Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will publish guidance on the steps a claimant should take when his Department fails to reinstate a claim following a successful appeal.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Personal Independence Payment has a target of 28 days for implementing a tribunal’s decision and is currently averaging around 10 days.
Employment and Support Allowance and Universal Credit do not have an overarching target. Decisions are implemented as quickly as possible, with some exceptions.
For all three benefits, information on the average time to reinstate payments for the period requested is not collated centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
If a decision is not implemented timeously, there is guidance published by HMCTS and available on Gov.UK, entitled ‘How to appeal against a decision made by the Department for Work and Pensions’.
The main reason that a tribunal’s decision might not be implemented timeously, is if the Secretary of State considers that the decision may contain an error of law and suspends payment of the tribunal’s award whilst that is considered. In such a case the claimant must be notified that this is being done. If the claimant is not notified of a reason for the decision not being implemented, then they can contact the department: this can be done by using the telephone numbers on Gov.UK, on the decision letter they received, or by attending a Jobcentre; if it is a UC appeal they can use their journal.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has a target timescale for reinstating claims for (a) Universal Credit, (b) Personal Independence Payment and (c) Employment and Support Allowance after an appeal has been allowed.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Personal Independence Payment has a target of 28 days for implementing a tribunal’s decision and is currently averaging around 10 days.
Employment and Support Allowance and Universal Credit do not have an overarching target. Decisions are implemented as quickly as possible, with some exceptions.
For all three benefits, information on the average time to reinstate payments for the period requested is not collated centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
If a decision is not implemented timeously, there is guidance published by HMCTS and available on Gov.UK, entitled ‘How to appeal against a decision made by the Department for Work and Pensions’.
The main reason that a tribunal’s decision might not be implemented timeously, is if the Secretary of State considers that the decision may contain an error of law and suspends payment of the tribunal’s award whilst that is considered. In such a case the claimant must be notified that this is being done. If the claimant is not notified of a reason for the decision not being implemented, then they can contact the department: this can be done by using the telephone numbers on Gov.UK, on the decision letter they received, or by attending a Jobcentre; if it is a UC appeal they can use their journal.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average time was for his Department to reinstate payments for (a) Employment and Support Allowance, (b) Universal Credit and (c) Personal Independence Payment following a tribunal allowing an appeal in each month between January 2020 and March 2023.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Personal Independence Payment has a target of 28 days for implementing a tribunal’s decision and is currently averaging around 10 days.
Employment and Support Allowance and Universal Credit do not have an overarching target. Decisions are implemented as quickly as possible, with some exceptions.
For all three benefits, information on the average time to reinstate payments for the period requested is not collated centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
If a decision is not implemented timeously, there is guidance published by HMCTS and available on Gov.UK, entitled ‘How to appeal against a decision made by the Department for Work and Pensions’.
The main reason that a tribunal’s decision might not be implemented timeously, is if the Secretary of State considers that the decision may contain an error of law and suspends payment of the tribunal’s award whilst that is considered. In such a case the claimant must be notified that this is being done. If the claimant is not notified of a reason for the decision not being implemented, then they can contact the department: this can be done by using the telephone numbers on Gov.UK, on the decision letter they received, or by attending a Jobcentre; if it is a UC appeal they can use their journal.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many complaints were made to the DWP Complaints Team regarding the way in which Work Capability Assessments were conducted in each month since January 2018.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Centre for Health and Disability Assessments (CHDA) conduct Work Capability Assessments (WCAs) on behalf of the Department for Work & Pensions and has their own complaints process. Complaints received by the department, which are solely about the WCA, are redirected to CHDA. For a more in-depth response, I refer the Honourable Member to the answer I gave to her previous question, PQ55085.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many complaints about Work Capability Assessments were upheld by her Department's complaints team in each month since January 2018.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Centre for Health and Disability Assessments (CHDA) conduct Work Capability Assessments (WCAs) on behalf of the Department for Work & Pensions and has their own complaints process. Complaints received by the department, which are solely about the WCA, are redirected to CHDA. For a more in-depth response, I refer the Honourable Member to the answer I gave to her previous question, PQ55085.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many benefits claims suspended by the risk review team have been (a) closed and (b) remain suspended.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
As of 11th February 2023, the cumulative total of customer cases suspended by the Risk Review Team is 188,119.
Of these, 71,496 have been closed and 109,402 remain suspended. The remaining 7,221 have been reinstated following review.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants who have had their benefits suspended by the risk review team have had their benefits reinstated.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
As of 11th February 2023, the cumulative total of customer cases reinstated following review by the Risk Review Team is 7,221.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people who had their benefits suspended by the risk review team were subsequently convicted of fraud.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of Personal Independent Payment (PIP) claimants have a degenerative disease and have been awarded the highest rate of both PIP components.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Information on Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claimants with degenerative conditions is not available. While the department holds data on a range of conditions, these are not collected centrally in a way that defines them as degenerative or not.
Detailed statistics on PIP can be found on Stat-Xplore. In particular, the dataset on PIP clearances lists the disability categories recorded on PIP, as well as the award level for both components at initial decision. Over 500 conditions are covered, but none are grouped or marked in any way as being degenerative. You can also view the disability categories here.
Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here. An account is not required to use Stat- Xplore, the ‘Guest Login’ feature gives instant access to the main functions.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of Personal Independent Payment appeals resulted in a decision that the claimant should receive an ongoing award in each of the last two years.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.