Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to extend the (a) statutory and (b) regulatory standards for drilling boreholes in mineral exploration or evaluation to the drilling of boreholes for the purposes of installing ground-source heat pumps; and whether her Department plans to introduce safety legislation for borehole drilling on private land.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Borehole Sites and Operations Regulations 1995 (BSOR) require operators to notify the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in advance if drilling is taking place in a defined mining area. These Regulations do not apply to drilling for the purposes of installing ground-source heat pumps (GSHPs).
Drilling for the purposes of installing GSHPs is covered by the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (HSWA), which places a fundamental general duty on employers to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of their employees, and of other people who may be affected by the work activity. The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 also apply, which requires suitable and sufficient risk assessments to be carried out and suitable arrangements to be implemented to manage risks.
There is currently no intention to bring drilling for the installation of GSHPs within the scope of BSOR.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of using the same eligibility criteria for Universal Credit and Child Benefit for claimants in non-advanced education; and if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of that approach on families supporting students whose education may be extended due to having additional needs.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
There are no current plans to make such an assessment.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of allowing future childcare costs to be met in advance through Universal Credit rather than being recovered retrospectively.
Answered by Jo Churchill
The Government recognises that high childcare costs can affect parents’ decisions to take up paid work or increase their working hours which is why on June 28, 2023, the Department started providing even more help with initial upfront childcare costs when parents move into work or increase their hours.
This means that a parent who needs this additional financial help can now be provided with funding towards both their first and second set of costs (or increased costs), upfront, thereby easing them into the UC childcare costs cycle.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the (a) mean, (b) median, (c) longest and (d) shortest wait time was for processing mandatory reconsiderations of benefits decisions in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The lower quartile, median, mean and upper quartile waiting times for processing mandatory reconsiderations for PIP, UC and ESA benefit decisions are below. To provide information across all other DWP administered benefits would incur disproportionate cost.
Note that information about the extremes of a distribution (e.g. the maximum clearance time) risks being disclosive. We would not release this information publicly. Therefore, we have presented information on the lower quartile, median, mean and upper quartile of clearance times. Please note, the mean can be unduly affected by outlying cases. As such, the median is our preferred central measure for MR clearance times.
Table 1: PIP MR clearance times (calendar days), Normal Rules, from August 2021 to July 2022
Year | Lower Quartile | Median | Mean | Upper Quartile |
August 2021 – July 2022 | 38 | 57 | 55 | 70 |
Notes:
Table 2: UC MR clearance times (calendar days) from October 2021 to September 2022
Year | Lower Quartile | Median | Mean | Upper Quartile |
October 2021 to September 2022 | 23 | 51 | 67 | 100 |
Notes:
Table 3: ESA WCA MR clearance times (calendar days) from August 2021 to July 2022
Year | Lower Quartile | Median | Mean | Upper Quartile |
August 2021 to July 2022 | 5 | 10 | 13 | 14 |
Notes:
1. ESA MR clearance times are based on the date when the Benefit Centre has decided that the MR received is a valid MR, having considered whether they can initially change the decision in the light of any new information to the date when the decision maker at the Dispute Resolution Team (DRT) has cleared and logged the final decision.
Notes
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, (a) what percentage of the 2.6 million people who were claiming legacy benefits in April 2022 have now undergone managed migration to universal credit and (b) what recent assessment she has made of the (i) financial and (ii) emotional impact of managed migration on legacy benefits claimants.
Answered by Victoria Prentis
Managed Migration is a three-year process scheduled to end in 2024 and 55% of people will be better off on Universal credit per month.
In May 2022, DWP began a discovery phase, in line with best practice for agile projects, this phase using the findings from Discovery takes a multi-location approach across the country with small number of claimants, we will continue to develop our processes and systems to ensure the transition to Universal Credit works as smoothly as possible before we proceed to scale the migration process.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many mandatory reconsiderations of benefits decisions are awaiting processing as of 10 October 2022; what steps her Department is taking to help reduce the number of mandatory reconsiderations that are awaiting processing; and if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a clearance time for mandatory reconsiderations.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Shadow Minister (Equalities)
There are currently 90,738 mandatory reconsiderations of benefit decisions awaiting processing at 10th October 2022.
DWP are taking steps to help reduce the number of mandatory reconsiderations awaiting processing by improving our processes and correspondence to make the delivery of the mandatory reconsideration customer journey more efficient whilst still ensuring effective decision making and customer service. We have also increased our decision maker capacity by 470 full time equivalent staff over the last 3 months.
We have no plans to introduce a target clearance time. While we endeavour to make decisions without delay, it is important that a decision maker is able to conduct a comprehensive review of the decision being disputed to make a fully informed Mandatory Reconsideration decision.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made made of the potential merits of classifying Long Covid as a disability, for the purposes of giving employment protections under the Equality Act 2010 to affected people.
Answered by Chloe Smith
‘Long Covid’ is not classed as a disability. COVID is still a relatively new condition and work is ongoing to understand its long-term effects. Making such a determination would therefore be premature.
As research into the long-term health symptoms and impacts of COVID-19 is ongoing, we will continue to monitor and consider the Government’s support provisions and approach in line with the emerging evidence.
As part of the Government's response to the pandemic, individuals may be eligible for SSP where they are sick or self-isolating due to coronavirus, including where they have tested positive for coronavirus but otherwise feel well. Statutory Sick Pay is payable from the first day of sickness absence from work, rather than the fourth, where an individual is self-isolating due to coronavirus. The usual eligibility criteria continue to apply.
If an individual requires further financial support while off work sick, for example where their income is reduced while on Statutory Sick Pay, they may be able to claim Universal Credit depending on their personal circumstances. Where they are not eligible, for example because they earn below the Lower Earnings Limit, they may also be able to claim New Style Employment and Support Allowance and Universal Credit.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what timescales her Department has set for private contracted firms to complete assessments of personal independence payments.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The Department has three Personal Independence Payment (PIP) contracts for Assessment Provider Services.
Atos IT Services UK Ltd (T/A Independent Assessment Services) are contracted to deliver PIP assessments in Lot 1 (North West England / North East England / Scotland / Isle of Man) and Lot 3 (London / Southern England.)
Capita Business Services Ltd are contracted to deliver PIP assessments in Lot 2 (Central England / Wales).
Service Level requirements for the delivery of assessments are consistent across all PIP contracts. These are detailed below.
Service Level Requirement | Service Level |
PIP Assessment end to end assessment process (excluding Terminally Ill cases). | All cleared within an Average Actual Clearance Time of 35 Working Days |
Terminally Ill (TI) cases end to end assessment process. | All TI cases cleared within an average period of two (2) Working Days |
Terminally Ill (TI) cases end to end assessment process. | 100% to be cleared within five (5) Working Days. |
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 11 January 2021 to Question 133744 on Personal Independence Payment: Coronavirus, for what reasons claimants are being advised by a private firm contracted by her Department that timescales are not in place to due to the covid-19.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
We have interpreted your question to mean what reason claimants are advised by assessment providers (Capita and Independent Assessment Services), contracted by her department, that timescales are not currently in place due to COVID-19.
The department maintains the same targets for claims clearance as pre-COVID, but recognises the current delivery challenges faced by its providers due to COVID-19. We are working with our providers to provide continued support to claimants in need of Personal Independence Payment (PIP). We remain committed to delivering quality functional assessments and ensuring claimants are assessed as quickly as possible.
So we do not place people at unnecessary risk, we have temporarily suspended face to face PIP assessments. All assessments are currently being progressed on the basis of paper based evidence alone, or that evidence together with a telephone assessment to ensure decisions on PIP can be made without delay.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the potential additional barriers people with mental health problems experience in applying for benefits during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
Ministers and officials of both Departments hold regular discussions relating to the ongoing covid-19 outbreak including its impact on people with health conditions.
My Department has provided mental health training for staff who have direct contact with claimants, including all Work Coaches, to equip them to identify mental wellbeing issues or vulnerabilities, and to take appropriate action to support individuals. Work Coaches will tailor support to the needs of the individual and work closely with local organisations that provide additional specialist support.
Background
Mental wellbeing training has been provided for all staff (around 30,000 colleagues trained to date) who have direct contact with customers (including via telephone).
Staff have also had specific training to help them to identify vulnerable people, and signpost or refer them to further support provided by local partners. Every jobcentre has a complex needs toolkit containing links to local organisations to facilitate this.
Since the start of the pandemic we’ve introduced online claim application processes for ESA and Pension Credit claimants (telephony options still exist). And we’ve also introduced new services for deaf claimants.