Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment has she made of the (a) accessibility of the personal independence payment for people with Parkinson's disease and (b) potential impact of personal independence payment assessments on people living with that disease.
Answered by Chloe Smith
People with Parkinson’s disease are able to access PIP in the same way as other people with long-term health conditions or disabilities. A variety of reasonable adjustments can be made to the claims process and associated communications for customers who require them. Claimants are encouraged to attend assessments with a companion should additional support be required.
Entitlement to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is assessed on the daily living and mobility needs arising from a health condition or disability, rather than the health condition or disability itself. The assessment is carried out by qualified healthcare professionals and looks at an individual’s ability to carry out everyday activities which are fundamental to living an independent life, including their ability to prepare, cook and eat food, dress and undress, make budgeting decisions, manage and monitor their health condition, and plan and follow journeys. The assessment ensures that the greatest level of support goes to those least able to carry out the activities.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to her oral evidence before the Work and Pensions Select Committee on 7 July 2021, whether the universal credit managed migration pilot in Harrogate will resume in April 2022; and when that pilot will end.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As indicated to the Select Committee, the Department will make an announcement in due course on the plan for Move to Universal Credit.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to her oral evidence before the Work and Pensions Select Committee on 7 July 2021, whether it remains her policy for all legacy benefit claimants to be transferred onto universal credit by the end of 2024.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Yes.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps is she taking to improve the collection of benefit and employment data about people with a learning disability within her Department.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The Department collects data in relation to people with a learning disability where it is relevant to their claim to certain health and disability benefits, as well as making use of the Office for National Statistics Labour Force Survey.
The Department regularly publishes these statistics for those claiming Personal Independence Payment, Disability Living Allowance and Attendance Allowance, and these can be found at:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/.
Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html
Detailed information about the primary disability of those on Universal Credit receiving the Limited Capability for Work or Limited Capability for Work Related Activity element, and those receiving Employment and Support Allowance is not readily available and has not previously been published.
The Department already publishes annual Official Statistics on the employment of disabled people. These include employment levels and rates for disabled people with severe or specific learning difficulties.
The data can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/the-employment-of-disabled-people
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in the context of the potential increase in energy bills in the coming months, what assessment she has made of the planned end of the £20 uplift in universal credit on claimants' ability to heat their homes.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
No assessment has been made. The Cold Weather Payment (CWP) scheme helps vulnerable people in receipt of certain income-related benefits to meet the additional costs of heating during periods of severe cold weather. Cold Weather Payments are targeted at those in receipt of eligible benefits with a pension element or disability component or where there is a child under five in the household.
The Chancellor announced a temporary six-month extension to the £20 per week uplift at the Budget on 3 March to support households affected by the economic shock of Covid-19. Universal Credit has provided a vital safety net for six million people during the pandemic, and the temporary uplift was part of a COVID support package worth a total of £407 billion in 2020-21 and 2021-22.
There have been significant positive developments in the public health situation since the uplift was first introduced. With the success of the vaccine rollout and record job vacancies, it is right that our focus is on helping people back into work.
Through our Plan for Jobs, we are targeting tailored support schemes of people of all ages to help them prepare for, get into and progress in work. These include: Kickstart, delivering tens of thousands of six-month work placements for Universal Credit claimants aged 16-24 at risk of unemployment; we have also recruited an additional 13,500 work coaches to provide more intensive support to find a job; and introduced Restart which provides 12 months’ intensive employment support to Universal Credit claimants who are unemployed for a year. Our Plan for Jobs interventions will support more than two million people.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure that people with a learning disability moving from legacy benefits to universal credit do not receive a reduction in their benefits.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Many individuals moving to Universal Credit will find themselves better off. Universal Credit will provide an extra £2.1bn a year once fully rolled out, compared to the system it replaces. Universal Credit is fundamentally different to existing benefits and tax credits and claims cannot be compared like for like.
For claimants previously entitled to Severe Disability Premium, we have introduced the Universal Credit Transitional Provisions Amendment Regulations 2021 and these came into force on 27 January 2021. The Regulations ensure that a transitional Severe Disability Element remains available for new claims to Universal Credit following a change of circumstances made on or after 27 January 2021.
In addition, all eligible legacy claimants who will be required to claim Universal Credit as part of the managed migration process will be awarded, where necessary, Transitional Protection to ensure that their initial entitlement to Universal Credit is not less than their final entitlement to legacy benefits. The Government encourages anybody to go on GOV.UK and use one of the independent benefit calculators to check carefully their eligibility, because on applying for UC their entitlement to legacy benefits will cease and they will not be able to return to them in the future. Neither DWP nor HMRC can advise individual claimants whether they would be better off moving to UC or remaining on legacy benefits. They can get help through the government funded Help to Claim scheme as well as the Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Government is taking to measure the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on people with disabilities.
Answered by Chloe Smith
We are committed to ensuring all disabled people can play a full role in society. That is why we published the National Disability Strategy on 28 July which takes into account the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on disabled people and focuses on the issues that disabled people say affect them the most in all aspects of life.
The impact of COVID-19 on disabled people, and those with health conditions, continues to be monitored across Government using a range of sources including regular engagement with disabled people and disability stakeholders to ensure the needs of disabled people are considered in the Government’s response to, and recovery from COVID-19
The Disability Unit is also working with the Office for National Statistics to improve our understanding of the impact of COVID-19 on disabled people.
We are learning as much as we can, as quickly as we can about this virus, who it affects and how best to keep everyone safe from it and protect those who may be more vulnerable than others.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she made of the change in average waiting time for decision on personal independence payments (a) applications and (b) appeals.
Answered by Chloe Smith
We are committed to ensuring that people can access financial support through Personal Independence Payment (PIP) in a timely manner and reducing customer journey times for PIP claimants is a priority for the Department. We always aim to make an award decision as quickly as possible, taking into account the need to review all available evidence.
Processing times can vary reflecting factors including customer demand, operational resource and timescales for different parts of the process. In particular, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused distortion and work is ongoing to manage the recovery. This includes allowing a longer deadline for return of the PIP2 questionnaire for claims made between late February and late May 2021; these claims have now started to reach clearance.
Processing times for new PIP claims in July 2021 (most recent data available) are similar to levels a year ago.
The latest published statistics show that the waiting time for PIP appeals has come down: the average waiting time for PIP Tribunals in April to June 2021 was 27 weeks, a decrease of 4 weeks compared to the same quarter in the previous year.
In the vast majority of PIP cases DWP makes the right decision, meaning they never go to appeal, and through recent improvements to our decision-making we are ensuring that disabled people get all the support they are entitled to as quickly as possible. DWP and HMCTS, who administer social security appeals, continue to work together to reduce the length of time it takes for appeals to be heard. Where appeals are made, waiting times generally can fluctuate temporarily and geographically, owing to a number of variable factors, including volumes of benefit decisions made locally, availability of medical/disability members, venue capacity and the complexity of the issue in dispute. Any disparity in waiting times is monitored and investigated locally.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in the context of the potential increase in energy bills, what steps she is taking to help ensure that (a) universal credit and (b) legacy benefit claimants will be able to afford heating over winter 2021.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Working age benefits, which include legacy benefits, were increased by £1bn (1.7 per cent) from April 2020 and received a further £500m (0.5 per cent) increase from April 2021 as part of the Government’s annual up-rating exercise (both figures in cash terms).
DWP also provides support to help meet the additional costs of heating through the Cold Weather Payment and Winter Fuel Payment schemes.
The Cold Weather Payment scheme helps vulnerable people in receipt of certain income-related benefits to meet the additional costs of heating during periods of severe cold weather. Cold Weather Payments are targeted at those in receipt of eligible benefits with a pension element or disability component or where there is a child under five in the household.
Under the Winter Fuel Payment scheme, somebody who has reached State Pension Age and is under age 80 will receive £200 to help pay heating bills; rising to £300 for households with somebody aged 80 and over. This is a significant contribution towards a household’s winter fuel bill.
The Warm Home Discount administered by BEIS also provides short-term support with energy bills through rebates, helping households stay warm and healthy in winter. The Warm Home Discount scheme currently provides over 2 million low-income and vulnerable households with a £140 rebate off their winter energy bill. Warm Home Discount funding for the 2021/22 year is worth £354m.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she has taken to progress the Universal Credit pilots.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The pilot that had been active in Harrogate was suspended as the Department focused on delivering its part of the Government’s ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to its suspension, the emphasis of the pilot was to assist with developing the design of the Move to Universal Credit service and its processes, to provide the best possible support for claimants who are moved to Universal Credit.