Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has plans to review the application of (a) National Insurance contributions and (b) home responsibilities protection in cases where an individual was contracted out of the Additional State Pension.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Before 6 April 2016, people were able to contract-out of the Additional State Pension. For the years they were contracted-out, they would be entitled to the basic State Pension only. When assessing State Pension eligibility under both the pre-2016 and new State Pension systems, the Department takes into account the impact of past contracting-out.
There are no such plans to review this approach which is in accordance with legislation.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care of the potential implications of changes to disability benefits on health and social care services.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are investing almost £26 billion of extra funding for the Health and Social Care System so people can get the treatment they need to get back to work instead of being stuck on waiting lists, delivering over 2 million extra appointments 7 months ahead of schedule.
Baroness Louise Casey, a cross-bench peer, has been commissioned to develop options for immediate action to improve adult social care in England before charting a course for longer term reform as announced in January. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will support this review – and work closely with the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) – as we take forward the proposals in this Green Paper.
In the short term, up to £3.7 billion of additional funding will be made available for social care authorities in 2025/2026, including an £880 million increase in the Social Care Grant. To support unpaid carers to combine caring responsibilities with some paid work, from April 2025 the Carers’ Allowance earnings limit will be pegged to 16 hours work at National Living Wage (NLW) levels (rounded to the highest pound), and in future it will increase when the NLW increases. This is an increase from £151 to £196 a week. DHSC are also commissioning research on the link between the adult social care system and PIP.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of reducing disability benefit on the health of people with long term and fluctuating conditions.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course. An important consideration in the case for abolishing the Work Capability Assessment is the inappropriateness of its binary distinction between “capable of work” and “not capable of work” for people with fluctuating health conditions.
A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department plans to make Personal Independence Payment application forms more accessible for people with mental health issues; and if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) designing questions to account for (i) frequency, (ii) reliability, and (iii) safety in assessing abilities rather than on best-case scenarios and (b) providing additional funding for (A) Disability Stockport and Citizens Advice and (B) other organisations for the provision of support with completing forms and navigating the process.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
It is a fundamental principle that the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessment should not just consider whether an individual can complete an activity, but the way they can do it. When formulating their advice to the decision maker, health professionals must confirm that they have considered whether an individual can complete each assessment activity “safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly and in a reasonable time period”.
DWP continually reviews the PIP claims process, including the content of forms, to ensure information and questions are clear and easy to understand. For example, the Award Review form (AR1) has recently been changed to modify the questions and make it clearer to customers what information is needed. Changes were made following extensive consultation with a range of stakeholders. This will benefit all customers, including those with mental health conditions.
Over the longer term, the Health Transformation Programme is modernising the entire PIP service to improve customer experience. The new service will deliver a simpler application process for customers with more information and support available to those who need it. Improved evidence gathering will also enable the department to better tailor the service to the customer’s circumstances.
Within the current service there is no funding provided to external organisations to help customers completing PIP forms or navigating the claims process.
There are a series of videos, accessible via a link on Gov.UK, aimed at supporting customers navigating the new claim and assessment process which many customers with mental health conditions may find helpful https://www.gov.uk/government/news/personal-independence-payment-customer-journey-films
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
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 ensure that Jobcentre Plus advisers provide (a) accurate and (b) comprehensive advice to claimants on (i) entitlement to transitional protection and (ii) other aspects of the transition from legacy benefits to Universal Credit.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
All Jobcentre advisers are given key information about Move to UC. We have a network of Transformation Leads attached to each Area who represent our Jobcentre and Service Centre network within Move to UC to ensure that our colleagues are getting the upskilling they need and to ensure it is landing as intended.
This is regularly updated through communications to advisers. Where customers have more complicated enquiries, advisers signpost customers to the helpline which can provide more comprehensive and specific advice on moving to UC. They also signpost to Help to Claim support externally if they identify a customer requires additional support.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether any redress mechanisms are available for claimants who were misadvised by Jobcentre Plus staff to claim Universal Credit before their official migration date and consequently lost entitlement to transitional protection.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Customers who are unhappy with the service provided by DWP can contact us by phone, in person or in writing. Universal Credit claimants can also use their journal.
Complaints procedure - Department for Work and Pensions - GOV.UK
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department plans to review the priority order of Universal Credit deductions; and if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of ensuring that child maintenance payments have priority over council tax arrears.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government is committed to a sustainable long-term approach to tackling poverty and supporting people on lower incomes, and in support of this the Chancellor announced at the Autumn Budget, the Fair Repayment Rate (FRR), this measure is a permanent change and will reduce the Universal Credit (UC) overall deductions cap from 25% to 15% of a customer’s UC standard allowance from April 2025. This measure will help approximately 1.2 million UC households with deductions retain more of their UC award, on average £420 a year or £35 per month. In addition to the FRR measure a second measure was to move child maintenance deduction higher up the regulated priority order from April 2025.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has specific time targets for processing Carer’s Allowance claims for individuals with an underlying entitlement.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department does not have any processing targets for Carer’s Allowance claims when there is an underlying entitlement element.
The current average clearance time for all Carer’s Allowance claims is 16.5 working days. This includes claims when there is underlying entitlement.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of financial support available through the benefits system to people with (a) inflammatory bowel disease and (b) other unseen disabilities.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Attendance Allowance, Disability Living Allowance and Personal Independence Payment (PIP) provide a contribution towards the extra costs that may arise from a long-term disability or health condition. These benefits are assessed on the basis of needs arising and not on the condition itself so are available to those with inflammatory bowel disease and other, hidden conditions.
The extra costs benefits are non-contributory, non-means-tested and can be worth over £9,500 a year, tax free. Individuals can choose how to use their benefit, in the light of their individual needs and preferences. The benefit can also be paid in addition to any other financial or practical support someone may be entitled to such as Universal Credit, Employment and Support Allowance, NHS services, free prescriptions, help with travel costs to appointments or the Blue Badge scheme. The benefits have been consistently uprated in line with inflation since they were introduced and were, like other benefits, increased by 6.7% from 8 April 2024.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make it her policy to (a) extend Statutory Adoption Pay to self-employed individuals and (b) introduce an equivalent benefit that provides guaranteed financial support to self-employed individuals.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Government very much values people who come forward to take on the challenging but rewarding role of being an adoptive parent. That is why there is provision for Local Authorities to make discretionary payments, equivalent to Maternity Allowance, to self-employed adopters who do not qualify for Statutory Adoption Pay, where they satisfy the relevant criteria. This payment is means-tested and ensures that resources are targeted at those adopters who need it most, as part of a package of post-adoption support.
Prospective adopters and the child or children that they intend to adopt are also entitled to an assessment of their family’s needs. This includes a whole host of support including discretionary means-tested financial support, advice, information and counselling, and support services.
Depending on individual circumstances, additional financial support, such as Universal Credit and Child Benefit, as well as the Sure Start Maternity Grant (a lump sum payment of £500) may also be available to new parents.