Asked by: Emma Dent Coad (Labour - Kensington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the cost to the public purse was of providing free television licences to people over the age of 75 for qualifying residents in (a) Kensington constituency and (b) Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea local authority area in (i) 2017-18 and (ii) 2018-19.
Answered by Guy Opperman
In the 2015 funding settlement, the Government agreed with the BBC that responsibility for the concession will transfer to the BBC in June 2020.
The government and the BBC agreed this is a fair deal for the BBC - in return we closed the iPlayer loophole and committed to increase the licence fee in line with inflation. And to help with financial planning, we agreed to provide phased transitional funding over 2 years to gradually introduce the cost to the BBC.
This reform was subject to public discussion and debated extensively during the passage of the Digital Economy Act 2017 through Parliament.
On 10 June 2019, the BBC announced that the current scheme will end. From 1 June 2020, a free TV licence will only be available to a household with someone aged over 75 who receives Pension Credit.
The table below provides estimates of the costs for 2017/18 of providing free TV licences to people aged 75 and over in the geographical areas requested, in nominal prices. The figures for 2018/19 will be available in September.
| Expenditure (£m) (Nominal) |
| 2017-18 |
(a) Kensington constituency | £0.69 |
(b) Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea local authority area | £1.00 |
Asked by: Emma Dent Coad (Labour - Kensington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information her Department holds on the proportion of (a) employment and support allowance, (b) jobseeker's allowance and (c) universal credit claimants who have (i) accepted and (ii) not accepted that her Department has taken into account their personal circumstances when deciding upon the claimant commitments which apply to their claim.
Answered by Lord Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
As part of the process of making a claim, all JSA (including New Style), New Style ESA and Universal Credit claimants discuss and agree a claimant commitment statement as part of the conditions of their claim.
The Department does not hold information on the reasons why a claimant commitment is or is not accepted by the claimant. Where a claimant commitment is not accepted, for any reason, a claim cannot be made, unless reasonable adjustments apply.
The reasonable requirements in a Claimant Commitment are based on the appropriate conditionality group for the claimant, and the Work Coach is able to tailor the requirements to include adjustments or easements for personal circumstances. If a claimant and their Work Coach are unable to agree on the reasonable requirements in their claimant commitment, they can request another Work Coach to review this.
Asked by: Emma Dent Coad (Labour - Kensington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Minister for Disabled People of 22 January 2019, Official Report, column 106WH on the satisfaction ratings of disability benefit claimants, if she will commission independent research on the satisfaction rates of claimants who have recently undergone a work capability assessment.
Answered by Sarah Newton
Research with claimants who have recently undergone a Work Capability Assessment is undertaken by a different organisation to the provider delivering the assessments. The telephone survey is voluntary and is based on a set of questions agreed with the department.
The Department also undertakes its own survey which is designed to monitor claimant satisfaction with the services offered by the department and to enable claimant views to inform improvements to the delivery of benefits and services. This information is published on gov.uk.
Asked by: Emma Dent Coad (Labour - Kensington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 30 May 2018 to Question 146988 on the revised wording of the ESA65B letters sent to employment support allowance claimants’ GPs, on what date the meeting took place at which the British Medical Association and the Royal College of General Practitioners agreed to that revised wording.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The British Medical Association and the Royal College of General Practitioners agreed to the revised wording of the ESA65B on 4 August 2016.
The Department is committed to ensuring all of its communications are clear, accurate and understandable and we continuously improve our letters. We engage regularly with the welfare benefits advice sector and disability charities and take into account all of the feedback we receive.
We have received comments from a number of sources including MPs, stakeholder organisations and GPs on the current version of the ESA65B letter and will take all of their feedback into account when revising it.
Asked by: Emma Dent Coad (Labour - Kensington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if her Department will consult the welfare benefits advice sector and disability charities on the wording of the ESA65B letter to claimants’ GPs after a Work Capability Assessment that finds them fit for work.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The British Medical Association and the Royal College of General Practitioners agreed to the revised wording of the ESA65B on 4 August 2016.
The Department is committed to ensuring all of its communications are clear, accurate and understandable and we continuously improve our letters. We engage regularly with the welfare benefits advice sector and disability charities and take into account all of the feedback we receive.
We have received comments from a number of sources including MPs, stakeholder organisations and GPs on the current version of the ESA65B letter and will take all of their feedback into account when revising it.
Asked by: Emma Dent Coad (Labour - Kensington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the effect of delaying managed migration of existing social security claimants to universal credit on the cost to the public purse of universal credit transitional protection; and whether those estimates constitute a saving to the public purse.
Answered by Lord Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
It is not possible to disaggregate the spending impact of delaying managed migration. HM Treasury did publish an overall spending impact of the budget changes, which can be accessed at:
Asked by: Emma Dent Coad (Labour - Kensington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many recipients of universal credit are self-employed.
Answered by Lord Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
We plan to publish statistics on Universal Credit and self-employment, including claimant numbers, in the future. This data is currently going through quality assurance clearance procedures in line with the National Statistics and Official Statistics publication standard.
Asked by: Emma Dent Coad (Labour - Kensington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 16 October 2018 to Question 176686 on Independent Case Examiner, how much additional funding the Independent Case Examiner received in 2017-18 to reduce the waiting time for a decision.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The Independent Case Examiner’s Office received no additional funding in the 2017-18 reporting year however, the Office has received funding for additional staff in the current reporting year.
Asked by: Emma Dent Coad (Labour - Kensington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether complaints to the Independent Case Examiner that have been considered under the early resolution process can be referred directly to the Parliamentary Ombudsman.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The Independent Case Examiner’s Office routinely considers whether the complaints it accepts for examination can be resolved, to the complainant’s satisfaction, without the need for a full examination of the case. The resolution process will only succeed if the complainant is satisfied that their complaint has been addressed. Decisions on whether to refer a complaint to the Parliamentary Ombudsman’s Office, regardless of the stage at which it was concluded by the Independent Case Examiner’s Office, rest with individual Members of Parliament.
Asked by: Emma Dent Coad (Labour - Kensington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many complaints to the Independent Case Examiner were concluded by (a) the early resolution process, (b) settlement following a review of the evidence and (c) a full investigation in each month from January 2017 to October 2018 inclusive.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The table below provides details of the complaints concluded by the Independent Case Examiner’s Office in each month from January 2017 to October 2018, broken down by (a) resolution (b) settlement and (c) a full investigation.
Month | Concluded by Resolution | Concluded by Settlement | Concluded by ICE Report |
January 2017 | 12 | 6 | 54 |
February 2017 | 3 | 9 | 58 |
March 2017 | 5 | 26 | 78 |
April 2017 | 7 | 9 | 42 |
May 2017 | 5 | 14 | 65 |
June 2017 | 4 | 17 | 64 |
July 2017 | 9 | 13 | 61 |
August 2017 | 7 | 6 | 56 |
September 2017 | 7 | 18 | 46 |
October 2017 | 8 | 18 | 55 |
November 2017 | 5 | 7 | 64 |
December 2017 | 6 | 9 | 50 |
January 2018 | 10 | 8 | 67 |
February 2018 | 5 | 7 | 70 |
March 2018 | 10 | 15 | 58 |
April 2018 | 12 | 9 | 53 |
May 2018 | 8 | 10 | 69 |
June 2018 | 13 | 10 | 85 |
July 2018 | 14 | 16 | 61 |
August 2018 | 13 | 12 | 79 |
September 2018 | 16 | 14 | 61 |
October 2018 | 24 | 29 | 87 |