Asked by: David Hanson (Labour - Delyn)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what average time was taken for personal independence payment assessments for claimants with (a) non-terminal and (b) terminal conditions to be completed in (i) Wales and (ii) each postcode area in Wales in each of the last three financial years.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Such information as is available on Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claims in payment, registrations, clearances, awards and average clearance times for both new claims and reassessed claims (for those previously in receipt of Disability Living Allowance (DLA)) are available at a Regional, Parliamentary Constituency and Local Authority level and published on Gov.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/personal-independence-payment-statistics
Asked by: David Hanson (Labour - Delyn)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of personal independence payment assessments took place face-to-face in (a) Wales and (b) each postcode area in Wales in each of the last three financial years.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The information requested is not readily available, and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: David Hanson (Labour - Delyn)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the value is of his Department's contract with Capita Business Services Ltd for assessing personal independent payments.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The available information may be found in Contract Finder via this link http://data.gov.uk/data/contracts-finder-archive/contract/740844/
Asked by: David Hanson (Labour - Delyn)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what targets his Department has set for the performance by Capita Business Services Ltd on its provision of personal independence payment services in Wales.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department has agreed a range of performance measures with Capita Business Services Ltd. Specifically, targets have been agreed on the timescales for undertaking assessments, the quality of assessments, and the claimant experience.
Asked by: David Hanson (Labour - Delyn)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average hourly earnings of (a) female, (b) male, (c) full-time and (d) part-time employees of his Department were in each of the last five years.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department for Work and Pensions pays employees an annual salary rather than an hourly rate.
The Department uses a grade structure to determine salary rates. The grade structure is underpinned by Job Evaluation and Grading Support (JEGS), an analytical job evaluation tool which meets all requirements of legislation and EHRC (Equality and Human Rights Commission) statutory codes of practice on Equal Pay. The use of JEGS and its application in determining the appropriate grade for a role enables us to determine where employees are doing equal work based on “work rated as equivalent”.
DWP Equality data is published on an annual basis on https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-work-pensions/about/equality-and-diversity .This includes the average male and female pay for each year.
In 2015, the gender pay gap in DWP was 3.7%. ONS reported that the mean gender pay gap within the UK was 19.2%, indicating that the gender pay gap within the DWP is considerably narrower than the UK gender pay gap.
Part time employees receive a ‘pro-rated’ salary based on their working hours. Below, we have provided average salaries for part time employees based on the Full Time Equivalent (FTE) salary rate.
2015 Average FTE Salary | |
Full time | Part time (FTE) |
£24,005 | £22,195 |
2014 Average FTE Salary | |
Full time | Part time (FTE) |
£23,663 | £21,882 |
2013 Average FTE Salary | |
Full time | Part time (FTE) |
£23,383 | £21,680 |
2012 Average FTE Salary | |
Full time | Part time (FTE) |
£22,935 | £21,513 |
2011 Average FTE Salary | |
Full time | Part time (FTE) |
£22,830 | £21,393 |
The main factor influencing the DWP gender and working pattern pay gap is the difference in distribution of staff within each of these groups across the grades. DWP continues to regularly review ways to address the pay gap.
Asked by: David Hanson (Labour - Delyn)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many personal independence payment applications in Wales have waited longer than (a) one month, (b) three months and (c) six months to be assessed by Capita; what progress has been made in reducing such waiting times in Wales; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Mark Harper - Secretary of State for Transport
Information on the number of cases awaiting individual assessments is not routinely supplied and is not published data. Departmental statisticians are continuing to develop measures around clearance times and waiting times to ensure they provide a rounded and representative picture of Personal Independence Payment system performance, improvement activity and the claimants’ experience. These statistics will be published when they are ready, with the release pre-announced in line with United Kingdom Statistics Authority release protocols.