Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to enable EU citizens with pre-settled status to claim universal credit.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
EEA and Swiss citizens with pre-settled status have the same access to benefits as they did prior to the UK leaving the EU. They will be able to access income-related public fund benefits, such as Universal Credit, if they are exercising a qualifying right to reside in the UK, for example by being a worker. This is similar to the rules for UK citizens residing in EU member states on the basis of the Withdrawal Agreement. The eligibility of claimants with pre-settled status is verified through the Habitual Residence Test.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason the Health and Safety Executive requires people to have specific accreditation to purchase rodenticide from vendors.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is responsible for the regulation of biocidal products in the Great Britain, which include rodenticides.
To ensure that the risks associated with professional use of anticoagulant rodenticides could be properly managed, the UK Government and stakeholders agreed that rodenticide stewardship was needed. The Campaign for Responsible Rodenticide Use UK (CRRU UK) has developed a stewardship regime in the UK.
One component of CRRU’s stewardship regime is that for professional use of rodenticides, verification of competence is required at the point of sale, in order to ensure that only those who are trained in proper use and risk mitigation measures can use such products.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of employment support allowance recipients that have seen an overall reduction in benefit payments when council tax benefit has been withdrawn following the introduction of support for mortgage interest; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Council Tax benefit has been replaced with Council Tax reduction schemes, which are the responsibility of Local Authorities (LAs). Most LAs will offer the maximum level of relief for those receiving income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA). The move to SMI loans will mean a very small number of claimants (around 100 across Great Britain) will lose entitlement to income-related ESA and will have to apply for Council Tax reduction on income grounds. It is open to any LA to adjust the way their scheme operates in the unlikely event that this results in any individuals receiving a lower level of support towards their Council Tax payments
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average (a) mode, (b) mean and (c) median time taken for personal independence payments to be made is, from the date on which the application is made.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
However, latest data on median clearance times from registration to DWP decision up until 31st January 2018 can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-independence-payment-april-2013-to-january-2018.The next quarterly release is due to be published on 12th June 2018 which would cover data up to April 2018.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of recent trends in the level of personal independence payment awards for (a) blind and (b) sight impaired applicants; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Sarah Newton
Personal Independence Payment (PIP) ensures we target support on those with the greatest barriers to living an independent life. PIP is working better for those with a visual impairment compared to the previous benefit, Disability Living Allowance (DLA). Under DLA, 5% of all those with a visual impairment were receiving the top level of support1 [the footnote explains that this is May 2013], whereas 62% of PIP recipients receive the highest rates as at the end of October 2017.”
Of those visually impaired DLA claimants who were aged 16 to 64 on 8 April 2013 and have been reassessed for PIP up to the end of October 2017, 66% are now getting a higher award than they received under DLA and the average weekly PIP award is £116.95 compared to £73.10 under DLA.
Notes:
DLA and PIP data taken from Stat-Xplore (https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk)