Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average waiting time is for an initial information-gathering interview at the Cavendish Court Job Centre Sheffield; and whether that waiting time has an effect on the time taken to pay universal credit.
Answered by Lord Sharma
Not all claimants will require any initial evidence interview at the start of their Universal Credit claim.
If an interview is required, claimants will receive notification to book an interview via their online Universal Credit account at the start of their claim and are encouraged to make contact at the earliest opportunity. In addition, a further prompt will be sent after 7 days if no interview has been booked.
Cavendish Court Jobcentre went live with Universal Credit full service on 7 November.
The average waiting period at Cavendish Court Jobcentre for initial interview (working days) was as follows:
W/E 16/11 – 3 days
W/E 23/11 – 5 days
W/E 30/11 – 2 days
For comparison, the average waiting period within the District of South Yorkshire for initial interview (working days) was as follows:
W/E 16/11 – 3 days
W/E 23/11 – 3 days
W/E 30/11 – 2 days
We strive to deliver a quick and effective service to all claimants. Claimants have 30 days in which to make contact to book an initial interview. The closer the date of the initial interview is to the end of the 30 day period could potentially impact on the date a first payment is made. In many cases where full payment is not made on time, it is due to unresolved issues such as claimants not accepting their Claimant Commitment or passing identity checks, satisfying the Habitual Residency Test, or having outstanding verification issues, such as housing costs and self-employed earnings.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what account will be taken in the review of PIP entitlements where a person becomes entitled to the upper rate care component and has a living carer and who has previously paid the spare room subsidy to refund that subsidy.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The review of Personal Independence Payment entitlement has no impact on the Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy where a person has a carer resident in their accommodation.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he plans to introduce new rules which will not require reassessments for employment and support allowance for people with severe life-long conditions; and if he will publish the criteria by which severe life-long conditions are defined as such for the purposes of exemption from those assessments.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
This change will come into effect in Autumn 2017 and will apply to those placed in Employment and Support Allowance’s Support Group and the Universal Credit equivalent.
We are currently working with stakeholders to develop the new criteria and, when finalised, the amended guidance will be incorporated in to the next update to the Work Capability Assessment Handbook published on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
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 effect on the levels of homelessness from the proposed reduction in the benefit cap to £23,000 each year; and what research was undertaken to calculate this estimate.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
We will publish a full Impact Assessment in due course.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
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 effect of the under-occupancy penalty on his Department's expenditure in this Parliament; and under what categories of expenditure that effect has happened.
Answered by Lord Harper
The removal of the spare room subsidy is saving around £1 billion over the course of this Parliament from Housing Benefit expenditure in the social rented sector.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance he issues on the use of the DS1500 to support people at the end of life to die in their preferred place of care.
Answered by Lord Harper
The sole purpose of the DS1500 is to support claims to a range of social security benefits from people who have been diagnosed with a terminal illness by a healthcare professional. Guidance for healthcare professionals who complete the DS1500 is available on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/306630/medical-reports-completion-apr-14.pdf
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department has taken to work with other government departments and local service providers to support better people at the end of life by use of the DS1500 form.
Answered by Lord Harper
The DS1500 is used to support claims to a range of benefits from people who have been diagnosed with a terminal illness by a healthcare professional. In line with our aim to continuously improve the service provided to people who are terminally ill, the Department works with a range of stakeholders, including healthcare professionals and support organisations, such as MacMillan Cancer Support, to identify and introduce improvements.