Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance his Department issues to universal credit claimants living in (a) temporary and (b) supported accommodation that receive benefit sanctions.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Customers on work-related benefits are expected to take responsibility for meeting the requirements that they have agreed to with their Work Coach. These requirements will be clearly set out in the Claimant Commitment and tailored to the individual’s circumstances, making them realistic and achievable. The consequences and implications of not meeting a mandatory work-related requirement are clearly set out and explained to the customer. A sanction will only be applied if they fail to meet these requirements without demonstrating good reason.
If a sanction is applied, the customer is issued with a decision notification letter. This letter outlines the sanction reason, the amount and duration of benefit reduction and, where applicable, what action the customer needs to take to bring an open-ended sanction to a conclusion. The letters also contain information on what to do if the customer disagrees with the sanction decision, how to apply for Recoverable Hardship Payments, as well as links to money management advice and other sources of financial support.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department holds data on the (a) outcome and (b) reasoning behind Tribunal verdicts relating to personal independence payment claims; and whether his Department takes steps to use Tribunal verdicts to improve its processes.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service provide a Decision Notice in relation to each tribunal to DWP. This contains the outcome of the tribunal and some information on why the decision was reached. This information is recorded on the PIP computer system.
This data only provides one reason per appeal as to why decisions by DWP decision makers have been overturned at a tribunal hearing, and therefore may not give the full story as there may be other reasons.
We are continuing to learn from decisions overturned at appeal. For example, we gather insight from DWP Presenting Officers who regularly provide feedback from hearings they attend, with a view to learning from overturned decisions.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of Access to Work applications (a) were (i) approved and (ii) rejected and (b) given 100% of award in each year since 2021 to 2023 as of 27 November.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
What proportion of Access to Work applications (a) were (i) approved and (ii) rejected
| Approved | Not Approved |
Apr-21 | 75.20% | 24.80% |
May-21 | 72.40% | 27.60% |
Jun-21 | 69.70% | 30.30% |
Jul-21 | 71.10% | 28.90% |
Aug-21 | 73.00% | 27.00% |
Sep-21 | 72.30% | 27.70% |
Oct-21 | 70.50% | 29.50% |
Nov-21 | 69.00% | 31.00% |
Dec-21 | 66.10% | 33.90% |
Jan-22 | 70.60% | 29.40% |
Feb-22 | 72.20% | 27.80% |
Mar-22 | 71.80% | 28.20% |
Apr-22 | 78.70% | 21.30% |
May-22 | 68.90% | 31.10% |
Jun-22 | 66.50% | 33.50% |
Jul-22 | 65.60% | 34.40% |
Aug-22 | 65.60% | 34.40% |
Sep-22 | 66.10% | 33.90% |
Oct-22 | 63.90% | 36.10% |
Nov-22 | 65.10% | 34.90% |
Dec-22 | 65.40% | 34.60% |
Jan-23 | 67.20% | 32.80% |
Feb-23 | 69.00% | 31.00% |
Mar-23 | 69.70% | 30.30% |
Apr-23 | 71.40% | 28.60% |
May-23 | 72.70% | 27.30% |
Jun-23 | 71.10% | 28.90% |
Jul-23 | 68.10% | 31.90% |
Aug-23 | 71.70% | 28.30% |
Sep-23 | 70.70% | 29.30% |
Oct-23 | 70.30% | 29.70% |
Please note that the not approved includes rejections, advice provided, no contact, no evidence, not eligible, not pursued, and closed other.
Please note that the data supplied is derived from unpublished management information, which was collected for internal departmental use only, and have not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. They should therefore be treated with caution.
(b) given 100% of award in each year since 2021 to 2023
The information requested about Access to Work applications that have been made in England, Wales and Scotland is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
However, the Access to Work statistics includes how many applications result in provision being approved from 2007/08 to 2021/22. Please see Table 3 of the Access to Work statistics.
The latest Access to Work statistics can be found here:
.Access to Work statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
The information requested about Access to Work applications that have been made in England, Wales and Scotland is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
However, the Access to Work statistics includes how many applications result in provision being approved from 2007/08 to 2021/22. Please see Table 3 of the Access to Work statistics.
The latest Access to Work statistics can be found here:
Access to Work statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to increase funding for the Access to Work scheme in (a) 2023-24, (b) 2025-26 and (c) 2026-27.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The funding for Access to Work has increased in 2023/24 compared to the 2022/23 outturn. Funding provision for 2024/2025, 2025/2026 and 2026/2027 is yet to be finalised.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will publish his Department's (a) research and (b) analysis that informed the production of the Work Capability Assessment consultation paper.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
We published our response to the consultation on changes to the Work Capability Assessment criteria on 22 November, having carefully considered feedback from disabled people, and people with health conditions, as well as the organisations that represent and support them.
The consultation was open from 5 September to 30 October 2023. This gave ample time for people to share their views. We undertook extensive engagement during the consultation period and received over 1,300 responses. We listened carefully to what people told us and took their views into account when deciding about which changes to take forward.
We also did a lot of work to make sure disabled people could share their views. We provided the consultation document in a range of accessible formats, including large print, Easy Read, Braille, Audio, BSL and hard copy versions. We ran a programme of in-person and virtual public events, so that people could share their views verbally and offered a range of methods to enable people to respond in writing, including online, by email or by post.
We will publish an Impact Assessment in due course.
The OBR have said that they expect these changes to mean that 371,000 fewer people will be declared as having Limited Capability for Work Related Activity by 2028/29 than otherwise would be the case. HMT have published the impacts in their policy costing note that accompanies the Autumn Statement.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Department's response to the Work Capability Assessment: Activities and Descriptors Consultation, published in November 2023, what his planned timetable is for publishing an equality impact assessment on proposals for changes to the eligibility criteria for the (a) Limited Capability for Work and Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity categories within universal credit and (b) Work-Related Activity Group and Support Group within Employment Support Allowance.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
We published our response to the consultation on changes to the Work Capability Assessment criteria on 22 November, having carefully considered feedback from disabled people, and people with health conditions, as well as the organisations that represent and support them.
The consultation was open from 5 September to 30 October 2023. This gave ample time for people to share their views. We undertook extensive engagement during the consultation period and received over 1,300 responses. We listened carefully to what people told us and took their views into account when deciding about which changes to take forward.
We also did a lot of work to make sure disabled people could share their views. We provided the consultation document in a range of accessible formats, including large print, Easy Read, Braille, Audio, BSL and hard copy versions. We ran a programme of in-person and virtual public events, so that people could share their views verbally and offered a range of methods to enable people to respond in writing, including online, by email or by post.
We will publish an Impact Assessment in due course.
The OBR have said that they expect these changes to mean that 371,000 fewer people will be declared as having Limited Capability for Work Related Activity by 2028/29 than otherwise would be the case. HMT have published the impacts in their policy costing note that accompanies the Autumn Statement.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will hold a new 12 week consultation on proposed changes to the Work Capability Assessment that (a) clearly set outs the potential impact of those changes on groups affected by those proposals and (b) is provided in a format that is accessible to those groups.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
We published our response to the consultation on changes to the Work Capability Assessment criteria on 22 November, having carefully considered feedback from disabled people, and people with health conditions, as well as the organisations that represent and support them.
The consultation was open from 5 September to 30 October 2023. This gave ample time for people to share their views. We undertook extensive engagement during the consultation period and received over 1,300 responses. We listened carefully to what people told us and took their views into account when deciding about which changes to take forward.
We also did a lot of work to make sure disabled people could share their views. We provided the consultation document in a range of accessible formats, including large print, Easy Read, Braille, Audio, BSL and hard copy versions. We ran a programme of in-person and virtual public events, so that people could share their views verbally and offered a range of methods to enable people to respond in writing, including online, by email or by post.
We will publish an Impact Assessment in due course.
The OBR have said that they expect these changes to mean that 371,000 fewer people will be declared as having Limited Capability for Work Related Activity by 2028/29 than otherwise would be the case. HMT have published the impacts in their policy costing note that accompanies the Autumn Statement.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
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 that existing claimants are not included in further potential reviews into eligibility for the (a) Limited Capability for Work and Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity categories within Universal Credit and (b) the Work-Related Activity Group and Support Group within Employment and Support Allowance.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
As we have set out clearly in the Government response to the Work Capability Assessment: Activities and Descriptors Consultation (CP 973), through a new ‘Chance to Work Guarantee’, in 2025 we will effectively abolish the WCA for most existing Limited Capability for Work-Related Activity (LCWRA) claimants who are not expected to look for, or prepare for, work. This will remove the fear of reassessments and give people the confidence to try work, while providing continuity of service for vulnerable claimants.
For claimants in the LCWRA Group in Universal Credit (UC) and the Support Group in Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), reassessments will only take place under very limited circumstances, including:
Existing LCW claimants will be called for reassessment as normal depending on their circumstances, including their prognosis period and available capacity in the system.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Government's consultation on Disability workforce reporting, published on 16 December 2021, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of requiring companies with more than 250 employees to publish annual data on the number of disabled people they employ as a proportion of their workforce; and when he plans to respond to that consultation.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Following the judgement from the Court of Appeal that the National Disability Strategy is lawful, work has recommenced on disability workforce reporting. Analysis of the consultation is underway and we will publish the findings and next steps in 2024.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to require companies with more than 250 employees to publish data annually on (a) their disability pay gap and (b) the proportion of disabled employees within each pay quartile.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Following the judgement from the Court of Appeal that the National Disability Strategy is lawful, work has recommenced on disability workforce reporting. Analysis of the consultation is underway and we will publish the findings and next steps in 2024.