Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the (a) average and (b) maximum amount of waiting time when contacting the Carer's Allowance Unit by telephone.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Telephony is our customers’ primary channel to contact us. We continually assess the number of calls we are receiving and the associated waiting times, deploying resources accordingly to support service levels wherever this is possible.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many overpayments of carer’s allowance of (a) £0.01 - £500, (b) £500.01 - £1,000, (c) £1,000.01 - £5,000, (d) £5,000.01 - £20,000 and (e) more than £20,000 were made in the (i) 2021-22, (ii) 2022-23 and (iii) 2023-24 financial years.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Claimants have a responsibility to ensure they are entitled to benefits they claim and to inform the DWP of any changes in their circumstances that could impact their award. For Carer’s Allowance, eligibility is partly dependent upon claimants earning £151 or less a week after tax, National Insurance and allowable expenses.
Where overpayments do occur, the Department has a duty to the taxpayer to protect public funds and to ask for money to be paid back. However, we seek to do so without causing excessive hardship. We remain committed to working with anyone who is struggling with their repayment terms and will always look to negotiate sustainable and affordable repayment plans.
Our most recent statistics show that Carer's Allowance overpayments relating to earnings/employment represents 2.1% of our £3.3bn Carer’s Allowance expenditure.
The information requested has been provided in the table below.
Carer’s Allowance Debt Value Grouping | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 |
£0.01 - £500.00 | 26.4k | 20.3k | 28.0k |
£500.01 - £1000.00 | 12.2k | 11.4k | 11.9k |
£1000.01 - £5000.00 | 18.4k | 16.4k | 18.6k |
£5000.01 - £20,000.00 | 2.9k | 1.3k | 1.3k |
Over £20,000.00 | 0.1k | 0.1k | 0.0k |
Total | 60.1k | 49.5k | 59.9k |
The above data has been sourced from internal DWP management information, which is intended only to help the Department to manage its business. It is not intended for publication and has not been subject to the same quality assurance checks applied to our published official statistics.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many debts of overpayments of Carer's Allowance his Department was seeking to recover in value brackets (a) £0.01 - £500, (b) £500.01 - £1,000, (c) £1,000.01 - £5,000, (d) £5,000.01 - £20,000 and (e) over £20,000 as of 6 April 2024.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Claimants have a responsibility to ensure they are entitled to benefits they claim and to inform the DWP of any changes in their circumstances that could impact their award. For Carer’s Allowance, eligibility is partly dependent upon claimants earning £151 or less a week after tax, National Insurance and allowable expenses.
Where overpayments do occur, the Department has a duty to the taxpayer to protect public funds and to ask for money to be paid back. However, we seek to do so without causing excessive hardship. We remain committed to working with anyone who is struggling with their repayment terms and will always look to negotiate sustainable and affordable repayment plans.
Our most recent statistics show that Carer's Allowance overpayments relating to earnings/employment represents 2.1% of our £3.3bn Carer’s Allowance expenditure.
The information requested has been provided in the table below.
Carer’s Allowance Debt Value Grouping | Volume of Carer’s Allowance Debts |
£0.01 - £500.00 | 61.9k |
£500.01 - £1000.00 | 29.7k |
£1000.01 - £5000.00 | 53.2k |
£5000.01 - £20,000.00 | 11.3k |
Over £20,000.00 | 0.3k |
Total | 156.3k |
The above data has been sourced from internal DWP management information, which is intended only to help the Department to manage its business. It is not intended for publication and has not been subject to the same quality assurance checks applied to our published official statistics.
Data is taken as a snapshot as at 03/04/2024, the closest date we can obtain to 06/04/2024. |
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many overpayments of Carer’s Allowance there have been in relation to the earnings conditions in each of the last three years.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Claimants have a responsibility to ensure they are entitled to benefits they claim and to inform the DWP of any changes in their circumstances that could impact their award. For Carer’s Allowance, eligibility is partly dependent upon claimants earning £151 or less a week after tax, National Insurance and allowable expenses.
Where overpayments do occur, the Department has a duty to the taxpayer to protect public funds and to ask for money to be paid back. However, we seek to do so without causing excessive hardship. We remain committed to working with anyone who is struggling with their repayment terms and will always look to negotiate sustainable and affordable repayment plans.
Our most recent statistics show that Carer's Allowance overpayments relating to earnings/employment represents 2.1% of our £3.3bn Carer’s Allowance expenditure.
The information requested has been provided in the table below.
Financial Year | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 |
Volume of Carer’s Allowance (CA) Debts | 36.1k | 30.7k | 34.5k |
The above data has been sourced from internal DWP management information, which is intended only to help the Department to manage its business. It is not intended for publication and has not been subject to the same quality assurance checks applied to our published official statistics.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many school crossing guards have been involved in road traffic accidents while on duty in each of the last five years.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
This information is not held by the Department.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department holds information on the number and proportion of school crossing guards who wear body cameras while on duty.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
This information is not held by the Department.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information his Department provided between 1 September 2023 and 23 February 2024 to people who wished to apply for a lump sum payment under the Pneumoconiosis etc. (Workers’ Compensation) Act 1979 who had (a) been awarded Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit as they had unilateral but not bilateral Pleural Thickening, PD9 and (b) been awarded Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit for asbestos-related lung cancer based on their employment history but had not been diagnosed with asbestosis, PD8A.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Regulations which widened potential Pneumoconiosis etc. (Workers’ Compensation) Act 1979 scheme entitlement to include sufferers of unilateral diffuse pleural thickening and asbestos-related primary carcinoma of the lung (without asbestosis) came into force on 23 February 2024. Once the Department identified that these customers were not previously entitled to an award under the Pneumoconiosis etc. (Workers’ Compensation) Act 1979 scheme, the Department’s priority was to amend the relevant legislation as quickly as possible.
An initial letter was sent on 09 January 2024 notifying asbestos support groups of the situation, and the Department’s intention to amend the legislation, and a follow-up letter was sent to asbestos support groups on 26 February 2024, confirming that the new regulations had now come into force.
Eligible customers should receive award notifications as usual when their claim is processed.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
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 effectiveness of the Access to Work scheme for people with a musculoskeletal condition.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department does collect information on Access to Work recipient's primary medical condition, however, we do not hold information to the level required to identify people with musculoskeletal conditions. Therefore, we cannot assess the effectiveness of Access to Work scheme for people with a musculoskeletal condition.
Information on Access to Work volumes and expenditure by primary medical condition are published annually in the official statistics: Access to Work statistics: April 2007 to March 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will have discussions with NHS England on the potential (a) impact of not including ear wax removal services in the standard general medical services contract on health inequalities and (b) merits of appointing a (i) national clinical director and (ii) specialty advisor on audiology to advise on this matter.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In June 2018, there was an update to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) guidance, which states that ear wax syringing is no longer recommended due to safety concerns. Instead, self-care methods including olive-oil drops and, if required, ear irrigation or micro-suctioning, are recommended.
The Government has no plans to include ear wax removal services in the national Standard General Medical Services Contract. Irrigation and micro-suctioning require a higher level of expertise and specialist equipment than syringing, which most general practices (GPs) do not have. This means that patients who were previously treated with syringing by their GPs may now require a referral to other National Health Service providers, to access irrigation or micro-suctioning services.
Local commissioners, including integrated care boards, are responsible for arranging services which will meet the recommendations on ear wax removal, as set out in the NICE guidance. This may involve commissioning GPs who agree to develop the required expertise to deliver these treatments or other providers, to whom GPs may refer patients, to provide ear wax removal services.
NHS England issued a communication to all commissioners in June 2022 which asked them to ensure that GPs, with whom they have agreed will not deliver ear irrigation or have not been commissioned to provide micro-suction services, are able to refer patients to appropriate local NHS services for ear wax removal, where symptoms persist following self-care methods. This includes arranging services in line with guidance on ear wax removal services, published by NICE. This guidance is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng98/chapter/Recommendations#removing-earwax
The Department is not aware of any plans by NHS England to appoint a national clinical director or speciality advisor for ear wax removal services. Finally, the Department has noted the publication of the Royal National Institute for Deaf People’s (RNID) report Blocked Ears, Blocked Access with interest, and will meet with members of the RNID to discuss this report in due course.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the RNID's findings in its report entitled Blocked Ears, Blocked Access: The crisis of NHS ear wax removal in England, published in January 2024.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In June 2018, there was an update to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) guidance, which states that ear wax syringing is no longer recommended due to safety concerns. Instead, self-care methods including olive-oil drops and, if required, ear irrigation or micro-suctioning, are recommended.
The Government has no plans to include ear wax removal services in the national Standard General Medical Services Contract. Irrigation and micro-suctioning require a higher level of expertise and specialist equipment than syringing, which most general practices (GPs) do not have. This means that patients who were previously treated with syringing by their GPs may now require a referral to other National Health Service providers, to access irrigation or micro-suctioning services.
Local commissioners, including integrated care boards, are responsible for arranging services which will meet the recommendations on ear wax removal, as set out in the NICE guidance. This may involve commissioning GPs who agree to develop the required expertise to deliver these treatments or other providers, to whom GPs may refer patients, to provide ear wax removal services.
NHS England issued a communication to all commissioners in June 2022 which asked them to ensure that GPs, with whom they have agreed will not deliver ear irrigation or have not been commissioned to provide micro-suction services, are able to refer patients to appropriate local NHS services for ear wax removal, where symptoms persist following self-care methods. This includes arranging services in line with guidance on ear wax removal services, published by NICE. This guidance is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng98/chapter/Recommendations#removing-earwax
The Department is not aware of any plans by NHS England to appoint a national clinical director or speciality advisor for ear wax removal services. Finally, the Department has noted the publication of the Royal National Institute for Deaf People’s (RNID) report Blocked Ears, Blocked Access with interest, and will meet with members of the RNID to discuss this report in due course.