Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to estimate the additional costs disabled people incur as a result of their conditions or impairments.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Modernising Support for Independent Living: The Health and Disability Green Paper looks at different options to reshape the current welfare system so that we can provide better targeted support to those who need it most. Chapter 3 ‘PIP – What do we provide support for?’ explores the types of extra costs disabled people or people with long-term health conditions have, recognising each individual has different costs and experiences.
We are gathering information through our 12-week consultation which was published on Monday 29 April and will close on Monday 22 July at 11:59pm.
We encourage everyone to respond to the consultation which can be found here, so that we are able to hear from as many disabled people, people with health conditions, their representatives, and local stakeholders as possible on these important issues.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an estimate of the number and proportion of disabled people facing one-off extra costs related to their disability.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on the 14th of May to PQ24769.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of his Department's report entitled Shaping Future Support: The Health and Disability Green Paper, published on 20 July 2021 on the finances of people with complex disabilities.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In Shaping Future Support: The Health and Disability Green Paper, we explored how the benefits system can better meet the needs of claimants now and in the future, by improving claimant experience of our services, enabling independent living, and improving employment outcomes.
We received over 4,500 written responses to the Green Paper, and held consultation events with disabled people and people with health conditions and their representatives. These included both virtual and face-to-face events, with events in Scotland, Wales and every region of England.
We carefully considered the feedback we received to our consultation in developing the next steps set out in the Transforming Support: The Health and Disability White Paper, published in March 2023. As stated in the White Paper, we are continuing to develop and refine our policy proposals.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps to increase statutory sick pay for people unable to work while living with cancer.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government has already increased the rate of Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) this year, in April the rate of SSP was increased by the September 2023 CPI of 6.7% to £116.75. This represents a £20 per week increase in the rate of SSP since 2021.
SSP is just one part of our welfare safety net and our wider Government offer to support people in times of need. Anybody who is on a low level of income during the period that they are sick and who requires further financial support may be able to claim Universal Credit, depending on their personal circumstances.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to remove the earnings threshold for statutory sick pay.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Since 2019 over 500,000 more people now earn above the Lower Earnings Limit (LEL) and can therefore benefit from Statutory Sick Pay (SSP). However, now is not the right time for structural reform of SSP, which includes removing the LEL.
SSP is just one part of our welfare safety net and our wider Government offer to support people in times of need, many of those with earnings below the LEL are already in receipt of benefits, such as Universal Credit.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the potential impact of the level of statutory sick pay on health outcomes.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the hon. Member to a previous response provided by the Minister of State for Care to Question UIN 902448.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many full-time equivalent staff worked in his Department’s Counter Fraud, Compliance and Debt unit in each of the last ten years for which figures are available.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Please see the Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) numbers for Counter Fraud Compliance & Debt (CFCD) and its predecessor Counter Fraud & Compliance (CFC). To ensure compliance with GDPR, seven years of data is the maximum that we hold.
Paid Staff at specified date, Full Time Equivalent | ||
Date | FTE | CFC/CFCD |
31-Mar 2018 | 5209.8 | CFC |
31-Mar 2019 | 5488.3 | CFC |
31-Mar 2020 | 7519.4 | CFCD |
31-Mar 2021 | 6941.6 | CFCD |
31-Mar 2022 | 8289.7 | CFCD |
31-Mar 2023 | 9080.2 | CFCD |
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people opted out of auto-enrolment workplace pension schemes in each of the last ten years for which figures are available.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The data requested for the number of people who opted out of automatic enrolment workplace pension schemes in each of the last ten years is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate costs.
The department makes regular publications of the data that is held, including the Workplace Pension Participation and Savings Trends, which is available on GOV.UK. This publication includes aggregated data from large private pension providers in which the proportion of new member enrolments to have opted-out of workplace pension saving stood at 11.79% in July 2023. Over the period from January 2020 to July 2023, these opt-out rates have fluctuated between a low of 7.03% and a high of 12.23%. From the same aggregated private pension provider data, the proportion of pension scheme members making an active decision to cease saving was 0.50% in July 2023.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what is his planned timetable for announcing local housing allowance rates for 2025; and if he will launch a consultation on the level of those rates.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Secretary of State (SoS) has recently completed his review of Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates for 2024/25. As announced by the Chancellor in the recent Autumn Statement, from April 2024 the Government will be investing £1.2 billion increasing LHA rates to the 30th percentile of local market rents. This ensures 1.6 million private renters in receipt of Housing Benefit, or the Housing Element of Universal Credit will gain, on average, nearly £800 per year in additional help towards their rental costs in 2024/25. This is a significant investment of £7bn over five years.
The SoS has committed to reviewing LHA rates annually, usually in the Autumn. The rates for 2025/26 have not yet been reviewed.
The department works closely with stakeholders, jobcentres, and local authorities to understand the impact of its policies.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether there is (a) a minimum, (b) a maximum and (c) an optimal number of universal credit cases overseen by each case manager.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
There is no set minimum/maximum or optimum caseload size. We do look to equalise pressures/caseloads in the network via recruitment in or pivoting work out of a site