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 the cost of providing a national free to access video relay service in England; and whether they are considering setting up such a service for public services.
Answered by Baroness Buscombe
Under the EU Universal Service Directive, Member States must ensure that access to, and affordability of, voice telephony for end-users with disabilities is equivalent to the level enjoyed by the majority of end-users.
In the UK, the Directive is implemented through the Communications Act and the Universal Service Order. The Order requires Ofcom to ensure the provision of relay services (defined as providing facilities for the receipt and translation of voice messages into text and text into voice messages).
The Government has not made any formal assessment of costs of providing a national free to access video relay service in England.
We are aware of international comparisons with other countries, for example, Australia, Canada and the USA, where video relay service is provided for free to users and costs between £0.48 and £2.62 per citizen per year, plus state-level levies where relevant. There are a range of funding models, including general taxation and levies on communication providers.
The Government's position is that a voluntary approach to video relay should be followed and not a mandatory approach funded by taxation or general levies.
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 the take up in Scotland of free to access video relay service for public services.
Answered by Baroness Buscombe
Contact Scotland was launched in 2016 for calls via video relay service to public sector bodies only. In 2017 the ability to call third sector organisations via video relay service was added.
Contact Scotland will be able to provide further information and advise on take-up of the service and can be contacted either by calling 0141 419 0420 or emailing them at: info@contactscotland-bsl.org.
We will continue to look at lessons from developments in Scotland to inform our thinking for England and Wales.
Asked by: Baroness Thomas of Winchester (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) registered sign language interpreters, and (2) sign language users, there are in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Buscombe
Currently there are 908 registered sign language interpreters, and 234 trainee interpreters.
It is estimated there are currently at least 24,000 people in the UK for whom British Sign Language (BSL) is their first language.
Asked by: Baroness Thomas of Winchester (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether severely disabled Personal Independence Payment claimants in residential homes under NHS Continuing Care are eligible for higher rate mobility to enable them to lease a mobility vehicle.
Answered by Baroness Buscombe
Where someone is maintained free of charge while undergoing medical or other treatment as an in-patient in a hospital or similar institution (as defined) funded by the NHS, payment of (but not entitlement to) the daily living and mobility components of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) ceases after 28 days. This is on the basis that the NHS is responsible for the entirety of the person’s disability-related extra costs and to pay PIP in addition would be a duplication of public funds intended for the same purpose.
NHS Continuing Healthcare funding in accommodation where medical or other treatment is being provided in the accommodation by a doctor or qualified nurse, or under their direct supervision, means that the accommodation is classified as a similar institution to a hospital.
Asked by: Baroness Thomas of Winchester (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether Personal Independence Payment assessors who are asked by claimants what professional qualifications they hold are obliged to inform those claimants.
Answered by Baroness Buscombe
There is no requirement for Health Professionals to inform claimants of their qualifications when they first meet and introduce themselves. If asked about qualifications it would be at the Health Professional’s discretion whether or not to disclose this information.
All Health Professionals undertaking PIP assessments must be registered with the appropriate professional body such as the General Medical Council or Nursing and Midwifery Council and have at least 2 years post full-registration experience. Details of any Health Professional’s primary qualifications are publically available on the websites of the relevant governing body.
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 is their assessment of the quality of Work Capability Assessment assessors.
Answered by Baroness Buscombe
All Healthcare Professionals undertaking Work Capability Assessments are highly-trained practitioners in their own field. They must be registered practitioners who have at least two years post-registration experience. They are subject to a rigorous recruitment process followed by a comprehensive training programme in disability assessment.
We are committed to ensuring claimants receive high quality, fair and accurate assessments. All Healthcare Professionals are subject to on-going quality audit to ensure they continue to deliver high quality assessments.
Asked by: Baroness Thomas of Winchester (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the recruitment of healthcare professionals by third party providers is sufficient to meet the current volume of work capability assessments for disabled people; and what are the minimum qualifications being sought as part of the recruitment process.
Answered by Baroness Buscombe
Since the commencement of the Health and Disability Assessment Service contract in March 2015 the supplier, Centre for Health and Disability Assessments (CHDA), has increased its number of Healthcare Professionals by over 60%. As a result, CHDA are on course to deliver the contractual volumes for work capability assessments.
All Healthcare Professionals who undertake work capability assessments are registered healthcare professionals, doctors, nurses, physiotherapists or occupational therapists, with a minimum of two years broad - based post registration experience.
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 progress they have made on meeting their targets on work capability assessments for disabled people.
Answered by Baroness Buscombe
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) decision makers have no targets that relate to the number of people placed in the Support Group, Work Related Activity Group or found fit for work following a work capability assessment.
The current contractual agreement between the DWP and the Centre for Health and Disability Assessments contains numerous performance targets including throughput, claimant service and work capability assessment report quality, which also contain automatic financial remedies where there is service level failure. There are no targets specifying that certain numbers of people should be allowed or disallowed benefit.
The contractual performance of Centre for Health and Disability Assessments is monitored closely by the DWP. Since Centre for Health and Disability Assessments took on the contract, we have halved work capability assessment waiting times, down from 32 weeks in August 2014 to 16 weeks in March 2017.
Asked by: Baroness Thomas of Winchester (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Personal Independence Payment assessors have been disciplined for making misleading reports on the basis of which decisions were made that were later overturned by a tribunal, in each of the last three years.
Answered by Baroness Buscombe
Decisions on entitlement to Personal Independent Payment are made by DWP Case Managers not the Assessment Provider. When a decision is overturned at appeal it does not necessarily mean the original decision was wrong. Many claimants provide additional written evidence not available to the original DWP Case Manager.