Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent progress her Department has made on tackling benefit overpayments made due to (a) fraud and (b) error.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
This government is determined to reduce fraud and error in the social security system. To tackle benefit overpayments, we agreed £8.6bn of savings at the Autumn Budget 2024 – the biggest fraud and error package on record, which led the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) to forecast that we will reduce fraud and error to pre-pandemic levels.
On January 22nd 2025, we introduced the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill which will help the government better identify, prevent and deter public sector fraud and error and enable the better recovery of debt owed to the taxpayer.
As part of the £8.6bn savings, this Bill is estimated to deliver benefits of £1.5bn over the next five years, as scored by the OBR. This is made up of £940 million in savings related to fraud and error overpayments, and £565 million in additional debt recoveries.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to support unemployed adults without basic literacy skills.
Answered by Lord Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
Jobcentre Plus works in partnership with local training providers to deliver essential communication skills, numeracy skills, digital literacy skills and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) training to unemployed benefit claimants in England, Scotland and Wales.
Wider adult education and skills policy is the responsibility of the Department for Education in England and devolved to the Scottish and Welsh Governments in Scotland and Wales.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will permit employment and support allowance claimants with motor neurone disease to have their diagnosis confirmed by medical professionals as part of the reassessment process instead of by means of paper forms completed by those claimants.
Answered by Sarah Newton
I met representatives of the Motor Neurone Disease Association in February 2018, and listened to their concerns regarding the reassessment process. I have asked officials to look into the issues they raised.
I have assured the Association that I will look carefully at how the reassessment process works for people with Motor Neurone Disease, and will consider change where this is possible.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he expects the next version of the personal independence payment assessment guide for assessment providers to be published.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
The Personal Independence Payment Assessment Guide the Department’s guidance for Health Professionals is regularly updated. The next update is scheduled for this Autumn.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance he plans to issue to officials of his Department to aid them in deciding whether a full-time carer should be placed in the no work-related requirements conditionally group under regulation 89(b) of the Universal Credit Regulations.
Answered by Damian Hinds
Our staff already have access to guidance to aid them in making decisions of this kind. We are undertaking a current review to ensure that appropriate guidance is given to ensure that all carers are placed in the appropriate conditionality group.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many families receive disabled child (a) element within their child tax credit award and (b) premium via an income support or jobseeker's allowance award; and how many such families have a child who will qualify for a lower child disability addition under universal credit.
Answered by Damian Hinds
The information requested is not available.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether a carer will be placed in the no work-related requirements conditionality group of universal credit claimants if that carer provides full-time care for a disabled person awaiting a decision on their claim for a qualifying disability benefit.
Answered by Damian Hinds
The important role that carers play in our society is recognised and in Universal Credit a claimant who has caring responsibilities for one or more severely disabled persons for at least 35 hours a week should be placed in the no work related requirements group of Universal Credit. This includes those caring for a severely disabled person who is still awaiting an assessment for a severe disability benefit.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many former service men and women were in receipt of jobseeker’s allowance in each of the last five years.
Answered by Damian Hinds
When claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance a person is only asked about their last job if it ended in the last 6 months. The data about their last job, if they had one, is recorded but could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
From April 2014 Individuals have also been asked by their Work Coach if they were formerly in HM Forces to ensure they are offered the most appropriate support. A marker recording their response is placed on their labour market account. The data available is not sufficiently robust to be published and will only provide a partial picture, as it is voluntarily provided information.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many former service men and women were in receipt of personal independence payments in each of the last five years.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
The Department does not hold this information.
However, in 2015/16 1000 former Servicemen and woman were receiving Armed Forces Independence Payment.
The Information can be found in the following link - Outturn and forecast: Spring Budget 2017 (ODS) Table 1c
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of Jobcentre Plus programmes in each of the last three years.
Answered by Priti Patel - Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs
The total spend on Employment programmes for each of the last three years as published in the Departments Annual Report and Accounts is as follows
12/13 £802m, 13/14 £1,043m, 14/15 £946m.