Jessica Morden

The DVLA receives around 60,000 items of mail every day which must be dealt with in person. Ongoing industrial action by members of the Public and Commercial Services union, along with fewer operational staff on site to allow for social distancing in line with Welsh Government requirements and an increased demand for its services has led to delays in dealing with paper applications. The DVLA has leased an additional building to accommodate more operational staff.

Currently, driving licence applications made on paper are likely to take six to ten weeks to process. There may be additional delays in processing more complex transactions, for example, if medical investigations are needed.

The latest information on turnaround times for paper driving licence applications can be found here.

The DVLA has reconfigured its accommodation to safely maximise the number of staff on site and is working hard to process applications as quickly as possible. The DVLA has accelerated the development of additional online services to reduce the number of paper applications and supported their take up through a publicity campaign. Further digital service enhancements are underway.

The average processing time to make a medical licensing decision in the last three financial years is shown in the table below.

To improve the length of time taken to process medical licensing applications, the DVLA has recruited additional staff. This includes increasing the number of in-house doctors it employs and temporary administrative staff. Nurse caseworkers are being utilised to deal with specific conditions. The DVLA is also working with the relevant bodies to explore ways of reducing the time taken to receive the information needed to make licensing decisions.

The DVLA has also recently trialed a simplified renewal process for some medical conditions. This has significantly reduced the turnaround times for some drivers.

Where possible the DVLA will refer specific medical conditions to its in-house doctors in the first instance, to make a licensing decision using the information held.

The average processing time to make a medical licensing decision in the last three financial years is shown in the table below.

To improve the length of time taken to process medical licensing applications, the DVLA has recruited additional staff. This includes increasing the number of in-house doctors it employs and temporary administrative staff. Nurse caseworkers are being utilised to deal with specific conditions. The DVLA is also working with the relevant bodies to explore ways of reducing the time taken to receive the information needed to make licensing decisions.

The DVLA has also recently trialed a simplified renewal process for some medical conditions. This has significantly reduced the turnaround times for some drivers.

Where possible the DVLA will refer specific medical conditions to its in-house doctors in the first instance, to make a licensing decision using the information held.

We will be considering the future of the Rescue Boat Grant Fund as part of the forthcoming review of government spending.

Independent lifeboat organisations play a vital role in the safety of our coasts and waterways. The Fund has already provided nearly £6 million in support significantly enhanced the capacity of the sector.

The Government has consulted on changing the law to broaden the offence of using a mobile phone while driving. We are currently analysing the consultation responses.

Our objective in putting forward a proposal to change the law, was to ensure that the offence of using a hand-held mobile phone while driving reflects the real world where smart phones or devices are used not only for calls and texting (interactive communication), but also for scrolling play lists, taking photographs, or drafting emails (standalone functions).

Additionally, broadening of the offence will facilitate enforcement by obviating the need for the police to demonstrate that any use they identified from the roadside involved interactive communication.

The Government has consulted on changing the law to broaden the offence of using a mobile phone while driving. We are currently analysing the consultation responses.

Our objective in putting forward a proposal to change the law, was to ensure that the offence of using a hand-held mobile phone while driving reflects the real world where smart phones or devices are used not only for calls and texting (interactive communication), but also for scrolling play lists, taking photographs, or drafting emails (standalone functions).

Additionally, broadening of the offence will facilitate enforcement by obviating the need for the police to demonstrate that any use they identified from the roadside involved interactive communication.

The decision to add Qatar to the red list on 19 March was made by Ministers, following data showing an increased risk of importation of the Beta variant of concern first identified in South Africa.

The Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC) produces risk assessments of countries and territories. Decisions on Red, Amber or Green List assignment and associated border measures are taken by Ministers, who take into account the JBC risk assessments, alongside wider public health factors. Key factors in the JBC risk assessment of each country include genomic surveillance capability, COVID-19 transmission risk and Variant of Concern transmission risk. A summary of the JBC methodology has been published on GOV.UK, alongside key data that supports ministers’ decisions.

As with all our coronavirus measures, the Government keeps the red list under constant review and our priority remains to protect the health of the UK public.

A candidate whose theory test certificate expires will have received the service for which they paid the fee. If a practical test is already booked at the time when the theory test expires, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency will refund the fee for the practical driving test.

The maximum duration of two years between passing the theory test and a subsequent practical test is in place for road safety reasons. It is important that road safety knowledge and hazard perception skills are up to date at the critical point that they drive unsupervised for the first time. Those with theory test certificates expiring may have taken their test in early 2019. Since then, their lessons and practice sessions will have been significantly curtailed during recent lockdowns and it is likely that their knowledge base will have diminished. Research suggests that this would be particularly harmful for hazard perception skills, a key factor in road safety.

Taking all this into consideration, the decision has been made not to extend theory test certificates and learners will need to pass another theory test if their certificate expires.

A total of 195,814 theory test certificates expired between the period of 25 March 2020 and 31 December 2020 without a practical test pass.

In the normal course of events, on average, 14,000 candidates let their certificate expire each month.

A candidate whose theory test certificate expires will have received the service for which they paid the fee. If a practical test is already booked at the time when the theory test expires, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency will refund the fee for the practical driving test.

The maximum duration of two years between passing the theory test and a subsequent practical test is in place for road safety reasons. It is important that road safety knowledge and hazard perception skills are up to date at the critical point that they drive unsupervised for the first time. Those with theory test certificates expiring may have taken their test in early 2019. Since then, their lessons and practice sessions will have been significantly curtailed during recent lockdowns and it is likely that their knowledge base will have diminished. Research suggests that this would be particularly harmful for hazard perception skills, a key factor in road safety.

Taking all this into consideration, the decision has been made not to extend theory test certificates and learners will need to pass another theory test if their certificate expires.

A total of 195,814 theory test certificates expired between the period of 25 March 2020 and 31 December 2020 without a practical test pass.

In the normal course of events, on average, 14,000 candidates let their certificate expire each month.

On 21 August the Secretary of State announced a £343m package of investment in railway infrastructure in Wales. This includes the development of a scheme to upgrade the relief lines between the Severn Tunnel and Cardiff to provide greater capacity and more flexibility for passenger services on this part of the route. I have asked Network Rail to look for opportunities to accelerate this development work as much as possible.

The Department is working closely with Network Rail, train operators, trade unions and the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) to reduce the risk of fatalities on the network to directly employed staff and contractors. It has been over a year since the tragic deaths of two track maintenance workers, Mr Gareth Delbridge and Mr Michael Lewis, on 3 July 2019, when a passenger train struck them at Margam East Junction on the South Wales Main Line, and I would like to once again express my condolences to their families for their losses.

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) is currently investigating the circumstances that led to the tragic incident at Margam. Its report, which is expected shortly, is likely to make recommendations aimed at ensuring that lessons are learnt and at preventing such an event happening again.

Since July 2019, Network Rail has established a £70m safety task force to make fundamental changes to the way it manages track worker access to the rail network, including a review of its safe systems of work. Network Rail is also developing new digital protection and warning systems to warn track workers of approaching trains, and to increase the use of technology such as Plain Line Pattern Recognition, which provides automated track inspection and reduces the need for track access.

The Department continues to work closely with train operating companies, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), and Network Rail to ensure that staff fatigue risk is managed properly in accordance with published guidance and best practice. Train operators are required by health and safety law to implement measures to manage fatigue amongst safety critical staff as part of their safety management systems. This includes monitoring working hours, identifying the signs of fatigue, and managing factors that can have an impact of this on alertness and fitness for work. This applies to all staff on the railways, including track workers, train drivers and control room staff.

The Department for Transport is in regular conversation with UK airlines and wider membership bodies. We are working closely with the sector, the regulator and consumer groups to help ensure airlines deliver on their commitments.

Airlines are working hard to answer the high call volumes and to process large volumes of refunds. However, the Government appreciates the frustration consumers may be experiencing. We have been clear that where a consumer has asked for a refund, that refund must be paid

The online form for registering an interest in the second round of the Ideas Fund was sent to Members on 15 May. The full application form will be published on GOV.UK during week commencing 25 May. We will let Members know when the form is available, as we have done at all stages of the Restoring Your Railway Ideas Fund. The deadline for applications is 19 June.

We received 60 bids for the first round, which have recently been assessed and the next steps from this round will be communicated to Members and Promoters shortly.

Using the latest Government guidance, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is working closely with the Approved Driving Instructors National Association Strategic Partnership (NASP) to develop appropriate plans and control measures that will enable the resumption of non-essential driving lessons. The DVSA will keep the situation under review and provide advice as soon as it can.

Approved Driving Instructors (ADIs) can continue to provide tuition to pupils if the lesson is considered essential. It is the responsibility of the ADI, and the pupil, to decide if the driving lesson is critical. ADIs should ask pupils to bring appropriate identification to demonstrate the need for the lesson, such as a payslip, letter or identification badge.

All ADIs should put in place appropriate health and safety measures, in line with the latest Public Heath England and Cabinet Office guidance, to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Additional seats are due to be provided on the CrossCountry route linking Cardiff, Newport, Caldicot, Birmingham and Nottingham. A small number of CrossCountry services on this route also call at Severn Tunnel Junction

The Government’s guidance on the procurement of steel was published in November 2015 and subsequently updated in December 2016. All major government projects are required to take cognisance of the Crown Commercial Service Procurement Policy Note 11/16: “Procuring Steel in Major Projects - Revised Guidance” (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/procurement-policy-note-1116-procuring-steel-in-major-projects-revised-guidance ).

Whilst HS2 Ltd. does not directly buy steel, it does apply a strategic and transparent approach to the sourcing of steel for the HS2 Programme through its Tier 1 contractors and their supply chains. HS2 Ltd ensures a fair procurement process which complies with UK procurement law and the Government policy on the procurement of steel.

HS2 has huge potential to support growth across the UK including Wales and will promote regeneration, boost skills and generate new jobs for people across the region. Our procurement process is open to all bidders with the relevant experience and required credentials and ensures value for money for the taxpayer. HS2 Ltd has a continuing programme of engagement with local businesses, attending events arranged by local Chambers of Commerce and other networks to ensure that the procurement opportunities of the project are spread across all four nations of the United Kingdom. To date, 26 Welsh companies have provided goods or services to the project, including 16 SMEs.

Aside from procurement contracts, the Department forecasts the north-east Wales economy will be boosted by £50m annually by HS2's quicker journey times.

It is anticipated that around two million tonnes of steel will be used across the HS2 programme.

The Department has sponsored the RAC Foundation to conduct the Road Collision Investigation Project which is ongoing and will report by Summer 2022. This project is seeking to establish whether there is a business case for putting more resource into the investigation of road crashes and if so, to identify how best to develop it. Considerations will include whether the future service should be nationwide and independent among other options. Their recommendations, together with learning from the ongoing Roads Policing Review which will report in 2021, will provide the evidence base necessary for an informed assessment to be made.

The Road Collision Investigation Project is ongoing. Progress to date includes:

• A report on Models and methods for collision analysis giving the rationale for taking a systems approach to collision investigation.

• RCIP Feasibility Study carried out by the Transport Research Laboratory to assess the validity of the AcciMap framework

  This work is being led by the RAC Foundation, in collaboration with and supported by the Department for Transport (DfT), Highways England (HE), the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) and other national and local organisations.

  Three police force analysts are all using the Collision Reporting and Sharing System managed and funded by the Department for Transport - no Welsh forces use this system at present, though it would be open for them to do so. The learning from the project will be published in due course and will be available to all of central and local government (including devolved administrations), and all GB police forces.

We have announced £500m funding for reopening railway lines and stations closed in the Beeching era, but it is too early to say how much of this will be spent within Wales or on cross-border services. This depends on the schemes put forward for consideration and I have invited the Hon. Member to our briefing on 4^th February where she can learn more about this. A new £20m round of funding is allocated to support new stations on the network. In the previous round a new station at Bow Street, Ceredigion, was one of five in England and Wales that secured funding.

The Department expects all its operators to provide sufficient levels of service to meet passenger demand. We are taking steps to increase capacity wherever possible and many operators are introducing new trains this year. The Williams Rail Review will shortly propose comprehensive measures to improve how the railway works for passengers.

The Williams Rail Review is considering where further devolution of powers could be in the interests of passengers. Further details will be set out in the forthcoming White Paper.

Decisions around levels of public investment in the railways are outside of the Review’s remit.

Since the General Election I have spoken to the Minister for Economy and Transport on this subject. Officials in the Department have regular meetings both with officials from Welsh Government and Transport for Wales on cross border rail services.

I can confirm that discussions have taken place with representatives of a) Network Rail and b) Highways England and that both organisations have committed to supporting the Charter where this is relevant to their commercial activities and where consistent with the relevant public procurement regulations.

A White Paper based on the Williams Rail Review’s recommendations will be published in due course.

Government’s guidance on the procurement of steel was published in November 2015 and subsequently updated in December 2016. In DfT, steel is only purchased directly by Network Rail. Both Highways England and High Speed Two Ltd procure steel through their respective supply chains. The guidance has been fully adopted by DfT for all in-scope projects and we have been required to report on its implementation (and the % of UK steel directly purchased) since January 2017. The percentage of UK steel we have reported is set out below.

I can confirm that the Department has committed to supporting the Charter where this is relevant to our commercial activities and where consistent with the relevant public procurement regulations. This position has been communicated to UK Steel.

Government’s guidance on the procurement of steel was published in November 2015 and subsequently updated in December 2016. In DfT steel is only purchased directly by Network Rail, and they source approximately 93% percent of their steel from the UK. Both Highways England and High Speed Two Ltd procure steel through their respective supply chains. The guidance has been fully adopted by DfT for all in-scope projects and we are required to report on its implementation.

The proportion of working Universal Credit recipients who are paid in a non-monthly-cycles is 37.0%.

Notes:

1. Percentages have been rounded to 1 decimal place.
2. Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) Real Time Earnings (RTE) data has been used to identify pay frequency and number of employers. This does not include self-reported or self-employed earnings.
3. Pay frequency as reported by the employer has been used to determine pay cycle.
4. Category 'Non-Monthly Pay Cycle' includes those claimants paid weekly, fortnightly, four-weekly or another non-monthly pay cycle
5. UC claimants present in the UC Household Statistics in August 2021 have been included, some of these will have zero entitlement due to earnings.
6. Only Great Britain UC claimants are included in the breakdown.
7. Most recent data of August 2021 has been provided in line with the latest available UC Household Statistics.
8. Figures are provisional and subject to retrospective change as later data becomes available.

Information on the handling of correspondence from hon. Members and Peers by Government Departments and Agencies is published by the Cabinet Office. The most recent available information was published on 15 July 2021 and can be found at

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/data-on-responses-to-correspondence-from-mps-and-peers.

Where there is a suspicion of fraud, the Department takes the issue extremely seriously. DWP’s Integrated Risk and Intelligence Service coordinates the detection of, and response to, fraud risks from organised crime groups detecting and shutting down systematic attacks. Last year, this led us to suspend 152,000 Universal Credit claims and prevented £1.9 billion in benefits from being paid to people trying to defraud the system.

The table below shows the number of Fraud Investigations concluded in each of the requested years where the allegation was recorded as Identity Fraud and the primary benefit in payment was Universal Credit. Also shown is the value associated to these Investigations.

*As this was identified as a result of serious and organised fraud this figure reflects the number of referrals made and not the number of individual claims that may be incorporated in that referral.

**These cases and values do not include the large number of additional Identity Fraud attempts during 2020/21 (many of which were the result of co-ordinated attacks) which we spotted and stopped before they went into payment, as the cases are still ongoing.

DWP’s Debt Management system does not match recovery to specific fraud type, so it is not possible to state how much money has been recovered in relation to closed cases classified as Identity Fraud.

Covid-19 restrictions have impacted prosecution cases as it has not been possible to carry out face to face interviews. This is because a face to face interview under caution, carried out in accordance with the requirements of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act, is a legal requirement before a case can be referred for either prosecution or for an administrative penalty to be issued.

However, DWP is making considerable progress in securing Covid safe rooms across the country for its fraud investigators and is also securing digital facilities, which will enable interviews to be conducted remotely.

DWP will always look to prosecute this type of offence to the full extent where possible and conducted 4 prosecutions for this offence in 2018/19, 9 in 2019/20 and 3 in 2020/21.

There will always be a time lag between the formal investigation and the court’s final verdict, but a number of investigations into hijacked identity are currently being pursued and will come to court in due course.

DWP is currently considering how future legislative change could help target fraud and error even more acutely moving forwards.

All cases where ‘Departmental error’ leads to overpayments of Universal Credit are logged on DWP’s Debt Management system as Official Error cases. These debts are recoverable. The table below shows the total number of these cases recorded on the system in each of the last 3 years.

*figures rounded to nearest 1000

Ensuring benefit correctness is a DWP priority. Despite an additional 3 million claimants to Universal Credit as a result of Covid-19, published National Statistics on Fraud and Error in the Benefit System show that Universal Credit Official Error fell in 2020/21 from 1.3% to 0.9% of benefit expenditure.

Note that the data supplied in this response is derived from unpublished management information which was collected for internal Departmental use only and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. The data should therefore be treated with caution.

Where there is a suspicion of fraud, the Department takes the issue extremely seriously. DWP’s Integrated Risk and Intelligence Service coordinates the detection of, and response to, fraud risks from organised crime groups detecting and shutting down systematic attacks. Last year, this led us to suspend 152,000 Universal Credit claims and prevented £1.9 billion in benefits from being paid to people trying to defraud the system.

The table below shows the number of Fraud Investigations concluded in each of the requested years where the allegation was recorded as Identity Fraud and the primary benefit in payment was Universal Credit. Also shown is the value associated to these Investigations.

*As this was identified as a result of serious and organised fraud this figure reflects the number of referrals made and not the number of individual claims that may be incorporated in that referral.

**These cases and values do not include the large number of additional Identity Fraud attempts during 2020/21 (many of which were the result of co-ordinated attacks) which we spotted and stopped before they went into payment, as the cases are still ongoing.

DWP’s Debt Management system does not match recovery to specific fraud type, so it is not possible to state how much money has been recovered in relation to closed cases classified as Identity Fraud.

Covid-19 restrictions have impacted prosecution cases as it has not been possible to carry out face to face interviews. This is because a face to face interview under caution, carried out in accordance with the requirements of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act, is a legal requirement before a case can be referred for either prosecution or for an administrative penalty to be issued.

However, DWP is making considerable progress in securing Covid safe rooms across the country for its fraud investigators and is also securing digital facilities, which will enable interviews to be conducted remotely.

DWP will always look to prosecute this type of offence to the full extent where possible and conducted 4 prosecutions for this offence in 2018/19, 9 in 2019/20 and 3 in 2020/21.

There will always be a time lag between the formal investigation and the court’s final verdict, but a number of investigations into hijacked identity are currently being pursued and will come to court in due course.

DWP is currently considering how future legislative change could help target fraud and error even more acutely moving forwards.

All cases where ‘Departmental error’ leads to overpayments of Universal Credit are logged on DWP’s Debt Management system as Official Error cases. These debts are recoverable. The table below shows the total number of these cases recorded on the system in each of the last 3 years.

*figures rounded to nearest 1000

Ensuring benefit correctness is a DWP priority. Despite an additional 3 million claimants to Universal Credit as a result of Covid-19, published National Statistics on Fraud and Error in the Benefit System show that Universal Credit Official Error fell in 2020/21 from 1.3% to 0.9% of benefit expenditure.

Note that the data supplied in this response is derived from unpublished management information which was collected for internal Departmental use only and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. The data should therefore be treated with caution.

COVID-19 saw an unprecedented surge in Universal Credit claims, demanding an extraordinary response from DWP to ensure the welfare safety net continued to catch all those in urgent need.

Whilst a small number of people deliberately misrepresented their circumstances or looked to exploit our response to the pandemic, the verification of claimants’ identities remains at the core of our checks and we quickly introduced new and robust verification procedures following initial easements. Face to face interviews are now being re-established, subject to the latest COVID-19 advice.

Where fraud does occur, the Department takes the issue extremely seriously. Our Integrated Risk and Intelligence Service coordinates the detection of, and response to, fraud risks from organised crime groups, detecting and shutting down systematic attacks. Last year, this led us to suspend 152,000 Universal Credit claims and prevented £1.9 billion in benefits from being paid to people trying to scam the system.

Identity fraud is a complex issue, and it is not always possible to be definitive about every case, but our Enhanced Checking Service and our Serious Organised Crime teams disrupted or corrected over 298,000 claims (including the 152,000 mentioned above) in 2020-21.

We are not able to describe the robust processes we have in place, as to do so may compromise the effectiveness of our operations. However, DWP continues to work across Government to address this issue.

Where citizens allege that their identity has been used to make a fraudulent claim for Universal Credit, DWP considers each case on its own merits. Decisions are made on the strength of the evidence provided. If a claimant has been the victim of a scam, and has not benefited from it in any way, they will not be held liable for any debt. In these cases, we will seek to recover any losses from the perpetrator of any fraud.

COVID-19 saw an unprecedented surge in Universal Credit claims, demanding an extraordinary response from DWP to ensure the welfare safety net continued to catch all those in urgent need.

Whilst a small number of people deliberately misrepresented their circumstances or looked to exploit our response to the pandemic, the verification of claimants’ identities remains at the core of our checks and we quickly introduced new and robust verification procedures following initial easements. Face to face interviews are now being re-established, subject to the latest COVID-19 advice.

Where fraud does occur, the Department takes the issue extremely seriously. Our Integrated Risk and Intelligence Service coordinates the detection of, and response to, fraud risks from organised crime groups, detecting and shutting down systematic attacks. Last year, this led us to suspend 152,000 Universal Credit claims and prevented £1.9 billion in benefits from being paid to people trying to scam the system.

Identity fraud is a complex issue, and it is not always possible to be definitive about every case, but our Enhanced Checking Service and our Serious Organised Crime teams disrupted or corrected over 298,000 claims (including the 152,000 mentioned above) in 2020-21.

We are not able to describe the robust processes we have in place, as to do so may compromise the effectiveness of our operations. However, DWP continues to work across Government to address this issue.

Where citizens allege that their identity has been used to make a fraudulent claim for Universal Credit, DWP considers each case on its own merits. Decisions are made on the strength of the evidence provided. If a claimant has been the victim of a scam, and has not benefited from it in any way, they will not be held liable for any debt. In these cases, we will seek to recover any losses from the perpetrator of any fraud.

The Department is required by law to pay the correct amount of benefit to eligible customers at the correct time. This legal duty to benefits claimants has remained consistent.

Further to this, where customers require additional support we take steps to understand their circumstances and will offer advice and support as needed. DWP staff can also signpost customers to other public authorities (including those that have statutory safeguarding responsibilities). Through this collaborative approach, we provide effective support to customers who may be particularly vulnerable.

Schedule 6 of the Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payment, Jobseeker's Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance (Claims and Payments) Regulations 2013 sets out the priority order in which Departmental staff must consider all deductions from Universal Credit, including Child Maintenance. The deductions contained in that priority order are all priority debts and social obligations that are important for claimants to address.

The Department recognises the importance of Child Maintenance payments and these deductions are already prioritised above others such as benefit overpayments of Housing Benefit, Tax Credit and DWP overpayments and Recoverable Hardship and Social Fund loans.

We do not hold this information due to the complex nature of our unpaid Child Maintenance (previously known as arrears) negotiations. When arranging for unpaid Child Maintenance to be recovered, caseworkers speak to both the Paying Parent and the Receiving Parent to agree an affordable and acceptable amount for both parties.

The Department does not have a statutory safeguarding duty or legal duty of care. The safety of claimants is of great importance to us and the Department provides staff with training and guidance to help them identify those who require further support beyond the provision of benefits.

Our staff can direct vulnerable claimants to agencies and services who are best placed to support them, including those who have statutory safeguarding duties such as local authorities and social services.

DWP supports the work of all statutory safeguarding agencies, either when formally requested to do so, or by engaging with them to identify, where possible, those who might need particular support.

DWP take our Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) seriously and are absolutely committed to ensuring our services are accessible to all.

We focus on being a learning organisation and are keen to capture the voice of the customer. A key part of this role is working with a number of representative groups from welfare and disability organisations through regular stakeholder forums.

They comprise of a range of organisations of and for disabled customers and through them we hear the voice of our customers. They let us know where we can improve the reasonable adjustments we offer and our processes for providing them, and they assist us by testing new products and procedures

One example is the Taskforce on Accessible Information which works at strategic level and meets three to four times a year.

Another is the Reasonable Adjustments Forum who work at an operational level and meet every two months.

The Department’s key obligation is to ensure that claimants receive the benefits that they are entitled to, in a timely manner. We continually review our processes to ensure that benefits assessment processes are accessible and supportive to all customers, including those with mental health conditions. We recently put in place a number of improvements to disability benefits assessments, to ensure that vulnerable customers are identified and all evidence relevant to the claim is taken into account. These include enhancing Additional Support Markers on digital case files to indicate vulnerable claimants.

The Department is committed to learning from cases where there is suggestion or allegation that the Department’s actions or omissions may have negatively contributed to the customer’s circumstances. We conduct internal retrospective investigations (known as Internal Process Reviews) to capture these lessons, and take them forward to inform future policy and service.

The Department’s key obligation is to ensure that claimants receive the benefits that they are entitled to, in a timely manner. We have recently put in place a number of improvements to disability benefits assessments, to ensure that vulnerable customers are identified and all evidence relevant to the claim is taken into account.

The Department is committed to learning from cases where there is suggestion or allegation that the Department’s actions or omissions may have negatively contributed to a customer’s circumstances. We conduct internal retrospective investigations (known as Internal Process Reviews) to capture these lessons, and take them forward to inform future policy and service.

In England and Wales (where engaged) a Coroner has responsibility for concluding the cause of death.

We are committed to improving the experience of accessing health and disability benefits. The Health and Disability Green Paper is an opportunity to understand how we can best improve the health assessment system, including the frequency of reassessments, and will inform our plan for change.

The available information on the number of households with Universal Credit in payment by parliamentary constituency is published and 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

The £20 uplift applies to all Universal Credit claimants.

The information requested is not available.

The DWP publishes annual take-up statistics for income-related benefits, including Pension Credit, at Great Britain level. The latest data was published in October 2020 and provides take-up estimates up to financial year 2018/19: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/income-related-benefits-estimates-of-take-up--2(opens in a new tab)

Frontline health and social care workers make a valuable contribution to our society and we are so grateful for their continued work through this pandemic.

The Department does not deduct from a Universal Credit claimant’s salary or bonus payment, however it may reduce the amount of Government support a claimant receives through Universal Credit if their earnings increase and they therefore have more money available to support themselves. It is a long-standing principle of means-tested benefits that as a person’s earnings increase their government support decreases – Universal Credit is no different.

Bonus payments, including those paid to health and social care workers, are earnings and therefore are treated in the same way as any other earnings. Universal Credit rules align closely to tax legislation (Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 (ITEPA)). Amounts that are taken into account for a Universal Credit award include those that are general earnings, as defined in section 7(3) of ITEPA. Amounts paid as expenses that are exempt from Income tax under Part 4 of ITEPA are not taken into account for a Universal Credit award.

To ensure consistency with the approach taken across different forms of earnings and Covid-19 financial support, the UK Government does not believe there is a case for disregarding these payments from benefit calculations. They are therefore subject to the Universal Credit taper rate of 63%, unless the earnings form part of the work allowance, which is the amount someone can earn before the taper is applied to their earnings.

On 18 March 2003 the UK government formally recognised that British Sign Language (BSL) is a language in its own right. Provision for accessing services by users of BSL are covered by the Equality Act 2010 and the Public Sector Equality Duty.

Existing equality legislation already means employers, service providers and public bodies have to provide services in BSL and other formats when it is reasonable to do so. The Public Sector Equality Duty requires public bodies to have due regard to the needs of all those with protected characteristics.

Universal Credit provides personalised and tailored support for all claimants, and it is already possible for claimants to give permission for a third party to discuss aspects of their claim.

The Department has also provided mental health training for staff who have direct contact with claimants, including all Work Coaches, to equip them to identify mental wellbeing issues or vulnerabilities, and to take appropriate action to support individuals. Work Coaches will tailor support to the needs of the individual and work closely with local organisations that provide additional specialist support. To enable Work Coaches to provide that tailored experience, with the permission of the claimant, they are able to record, in a free text format, through the use of ‘pinned notes’ in the Universal Credit system, information which supports staff in identifying and managing relevant experiences and circumstances of individual claimants.

In terms of supporting people manage their Universal Credit account, there is assistance available to make and maintain their Universal Credit claim using the Freephone Universal Credit helpline.

The information requested is not readily available, as to provide it would require complex interrogation of our systems and would incur disproportionate cost.

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is claimed by people with a range of health conditions and disabilities, many of which are degenerative or life limiting and the Department treats the death of any claimant sympathetically. Claims made under Special Rules for Terminal Illness (SRTI) are fast tracked and are being cleared in 4 working days on average (as at the end of January 2021, the latest available published data).

The cause of death of claimants to PIP is not collated centrally by the Department.

390 people died whilst waiting for a decision on their PIP claim between 1^st and 31^st January 2021, the latest date for which published data is available. For context, 62,330 claims were submitted for PIP over the same period. Note that the stated number of deaths includes people who submitted claims before January 2021.

Notes:

Source: PIP ADS and Customer Information System

• These figures include claims made under normal rules and special rules for terminally ill claimants and include new claims and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) to PIP reassessment claims.
• If a claimant dies before a decision is made on an outstanding claim, the Department establishes whether the claimant’s representative or next of kin wishes to proceed with the claim. If not, the claim is withdrawn.
• This is unpublished data. It should be used with caution and it may be subject to future revision.
• PIP claimants are included if they died in January 2021 and a PIP claim was registered before their date of death and was cleared after their date of death.
• Claimants’ dates of death are as recorded on the system at 11^th May 2021 and may be subject to change.
• Data covers Great Britain only.

Under the Social Security (Notification of Deaths) Regulations 2012 and s125 of Social Security Administration Act 1992 date of death is provided to the Department for all registered deaths. Additionally, next of kin also provide information on the date of death of an individual and this information is used appropriately in the administration of Departmental benefits.

The PIP data includes claims made under normal rules and special rules for terminally ill claimants, as well as new claims and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) to PIP reassessment claims.

The Department does not measure timings as described in the question, so this information could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Complaints received about the Child Maintenance Service are handled in line with the overall Departmental complaints process published on Gov.uk. We aim to contact customers within 15 working days to clear the complaint or agree how to investigate it if it will take longer.

At the point the Independent Case Examiner (ICE) Office accept a complaint for investigation, they will initially try to broker a solution between the complainant and the Department or supplier, without having to undertake an investigation – this is known as “resolution”. If the complaint cannot be resolved the evidence will be requested and the case will await allocation to an Investigation Case Manager (ICM). Cases are usually brought into investigation in strict date order. Following a review of the evidence, it may be possible to “settle” the complaint, if agreement can be reached which satisfies the complainant. If the complaint cannot be settled, ICE will issue a report detailing findings and any recommendations for redress. The majority of the complaints that are referred to ICE are complex and require a full investigation.

The Unit received additional resource during 2020/21 financial year to help reduce the time complaints wait to be brought into investigation, but Covid has adversely affected the unit with staff re-deployed to priority front-line activities at the outset of the pandemic and recruitment plans delayed. It has also been affected by Covid-related sickness, self-isolation and bereavement.

For the 2020/21 reporting year, the average Resolution clearance time, from acceptance to case closure, was 6.2 weeks. The average time taken to allocate complaints that required investigation to an ICM, from acceptance to allocation, was 63.8 weeks. The average clearance time for complaints that required investigation (Settlements and ICE Reports), from allocation to an ICM to case closure, was 20.1 weeks.

For the reporting years 2018/19, 2019/20 and 2020/21 the average waiting times from case acceptance to case clearance (for all cleared cases) were: 65; 69; and 73 weeks respectively.

For the same reporting years, the single longest waiting times from case acceptance to case clearance in each reporting year were: 134; 153; and 160 weeks respectively. These cases are among the most complex and contentious and in addition may be subject to scrutiny and consideration by the Department before recommendations for redress are settled.

It should be noted that Customer satisfaction with the service is high with 82.6 per cent of customers who respond to the ICE survey stating that they were satisfied with the service they received.

At the point the Independent Case Examiner (ICE) Office accept a complaint for investigation, they will initially try to broker a solution between the complainant and the Department or supplier, without having to undertake an investigation – this is known as “resolution”. If the complaint cannot be resolved the evidence will be requested and the case will await allocation to an Investigation Case Manager (ICM). Cases are usually brought into investigation in strict date order. Following a review of the evidence, it may be possible to “settle” the complaint, if agreement can be reached which satisfies the complainant. If the complaint cannot be settled, ICE will issue a report detailing findings and any recommendations for redress. The majority of the complaints that are referred to ICE are complex and require a full investigation.

The Unit received additional resource during 2020/21 financial year to help reduce the time complaints wait to be brought into investigation, but Covid has adversely affected the unit with staff re-deployed to priority front-line activities at the outset of the pandemic and recruitment plans delayed. It has also been affected by Covid-related sickness, self-isolation and bereavement.

For the 2020/21 reporting year, the average Resolution clearance time, from acceptance to case closure, was 6.2 weeks. The average time taken to allocate complaints that required investigation to an ICM, from acceptance to allocation, was 63.8 weeks. The average clearance time for complaints that required investigation (Settlements and ICE Reports), from allocation to an ICM to case closure, was 20.1 weeks.

For the reporting years 2018/19, 2019/20 and 2020/21 the average waiting times from case acceptance to case clearance (for all cleared cases) were: 65; 69; and 73 weeks respectively.

For the same reporting years, the single longest waiting times from case acceptance to case clearance in each reporting year were: 134; 153; and 160 weeks respectively. These cases are among the most complex and contentious and in addition may be subject to scrutiny and consideration by the Department before recommendations for redress are settled.

It should be noted that Customer satisfaction with the service is high with 82.6 per cent of customers who respond to the ICE survey stating that they were satisfied with the service they received.

4,270 Personal Independence Payment claimants under an existing Special Rules for Terminal Illness (SRTI) award registered Advance claims under SRTI at the end of their 3 year fixed term award between January 2019 – October 2020 (latest available data).

The median end to end clearance times were 7 working days for Advance claims cleared under special rules.

Notes

Source: PIP ADS

• SRTI awards are identified based on the initial decision at New Claim or Reassessment from DLA. This data excludes instances where end dates or award types have been updated following this initial decision.
• PIP data includes both new claims and reassessment claims from Disability Living Allowance.
• This is unpublished data. It should be used with caution and it may be subject to future revision.

• Please note that claimants who register under SRTI but are deemed not to be eligible under the SRTI criteria are sent a PIP2 form and continue their claim under the Normal Rules claim journey. This means that claimants who register a PIP claim can change to Normal Rules during the customer journey:

• The 'Registration to DWP decision (end to end)' clearance time is measured as the average time between the date of registration of the claim (or for Special Rules, the date of transition if the claim moves from being a normal rules claim to being a special rules claim during the claimant journey) and the date of the DWP decision to either award or disallow the claim.
• Clearance Time measures do not include claims that were withdrawn by the claimant or claims that were disallowed by DWP prior to referral to the Assessment Providers (e.g. for failure to meet basic eligibility criteria).
• Advance claims are defined as a New Claim or Reassessment from DLA registration made by a claimant with an existing award either less than 6 months prior to the end date or up to 6 months after the end date of an existing award.

The movement of non-customer facing services to the new, purpose built, office at Treforest is part of the Department’s ambition to move to larger, modern, more efficient multi-product-line service centres. The Department originally notified all those impacted in 2017. The Department carefully considered the relative merits of the recent announcement, which confirmed plans for migration of the first two sites Gabalfa and Merthyr, who are due to move between July and October. The Department must exit the Gabalfa site this year in order to return it to the landlord, and it was decided to proceed as this will reduce the uncertainty for people and ensure the maximum amount of time for discussions to take place with individuals to understand the impact of the move on them, including seeking solutions where a move to the new office is not possible based on their personal circumstances. The situation with regard to Covid is being kept under review and the safety of colleagues remains paramount, with many continuing to work from home. There is extensive and ongoing consultation with the trade union.

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is claimed by people with a range of health conditions and disabilities, many of which are degenerative or life limiting and the Department treats the death of any claimant sympathetically. New Claims made under Special Rules for Terminal Illness (SRTI) are fast tracked and were being cleared in 4 working days on average in April 2020. This is compared to an average of 16 weeks for New Claims cleared under Normal Rules in April 2020, down by 62% from their peak of 42 weeks in July 2014.

The cause of death of claimants to PIP is not collated centrally by the Department. There is no evidence in this data to suggest someone’s reason for claiming PIP was the cause of their death and it would be misleading to suggest otherwise. People claim PIP for various reasons, the majority of which are non-life threatening.

There were 1,860 claimants who were disallowed at initial decision under Normal Rules who had registered a claim between April 2018 – October 2019 and died within 6 months of that registration. Table 1 below shows a breakdown of the disallowances broken by the disallowance type. Please note that the Department holds no further data on the reasons claimants are disallowed PIP.

Table 1: Breakdown of disallowance reasons for claimants cleared under Normal Rules who died within 6 months of registering a PIP claim

Notes

Source: PIP ADS

• PIP data includes normal rules claimants only, and is for both new claims and Disability Living Allowance reassessment claims.

• The outcome is the first DWP decision recorded on the PIP Computer system (PIPCS). This does not take into account any mandatory reconsideration or Appeal action so some of these claimants may have subsequently been awarded PIP. Some cases do not have a decision recorded.
• If a claimant dies before a decision is made on an outstanding claim, the Department establishes whether the claimant’s representative or next of kin wishes to proceed with the claim. If not, the claim is withdrawn.
• The latest PIP Official Statistics, including data to 31^st July 2020, were published on 15^th September 2020. We have provided figures here as at 30^th April 2020 for consistency with the original answer to PQ 90092 and PQ 81701.
• This is unpublished data from the PIPCS’s management information. It should be used with caution and may be subject to future revision.
• Data has been rounded to the nearest 10.
• Components may not sum to the total due to rounding.
• Figures cover PIP claims registered from April 2018 – October 2019, initial decisions made from April 2018 – April 2020, and deaths from April 2018 up to 30^th April 2020 as recorded at 2^nd October 2020. Data may be subject to retrospection.
• GB Only.

Under the Social Security (Notification of Deaths) Regulations 2012 and s125 of Social Security Administration Act 1992 date of death is provided to the Department for all registered deaths. Additionally, next of kin also provide information on the date of death of an individual and this information is used appropriately in the administration of Departmental benefits.

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is claimed by people with a range of health conditions and disabilities, many of which are degenerative or life limiting and the Department treats the death of any claimant sympathetically. New Claims made under Special Rules for Terminal Illness (SRTI) are fast tracked and were being cleared in 4 working days on average in April 2020. This is compared to an average of 16 weeks for New Claims cleared under Normal Rules in April 2020, down by 62% from their peak of 42 weeks in July 2014.

The cause of death of claimants to PIP is not collated centrally by the Department. There is no evidence in this data to suggest someone’s reason for claiming PIP was the cause of their death and it would be misleading to suggest otherwise. People claim PIP for various reasons, the majority of which are non-life threatening.

There were 2,140 claimants who were disallowed at initial decision under Normal Rules or Special Rules who had registered a claim between April 2018 – October 2019 and died within 6 months of that registration. Of these, 280 originally applied under Special Rules and Table 1 shows a breakdown of these disallowances broken by the disallowance type. Please note that the Department holds no further data on the reasons claimants are disallowed PIP.

Table 1: Breakdown of disallowance reasons for claimants who originally registered under Special Rules, were disallowed and died within 6 months of registering a PIP claim

Notes

Source: PIP ADS

• PIP data includes normal rules and special rules for the terminally ill claimants, and is for both new claims and Disability Living Allowance reassessment claims.

• The outcome is the first DWP decision recorded on the PIP Computer system (PIPCS). This does not take into account any mandatory reconsideration or Appeal action so some of these claimants may have subsequently been awarded PIP. Some cases do not have a decision recorded.
• The latest PIP Official Statistics, including data to 31^st July 2020, were published on 15^th September 2020. We have provided figures here as at 30^th April 2020 for consistency with the original answer to PQ 90092 and PQ 81701.
• If a claimant dies before a decision is made on an outstanding claim, the Department establishes whether the claimant’s representative or next of kin wishes to proceed with the claim. If not, the claim is withdrawn.
• This is unpublished data from the PIPCS’s management information. It should be used with caution and may be subject to future revision.
• Data has been rounded to the nearest 10.
• Fields with fewer than 5 cases are replaced by a “-“.
• Components may not sum to the total due to rounding.
• Figures cover PIP claims registered from April 2018 – October 2019, initial decisions made from April 2018 – April 2020, and deaths from April 2018 up to 30^th April 2020 as recorded at 2^nd October 2020. Data may be subject to retrospection.
• GB Only.

Under the Social Security (Notification of Deaths) Regulations 2012 and s125 of Social Security Administration Act 1992 date of death is provided to the Department for all registered deaths. Additionally, next of kin also provide information on the date of death of an individual and this information is used appropriately in the administration of Departmental benefits.

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is claimed by people with a range of health conditions and disabilities, many of which are degenerative or life limiting and the Department treats the death of any claimant sympathetically.

Claims made under Special Rules for Terminal Illness (SRTI) are fast tracked. New claims to PIP under SRTI were being cleared in 4 working days on average (median) in April 2020 and reassessments from Disability Living Allowance (DLA) to PIP under SRTI were being cleared in 6 working days on average (median) in April 2020.

The cause of death of claimants to PIP is not collated centrally by the Department. There is no evidence in this data to suggest someone’s reason for claiming PIP was the cause of their death and it would be misleading to suggest otherwise. People claim PIP for various reasons, the majority of which are non-life threatening.

For the 1,740 claimants who died after registering a PIP claim under Special Rules but prior to a decision being made on their case between 1^st April 2018 and 30^th April 2020, the average (median) number of working days between registering a claim and death was 5 working days.

Notes:

Sources: PIP ADS, Customer Information System

• These figures include new claims and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) to PIP reassessment claims.
• If a claimant dies before a decision is made on an outstanding claim, the Department establishes whether the claimant’s representative or next of kin wishes to proceed with the claim. If not, the claim is withdrawn.
• This is unpublished data from the PIP computer system’s (PIP CS) management information. It should be used with caution and may be subject to future revision.
• Figures include registrations made from 1^st April 2018 – 30^th April 2020 and clearances made up to 30^th April 2020 (as recorded on the system at 30^th April 2020) and claimant deaths from 1^st April 2018 – 30^th April 2020 (as recorded on the system at 2^nd October 2020) and may be subject to retrospection.
• The latest PIP Official Statistics, including data to 31^st July 2020, were published on 15^th September 2020. We have provided figures here as at 30^th April 2020 for consistency with the original answers to PQ 90093 and PQ 81700.
• The averages provided are median working days. The median is the middle value if you were to order all the times within the distribution from lowest value to highest value. The median is presented here instead of the mean because the mean can be unduly affected by outlying cases.
• Median working days are provided to allow comparison with the figure published for all PIP new claims made under SRTI.
• GB only.

Under the Social Security (Notification of Deaths) Regulations 2012 and s125 of Social Security Administration Act 1992 date of death is provided to the Department for all registered deaths. Additionally, next of kin also provide information on the date of death of an individual and this information is used appropriately in the administration of Departmental benefits.

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is claimed by people with a range of health conditions and disabilities, many of which are degenerative or life limiting and the Department treats the death of any claimant sympathetically.

New claims to PIP made under Normal Rules were cleared in an average (median) of 16 weeks in April 2020 and reassessments from Disability Living Allowance (DLA) to PIP under Normal Rules were being cleared in an average (median) of 27 weeks in April 2020.

The cause of death of claimants to PIP is not collated centrally by the Department. There is no evidence in this data to suggest someone’s reason for claiming PIP was the cause of their death and it would be misleading to suggest otherwise. People claim PIP for various reasons, the majority of which are non-life threatening.

The number of PIP claimants who died after registering a PIP claim under Normal Rules but prior to a decision being made on their case between 1^st April 2018 and 30^th April 2020 has increased from 5,520 to 5,530, since Question 90093 was answered. This is due to a live system.

The main disabling condition of the 5,530 PIP claimants who died after registering a PIP claim under Normal Rules but prior to a decision being made on their case between 1^st April 2018 and 30^th April 2020 is shown in Table 1 below:

Table 1: Main disabling condition for PIP claimants who died after registering a PIP claim under Normal Rules but prior to a decision being made on their case between 1^st April 2018 and 30^th April 2020

Notes:

Sources: PIP ADS, Customer Information System

• These figures include new claims and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) to PIP reassessment claims.
• If a claimant dies before a decision is made on an outstanding claim, the Department establishes whether the claimant’s representative or next of kin wishes to proceed with the claim. If not, the claim is withdrawn.
• This is unpublished data from the PIP computer system’s (PIP CS) management information. It should be used with caution and may be subject to future revision.
• Claimants may often have multiple disabling conditions upon which the decision is based but only the primary condition is recorded on the PIP CS.
• The main disabling condition is only recorded for claimants who have attended a PIP assessment with an assessment provider.
• Figures include registrations made from 1^st April 2018 – 30^th April 2020 and clearances made up to 30^th April 2020 (as recorded on the system at 30^th April 2020) and claimant deaths from 1^st April 2018 – 30^th April 2020 (as recorded on the system at 2^nd October 2020) and may be subject to retrospection.
• The latest PIP Official Statistics, including data to 31^st July 2020, were published on 15^th September 2020. We have provided figures here as at 30^th April 2020 for consistency with the original answers to PQ 90093 and PQ 81700.
• Figures are rounded to the nearest 10 and ‘-’ is used for totals of greater than 0 but less than 5.
• Components may not sum to totals due to rounding
• GB only.

Under the Social Security (Notification of Deaths) Regulations 2012 and s125 of Social Security Administration Act 1992 date of death is provided to the Department for all registered deaths. Additionally, next of kin also provide information on the date of death of an individual and this information is used appropriately in the administration of Departmental benefits.

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is claimed by people with a range of health conditions and disabilities, many of which are degenerative or life limiting and the Department treats the death of any claimant sympathetically. New Claims made under Special Rules for Terminal Illness (SRTI) are fast tracked and were being cleared in 4 working days on average in April 2020. This is compared to an average of 16 weeks for New Claims cleared under Normal Rules in April 2020, down by 62% from their peak of 42 weeks in July 2014.

The cause of death of claimants to PIP is not collated centrally by the Department. There is no evidence in this data to suggest someone’s reason for claiming PIP was the cause of their death and it would be misleading to suggest otherwise. People claim PIP for various reasons, the majority of which are non-life threatening.

There were 30 PIP claimants who died within 6 months of registering an initial PIP claim who were disallowed under Normal Rules and who subsequently registered a PIP claim under Special Rules. Because of the small number of claims in this category we are unable to provide an average for the length of time between registration of the initial claim and the clearance of the subsequent claim. Calculating averages for small populations has a risk of misrepresentative results skewed by non-typical values. This is in line with our practice for PIP statistical publications, where averages for populations of less than 50 are suppressed.

Notes

Source: PIP ADS

• PIP data includes both new claims and reassessment claims from Disability Living Allowance.

• The outcome is the first DWP decision recorded on the PIP Computer system (PIPCS) for a given claim. This does not take into account any mandatory reconsideration or Appeal action so some of these claimants may have subsequently been awarded PIP. Some cases do not have a decision recorded.
• If a claimant dies before a decision is made on an outstanding claim, the Department establishes whether the claimant’s representative or next of kin wishes to proceed with the claim. If not, the claim is withdrawn.
• The latest PIP Official Statistics, including data to 31^st July 2020, were published on 15^th September 2020. We have provided figures here as at 30^th April 2020 for consistency with the original answer to PQ 90092 and PQ 81701.
• This is unpublished data from the PIP CS’s management information. It should be used with caution and may be subject to future revision.
• Figures cover PIP claims registered from April 2018 – October 2019, initial decisions made from April 2018 – April 2020, and deaths from April 2018 up to 30^th April 2020 as recorded at 2^nd October 2020. Data may be subject to retrospection.
• GB Only.

Under the Social Security (Notification of Deaths) Regulations 2012 and s125 of Social Security Administration Act 1992 date of death is provided to the Department for all registered deaths. Additionally, next of kin also provide information on the date of death of an individual and this information is used appropriately in the administration of Departmental benefits.

Personal Independence Payment is claimed by people with a range of health conditions and disabilities, many of which are degenerative or life limiting. The Department treats the tragic death of any claimant sympathetically.

The Government has taken steps to ensure that new claims made under Special Rules for Terminal Illness are fast tracked and were being cleared in 4 working days on average in April 2020.

I also refer the Hon. Member to the correction to the answer to Question 81702.

480 claimants had previously registered a Personal Independence Payment claim that was disallowed.

There is no evidence in this data to suggest someone’s reason for claiming Personal Independence Payments was the cause of their death and it would be misleading to suggest otherwise.

Personal Independence Payment is claimed by people with a range of health conditions and disabilities, many of which are degenerative or life limiting. The Department treats the tragic death of any claimant sympathetically.

The Government has taken steps to ensure that new claims made under Special Rules for Terminal Illness are fast tracked and were being cleared in 4 working days on average in April 2020.

The cause of death of claimants is not collated centrally by the Department. There is no evidence in this data to suggest someone’s reason for claiming Personal Independence Payments was the cause of their death and it would be misleading to suggest otherwise.

I also refer the Hon. Member to the correction to the answer to Question 81702.

A breakdown of conditions is listed in the accompanying table.

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is claimed by people with a range of health conditions and disabilities, many of which are degenerative or life limiting and the Department treats the death of any claimant sympathetically.

New Claims made under Special Rules for Terminal Illness (SRTI) are fast tracked and were being cleared in 4 working days on average in April 2020. This is compared to an average of 16 weeks for New Claims cleared under Normal Rules in April 2020, down by 62% from their peak of 42 weeks in July 2014.

The cause of death of claimants to PIP is not collated centrally by the Department. There is no evidence in this data to suggest someone’s reason for claiming PIP was the cause of their death and it would be misleading to suggest otherwise. People claim PIP for various reasons, the majority of which are non-life threatening.

Of the 7,260 claimants who died after registering a PIP claim but prior to a decision being made on their case between April 2018 and 30^th April 2020 5,520 applied under (a) Normal Rules and 1,740 applied under (b) Special Rules.

Notes:

Sources: PIP ADS, Customer Information System

• These figures include new claims and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) to PIP reassessment claims.
• If a claimant dies before a decision is made on an outstanding claim, the Department establishes whether the claimant’s representative or next of kin wishes to proceed with the claim. If not, the claim is withdrawn.
• This is unpublished data from the PIP computer system’s (PIP CS) management information. It should be used with caution and may be subject to future revision.
• Figures include registrations made from April 2018 – April 2020 and clearances made up to April 2020 (as recorded on the system at 30^th April 2020) and claimant deaths from April 2018 – April 2020 (as recorded on the system at 31^st August 2020) and may be subject to retrospection.
• The latest PIP Official Statistics, including data to 31^st July 2020, were published on 15^th September 2020. We have provided figures here as at 30^th April 2020 for consistency with the original answer to PQ 81700.
• Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
• GB only.

Under the Social Security (Notification of Deaths) Regulations 2012 and s125 of Social Security Administration Act 1992 date of death is provided to the Department for all registered deaths. Additionally, next of kin also provide information on the date of death of an individual and this information is used appropriately in the administration of Departmental benefits.

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is claimed by people with a range of health conditions and disabilities, many of which are degenerative or life limiting and the Department treats the death of any claimant sympathetically.

New Claims made under Special Rules for Terminal Illness (SRTI) are fast tracked and were being cleared in 4 working days on average in April 2020. This is compared to an average of 16 weeks for New Claims cleared under Normal Rules in April 2020, down by 62% from their peak of 42 weeks in July 2014.

The cause of death of claimants to PIP is not collated centrally by the Department. There is no evidence in this data to suggest someone’s reason for claiming PIP was the cause of their death and it would be misleading to suggest otherwise.

Of the 18,290 people who registered a claim to PIP between April 2018 and October 2019 and had died within 6 months of registering a PIP claim:

• There were 2,140 claimants who had their claim disallowed at initial decision under either Normal Rules or Special Rules for the Terminally Ill.
• There were 1,860 claimants who had their claim disallowed at initial decision under Normal Rules.
• Of these 1,860 claimants, there were 30 claimants who registered a subsequent claim for PIP under Special Rules for the Terminally Ill.

Table 1 below shows a breakdown of the 1,860 claimants who had their claim disallowed at initial decision under Normal Rules by main disabling category:

Table 1: Breakdown by Disability Category of claimants who died within 6 months of registering a PIP claim from April 2018 – October 2019 and who had their claim disallowed under Normal Rules

Notes

Sources: PIP ADS, Customer Information System

• PIP data includes normal rules and special rules for the terminally ill claimants, and is for both new claims and DLA reassessment claims.

• Data is based on primary disabling condition as recorded on the PIP computer system. Claimants may often have multiple disabling conditions upon which the decision is based but only the primary condition is shown in these statistics.
• The primary disabling condition does not get recorded until a claimant has attended an assessment. This means that claimants who are disallowed without attending an assessment (e.g. for failing to attend an assessment or for disallowances pre-referral to the Assessment Provider) do not have a disability recorded and are recorded in Table 1 as “Unknown or Missing”.
• The outcome is the first DWP decision recorded on the PIP Computer system. This does not take into account any mandatory reconsideration or Appeal action so some of these claimants may have subsequently been awarded PIP. Some cases do not have a decision recorded.
• The latest PIP Official Statistics, including data to 31^st July 2020, were published on 15^th September 2020. We have provided figures here as at 30^th April 2020 for consistency with the original answer to PQ 81701.
• This is unpublished data from the PIP computer system’s (PIP CS) management information. It should be used with caution and may be subject to future revision.
• Data has been rounded to the nearest 10.
• Fields with fewer than 5 cases are replaced by a “-“.
• Components may not sum to the total due to rounding.
• Figures cover PIP claims registered from April 2018 – October 2019, initial decisions made from April 2018 – April 2020, and deaths from April 2018 up to 30^th April 2020 as recorded at 31^st August 2020. Data may be subject to retrospection.
• GB Only.

Under the Social Security (Notification of Deaths) Regulations 2012 and s125 of Social Security Administration Act 1992 date of death is provided to the Department for all registered deaths. Additionally next of kin also provide information on the date of death of an individual and this information is used appropriately in the administration of Departmental benefits.

Of the 18,290 people who registered a claim to PIP between April 2018 and October 2019 and had died within 6 months of registering a PIP claim, there were 280 claimants who had their claim disallowed following a PIP assessment under Normal Rules up to March 2020. This does not include disallowance decisions made prior to an assessment being completed.

Appeals information for these 280 claimants show that there were 0 Appeals where the DWP decision was overturned or upheld and there were fewer than 5 appeals withdrawn/struck out or lapsed.

Due to small numbers, figures on appeal outcomes by primary disabling condition are not shown.

Notes

• These figures cover PIP claims registered between April 2018 and October 2019, disallowance decisions following a PIP assessment up to March 2020 and appeals to June 2020.
• Data has been rounded to the nearest 10. Fields with fewer than 5 cases are replaced by a “-“.
• This is unpublished data from the PIP computer system’s (PIP CS) management information. It should be used with caution and may be subject to future revision.
• GB Only.
• 'Appeals - withdrawn/struck out' - includes where an appeal is brought to an end, or cleared, without a determination on the issue in dispute. Struck out appeal is where the proceedings have been brought to an end by the Tribunal Judge.
• Definition of 'Appeals - lapsed' - where DWP changed the decision (in the customer’s favour) after an appeal was lodged but before it was heard at a tribunal hearing.
• Definition of 'Appeals - overturned' - where the DWP decision is revised in favour of the customer at a tribunal hearing.
• Definition of 'Appeals - upheld' - where the DWP decision is upheld at a tribunal hearing.

Under the Social Security (Notification of Deaths) Regulations 2012 and s125 of Social Security Administration Act 1992 date of death is provided to the Department for all registered deaths. Additionally next of kin also provide information on the date of death of an individual and this information is used appropriately in the administration of Departmental benefits.

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is claimed by people with a range of health conditions and disabilities, many of which are degenerative or life limiting and the Department treats the death of any claimant sympathetically.

New Claims made under Special Rules for Terminal Illness (SRTI) are fast tracked and were being cleared in 4 working days on average in April 2020. This is compared to an average of 16 weeks for New Claims cleared under Normal Rules in April 2020, down by 62% from their peak of 42 weeks in July 2014.

The cause of death of claimants to PIP is not collated centrally by the Department. There is no evidence in this data to suggest someone’s reason for claiming PIP was the cause of their death and it would be misleading to suggest otherwise.

Of the 18,290 people who registered a claim to PIP between April 2018 and October 2019 and had died within 6 months of registering a PIP claim:

• There were 2,140 claimants who had their claim disallowed at initial decision under either Normal Rules or Special Rules for the Terminally Ill.
• There were 1,860 claimants who had their claim disallowed at initial decision under Normal Rules.
• Of these 1,860 claimants, there were 30 claimants who registered a subsequent claim for PIP under Special Rules for the Terminally Ill.

Table 1 below shows a breakdown of the 1,860 claimants who had their claim disallowed at initial decision under Normal Rules by main disabling category:

Table 1: Breakdown by Disability Category of claimants who died within 6 months of registering a PIP claim from April 2018 – October 2019 and who had their claim disallowed under Normal Rules

Notes

Sources: PIP ADS, Customer Information System

• PIP data includes normal rules and special rules for the terminally ill claimants, and is for both new claims and DLA reassessment claims.

• Data is based on primary disabling condition as recorded on the PIP computer system. Claimants may often have multiple disabling conditions upon which the decision is based but only the primary condition is shown in these statistics.
• The primary disabling condition does not get recorded until a claimant has attended an assessment. This means that claimants who are disallowed without attending an assessment (e.g. for failing to attend an assessment or for disallowances pre-referral to the Assessment Provider) do not have a disability recorded and are recorded in Table 1 as “Unknown or Missing”.
• The outcome is the first DWP decision recorded on the PIP Computer system. This does not take into account any mandatory reconsideration or Appeal action so some of these claimants may have subsequently been awarded PIP. Some cases do not have a decision recorded.
• The latest PIP Official Statistics, including data to 31^st July 2020, were published on 15^th September 2020. We have provided figures here as at 30^th April 2020 for consistency with the original answer to PQ 81701.
• This is unpublished data from the PIP computer system’s (PIP CS) management information. It should be used with caution and may be subject to future revision.
• Data has been rounded to the nearest 10.
• Fields with fewer than 5 cases are replaced by a “-“.
• Components may not sum to the total due to rounding.
• Figures cover PIP claims registered from April 2018 – October 2019, initial decisions made from April 2018 – April 2020, and deaths from April 2018 up to 30^th April 2020 as recorded at 31^st August 2020. Data may be subject to retrospection.
• GB Only.

Under the Social Security (Notification of Deaths) Regulations 2012 and s125 of Social Security Administration Act 1992 date of death is provided to the Department for all registered deaths. Additionally next of kin also provide information on the date of death of an individual and this information is used appropriately in the administration of Departmental benefits.

Of the 18,290 people who registered a claim to PIP between April 2018 and October 2019 and had died within 6 months of registering a PIP claim, there were 280 claimants who had their claim disallowed following a PIP assessment under Normal Rules up to March 2020. This does not include disallowance decisions made prior to an assessment being completed.

Appeals information for these 280 claimants show that there were 0 Appeals where the DWP decision was overturned or upheld and there were fewer than 5 appeals withdrawn/struck out or lapsed.

Due to small numbers, figures on appeal outcomes by primary disabling condition are not shown.

Notes

• These figures cover PIP claims registered between April 2018 and October 2019, disallowance decisions following a PIP assessment up to March 2020 and appeals to June 2020.
• Data has been rounded to the nearest 10. Fields with fewer than 5 cases are replaced by a “-“.
• This is unpublished data from the PIP computer system’s (PIP CS) management information. It should be used with caution and may be subject to future revision.
• GB Only.
• 'Appeals - withdrawn/struck out' - includes where an appeal is brought to an end, or cleared, without a determination on the issue in dispute. Struck out appeal is where the proceedings have been brought to an end by the Tribunal Judge.
• Definition of 'Appeals - lapsed' - where DWP changed the decision (in the customer’s favour) after an appeal was lodged but before it was heard at a tribunal hearing.
• Definition of 'Appeals - overturned' - where the DWP decision is revised in favour of the customer at a tribunal hearing.
• Definition of 'Appeals - upheld' - where the DWP decision is upheld at a tribunal hearing.

Under the Social Security (Notification of Deaths) Regulations 2012 and s125 of Social Security Administration Act 1992 date of death is provided to the Department for all registered deaths. Additionally next of kin also provide information on the date of death of an individual and this information is used appropriately in the administration of Departmental benefits.

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is claimed by people with a range of health conditions and disabilities, many of which are degenerative or life limiting and the Department treats the death of any claimant sympathetically.

New Claims made under Special Rules for Terminal Illness (SRTI) are fast tracked and were being cleared in 4 working days on average in April 2020. This is compared to an average of 16 weeks for New Claims cleared under Normal Rules in April 2020, down by 62% from their peak of 42 weeks in July 2014.

The cause of death of claimants to PIP is not collated centrally by the Department. There is no evidence in this data to suggest someone’s reason for claiming PIP was the cause of their death and it would be misleading to suggest otherwise.

Of the 18,290 people who registered a claim to PIP between April 2018 and October 2019 and had died within 6 months of registering a PIP claim:

• There were 2,140 claimants who had their claim disallowed at initial decision under either Normal Rules or Special Rules for the Terminally Ill.
• There were 1,860 claimants who had their claim disallowed at initial decision under Normal Rules.
• Of these 1,860 claimants, there were 30 claimants who registered a subsequent claim for PIP under Special Rules for the Terminally Ill.

Table 1 below shows a breakdown of the 1,860 claimants who had their claim disallowed at initial decision under Normal Rules by main disabling category:

Table 1: Breakdown by Disability Category of claimants who died within 6 months of registering a PIP claim from April 2018 – October 2019 and who had their claim disallowed under Normal Rules

Notes

Sources: PIP ADS, Customer Information System

• PIP data includes normal rules and special rules for the terminally ill claimants, and is for both new claims and DLA reassessment claims.

• Data is based on primary disabling condition as recorded on the PIP computer system. Claimants may often have multiple disabling conditions upon which the decision is based but only the primary condition is shown in these statistics.
• The primary disabling condition does not get recorded until a claimant has attended an assessment. This means that claimants who are disallowed without attending an assessment (e.g. for failing to attend an assessment or for disallowances pre-referral to the Assessment Provider) do not have a disability recorded and are recorded in Table 1 as “Unknown or Missing”.
• The outcome is the first DWP decision recorded on the PIP Computer system. This does not take into account any mandatory reconsideration or Appeal action so some of these claimants may have subsequently been awarded PIP. Some cases do not have a decision recorded.
• The latest PIP Official Statistics, including data to 31^st July 2020, were published on 15^th September 2020. We have provided figures here as at 30^th April 2020 for consistency with the original answer to PQ 81701.
• This is unpublished data from the PIP computer system’s (PIP CS) management information. It should be used with caution and may be subject to future revision.
• Data has been rounded to the nearest 10.
• Fields with fewer than 5 cases are replaced by a “-“.
• Components may not sum to the total due to rounding.
• Figures cover PIP claims registered from April 2018 – October 2019, initial decisions made from April 2018 – April 2020, and deaths from April 2018 up to 30^th April 2020 as recorded at 31^st August 2020. Data may be subject to retrospection.
• GB Only.

Under the Social Security (Notification of Deaths) Regulations 2012 and s125 of Social Security Administration Act 1992 date of death is provided to the Department for all registered deaths. Additionally next of kin also provide information on the date of death of an individual and this information is used appropriately in the administration of Departmental benefits.

Of the 18,290 people who registered a claim to PIP between April 2018 and October 2019 and had died within 6 months of registering a PIP claim, there were 280 claimants who had their claim disallowed following a PIP assessment under Normal Rules up to March 2020. This does not include disallowance decisions made prior to an assessment being completed.

Appeals information for these 280 claimants show that there were 0 Appeals where the DWP decision was overturned or upheld and there were fewer than 5 appeals withdrawn/struck out or lapsed.

Due to small numbers, figures on appeal outcomes by primary disabling condition are not shown.

Notes

• These figures cover PIP claims registered between April 2018 and October 2019, disallowance decisions following a PIP assessment up to March 2020 and appeals to June 2020.
• Data has been rounded to the nearest 10. Fields with fewer than 5 cases are replaced by a “-“.
• This is unpublished data from the PIP computer system’s (PIP CS) management information. It should be used with caution and may be subject to future revision.
• GB Only.
• 'Appeals - withdrawn/struck out' - includes where an appeal is brought to an end, or cleared, without a determination on the issue in dispute. Struck out appeal is where the proceedings have been brought to an end by the Tribunal Judge.
• Definition of 'Appeals - lapsed' - where DWP changed the decision (in the customer’s favour) after an appeal was lodged but before it was heard at a tribunal hearing.
• Definition of 'Appeals - overturned' - where the DWP decision is revised in favour of the customer at a tribunal hearing.
• Definition of 'Appeals - upheld' - where the DWP decision is upheld at a tribunal hearing.

Under the Social Security (Notification of Deaths) Regulations 2012 and s125 of Social Security Administration Act 1992 date of death is provided to the Department for all registered deaths. Additionally next of kin also provide information on the date of death of an individual and this information is used appropriately in the administration of Departmental benefits.

The evaluation remains a priority for the DWP. We will be announcing the outcome and the changes that will be made as a result shortly.

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is claimed by people with a range of health conditions and disabilities, many of which are degenerative or life limiting and the Department treats the death of any claimant sympathetically. New Claims made under Special Rules for Terminal Illness (SRTI) are fast tracked and are being cleared in 5 working days on average (as at the end of April 2020, the latest available published data).

The cause of death of claimants to PIP is not collated centrally by the Department.

• Between April 2018 and 31^st October 2019, 1,360,420 registrations were made for PIP New Claims and Reassessments from DLA. Of these, 18,290 died within 6 months of registering a claim to PIP up to 30^th April 2020.

• Between April 2018 and 31^st January 2020, 688,100 disallowances at initial decision were made for PIP New Claims and Reassessments from DLA. Of these, 1,700 died within 3 months of receiving a disallowance decision up to 30^th April 2020.

Notes

Sources: PIP ADS, Customer Information System

• PIP data includes normal rules and special rules for the terminally ill claimants, and is for both new claims and DLA reassessment claims.
• This analysis only takes the first registration a claimant makes to PIP.

• This is unpublished data from the PIP computer system’s (PIP CS) management information. It should be used with caution and may be subject to future revision.
• Data has been rounded to the nearest 10.
• Figures cover PIP claims registered from April 2018 – October 2019, initial decisions made from April 2018 – January 2020, and deaths from April 2018 up to 30^th April 2020 as recorded at 31^st July 2020. Data and may be subject to retrospection.
• GB Only.

Under the Social Security (Notification of Deaths) Regulations 2012 and s125 of Social Security Administration Act 1992 date of death is provided to the Department for all registered deaths. Additionally next of kin also provide information on the date of death of an individual and this information is used appropriately in the administration of Departmental benefits.

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is claimed by people with a range of health conditions and disabilities, many of which are degenerative or life limiting and the Department treats the death of any claimant sympathetically. New Claims made under Special Rules for Terminal Illness (SRTI) are fast tracked and are being cleared in 5 working days on average (as at the end of April 2020, the latest available published data).

The cause of death of claimants to PIP is not collated centrally by the Department.

• Between April 2018 and 31^st October 2019, 1,360,420 registrations were made for PIP New Claims and Reassessments from DLA. Of these, 18,290 died within 6 months of registering a claim to PIP up to 30^th April 2020.

• Between April 2018 and 31^st January 2020, 688,100 disallowances at initial decision were made for PIP New Claims and Reassessments from DLA. Of these, 1,700 died within 3 months of receiving a disallowance decision up to 30^th April 2020.

Notes

Sources: PIP ADS, Customer Information System

• PIP data includes normal rules and special rules for the terminally ill claimants, and is for both new claims and DLA reassessment claims.
• This analysis only takes the first registration a claimant makes to PIP.

• This is unpublished data from the PIP computer system’s (PIP CS) management information. It should be used with caution and may be subject to future revision.
• Data has been rounded to the nearest 10.
• Figures cover PIP claims registered from April 2018 – October 2019, initial decisions made from April 2018 – January 2020, and deaths from April 2018 up to 30^th April 2020 as recorded at 31^st July 2020. Data and may be subject to retrospection.
• GB Only.

Under the Social Security (Notification of Deaths) Regulations 2012 and s125 of Social Security Administration Act 1992 date of death is provided to the Department for all registered deaths. Additionally next of kin also provide information on the date of death of an individual and this information is used appropriately in the administration of Departmental benefits.

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is claimed by people with a range of health conditions and disabilities, many of which are degenerative or life limiting and the Department treats the death of any claimant sympathetically. New Claims made under Special Rules for Terminal Illness (SRTI) are fast tracked and are being cleared in 5 working days on average (as at the end of April 2020, the latest available published data).

The cause of death of claimants to PIP is not collated centrally by the Department.

Between April 2018 and 30^th April 2020, the latest date for which data is available, 1,662,080 registrations were made for PIP New Claims and Reassessments from DLA. Of these, 7,260 (less than 0.5%) claimants died prior to a decision being made on their case.

Notes:

Sources: PIP ADS, Customer Information System

• These figures include claims made under Normal Rules or Special Rules for Terminal Illness and include new claims and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) to PIP reassessment claims.
• If a claimant dies before a decision is made on an outstanding claim, the Department establishes whether the claimant’s representative or next of kin wishes to proceed with the claim. If not, the claim is withdrawn.
• This is unpublished data from the PIP computer system’s (PIP CS) management information. It should be used with caution and may be subject to future revision.
• Figures cover registrations made from April 2018 – April 2020, clearances made up to April 2020 and claimant deaths from April 2018 – April 2020 as recorded on the system at 31^st July 2020 and may be subject to retrospection.
• Figures are rounded to the nearest 10
• GB only.

Under the Social Security (Notification of Deaths) Regulations 2012 and s125 of Social Security Administration Act 1992 date of death is provided to the Department for all registered deaths. Additionally next of kin also provide information on the date of death of an individual and this information is used appropriately in the administration of Departmental benefits.

Estimates could only be provided at disproportionate cost. Data exists in the system that would require matching across a number of data sets, which is a substantial piece of work. The required information is therefore not all readily available to analysts in a format that would enable them to undertake the analysis and quality assure the figures, to answer this PQ in the timescales.

Information about the number of UC claimants who declare a Terminal Illness can only be provided at disproportionate cost because the required information is not all readily available to analysts in a format that would enable them to undertake the analysis and quality assure the figures, to answer this PQ in the timescales.

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is claimed by people with a range of health conditions and disabilities, many of which are degenerative or life limiting and the Department treats the death of any claimant sympathetically. Claims made under the special rules for people who are terminally ill are fast tracked and are currently being cleared within 5 working days for new claimants.

Of the 1,820 PIP claimants who died within 6 months of registering a claim and were disallowed at initial decision:

• 240 claimants originally registered their claim under Special Rules for Terminal Illness.
• 1,670 claimants died within 3 months of an initial decision on their PIP claim.

Notes

Source: PIP ADS, Customer Information System

• PIP data includes normal rules and special rules for the terminally ill claimants, and is for both new claims and DLA reassessment claims.
• This analysis only takes the first registration a claimant makes to PIP.
• This is unpublished data. It should be used with caution and it may be subject to future revision.

• Data has been rounded to the nearest 10. Components may not sum to the whole due to rounding.
• Figures cover PIP claims registered between January 2019 and December 2019, claims cleared up to and including 30^th April 2020 and deaths up to 30^th April 2020.
• GB Only.

Under the Social Security (Notification of Deaths) Regulations 2012 and s125 of Social Security Administration Act 1992 date of death is provided to the Department for all registered deaths. Additionally, next of kin also provide information on the date of death of an individual and this information is used appropriately in the administration of Departmental benefits.

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is claimed by people with a range of health conditions and disabilities, many of which are degenerative or life limiting and the Department treats the death of any claimant sympathetically. Claims made under the special rules for people who are terminally ill are fast tracked and are currently being cleared within 5 working days for new claimants.

Of the 1,820 PIP claimants who died within 6 months of registering a claim and were disallowed at initial decision:

• 240 claimants originally registered their claim under Special Rules for Terminal Illness.
• 1,670 claimants died within 3 months of an initial decision on their PIP claim.

Notes

Source: PIP ADS, Customer Information System

• PIP data includes normal rules and special rules for the terminally ill claimants, and is for both new claims and DLA reassessment claims.
• This analysis only takes the first registration a claimant makes to PIP.
• This is unpublished data. It should be used with caution and it may be subject to future revision.

• Data has been rounded to the nearest 10. Components may not sum to the whole due to rounding.
• Figures cover PIP claims registered between January 2019 and December 2019, claims cleared up to and including 30^th April 2020 and deaths up to 30^th April 2020.
• GB Only.

Under the Social Security (Notification of Deaths) Regulations 2012 and s125 of Social Security Administration Act 1992 date of death is provided to the Department for all registered deaths. Additionally, next of kin also provide information on the date of death of an individual and this information is used appropriately in the administration of Departmental benefits.

The information requested could only be provided at disproportionate cost. Data exists in the system that would require matching across a number of data sets, which is a substantial piece of work. The required information is therefore not all readily available to analysts in a format that would enable them to undertake the analysis and quality assure the figures, to answer this PQ in the timescales.

The information requested could only be provided at disproportionate cost. Data exists in the system that would require matching across a number of data sets, which is a substantial piece of work. The required information is therefore not all readily available to analysts in a format that would enable them to undertake the analysis and quality assure the figures, to answer this PQ in the timescales.

A breakdown by year could only be provided at disproportionate cost for the same reasons as given in PQs 69500 and 69501.

Information about the proportion of UC claimants who declare a Terminal Illness at the start of a claim can only be provided at disproportionate cost because the required information is not all readily available to analysts in a format that would enable them to undertake the analysis and quality assure the figures, to answer this PQ in the timescales.

The information requested could only be provided at disproportionate cost. Data exists in the system that would require matching across a number of data sets, which is a substantial piece of work. The required information is therefore not all readily available to analysts in a format that would enable them to undertake the analysis and quality assure the figures, to answer this PQ in the timescales.

The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

The number of declarations (claims) made between 23 March 2020 and 14 May 2020 is 2,392,336. The breakdowns requested are not readily available and to do so would incur disproportionate cost.

The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Parliamentary Question PQ 52243 on 4 June 2020.

Information on new Universal Credit claims made in a) 2017, b) 2018 and c) 2019 is published online and 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

For figures for 2020, I refer to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Newport East on 21 May 2020 to Question 39515

We have increased the Universal Credit standard allowance by around £20 per week for the next 12 months – equivalent to up to £1,040 a year.

This is in addition to the 1.7% inflation increase (announced Nov 2019) as part of the Government’s decision to end the benefits freeze and means more financial support for millions of people across the UK.

The Government has been clear in its commitment to support those affected in these difficulties times and we have made a number of changes to the welfare system to ensure people are receiving the support they need. These changes include:

• making it easier to access benefits. Those applying for Contributory ESA who may have coronavirus, are self-isolating, or caring for a child (or qualifying young person) who falls into either of those categories, or individuals who have been advised to ’shield’ because they are at high risk of severe illness, will be entitled from day 1 of their claim – as opposed to day 8 - and we have removed the need for face-to-face assessment. Both Universal Credit and ESA can now be claimed by phone or online;
• increasing the standard allowance of Universal Credit and working tax credit for this year by around £1000 per year;
• temporarily relaxing the application of the Minimum Income Floor (MIF) for all self-employed claimants affected by COVID-19 to ensure that the self-employed can access UC at a more generous rate;
• making Statutory Sick Pay available from day 1 – as opposed to day 4 - where an eligible individual is sick or self-isolating; and
• increasing in the Local Housing Allowance rates for Universal Credit and Housing Benefit claimants so that it covers the cheapest 30% of local market rents – which is on average £600 in people’s pockets.
• To allow staff to be re-deployed to the front line, we have suspended recovery of some Government debts such as Tax Credits, benefit overpayments and Social Fund Loans.
• The Department has also made Regulations which remove restrictions preventing prisoners on temporary release due to the Covid-19 measures from claiming means-tested benefits, including Universal Credit, during the period of that release.

Taken together, these measures represent an injection of over £6.5 billion into the welfare system and, along with the other job and business support programmes announced by the Chancellor, including the Business Retention Scheme and the Self Employed Income Support Scheme, represent one of the most comprehensive packages of support introduced by an advanced economy in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

The Government remains committed to supporting the essential work the Voluntary, and Community and Social Enterprise Sector do in our communities which is why the Chancellor recently announced a £750million package of support to ensure they can continue their vital work during the coronavirus outbreak. Following the Chancellor’s announcement last month, the bidding process for direct cash grants through the National Lottery Community Fund has now launched for those in England.

The Coronavirus Community Support Fund aims to support the tens of thousands of charities and organisations at the heart of local communities that are making a big difference during the COVID-19 outbreak, including delivering food, essential medicines and providing financial advice, which includes welfare support and advice. The funding is to help organisations ensure they can meet increased demand as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, as well as continuing their day to day activities supporting vulnerable people in need.

The evaluation and supporting people who are terminally ill remains an absolute priority for the Department. However, these are unprecedented times and the Government’s immediate focus is on people affected by Covid-19 and getting support to them as quickly as possible. It is important to note that we have always done – and will continue to do – our utmost to process claims under the special rules as quickly as possible.

Number of Universal Credit declarations in Wales 01 March 2020 - 12 May 2020

Caveats:

The figures use the Job centre the claimant has been allocated to rather than the contract address to determine location.

The requested information is not available at local authority level.

The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

The DS1500 is not a claim form in itself and is not a requirement to support a claim for Personal Independence Payment under the special rules for terminal illness. The DS1500 can be completed by a terminally ill patient’s doctor or other healthcare professional and returned to DWP. The doctor or healthcare professional provides information about their patient’s condition, including its clinical features and ongoing or planned treatment on the DS1500.

A DS1500 can be completed during the claim process for various benefits: Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), Universal Credit (UC), Attendance Allowance (AA) and Disability Living Allowance (DLA).

We do not record receipt of the DS1500 centrally for all benefits. Whilst the Department does collect some information on DS1500 forms providing the requested data would necessitate complex data matching; and the extraction of the data requested would require significant time applying specialist knowledge and a high level of skill. This task, in addition to assessing the completeness of recording on DS1500 forms, and quality assuring the figures would therefore take in excess of four working days and exceed the appropriate cost limit for central Government.

The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

The DS1500 can be completed by a terminally ill patient’s doctor or other healthcare professional and returned to DWP. The doctor or healthcare professional provides information about their patient’s condition, including its clinical features and ongoing or planned treatment on the DS1500. The DS1500 is not a claim form in itself and is not a requirement to support a claim under the special rules for terminal illness. A DS1500 can be completed during the claim process for various benefits: Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), Universal Credit (UC), Attendance Allowance (AA) and Disability Living Allowance (DLA).”

The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

The DS1500 can be completed by a terminally ill patient’s doctor or other healthcare professional and returned to DWP. The doctor or healthcare professional provides information about their patient’s condition, including its clinical features and ongoing or planned treatment on the DS1500. The DS1500 is not a claim form in itself and is not a requirement to support a claim under the special rules for terminal illness. A DS1500 can be completed during the claim process for various benefits: Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), Universal Credit (UC), Attendance Allowance (AA) and Disability Living Allowance (DLA).”

The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

The DS1500 can be completed by a terminally ill patient’s doctor or other healthcare professional and returned to DWP. The doctor or healthcare professional provides information about their patient’s condition, including its clinical features and ongoing or planned treatment on the DS1500. The DS1500 is not a claim form in itself and is not a requirement to support a claim under the special rules for terminal illness. A DS1500 can be completed during the claim process for various benefits: Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), Universal Credit (UC), Attendance Allowance (AA) and Disability Living Allowance (DLA).”

The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

The DS1500 can be completed by a terminally ill patient’s doctor or other healthcare professional and returned to DWP. The doctor or healthcare professional provides information about their patient’s condition, including its clinical features and ongoing or planned treatment on the DS1500. The DS1500 is not a claim form in itself and is not a requirement to support a claim under the special rules for terminal illness. A DS1500 can be completed during the claim process for various benefits: Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), Universal Credit (UC), Attendance Allowance (AA) and Disability Living Allowance (DLA).”

The Department is taking forward as a priority its evaluation of how the benefits system supports people nearing the end of their life and those with severe conditions. We have made progress on all areas of this work and will be continuing to engage with clinicians and claimants to ensure their views are heard.

Statutory regulation should be used proportionately and only where risks to public and patient protection cannot be effectively addressed through other means of professional assurance. In 2017, the Department consulted on proposals to bring four medical associate professions into regulation:

- physician associate (PA);

- anaesthesia associate (AA);

- surgical care practitioner (SCP); and

- advanced critical care practitioner (ACCP).

In October 2018, we announced that PAs and AAs would be regulated but not SCPs or ACCPs. This is because training for SCPs and ACCPs is open to regulated healthcare professionals and therefore there is no direct entry route into these roles. Once trained, SCPs and ACCPs need to retain their base professional registration with their regulatory bodies in order to practise.

On 6 January 2022, we published a consultation on the criteria for determining when statutory regulation of a healthcare profession is appropriate.

The consultation will run for 12 weeks until 31 March 2022.

Whilst there is no legal requirement, all healthcare professions with prescribing responsibilities in the United Kingdom are regulated due to the high-risk nature of prescribing activities. Work to bring PAs into regulation is underway and the Department plans to consult on draft legislation later this year.

We are also working with the professions, NHS England and NHS Improvement, the devolved administrations and professional bodies to develop the case for extending appropriate prescribing responsibilities to PAs after regulation. Should the decision be made by the Commission on Human Medicines to extend prescribing responsibilities to the role, a separate legislative process would be required to implement this. This would be subject to a further public consultation.

The Department is not aware of any legislative reason why PAs cannot access advanced trauma training courses. Eligibility criteria for training courses is set by course providers. The Ionising Radiation (Medical Exposure) Regulations 2017 require a profession to be regulated before it can request X-rays and ionising radiation. Registered healthcare professionals can then request these procedures as ‘non-medical referrers’ (NMRs) provided they have been entitled as an NMR by their employer and have undergone the appropriate training.

We will provide further updates on the response after the summer recess.

The Department’s consultation ‘Regulating healthcare professionals, protecting the public’ closed on 16 June. The consultation sought views on proposals to modernise each of the healthcare professional regulators’ legal frameworks and on the proposed approach to introducing statutory regulation for physician associates (PAs) and anaesthesia associates (AAs).

The reforms will update the General Medical Council’s (GMC) current legislation, enabling it to bring PAs and AAs into regulation under a new, modernised framework. We plan to publish the consultation response in the autumn. A further consultation on the draft legislation that will bring PAs and AAs into regulation will follow. We are working with the GMC to ensure that regulation of PAs and AAs begins as early as possible in the second half of 2022.

The Department published a consultation on the proposed mandatory fortification of flour with folic acid from 13 June to 9 September 2019. A post consultation update was published on GOV.UK. Publication of the consultation response has been delayed due to the pandemic. We will publish the response as soon as possible outlining the next steps for this proposal.

The Government is supporting research into motor neurone disease (MND). On 29 April, I jointly hosted a roundtable event on boosting MND research with the National Institute for Health Research Sheffield Biomedical Research Centre.

The event brought together researchers, charities, people with MND and funders and we will be working closely with these stakeholders over the coming months to consider ways forward for this vital area of research.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before prorogation.

We have made no formal assessment. However, we have worked closely with Hospice UK on behalf of hospices to ensure an understanding of the adequacy of these resources during the pandemic.

Since March 2020, the Government has given over £10.2 million to mental health charities, including bereavement support charities, to support adults and children struggling with their mental wellbeing due to the impact of COVID-19.

We continue to take a cross-Government approach to assess what is needed to provide support to bereaved individuals and families during this incredibly difficult time, in order to ensure that individuals from all backgrounds and communities have access to appropriate bereavement support.

Priority group 6 includes all those who are defined as clinically vulnerable and at higher risk of serious illness from COVID-19. People who have received a stem cell transplant more than six months ago are included in this definition. People who have received a stem cell transplant within the last six months will be defined as clinically extremely vulnerable (CEV), in which case they are included in priority group 4. Both groups should now have been called forward for vaccination.

Further information can be found at the following links:

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/people-at-higher-risk/who-is-at-high-risk-from-coronavirus-clinically-extremely-vulnerable/

https://www.anthonynolan.org/patients-and-families/understanding-stem-cell-transplants/coronavirus-and-your-stem-cell-transplant

The Advisory Committee on Borderline Substances (ACBS) Secretariat, ACBS members and industry representatives of the British Specialist Nutrition Association have concluded that the current application form and guidance are leading to inconsistent quality in submissions from manufacturers and a new application form and guidance is required As a result, a joint project with industry to improve ACBS processes began in 2019. This was paused due to COVID-19 and will resume as soon as the ACBS and its stakeholders are able to do so.

As part of the project, a bespoke report was produced and shared with the British Specialist Nutrition Association on 18 February 2020 showing that the average time for the ACBS to respond to all types of applications was 28 working days.

From 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020 the Committee approved 103 products and 35 new products were submitted to it for approval.