Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what was (1) Spending Review 2021 allocation, (2) the forecast spending, (3) the full year outturn, (4) the caseload, and (5) the average award, for Access to Work in the (a) 2021–22, (b) 2022–23, (c) 2023–24, and (d) 2024–25, financial years.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
1) The Departmental spending review settlement for SR 21 did not provide a specific funding allocation for Access to Work, only a baseline funding of £140m was quantified. The Access to Work funding was included in the overall Departmental funding settlement.
2) The forecast expenditure for Access to Work grants for 2024-25 is £290m. The forecast for Access to Work grant expenditure in prior years would have been updated throughout the year for internal Departmental use. The full year outturn figures for prior years are provided below.
3) Expenditure on Access to Work elements in nominal terms, by financial year.
Financial Year | Expenditure on Access to Work elements in nominal terms (£ nominal) |
2021/22 | 147,717,000 |
2022/23 | 179,679,000 |
2023/24 | 255,171,000 |
Source: Access to Work statistics: April 2007 to March 2024 - GOV.UK.
Figures are rounded to nearest £1000 and data for 2024/25 is not yet available. Figures relate to element expenditure only, therefore expenditure on Holistic Assessments is not included. These figures also include expenditure on the Mental Health Support service but do not include expenditure on the Transitional Employer Support Grant (TESG), therefore are not directly comparable with figures presented in part 2 of this response.
4) Number of people in receipt of payment for any Access to Work element, by financial year.
Financial Year | Number of people in receipt of a payment for any Access to Work element within each financial year |
2021/22 | 29,370 |
2022/23 | 34,800 |
2023/24 | 49,920 |
Source: Access to Work statistics: April 2007 to March 2024 - GOV.UK. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10 and data for 2024/25 is not yet available.
5) Average annual amount received per person for Access to Work elements, by financial year (nominal terms).
Financial Year | Average amount received per person for Access to Work elements (£ nominal) |
2021/22 | 5,030 |
2022/23 | 5,160 |
2023/24 | 5,110 |
Figures have been derived by using nominal expenditure for Access to Work elements and the number of individuals in receipt of a payment for an Access to Work element from the Access to Work Official Statistics Publication. Figures relate to element expenditure and recipients only; therefore Holistic Assessments are not included. These figures also include expenditure on the Mental Health Support service but do not include expenditure on the Transitional Employer Support Grant (TESG).
Source: Access to Work statistics: April 2007 to March 2024 - GOV.UK. Figures are rounded to nearest £10 and data for 2024/25 is not yet available.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what the current departmental expenditure limit shortfall is for Access to Work; and what the departmental expenditure limit shortfall was in the (1) 2022–23, and (2) 2023–24, financial years.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The SR 2021 settlement included baseline funding c£140m per annum. The forecast expenditure for 2024/25 is £290m.
The table below shows Access to Work outturn expenditure for 2022-23 and 2023-24.
Financial Year | Expenditure on Access to Work elements (£ nominal) |
2022/23 | 179,679,000 |
2023/24 | 255,171,000 |
Source: Access to Work statistics: April 2007 to March 2024 - GOV.UK. Figures are rounded to the nearest £1000 and data for 2024/25 is not yet available. These figures also include expenditure on the Mental Health Support service but do not include expenditure on the Transitional Employer Support Grant (TESG)1, therefore are not directly comparable with SR settlement figures to be able to determine a shortfall.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the current projected spending for the 2024–25 financial year for Access to Work compared to the forecast expenditure for 2024–25 as determined at the Spending Review in 2021.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The forecast expenditure for Access to Work grants for 2024-25 is £290m.
The SR 2021 settlement included baseline funding for Access to Work of c£140m.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what were the percentages of successful claimants for (1) Personal Independence Payments, and (2) the Work Capability Assessment, in the (a) 2021–22, (b) 2022–23, and (c) 2023–24, financial years, by assessment modality such as face-to-face, telephone, video, and paper-based.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The percentage of successful claims for Personal Independence Payment at initial decision by financial year and assessment channel is provided in the table below:
Assessment Channel | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 |
Face to Face Assessment | 45% | 42% | 44% |
Paper Based Assessment | 85% | 85% | 88% |
Telephone Assessment | 44% | 46% | 49% |
Video Assessment | 54% | 44% | 47% |
1 The data provided does not include Scottish claimants.
2 The percentage of ‘successful claimants’ is calculated as the volume of clearances awarded out of the volume of clearances which were either awarded or were disallowed post-assessment due to failing the assessment.
The percentage of claimants recommended to be successful during their Work Capability Assessment for Employment and Support Allowance and Universal Credit by financial year and assessment channel is provided below:
Assessment Channel | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 |
Face to face assessment | 77% | 73% | 74% |
Paper based assessment | 100% | 100% | 100% |
Telephone assessment | 71% | 74% | 79% |
Video assessment | 73% | 76% | 77% |
1 Percentages are based on recommendations made by assessment providers for claimants undergoing ESA or Universal Credit work capability assessments. Recommendations are then considered, along with other evidence, by DWP Decision Makers when making a final decision. Outcome data is currently not available in a form that can be analysed within the cost limit.
2 We have assumed 'successful claimants' to be those recommended for the 'Support Group' or 'Work Related Activity Group' for ESA or the 'Limited capability for work and work-related activity' or 'Limited capability for work' groups for Universal Credit Health.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of Access to Work Claimants were in work when claiming Access to Work compared to those with a job offer or those who were or are self-employed for the (1) 2021–22, (2) 2022–23, (3) 2023–24, and (4) 2024–25, financial years.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Available information on Access to Work claimants by employment status is in the following table:
Table 1. Proportion of individuals who received a payment for an Access to Work element within each financial year, by employment status.
Employment Status | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 |
Employed | 78% | 78% | 76% |
Self-employed | 9% | 10% | 12% |
Unemployed | 13% | 12% | 12% |
Notes
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether there is any upper limit on the proportion of assessments carried out for each assessment modality (face-to-face, telephony, video, paper-based) by providers of the Health Assessment Advisory Service.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The feasibility of a paper-based assessment will always be considered in the first instance. Only where a paper-based review is not possible, will the claimant then be invited to an assessment.
The contracts between Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and its assessment suppliers’ state that 80% of assessments should be carried out remotely (via telephone or video) and 20% carried out face-to-face, including home visits.
DWP remains committed to enabling a multi-channel assessment approach. Any future decisions 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: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of successful claims for (1) Personal Independence Payments, and (2) Employment and Support Allowance/Support Group Top Up in Universal Credit, were reached without medical evidence supplied by a healthcare professional who was not involved in the eligibility assessment, in the financial years (a) 2021–22, (b) 2022–23, (c) 2023–24, and (d) 2024–25.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
The Department does not hold data centrally on whether a health care professional had supplied any medical evidence prior to a claimant’s assessment. Obtaining such data would require a manual search of individual records.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential health and social care impacts of the proposed loss of winter fuel payments.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government is committed to a preventative approach to public health. Keeping people warm and well at home and improving the quality of new and existing homes will play an essential part in enabling people to live longer, healthier lives and reducing pressures on the NHS.
Our continued commitment to the triple lock means the full new state pension is forecast to increase by a further £1,700 over this course of the parliament.
The Household Support Fund is also being extended for a further six months, from 1 October 2024 until 31 March 2025. An additional £421 million will be provided to enable the extension of the HSF in England, plus funding for the Devolved Governments through the Barnett formula to be spent at their discretion, as usual.
The Warm Home Discount scheme in England and Wales provides eligible low-income households across Great Britain with a £150 rebate on their electricity bill. This winter, we expect over three million households, including over one million pensioners, to benefit under the scheme.
We are also providing support through our Warm Homes Plan which pensioners will benefit from. This will support investment in insulation and low carbon heating – upgrading millions of homes over this Parliament. Our long-term plan will protect billpayers permanently, reduce fuel poverty, and get the UK back on track to meet our climate goals.