)
In a previous response HL2130, it was explained that all claimants who accepted the new decision and whose original appeal lapsed, were told that they had the right of appeal against the new decision. They were told this both by the Department for Work and Pensions and the Tribunals Service. This gave them the opportunity to have the revised award further increased and backdated. Accordingly, there are no plans to contact affected claimants.
Asked by: Baroness Thomas of Winchester (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government why they are relying on telephone assessments to determine a claimant’s level of disability rather than using a video service.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott - Opposition Whip (Lords)
We are committed to improving the experience of health and disability benefits and we are currently delivering health and disability assessments via a variety of channels. Face-to-face assessments are being delivered alongside new telephone and video assessments introduced in response to the pandemic.
A programme of in-house analysis and externally commissioned research into the outcomes from and experiences of the newly introduced assessment channels is underway. The Health and Disability Green Paper will offer an opportunity to hear views on how we can improve assessments, including how we might provide a multi-channel health assessment service. Any future decisions about channel will be evidence-based and to ensure this we will draw on existing evidence as well as continuing to build our understanding via research and analysis.
Asked by: Baroness Thomas of Winchester (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that Department for Work and Pensions staff contacted disability claimants who were appealing their decisions to persuade them to abandon their appeals and accept a lower offer; and if such practices have been used, who authorised them.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott - Opposition Whip (Lords)
The Department’s aim is to ensure that claimants are paid the correct amount of benefit at the earliest opportunity. Accordingly, if new evidence or information becomes available after an appeal has been lodged, it is right that decisions are reviewed and claimants put in the best position where they can choose either to continue with their appeal, or have the decision revised. At the same time claimants have, and have always had, a right of appeal against the revised decision, and to have their payments fully backdated if successful at appeal. Claimants are notified of this right of appeal in their revised decision letter.
Asked by: Baroness Thomas of Winchester (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government which disability organisations and charities are helping to develop the National Strategy for Disabled People.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott - Opposition Whip (Lords)
The National Strategy for Disabled People is a manifesto commitment of this Government and its delivery is a priority. Its significance is even greater as we re-build the UK economy and society following the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Cabinet Office Disability Unit is now working on an approach and timescale that will allow meaningful engagement with an extensive range of stakeholders, and through a range of means that can be pursued safely in the context of the pandemic. Contributions from any organisation will be very welcome and particularly where this brings additional insight to the lived experience of disabled people.
Asked by: Baroness Thomas of Winchester (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, under Universal Credit to stop the automatic deduction of a claimant’s debts from the standard rate of Universal Credit if creditors have agreed a reduction in the rate of repayment.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott - Opposition Whip (Lords)
The Department’s deductions policy strikes a fair balance between a claimant’s need to meet their obligations and their ability to ensure they can meet their day-to-day needs. From October 2019, Universal Credit deductions have been reduced to 30% of a claimant’s standard allowance down from 40% to better achieve these objectives.
Creditors can request debts to be collected through Universal Credit, typically where other repayment methods have been unsuccessful. We are led by the creditor, and at any time any creditor could inform us they wish to take back responsibility for collecting the debt from Universal Credit - such requests would trigger an end to deductions as soon as possible. The rate at which repayments are recovered from Universal Credit are set out in Schedule 6 to the Social Security Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payment, Jobseeker’s Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance (Claims and Payments) Regulations 2013 – SI 2013/380.
For any of the deductions laid out in the regulations, creditors can approach Universal Credit directly and typically there is no requirement for them to proactively get the claimant’s consent. Any requests for deductions are considered by the Department on an individual basis.
Where recovery relates to benefit overpayments, this is managed in a sensitive way. Maximum deduction rates are set out in legislation (Regulation 11 of the Social Security (Overpayments and Recovery) Regulations 2013) and where a claimant cannot afford the proposed rate of recovery they can contact the Department’s Debt Management team so this can be reviewed. If a reduction in the repayment rate is agreed, we will implement it quickly so that payments are adjusted accordingly.
The Department is always developing our understanding on the impact deductions can have on claimants, and has heard evidence from external organisations on this issue. Ultimately, we have to balance these impacts with the need for claimants to meet their obligations.