Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of universal credit claimants who have been transferred from legacy benefits are receiving (a) more, (b) the same and (c) less financial support than they were receiving in the legacy benefits.
Answered by Will Quince
The information requested is not available because claimants who naturally migrate to Universal Credit will do so because they will have had a significant change in their circumstances which previously would have led to a new claim to another existing benefit. In these situations, it has always been the case that the assessment of their new benefit will be based on their new circumstances and under the rules of their new benefit. We do not centrally collate the number of claimants that have made a new claim to Universal Credit as a result of such a change in circumstances.
For people considering claiming Universal Credit, we have updated our information on gov.uk and on understandinguniversalcredit.gov.uk where links to independent benefit calculators can also be found.
Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many women affected by the increase in state pension age for women born in the 1950s died before receiving their state pension.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
It is not possible to answer the question as no government holds this information..
Data on deaths by single year of age is published by the Office of National Statistics and is available at the link below:
Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when she plans to answer Question 287927 tabled on 6 September 2019 by the hon. Member for the City of Chester.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
This was answered on the 3rd October 2019.
Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which contracts awarded by her Department are operated by Capita.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department for Work and Pensions has 4 live contracts operated by Capita.
They are;
Personal Independence Payment (PIP) Assessment Service Lot 2: Central England and Wales
Network Management Contact Centre
Jobseeker's Allowance New Claims Contact Centre Service
Improving Access to Psychological Therapies Employment Adviser Training
Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average length of service is in his Department by its 10 most highly paid officials.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The average length of service of the 10 most highly paid officials in the Department is 16.9 years.
In calculating the average length of service we have used each individual’s date of entry to the civil service and therefore the calculation may include periods of service with other Government Departments.
Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many recipients of employment support allowance have moved into work since changes were made to the level of that benefit in April 2017.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The information is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
The latest information to February 2017 on the number of Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) claimants by phase of claim is published and available at:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/
Guidance for users is available at:
https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html
Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of personal independence payment cases overturned at reconsideration or appeal stages were initially assessed as scoring zero points by the relevant assessor in 2016.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The table below provides the number of mandatory reconsiderations and appeals where the decision was overturned in 2016, and the proportion of these cases where the individual was initially assessed as scoring zero points by the DWP case manager.
| Mandatory Reconsiderations | Appeals |
Overturned cases | 34,110 | 32,070 |
Overturned cases when they initially scored zero points | 5,030 (15%) | 8,100 (25%) |
Notes:
Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of personal independence payment cases were overturned on appeal at (a) mandatory reconsideration and (b) appeal stage in 2016.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
Statistics on MRs can be found in in tables 7A and 7B of:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/personal-independence-payment-statistics
Information on the number of PIP appeals is published by the Ministry of Justice. A link to the latest national level statistics published on
9 March 2017 is here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tribunals-and-gender-recognition-certificate-statistics-quarterly-october-to-december-2016. See table SSCS3
Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what criteria were used to determine individual need in setting the rate of jobseeker's allowance and the lower rate of employment and support allowance for a single adult at £73.10 per week.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The level of Jobseeker’s Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance awarded depends on the claimant’s individual circumstances. The main components of Jobseeker’s Allowance and Employment Support Allowance are the personal allowances, paid according to age and family status.
In many cases the basic rate of Jobseeker’s Allowance and Employment Support Allowance is just one element of the total package of support that a person receives, with additional flat rate premiums payable for groups recognised as having additional needs, such as disability.
Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applications there were for personal independence payments in the latest year for which figures are available; what proportion of those applications were rejected; and what proportion of unsuccessful applications were subsequently granted on appeal.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Data on the number of claims made for personal independence payment (PIP), and the proportion of such claims which were unsuccessful, are available from Stat-Xplore: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/. Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here: https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/index.html.
Appeals against PIP decisions may be made where an award of benefit has been given or not. Data on appeals is a matter for Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service, an executive agency sponsored by the Ministry of Justice. The latest available data on appeals can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics#social-security-and-child-support-statistics.