Oral Answers to Questions

Justin Tomlinson Excerpts

Monday 14th September 2020 Commons Chamber

[Cat Smith (Lancaster and Fleetwood) (Lab)]

When she plans to publish the findings of her Department’s review of how well the welfare system supports terminally ill people, which was announced in July 2019.

[The Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work (Justin Tomlinson)]

I would like to thank all the organisations and charities that supported the consultation, which took longer than we had hoped due to covid-19. It is clear that there are three themes: the need to change the six-month rule, to improve consistency and to raise awareness of the support. We are working at pace across government to bring forward proposals.

[Cat Smith]

Having supported a number of constituents with motor neurone disease, including a close friend, I have seen some of the challenges when faced with a terminal diagnosis. Can the Minister reassure me that the Government will not just replace the six-month rule with another arbitrary time limit of, say, 12 months? That would not solve the problem and would create barriers for patients and clinicians when it comes to navigating the special rules for terminal illness.

[Justin Tomlinson]

I pay tribute to the Motor Neurone Disease Association, which has been at the heart of this review. The Secretary of State and I are committed to delivering an improved system that raises awareness of the support, improves consistency and tackles the issue raised around the six-month rule. We are determined that this will be done as quickly as possible.

[Dame Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

What steps her Department is taking to (a) investigate and (b) rectify errors made in the payment of the state pension to retired women.

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[Joy Morrissey (Beaconsfield) (Con)]

What steps her Department is taking to support disabled people during the covid-19 outbreak.

[The Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work (Justin Tomlinson)]

My Department has supported disabled customers during the covid outbreak by automatically extending existing personal independence payment awards and new flexible access to work support for people to work from home as well as in the workplace and ensuring that disabled people can access new support, including kickstart.

[Joy Morrissey]

We are heading into an important 12 months for policy development to help disabled people with the Government’s new national disability strategy. Many charities in my constituency in Beaconsfield and across Bucks are very keen to give feedback to this strategy. Can my hon. Friend reassure the House that he is meeting stakeholders from a diverse range of backgrounds to ensure the development of a disability policy that is inclusive to everyone?

[Justin Tomlinson]

For both the Green Paper and the national strategy for disabled people, we will be making sure that disabled people, disabled organisations and stakeholders are very much at the heart of shaping our future policies and service delivery.

We will be organising national, regional and local-led events and events in conjunction with stakeholders. I know that my hon. Friend is a strong advocate of her disability organisations in her constituency, and I encourage her to encourage them to take part in the coming months.

[Vicky Foxcroft (Lewisham, Deptford) (Lab)]

This Government have spoken a lot about levelling up so that people are equally supported—something that people expect to be delivered. I asked the Minister on 11 May and then on 29 June how the Government were progressing with uplifting legacy benefits. As of February this year, 1.9 million people in Great Britain, many of whom are disabled, are desperate for the Government to sort this. A DWP report states that it would take four to five months to deliver this. We are now four months on. Can the Minister update us on any progress made, specifically on uplifting legacy benefits?

[Justin Tomlinson]

As a Government, we have provided an extra £9.3 billion-worth of support during the covid crisis, which has been very much welcomed. Specifically, in my area of disability, we will see spending increase this year from £19 billion to £20 billion, which is just shy of a 5% increase, and many disabled people will gain from the additional support provided through universal credit, through the increases in the discretionary housing payment, or through the £500 million given to local authorities as a hardship fund based on individual circumstances.

[Neil Gray (Airdrie and Shotts) (SNP) [V]]

But the UK Government’s decision to exclude people claiming legacy benefits from the £20 per week covid uplift to universal credit, many of whom are sick or disabled people and carers, is surely untenable. Nearly 300,000 people in Scotland are missing out on the £20 per week increase as a result. Does the Minister agree that people on legacy benefits deserve the same amount of support as everybody else; and if he does, will he put his money where his mouth is and push the Chancellor to extend the uplift and make it permanent at the upcoming Budget?

[Justin Tomlinson]

The Government are putting money where their mouth is with the £9.3 billion-worth of support, which is pretty much unprecedented across the world. I would urge all claimants, disabled or not, to talk to their work coaches and review their circumstances to see whether they could be better off moving over to universal credit. But as I set out in the previous answer, there has been a wide range of support, and as a Government we will always target support at those most in need.

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[Mr Virendra Sharma (Ealing, Southall) (Lab)]

What financial support her Department plans to make available to shielding people affected by covid-19 local lockdowns.

[The Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work (Justin Tomlinson)]

Those in a local lockdown area who receive a notification that they need to shield will remain eligible for statutory sick pay and new-style employment and support allowance, subject to the wider eligibility criteria.

[Gerald Jones]

Clearly local lockdowns will present local challenges, and we would expect most employers to be responsible, but will the Government offer support to employees to hold their employers to account where they are not following the guidelines and making their workplaces covid-secure?

[Justin Tomlinson]

The Government, through the Health and Safety Executive and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, are continuing to issue improved guidance to make it as easy as possible for employers to make reasonable adjustments. Those employees who still have concerns can either talk directly to their employers or raise them with the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service or the HSE to try to get them resolved. I think most employers want to do the right thing, and we are doing everything we can to give them as much help as possible to get it right and make their workplace covid-safe.

[Mr Virendra Sharma [V]]

Last week, the TUC made it clear that two fifths of workers will be unable to pay bills if they have to self-isolate for two weeks. Statutory sick pay will have to go up for test and trace to work. Will the Secretary of State increase statutory sick pay to ensure that no one is left behind and keep the country covid-secure?

[Justin Tomlinson]

We have already made changes to the eligibility for statutory sick pay so that people can qualify from the first day rather than wait until the fourth day. We have extended it to those with symptoms, those who need to self-isolate, or those who need to self-isolate ahead of a hospital procedure. Those on low incomes also have the opportunity, subject to their personal circumstances, to get additional financial support through either universal credit or new-style ESA.

[Margaret Ferrier (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (SNP)]

What assessment she has made of the effect of bonuses on the level of payments made to universal credit claimants.

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[Mr Virendra Sharma (Ealing, Southall) (Lab) [V]]

This afternoon, I am meeting carers from across my constituency. They are concerned about their financial position. Will the Secretary of State commit to raising the attendance allowance until it matches universal credit payments?

[Justin Tomlinson]

As a Government, we absolutely recognise the support that carers provide. We have made a number of changes during covid-19 to maintain that support, including allowing emotional support and allowing for breaks due to covid. By 2024-25, we expect to be spending £3.6 billion supporting carers, which will be more than double that spent when we first came to office.

[Edward Timpson (Eddisbury) (Con)]

Can the Minister assure me that her excellent new kickstart scheme will not sit in isolation but will instead dovetail with other Government, apprenticeship and infrastructure efforts, so that towns such as Winsford can give their young a trade, not just a job, including helping to deliver brilliant broadband across Eddisbury?

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

I have constituents who have been waiting more than six months for a decision following a work capability assessment. Is that not a bit ridiculous?

[Justin Tomlinson]

We rightly took a decision to suspend face-to-face assessments following Public Health England’s guidance. We continue to keep this under review, but wherever possible, we are either doing a paper-based review or a telephone assessment, and we are automatically renewing reassessments that are due within three months by six months, and we review that on a regular basis.

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

I recognise that the national living wage has increased, but will my right hon Friend ensure that the full rise in the national living wage, to two thirds of median earnings by 2024, goes ahead as planned?