Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an estimate of the number of people who could benefit each year from the Government's proposals to allow housing benefit to be used towards the cost of a mortgage.
Answered by David Rutley
There are 5 million in receipt of housing support, and though we know that it is likely most will not be in a position to take up the new policy, it removes a barrier that currently prevents thousands of families from buying their own home.
Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether individuals and dependants accepted under the proposed bespoke immigration route for British Nationals (Overseas) passport holders from Hong Kong will be eligible for (a) universal credit, (b) pension credit, (c) child benefit, (d) personal independence payment, (e) carer's allowance and (f) other mainstream benefits.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
Further details of the new immigration route for British Nationals (Overseas) will be released in due course.
Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)
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 ensure that UK travellers awaiting repatriation to the UK continue to receive the benefit payments they are entitled to beyond the usual four week period for payments under temporary absence rules.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
DWP continues to support existing benefit recipients in exceptional cases where their absence abroad goes over the period allowed under the temporary absence benefit rules and are awaiting repatriation due to covid-19 travel restrictions.
Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she will take to reduce requirements for people in receipt of benefits to physically attend appointments if they need to self-isolate in response to a potential covid-19 infection.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
I refer the Rt. Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 6 March 2020 to Question UIN [23556].
Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether plans she has to exempt people with Motor Neurone Disease who are in receipt of the higher rate of Employment Support Allowance from being required to undertake a reassessment of their capability to work.
Answered by Sarah Newton
Entitlement to Employment and Support Allowance is based on a how a person’s health condition affects their functional capability to work. This means that we do not make exemptions from the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) process based solely on medical conditions.
Since 29 September 2017, those placed in ESA’s Support Group and the UC equivalent who have the most severe and lifelong health conditions or disabilities, whose level of function would always mean that they would have Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity, and be unlikely ever to be able to move into work, will no longer be routinely reassessed.
The Department’s Severe Conditions guidance used by Healthcare Professionals, who undertake the assessments, has been designed to have the least possible impact on claimants. We will ask claimants to complete a new health questionnaire, and where appropriate we will ask their General Practitioner or Specialist Healthcare Professional for further, supporting evidence, so that in the vast majority of cases we should be able to make a decision on whether someone meets the criteria without the need for a face to face assessment.
However I have previously met representatives of the Motor Neurone Disease Association, and listened to their concerns regarding the reassessment process. I have assured the Association that I will look carefully at how the reassessment process works for people with Motor Neurone Disease.
Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to extend Bereavement Support Payment to people who were cohabiting but were not married or in a civil partnership; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Bereavement Benefits are contributory benefits and it is a founding principle of the contributory benefits system that rights derived from another person’s contributions should be based on the concept of legal marriage or civil partnership.
Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)
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 Health and Safety Executive on the recommendations of the Workplace Health Expert Committee report on the risks of bakery work published in March 2017.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
Whilst I have regular meetings with senior officials from HSE, there have been no specific discussions about the findings in the Workplace Health Expert Committee (WHEC) report: Risks of bakery work: the adverse effects of working in high temperatures and of occupational asthma.
HSE receives an annual report from WHEC which includes any reports the committee has published. HSE, via its Chief Scientific Adviser, is due to provide a formal response to the next report in Spring 2018.