Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the report entitled the Disability Price Tag 2019, published by Scope in February 2019, what steps she is taking to ensure that families with disabled children moving on to universal credit receive the same financial support that they did under the legacy benefits system.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Currently people are only moving to Universal Credit from existing benefits because they have had a change in their circumstances which would previously have led them to make a new claim to a different existing benefit. It has always been the case that in such circumstances these new claims would be assessed based upon their new circumstances and under the rules of the new benefit with no recourse to any previous levels of entitlement.
Those who move to Universal Credit without a change in circumstance will be eligible for Transitional Protection at the point that they move across.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the report entitled the Disability Price Tag 2019, published by Scope in February 2019, what steps she is taking to ensure that disabled people can afford the same standard of living as non-disabled people.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department provides a range of benefits to support people with long term health conditions and disabilities, including benefits which contribute towards the extra costs they may face. Benefit provision is in addition to the wide range of additional support people with health conditions and disabilities may receive including from Local Authorities or the National Health Service.
Since 2010, spending on benefits to support disabled people and people with health conditions has increased by £8.4 billion (18%) in real terms. This year it will be over £54 billion, and next year it will rise to over £55 billion – over 2.5 per cent of GDP and 6 per cent of Government spending. And since 2010 spending on extra-costs disability benefits, which have been increased by inflation and have been protected from the benefits freeze, has increased by £5 billion (25%) in real terms.
As the Secretary of State recently announced, we also plan to commission independent research to understand the needs of disabled people and how health and disability benefits can better support them.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the report entitled the Disability Price Tag 2019, published by Scope in February 2019, what steps she plans to take to made additional funding available to cover potential extra costs incurred by disabled people; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department provides a range of benefits to support people with long term health conditions and disabilities, including benefits which contribute towards the extra costs they may face. Benefit provision is in addition to the wide range of additional support people with health conditions and disabilities may receive including from Local Authorities or the National Health Service.
Since 2010, spending on benefits to support disabled people and people with health conditions has increased by £8.4 billion (18%) in real terms. This year it will be over £54 billion, and next year it will rise to over £55 billion – over 2.5 per cent of GDP and 6 per cent of Government spending. And since 2010 spending on extra-costs disability benefits, which have been increased by inflation and have been protected from the benefits freeze, has increased by £5 billion (25%) in real terms.
As the Secretary of State recently announced, we also plan to commission independent research to understand the needs of disabled people and how health and disability benefits can better support them.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will extend the provisions of the Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) (SDP Gateway) Amendment Regulations 2019 to claimants in receipt of (a) disability premiums and (b) enhanced disability premiums.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions)(SDP Gateway) Amendment Regulations 2019 prevents legacy claimants who are in receipt of the Severe Disability Premium from moving to Universal Credit if they experience a change in circumstances, until they are moved by the Department. This ensures that these claimants will not be moved onto Universal Credit until transitional protections are available.
The SDP group has very specific characteristics including substantial care needs, with most having severe disabilities that would limit their ability to work quite significantly. They are also likely to see the greatest financial impact were they to move to Universal Credit following a change in their circumstances.
Universal Credit does not replicate the Severe Disability Premium and other disability premiums, which has allowed us to target additional support to a wider group and create a more streamlined system. The Universal Credit rate for the most severely disabled people, the limited capability for work and work related activity (LCWRA) addition is £328.32 per month, much higher than the equivalent rate for the Employment and Support Allowance support group which is £163.15 per month, and will result in many more people being better off on Universal Credit.
The draft Universal Credit (Managed Migration Pilot and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2019 provide for transitional protections for claimants who are moved onto Universal Credit by the Department, without experiencing a change in circumstances, ensuring no-one loses out at the point of transition.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Government is taking to improve (a) pay and (b) employment opportunities for disabled people.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The government is committed to building an economy that works for everyone. Through the National Minimum Wage (NMW) and the National Living Wage (NLW) the Government protects the lowest paid within our society, including disabled workers – who are explicitly listed as a group entitled to the correct minimum wage: https://www.gov.uk/national-minimum-wage/who-gets-the-minimum-wage
If any worker believes that they might have been underpaid, they can contact Acas for free and confidential help and advice, on 0300 123 1100, or submit a complaint direct to HMRC online using the link https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pay-and-work-rights-complaints
Government has the ambition of getting 1 million more disabled people in to work. On 30 November 2017 we published Improving Lives: the Future of Work, Health and Disability, which lays out our strategy for achieving this ambition by improving both employment opportunities and retention in work for people with disabilities and health conditions.
Our policies are designed to ensure that disabled people can access the labour market, get the support they need and progress in their careers. For example:
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 23 October 2018 to Question 180219 on Disability Living Allowance: Children, whether the pilot undertaken by the Motability and Family Fund to support children under the age of three who rely on bulky medical equipment has concluded; and what outcomes that pilot has achieved.
Answered by Sarah Newton
Motability and the Family Fund are independent charities who, after being introduced by the Department, developed a pilot scheme to support families with children under the age of three that rely on bulky medical equipment.
We understand that Motability intend to significantly increase the scale of this project in order to help some of the most severely disabled children in the coming years. I look forward to them sharing their plans for this important initiative.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to page 53 of the Government's White Paper entitled Improving lives: the future of work, health and disability, in November 2017, what progress her Department has made with Initiative No.5 on reform of the work capability assessment; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Sarah Newton
We are committed to assessing people with health conditions and disabilities fairly and accurately, helping people to access the right support. We made a clear commitment in Improving Lives: The Future of Work, Health and Disability to reform the Work Capability Assessment and recognise the importance of getting this right. We are therefore testing new approaches to build the evidence base for what works, and working with external stakeholders to inform future changes to the WCA. We have established a policy forum, with a focused group of academics, think tanks and disability charities to bring together evidence for reform options and will also gather views from wider stakeholder groups, including individuals with lived experience of disability.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of reintroducing a disability employment target that measures progress against employment levels of non-disabled people.
Answered by Sarah Newton
We set out our continued commitment to improving employment rates for disabled people and people with long-term health conditions in Improving Lives: the Future of Work, Health and Disability. We believe people should get the support they need whatever their health condition or disability, whether that’s from their employer, from the health system or from the welfare system.
Too many people are missing the opportunity to develop their talents and connect with the world of work, which is why Improving Lives also set out our ambitious, specific and time-bound goal to see 1 million more disabled people in work by 2027.
However, no single measure can capture everything that we want to achieve. Improving Lives made it clear that “alongside monitoring the number of disabled people in work, we will also consider other useful statistical indicators which give more information about how disability and employment change over this time period, and inform our actions”.
For example, the ad hoc statistical update released on 1 November 2018, by the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department of Health and Social Care, included estimates of the number of disabled people in employment, their employment rate, and the gap between the employment rates of disabled and non-disabled people.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that disabled people have fair and equal opportunities to become successful business leaders.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The Government is committed to seeing a million more disabled people in work by 2027 and ensuring that disabled people have fair and equal opportunities to become successful business leaders. The latest figures (published Tuesday 13 Nov) show that disability employment has increased by 973,000 in the last five years.
The Equality Act 2010 legally protects disabled people from discrimination in the workplace and in wider society. It replaced previous anti-discrimination laws with a single Act, making the law easier to understand and strengthening protection in some situations.
We actively support disabled people to enter employment through initiatives like the Work and Health Programme, which is expected to support 220,000 disabled people over 5 years; and the Personal Support Package for those on ESA and Universal Credit equivalents.
We also support new and existing disabled workers with Access to Work, which approved support for 27,730 disabled workers in 2017/18, an increase of 11% on 2016/17. The support Access to Work offers includes a discretionary grant of up to £57,200 pa, without which many disabled business leaders might not be able to achieve their employment goals.
We engage with employers through Disability Confident. Over 9,500 employers are currently signed up to Disability Confident and that number grows weekly.
We are integrating Access to Work communications into Disability Confident promotions so employers can easily understand how they can receive support with the costs of making workplace adjustments.
Potential disabled entrepreneurs who are claiming benefits such as ESA or UC equivalents may receive specialist self-employment support through Work and Health Programme and Personal Support Package. The Work and Health Programme includes integrated access to specialist support networks at a local level. In addition, claimants who wish to start their own businesses and become entrepreneurs may be able to receive start up support through the New Enterprise Allowance (NEA). Around 1 in 4 people who start on the NEA have a self-declared disability.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 2 July 2018 to Question 165609 on Employment: disability, when the research will be published; and whether that research will consider actual employment outcomes for disabled people as a target and reference point for the success of Disability Confident.
Answered by Sarah Newton
As stated in the Answer of 23 July 2018 to Question 165609, we have commissioned external research which explores whether employers who sign up to the Disability Confident scheme change their attitudes and behaviours in relation to disability employment, including whether they report increases in their employment of disabled people as a result of signing up.
We expect to publish results from this research later this year.