Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Universal Credit claimants with cystic fibrosis as their main disabling condition have been (a) placed in the limited capability for work-related activity group, (b) placed in the limited capability for work group and (c) found fit for work at Work Capability Assessments in each year since 2013.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Official Statistics for Universal Credit Work Capability Assessments (UC WCA) cover key metrics on the number of people on the UC health journey, as well as WCA decisions and outcomes, from April 2019. As set out in the published release strategy we are taking a phased approach to development and publication of additional statistics, accounting for the complexity of source data that is in discovery. Future releases are planned to include new/repeat claims, medical conditions, Mandatory Reconsiderations and Appeals, and clearance times.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Employment and Support Allowance claimants with cystic fibrosis as their main disabling condition have been (a) placed in the support group, (b) placed in the work-related activity group and (c) found fit for work at Work Capability Assessments in each year since 2013.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The following table shows the volume of Work Capability Assessments (WCAs) for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) claimants with Cystic Fibrosis as their main disabling condition, by outcome and year.
Volumes cover all WCA outcomes including initial assessments (the first assessment of the ESA claim), repeat assessments (subsequent assessments after prognosis period of previous assessment of the ESA claim expires), and initial assessments for those moving over from Incapacity Benefit (IB). IB was replaced by ESA and claimants are re-assessed for ESA under the WCA.
Due to Covid, WCA repeat assessments were paused in March 2020, department-led reassessments began again in June 2023.
ESA WCAs with Cystic Fibrosis as the main condition
| Support Group | Work Related Activity Group | Fit for Work | Total |
2013 | 510 | 50 | 10 | 570 |
2014 | 380 | 10 | 10 | 400 |
2015 | 280 | 10 | 10 | 300 |
2016 | 310 | 10 | 20 | 340 |
2017 | 310 | 20 | 20 | 340 |
2018 | 280 | 10 | 10 | 300 |
2019 | 260 | 10 | 10 | 270 |
2020 | 100 | .. | .. | 100 |
2021 | 20 | .. | .. | 20 |
2022 | 10 | .. | .. | 10 |
Notes:
".." denotes a nil or negligible number of claimants.
Figures may not sum to total due to rounding.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his Department's policy to conduct all Personal Independence Payment assessments in person.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
There are no plans to conduct all Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessments in person. PIP assessments are undertaken by telephone, video and face to face, all following the same structure. Since telephone and video assessments were introduced, there has been no evidence to suggest these delivery channels are less effective than face to face.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to raise awareness of benefit entitlement among pensioners.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
We have been running an extensive communications campaign since April 2022 to raise awareness of Pension Credit and encourage eligible pensioners to check their eligibility and apply. The main features of the campaign included advertising in regional and national newspapers, on national and local broadcast radio and across selected TV channels. We have also undertaken mini-bursts of communications activity to highlighted that successful Pension Credit claims mean qualification for Cost of Living Payments.
There is a strong indication that it is having a positive effect. The number of Pension Credit applications is up by around 75% in the 12 months to May 2023 compared to the same period the year before.
In July we launched an “Invitation to Claim” trial which involved contacting approximately 2,500 pensioner households identified as being likely to be entitled to Pension Credit and encouraging them to contact DWP and make a claim.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure that Personal Independent Payment assessors receive training on the (a) symptoms of Parkinson's disease and (b) effects that Parkinson's disease has on people's lives.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Health Professionals (HPs) delivering Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessments receive comprehensive training in assessing functional capability relating to physical and mental health conditions. They also have access to a wide range of clinical resources to research any conditions presented. Both PIP providers have condition specific information on Parkinson’s disease, which has been quality assured by relevant external experts.
Understanding the effects of health conditions and impairments on the claimant’s daily life is fundamental. PIP providers ensure HPs are experts in disability analysis, focusing on the effects of health conditions and impairments on the claimant’s daily life.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions he has had with the (a) Department for Communities and (b) Department of Education in Northern Ireland on (i) educational and (ii) work opportunities for young people aged 18-24 in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Education and employment support are transferred matters in Northern Ireland, and educational opportunities in England are a matter for the Secretary of State for Education. My department is in frequent discussion with the Department for Communities on a number of matters, but these have not specifically covered work opportunities for young people aged 18-24 in Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to tackle under-payment errors in state pensions.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Our priority is to ensure everyone receives the financial support to which they are entitled. Where errors do occur, we are committed to fixing them as quickly as possible.
The Department for Work and Pensions became aware of issues with State Pension underpayments in 2020 and took immediate action to investigate the extent of the problem, which dates back many years across successive Governments. The DWP formally commenced a Legal Entitlements and Administrative Practices (LEAP) exercise on 11 January 2021.
Over 1,300 staff have been recruited or redeployed to the ongoing State Pension underpayment LEAP exercise. Delivery is backloaded and case reviews have significantly increased since November 2022. The latest data shows we have reviewed an average of over 30,000 cases per month between November 2022 and March 2023, compared to an average of 5,000 per month over the first 22 months of the exercise.
Based on our current trajectory, the Department expects to complete the exercise for Category BL and Category D cases by the end of 2023. For missed conversion cases, the exercise could run through to late 2024.
Other State Pension underpayment errors were identified through DWP’s fraud and error sampling which related to historic non-recording of Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) on a claimant’s National Insurance record.
In September, HMRC will begin contacting people potentially affected by missing HRP. This will be supported by a communications campaign to increase public awareness and encourage people to see if they are affected. DWP will then revise the State Pension awards of people who may have been affected. We will also shortly be launching a new online tool to help people check whether they need to claim.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to (a) encourage and (b) support people on benefits back into work.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is committed to getting people into work and making work pay.
Our core Jobcentre offer provides a wide range of support for jobseekers to start, stay and succeed in employment, including face-to-face time with work coaches and access to skills and employment support programmes. This is alongside specific support targeted towards young people, people aged 50 plus and job seekers with disabilities or health issues.
Additionally, DWP measures at Spring Budget represent an investment of £3.5bn over 5 years to further boost workforce participation.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she is taking steps to prevent people falling into poverty as a result of increases in the state pension age.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
This government believes that the most effective and sustainable way to tackle poverty is by supporting people to move into and to progress in work wherever possible, through measures such as the Mid-Life MOT or upskilling programmes such as the ‘Returnerships’ bootcamps.
Additionally, we remain committed to the principle of giving 10 years of notice before there are any changes to the state pension age and a variety of factors will be considered as part of the next review. The next review will be supported by the latest evidence, including life expectancy projections, updated with 2021 Census data, and the economic position and take place within 2 years of the next Parliament.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing specific financial support for parent who was the full time carer of a child with a life-limiting or life-threatening condition for whom they were in receipt of benefits and on Universal Credit, following that child’s death.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
There are currently no plans to introduce a Bereavement Support Payment for parents who were full-time carers of a child with a life-limiting or life-threatening condition.
Payment of Universal Credit will continue, unreduced, as a bereavement run-on for the current assessment period and the two assessment periods following the bereavement.