Asked by: Gordon Henderson (Conservative - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure that migrants entering the UK do not receive instant access to welfare benefits.
Answered by Priti Patel
We have strict measures in place to ensure benefits are only paid to those people who have a legal right to live and work in the UK.
Additionally, people coming to the UK, or returning here, must demonstrate that they are habitually resident to be eligible for income-related benefits. Since 1 January 2014, most migrant jobseekers must also have been living in the UK for three months before any consideration can be given to whether they are habitually resident to be eligible to receive income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance.
Asked by: Gordon Henderson (Conservative - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of people eligible for employment and support allowance have their benefits suspended while medical reviews are conducted; and in the case of claimants whose benefit is restored after a medical review, what steps are taken to ensure that National Insurance payments are restored and future state pension and other benefits are protected.
Answered by Mark Harper - Secretary of State for Transport
Employment and Support Allowance claimants do not have their benefit suspended whilst undergoing a Work Capability Assessment (WCA). They continue to receive their National Insurance credits for each week that they are found to have limited capability for work or limited capability for work-related activity. Where claimants are found fit for work on a repeat WCA and it is subsequently decided that they did have limited capability for work or limited capability for work-related activity, National Insurance credits will be backdated accordingly so that entitlement to the state pension and other benefits is protected.
Asked by: Gordon Henderson (Conservative - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent progress his Department has made on supporting people with mental health conditions in the workplace.
Answered by Mark Harper - Secretary of State for Transport
The Government is committed to supporting people with mental health problems to remain in work.
We are launching Fit for Work to support people off sick for four weeks or more to help them return to work, as well as introducing maximum waiting times for accessing talking therapies.
We are also working with the Department of Health to pilot different approaches to support people with mental health problems to return to work.