Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
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 potential merits of excluding the sale of Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles from Universal Credit income assessments.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The treatment of capital in any benefit that assists with living expenses is not a straightforward matter.
The current system allows people to continue to receive benefit even though they may have an amount of capital from £6,000 by gradually reducing the level of their entitlement.
The level beyond which capital starts to be considered is £6,000. This is because it is right that there is a point at which people with more substantial capital use these resources to help maintain themselves.
The capital limit above which Universal Credit entitlement ends is £16,000. This strikes a balance between protecting less well-off people and the taxpayer, whilst at the same time recognising the conscientious efforts of people who have built up capital.
This limit also ensures that the help which comes from taxpayers, many of whom are themselves on low incomes and have limited capital, is directed to people who need it most.
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the (a) evidence and (b) definition of in-work support required for a supported employee is clearly outlined to employers who employ people under Access to Work Plus.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Access to Work Plus is testing whether providing additional support for employers who are willing to do more and flex job roles for employees who need more than standard Access to Work, can help unlock more employment opportunities for disabled people. Access to Work will use its contracted supplier who have suitably qualified assessors to identify the employees in-work support needs and the adaptations the employer has made to the workplace and the job role to accommodate the employee.
Access to Work already provides general advice on workplace adjustments for employers who employ disabled people, however, is unable to provide personalised advice as it is dependent on individual need. The Access to Work holistic assessment builds on this advice and considers the employee’s working environment, including any adjustments the employer has made. The assessment is carried out in the workplace with the employee and the employer present, the assessment will make tailored recommendations for the disabled employee and offer advice for employers on the support they can provide for their employee.
The Access to Work case manager will use the assessments recommendations to determine if the employer satisfies the Access to Work Plus criteria.
To help build employer understanding of Access to Work Plus and the process used to determine eligibility, a series of communications have been developed and shared with a range of stakeholders, including Disability Confident employers and Jobcentre Plus. The reaction to these communications will be monitored to help inform further communication products and amended as necessary.
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of implementing a time limit on the (a) re-assessment and (b) removal of previously granted Personal Independence Payment awards in order that claimants are not in debt for overpayments of awards where the evidence base her Department has available to it for the original provision of that award has altered.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Overpayments may arise due to official error or the claimant misrepresenting their circumstances or failing to report an adverse change of circumstances in time. All potential overpayments are considered on the facts with recovery being decided on a case-by-case basis. There are no plans to introduce a time-limit to recovery of an overpayment. We are committed to making assessment decisions in a timely way and ensuring that the right outcome is reached.
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to ensure support for individuals currently employed under the Temporary Employment Support Grant under Access to Work programs continues to move forward.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Transitional Employer Support Grant is a flat-rate time-limited grant paid by Access to Work to fund the in-work support needs of disabled individuals working in Supported Businesses who previously delivered the Work Choice programme. This grant is providing transitional protection for disabled employees while a long-term funding model is developed. A new more personalised funding model is currently being piloted which offers disabled employees more tailored support and recognises the adaptations the employer has made. If the new model is successful it is expected to replace the Transitional Employer Support Grant.
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
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 potential merits of enabling data sharing between the Child Maintenance Service and HMRC to help ensure accurate income assessments of non-resident parents.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) already uses data received directly from HMRC to ensure child maintenance liabilities are based on accurate income information. The CMS can also access a wide range of income information, including income from property, savings, and investments (including dividends) and other miscellaneous income.
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
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 potential merits of the immediate removal of the two child limit for the Universal Credit Child Element for all claimants to enable Ukrainian nationals arriving in the UK are not (a) subject to limitations in available family support, and (b) made to disclose if they have being the victims of sexual violence used as a weapon of war in order to receive support for any children who may have being conceived in non-consensual conception above the two child limit.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
No assessment has been made. The policy applies to all children born on or after 6 April 2017 regardless of the nationality of the child.
We recognise that some claimants are not able to make the same choices about the number of children in their family.
That is why exceptions have been put in place to protect certain groups, including those likely to have been born as a result of non-consensual conception. This includes rape or where the claimant was in a controlling or coercive relationship with the child’s other biological parent at the time of conception. In this case, before a claim is approved, claimants are asked to contact a suitable third-party professional who can confirm the claimant’s circumstances, as described by them, are consistent with the criteria for the exception. The third-party professional does not judge the credibility of the claimant’s statement or require any further evidence.
Furthermore, On 9th July 2021, the Supreme Court handed down the judicial review judgement on the two-child Policy. The court found the two-child Policy lawful and not in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
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 the introduction of a registration system for assistance dogs.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The services and standards of assistance dogs are currently and historically maintained on the basis of a voluntary regulatory framework. There is no specific legislation for the regulation of assistance dogs and no legislation is planned.
There are recognised standards for assistance dogs worldwide set by international bodies to which a number of UK charities and organisations are accredited.