Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what specific reasonable adjustments are embedded in the digital benefit application interface to accommodate claimants with learning disabilities; and what percentage of those who failed (1) the identity verification, and (2) the work capability, online application stages in the past 12 months were identified as having a learning disability.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department is committed to ensuring that its digital benefit services, including the Universal Credit online claim, are accessible to all, in line with our duties under the Equality Act 2010. This includes making reasonable adjustments for people with learning disabilities so that they are not placed at a substantial disadvantage when applying for support.
Universal Credit is designed as a modern digital service, with the online application structured in clear steps and using plain English, informed by user research and feedback. The questions presented are built dynamically based on the information the customer provides, so people only see the screens that are relevant to their circumstances, reducing complexity for those who may find long forms or highly technical language difficult to manage.
An Accessibility Statement link is also available at the bottom of each Universal Credit page. This explains how to access the service if extra support is needed, including how to ask for information in alternative formats or for additional help with managing the digital journey.
Customers who are unable to use the digital service can make a claim by telephone, and where they are unable to attend the jobcentre, a home visit can be arranged to undertake verification. Customers may also give explicit consent for a trusted third party to help manage their claim, or an appointee can be formally appointed to act on their behalf, with these arrangements recorded within the digital service.
The Department keeps the Universal Credit service under regular review and continues to work with stakeholders, disability organisations and people with lived experience to identify further improvements, including for customers with learning disabilities, to ensure that our services remain accessible and responsive to all.
With reference to the statistics requested, these are not readily available based on the requested parameters.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government, in notifying individuals that they may be eligible to Winter Fuel Payments, whether they took steps to ensure that letters were not sent to deceased people whose relatives had used the Tell Us Once service, and in how many instances they are aware of such letters being sent despite this.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The department each year routinely takes steps to ensure letters issued to those eligible to Winter Fuel payments are accurate based on their circumstances at the time of writing. Naturally, there is a short timeframe where in very rare occasions these circumstances may change whilst the letters are already in production or in the delivery network. We continually review our processes to ensure these instances are kept to an absolute minimum to avoid unnecessary impacts on our customers or their relatives.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to ensure that the ruling by the Supreme Court on O'Brien (Appellant) v Ministry of Justice (Respondent) that same-sex couples should have equal pensions rights and entitlements as those in opposite-sex marriages will remain law post-Brexit, given that the ruling was based on EU law.
Answered by Baroness Buscombe
The Government has no plans to amend pension rights for same sex couples as a result of the UK leaving the European Union.
The Government is committed to same sex marriage and is proud that legislation was introduced to ensure that pensions are built up equally for all legal partnerships.
Regarding the recent Supreme Court ruling in the case of Walker v Innospec Ltd, the Government of course respects the decision of the Supreme Court. The Government are reviewing the implication of the judgement in detail and will respond appropriately in due course.
The Supreme Court has passed the case of O’Brien v Ministry of Justice to the Court of Justice of the European Union.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (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 impact on LGBT young people of the announcement in the Budget of the withdrawal of housing benefit from under-21 year-olds, in the light of the statistics from the Albert Kennedy Trust that indicate that 69 per cent of LGBT young people in that age group have had to leave their family home and cannot return due to issues surrounding coming out.
Answered by Lord Freud
To prevent young people slipping straight into a life on benefits, from April 2017 the Government will remove the automatic entitlement to housing support for new claims in Universal Credit from 18-21 year olds who are out of work. This will ensure young people in the benefits system face the same choices as young people who work and who may not be able to afford to leave home.
We will ensure that vulnerable young people who are in need of support for their housing needs continue to receive it. Government will consider the impact in line with our legal obligations as part of that process.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to reduce differences between survivor pensions received by surviving married partners in same-sex partnerships and those in mixed-sex partnerships, in both the public and private sectors and when they consider full equality will be achieved in that area.
Answered by Lord Freud
The Government has carried out a review of survivor benefits in occupational pension schemes. The review was carried out jointly by the Department for Work and Pensions and HM Treasury, and was published in June 2014. It considered the differences in survivor benefits between different groups, and the costs and effects of eliminating the differences.
The Government is considering the findings of the review, which provided important information on the costs and other effects of eliminating or reducing differences in survivor benefit provision.
A decision on the review will be made and a response issued in due course, however it is vital that the findings are considered thoroughly before doing so.