Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Health and Safety Executive has plans to update its guidance on workplace transmission of blood borne viruses.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), is the regulator of workplace health and safety and publishes guidance aimed to assist employers in controlling workplace risks, including those from blood-borne viruses where this is relevant to their work activities.
HSE’s approach to developing guidance is led by intelligence to ensure it remains appropriate. Whilst there is no evidence to suggest changes to workplace risks, HSE is currently working with experts from scientific advisory committees to review the guidance and will update it as necessary in due course.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the timing of a decision on the continuation of the Household Support Fund on the operation of local authority support services.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The current Household Support Fund runs from April 2023 until the end of March 2024, and the Government continues to keep all its existing programmes under review in the usual way.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he has taken to reduce waiting times for PIP assessments.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
We are committed to ensuring people can access financial support through Personal Independence Payment (PIP) in a timely manner. Reducing customer journey times for PIP claimants is a priority for the department and we are working constantly to make improvements to our service.
We always aim to make an award decision as quickly as possible, taking into account the need to review all available evidence, including that from the claimant.
We have seen a decrease in PIP clearance times, with the latest statistics showing that the average end-to-end journey has reduced from 26 weeks in August 2021 to 15 weeks at the end of July 2023. This is because we’re:
In addition, the Health Transformation Programme (HTP) is modernising health and disability benefit services to create a more efficient service, to reduce processing times and improving trust in our services and decisions. As part of this, from July 2023, a limited number of claimants have been able to begin their claim for PIP entirely online, which we aim to roll out across England, Wales and Northern Ireland by the end of 2024.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Department of Work and Pensions, whether he plans to accept the invitation from Garden Court Chambers to attend mediation talks with Joanne Welch from CEDAWinLAW on an alternative dispute resolution for women born in the 1950s who were affected by changes in the State Pension age.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
In the legal challenge on changes to State Pension age, both the High Court and Court of Appeal have found no fault in the actions of the DWP, under successive governments dating back to 1995, finding Government acted entirely lawfully and did not discriminate on any grounds.
Additionally, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman has not completed his investigation into communication of changes to women’s state pension. It would be inappropriate to enter into Alternative Dispute Resolution with third parties or comment while the PHSO investigation is ongoing. Section 7(2) of the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967 states that Ombudsman investigations “shall be conducted in private”.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether employees of the Pension Regulator will receive the government-wide 4.5% pay increase deal.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
DWP does not play a role in determining the awards TPR will pay to their workforce, beyond reviewing proposals to ensure that they comply with the parameters set by the Civil Service Pay Remit Guidance and securing Secretary of State approval to proceed into negotiations. This year, the remit guidance allowed a maximum average increase of 4.5%, and an additional 0.5% could be used to target lower grades.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to guarantee that the Household Support Fund will continue to be provided to county councils and unitary authorities in England after March 2024.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the honourable Member to the answer given to PQ196466.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Government plans to renew the Household Support Fund in the next financial year.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
There are currently no plans to extend the Household Support Fund which runs to the end of March 2024. As with all policies, this is kept under continuous review and has included recent discussion with Local Authorities including Brighton and Hove City Council.
We are proud that, the Household Support Fund has been used to support many households in need in England with the cost of essentials. For example, over 10 million awards were made between 1 October 2022 to 31 March 2023.
The government continues to focus on the Prime Minister’s priority to halve inflation by the end of the year. Through the ambitious package announced at the Spring budget we are also delivering measures that are designed to support people to enter work and increase their earnings.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of personal independence payment reassessments due to take place in 2022 were outstanding on 1 September 2023.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Data on Personal Independence Payment (PIP) Award Reviews cleared or outstanding after April 2023 cannot be released as PIP data after this point is intended for publication at a future date.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to exempt people who were diagnosed with lifelong conditions at birth from personal independence payment reassessments.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
PIP awards are not condition-based as individuals can be impacted by their health condition(s) in different ways and those impacts can vary over time. However, we recognise that assessments and reviews are not always suitable for our claimants, including those with lifelong or long-term conditions and disabilities.
We announced in the Shaping Future Support: Health and Disability White Paper that we will test a new Severe Disability Group in PIP to reduce unnecessary applications and assessments.
The first light-touch reviews at the 10 year point for those with ongoing awards, started in August. These are primarily for those with long-term conditions on the highest level of support or whose conditions are stable. The design draws on discussions with charities and other organisations and involves a short form to check whether anything has changed, adjust the award if needed, and confirm we hold up-to-date information.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 17 July 2023 to Question 193236 on Personal Independence Payment: Medical Examinations, what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that personal independence payment reassessments registered in 2022 are reviewed as quickly as possible.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
We are committed to ensuring people can access financial support through Personal Independence Payment (PIP) in a timely manner. We prioritise new claims, while ensuring
claimants awaiting award reviews remain in payment until we can make a decision.
We always aim to make an award review decision as quickly as possible, considering the need to review all available evidence, including that from the claimant.
In addition, and in order to improve the service across all PIP activities, we are also:
Claimants are asked to contact us if their condition changes so their review can be looked at more quickly.