Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 20 November 2024 to Question 14442 on Access to Work Programme, what measurements her Department takes of the time scales for processing applications to monitor whether targets are being met.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions uses internal management information on finalised applications to oversee performance against our aspiration to process applications in 25 days.
The Access to Work scheme continues to be in high demand, and we are considering options for how to improve waiting times for customers.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applications for Access to Work assessments have been outstanding for more than two months; what steps she is taking to reduce waiting times for such applications; and if she will make it her policy to prioritise applications from people who are about to start a job.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are unable to provide information with regards to the number of applications for Access to Work which have been outstanding for more than two months because this information is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate costs.
With regards to what steps we have taken to reduce waiting times, we have streamlined delivery practices and have increased the number of staff processing claims. We also prioritise customers starting a job within four weeks. We have taken steps to modernise Access to Work to improve the customer experience. From April 2024, all core parts of the Scheme have been fully digital, with customers able to apply and make payment requests online.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applications were (a) made and (b) granted to parents with care for a top-up maintenance order under the Children Act 1989 Schedule 1 as amended in the last year for which data is available.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The Child Maintenance Service does not hold the information requested. This is because there is no legal requirement to capture the number of ‘top-up’ applications submitted and or granted to a paying parent in calculating child maintenance.
It may be helpful to explain the maximum weekly gross income the Child Maintenance Service can take into account when calculating maintenance is £3000. A receiving parent can make a ‘top-up’ application directly to His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals service in respect of income above £3000. However, the Child Maintenance Service cannot take this into account in the main calculation.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an estimate of by how much the child maintenance upper weekly limit of £3,000 gross income set in 2012 under the Child Support Act 1991 would need to be increased to take account of inflation since that date; and if he will make it his policy to increase to that limit.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The Government’s response to the Independent Review of CMS’s handling of domestic abuse cases announced our intentions to look again at the child maintenance calculation to ensure it is fit for purpose and fair for both parents in light of societal changes since it was last looked at. Any changes will always be made according to the best interests of children.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he will make it his policy to increase automatically the flat rate of child maintenance payments in line with the consumer prices index.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The Government’s response to the Independent Review of CMS’s handling of domestic abuse cases announced our intentions to look again at the child maintenance calculation to ensure it is fit for purpose and fair for both parents in light of societal changes since it was last looked at. Any changes will always be made according to the best interests of children.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 22 November 2022 to Question 87733 on Universal Credit: Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme, if he will extend Universal Credit disregards to bereaved next of kin recipients of VDPS payments; if he will enable bereaved recipients to establish a personal injury trust or annuity to benefit from Universal Credit disregards; whether there are other means bereaved recipients can benefit from such disregards; and what steps he is taking to enable bereaved recipients to have similar disregards to those who are directly injured.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The Department has no current plans to extend the disregards which apply in Universal Credit to people who receive Vaccine Damage Payments to next of kin recipients.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether vaccine damage payments made in respect of covid-19 vaccines are treated as payments for personal injury and qualify for a twelve-month disregard in the calculation of entitlement to Universal Credit; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The Vaccine Damage Payments made to individuals who have been severely disabled as a result of a vaccination against certain diseases, including Covid-19, will be considered to be a sum awarded to a person due to personal injury. For the purposes of any claim for Universal Credit, this sum awarded will be disregarded as capital for 12 months following the award of the payment. In that period it is expected that the injured person will place this sum into an appropriate trust fund, or use it to purchase an annuity to support them. If these funds are placed into a personal injury trust then the capital value of that trust and any income received from the trust will be disregarded for the calculation of their Universal Credit entitlement indefinitely. If the payment is used to purchase an annuity, then payments received from that annuity will be disregarded for the calculation of their Universal Credit entitlement indefinitely.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claims for Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit have been awaiting a decision for more than (a) one year and (b) six months since the date of application as of 15 November 2022; and what the average time taken was between applications and decisions on such claims in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Decision times for Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB) assessments are available on in the ‘IIDB Assessments’ dataset at: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk
Decision time data is recorded in working days and is available in time bands. Data is monthly and covers the period March 2017 to March 2022.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many face to face medical assessments were carried out for claims for Industrial Injuries Disability Benefit in each of the most recent 12 months for which data is available.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The number of face-to-face assessments carried out for claims for Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB), in each of the last 12 months, is shown in the table below.
IIDB Clearances | Nov 21 | Dec 21 | Jan 22 | Feb 22 | Mar 22 | Apr 22 | May 22 | Jun 22 | Jul 22 | Aug 22 | Sep 22 | Oct 22 |
Face-to-face | 630 | 630 | 650 | 410 | 530 | 420 | 760 | 950 | 980 | 1300 | 1150 | 1030 |
All volumes have been rounded to the nearest 10.
All the above data is derived from contractual management information produced by the assessment providers or supplier. Please note: the above data is derived from unpublished management information which is collected for internal departmental use only and has not been quality assured to Official Statistics Publication standards.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applications her Department has received under the Vaccine Damage Payments Act 1979 in respect of covid-19 vaccines; how many applications have been (a) rejected and (b) accepted; and how many staff are engaged in processing those applications.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The Department has received 437 applications under the Vaccine Damage Payments Act 1979 in respect of Covid-19 vaccines. All applications have been acknowledged and no applications have been rejected. All applications are subject to medical assessment to identify if, in light of all the available evidence, it is more probable than not that there is a link between vaccination and disablement.
Side effects of COVID-19 vaccines are rare and scientific understanding is continuing to grow. Following discussion with Department of Health and Social Care, DWP have now started the evidence gathering process for COVID-19 claims to allow the clinical assessment to happen, where the evidence has reached a position where a decision can be confidently made.
There are currently four members of DWP staff processing vaccine damage claims. The team are responsible for processing Child and Adult flu vaccination claims as well as recording, acknowledging and commencing the evidence gathering process on COVID-19 claims NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) will take over the administration of the VDPS on November 1st 2021. In preparation for this, NHSBSA will be recruiting and training additional resource to undertake the administration of VDPS claims. DHSC own the policy.