Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people who previously worked in the coal mining industry have been assessed for Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit in each of the last five years.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Information on the number of assessments for Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB) by Standard Industrial Classification is available on StatXplore in the IIDB Assessments dataset.
The number of people who were assessed for Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit over the last 5 years following employment in a Standard Industrial Classification ‘Mining and Quarrying’ occupation is as follows:
2017/18 – 4,110;
2018/19 – 3,170;
2019/20 – 2,890;
2020/21 – 930;
2021/22 – 2,610.
This covers all assessment outcomes, including: accepted payable; accepted not payable; accepted no loss of faculty; disallowed; withdrawn; unknown and not applicable.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate he has made of the average waiting time for mandatory reconsideration of benefit decisions.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The average (median) waiting times for Mandatory Reconsiderations are 57 calendar days for PIP, 51 calendar days for UC, and 10 calendar days for ESA-WCA.
Whilst we endeavour to complete Mandatory Reconsiderations without delay, our overarching focus is on taking the time necessary to thoroughly review all the available evidence to help ensure we make the right decision.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people with Dupuytren's contracture have been awarded Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit in (a) Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council area, (b) South Yorkshire and (c) England in each of the last three years.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The Department publishes monthly statistics on assessments of claims made to the Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit scheme every three months on Stat-Xplore. The statistics are available by decision type and prescribed disease which, from December 2019, includes Dupuytren's Contracture. The latest statistics are available to June 2021 and can be broken down to various geographies here:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/
Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to promote the use of British Sign Language.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The Government is committed to supporting all people with a disability, including deaf people, to lead fulfilled, independent lives. For D/deaf people, we recognise that this must include the ability to communicate with others through British Sign Language (BSL) or other forms of deaf communication.
I have been working closely with Rosie Cooper MP to support the aims and development of her Private Members Bill to promote BSL. We have also held a number of stakeholder forums, including with deaf people’s organisations such as the Royal National Institute for Deaf People and British Deaf Association, to ensure that we understand the views and perspectives of D/deaf BSL users.
The British Sign Language Bill is a major step forward in recognising BSL as a language for D/deaf people in its own right. It will place a duty on the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to issue guidance on the promotion and facilitation of BSL. It will also require them to report on information supplied by ministerial Departments regarding their use of BSL. This reporting will give us a much better understanding of how BSL is being used across the government, and how we can continue to improve communication for D/deaf BSL users.
I will also be creating a non-statutory board of BSL users which can advise the Government on matters pertaining to BSL. To complement the approach set out in the Bill, we are also developing a suite of non-statutory measures which will help promote and facilitate the use of BSL. These include:
o examining how we might increase the number of BSL interpreters;
o reviewing how we might work in DWP to ensure the Access to Work fund helps BSL users; and
o aiming to update the National Disability Strategy to facilitate and promote BSL usage.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent discussions she has had with Ministerial colleagues in the Department for Education on the steps they are taking to issue guidance to parents of deaf children on British Sign Language.
Answered by Chloe Smith
As the Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work, I engage across government on disability issues and meet with Departmental Ministerial Champions on a regular basis. I recently engaged with Department for Education officials at a Roundtable as part of the preparation for supporting Rosie Cooper’s current Private Members Bill on BSL. My officials are also in discussion with other government departments, including the Department for Education, about the provision of BSL interpretation services.
I have been working closely with Rosie Cooper MP to support the aims and development of her Private Members Bill which I believe is a major step forward in recognising BSL as a language for D/deaf people in its own right.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the (a) potential viability of providing additional financial support to pensioners during winter 2021-22 and (b) impact of additional support on the financial wellbeing of pensioners in Barnsley Metropolitan.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The State Pension is the foundation of support for older people. Under this Government, the full yearly amount of the basic State Pension is now over £2,050 higher in cash terms than in 2010.
Around 1.4 million eligible pensioners across Great Britain receive some £5 billion in Pension Credit which tops up their retirement income and is a passport to other financial help such as support with housing costs, council tax, heating bills and a free TV licence for those over 75.
We recognise that some people may still require extra support over the winter, which is why vulnerable households across the country can now access an additional £500 million support fund to help them with essentials. The Household Support Fund will provide £421 million to help vulnerable people in England with the cost of food, utilities and wider essentials. Up to 50% of the Fund is available for councils to spend on households without children, including those of State Pension age. Barnsley local authority has been allocated £2,351,263.96. The Barnett Formula will apply in the usual way, with the devolved administrations receiving almost £80 million.
In addition, Winter Fuel Payments will continue to be payable to customers of State Pension age. We will pay £200 to households with a customer aged between 66 and 79 and £300 to a household with someone aged 80 or over. We pay over 11m Winter Fuel Payments annually at a cost of £2bn which is a significant contribution to winter fuel bills.
Cold Weather Payments help vulnerable people in receipt of certain income-related benefits to meet additional heating costs, during periods of unseasonably cold weather between 1 November and 31 March. This includes older people in receipt of Pension Credit. Those eligible will continue to automatically receive £25 when the average temperature has been recorded as, or is forecast to be, 0°C or below over seven consecutive days.
The Warm Home Discount Scheme provides those in receipt of Pension Credit guarantee credit a discount of £140 on their energy bill providing their supplier is part of the scheme.
Furthermore, the Government continues to protect benefits for older people including free eye tests, NHS prescriptions and bus passes.
The latest statistics show that in the three years to 2019/20, absolute poverty for pensioners in Yorkshire and the Humber, after housing costs, had reduced significantly.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of (a) support available and (b) policies for addressing the issues that additional brain injury patients experience in day to day living.
Answered by Chloe Smith
We have taken your PQ to refer to support for people with Acquired Brain Injury. People who are unable to work because they are disabled or have a health condition, including people who have Acquired Brain Injury, may be eligible for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) or Universal Credit (UC). Extra costs benefits, including Personal Independence Payment (PIP), are also available to help people with long-term health conditions or disabilities. PIP can be paid in addition to other benefits and support, including benefits which may help with the costs of living.
The Work Capability Assessment (WCA) determines entitlement to ESA and the additional health-related element of UC. A case discussion about the needs of claimants with Acquired Brain Injury forms part of new entrant training for all WCA assessors, who also have access to a self-directed learning module on Acquired Brain Injury which was updated this year and quality assured by Headway, the brain injury association. Headway is also a member of the WCA provider’s customer representative group.
Acquired Brain Injury is incorporated into training for PIP Health Professionals, who all have access to a Condition Insight Report on brain injury that was updated in 2020 and completed in collaboration with Headway. The PIP Forum regularly consults with a wide range of stakeholders to ensure that PIP meets the needs of its claimants.
The National Disability Strategy aims to improve disabled people’s everyday lives. Our long term vision is to transform disabled people’s day-to-day lives. The strategy offers both a positive vision for long term societal change and a wide-ranging, practical plan for action now.
Although progress has been made over recent decades on accessibility and inclusion, far too often obstacles remain. The strategy sets out probably the widest-ranging set of practical actions to improve the lives of disabled people ever developed, across jobs, housing, transport, education, shopping, culture, justice, public services, and data and evidence.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support is available for employment and support allowance claimants who have had to leave the country for more than 28 days.
Answered by Chloe Smith
Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) can continue to be paid when a claimant is temporarily absent from Great Britain for more than 28 days where an absence is in connection with treatment in relation to their limited capability for work, or the health of a dependent child, provided they continue to meet the other conditions of entitlement. In these cases, ESA can continue to be awarded for the first 26 weeks in a 52-week period.
In addition, where ESA claimants travel abroad for NHS treatment, or move to live with a partner or close family member who is a serving member of the armed forces there are no time limits.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing a mobility component to attendance allowance for people of pension age with disabilities.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Attendance Allowance (AA) is intended to help those with a severe disability who have long term care or supervision needs where those needs arise after reaching State Pension age. Entitlement is based on the on-going need for frequent personal care and attention, or supervision to ensure personal safety. A mobility component for those whose needs arise after State Pension age is not provided as it is expected that many older people will develop mobility issues as part of the ageing process. This is a long standing policy continued by successive Governments. There is no constraint on what the benefit can be used for, and individual recipients can choose to use their Attendance Allowance to fund mobility aids.
Latest published figures at end of February 2021, show that nationally there were 1.49m claimants of AA, of which 2,222 were in the Barnsley Central Parliamentary Constituency. In terms of expenditure on AA, nationally this was forecast to be £5.3bn in 2020/21.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what financial support she is providing to claimants over pension age who do not qualify for the mobility allowance of personal independence payment or the mobility scheme and who cannot claim attendance allowance, industrial injuries disabled benefit or constant attendance allowance.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Government support for mobility needs is focused on people who become disabled earlier in life; developing mobility needs in older life is a normal consequence of ageing for which people can plan and save for.
Individuals can claim Personal Independence Payment (PIP) for the first time up to the day before they reach State Pension age (SPa). Once someone is in receipt of PIP they can continue to do so beyond SPa, including the mobility component if they were in receipt of it on reaching SPa, for as long as they fulfil the entitlement conditions. There are limited circumstances where someone in receipt of the mobility component can move between rates once over SPa.
PIP claimants over SPa cannot establish a new entitlement to either rate of the mobility component in line with the general principle set out above.
The upper age limit for claiming PIP by new claimants for the first time was last reviewed prior to the most recent changes to SPa made by the Pensions Act 2014 and we have no plans to amend the upper age limit.
Where someone develops mobility difficulties when over SPa they can use any benefit they receive, including the daily living component of PIP, to meet those needs in a way that best suits them. Additional travel concessions and support may also be available by reference to age, whether or not there are mobility needs.