Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people were on the WorkWell pilot on 15 May 2024.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
WorkWell, backed by £64m investment, will provide support for up to 59,000 disabled people and people with health conditions to start stay and succeed in work.
The 15 successful WorkWell pilots were announced on 7 May 2024. The pilot areas will now develop a delivery plan with a view to services going live from October 2024.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
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of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department holds data on the number of job offers for disabled people withdrawn due to the time taken to arrange Access to Work packages.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested about the number of job offers for disabled people withdrawn due to the time taken to arrange Access to Work packages is not available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost. However, applications which have a start date of 4 week or less are prioritised to ensure customers are able to enter and remain in the labour market.
The Access to Work statistics includes how many applications result in provision being approved from 2007/08 to 2021/23.
The latest Access to Work statistics can be found on Access to Work statistics on GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the press release entitled 25,000 people to be helped into work as Government ramps up roll-out of flagship Universal Support scheme, published on 13 September 2023, what recent estimate his Department has made of when it will reach its target of assisting 25,000 disabled people through the Universal Support scheme.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We have interpreted your question as referring to the Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care (IPSPC) initiative and Work and Health Programme (WHP) Pioneer, both of which form part of the first phase of Universal Support.
We explained in our press release that we expect to help 25,000 people by September 2024. Progress will be reported in the WHP official statistics publication on GOV.UK. Information relating to IPSPC is not currently available; however, the Secretary of State has committed to the publication of data for the IPSPC initiative as part of the first phase of Universal Support. This will be pre-announced prior to publication.
The next release of published statistics for the WHP is planned for 30 May 2024. This release will include statistics on starts, referrals and individual referrals to WHP Pioneer. Statistics on job outcomes and first earnings from employment will be released in later publications.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people were on the Individual Placement and Support programme on 15 May 2024.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We have interpreted your question as referring to the Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care (IPSPC) initiative and Work and Health Programme (WHP) Pioneer, both of which form part of the first phase of Universal Support.
We explained in our press release that we expect to help 25,000 people by September 2024. Progress will be reported in the WHP official statistics publication on GOV.UK. Information relating to IPSPC is not currently available; however, the Secretary of State has committed to the publication of data for the IPSPC initiative as part of the first phase of Universal Support. This will be pre-announced prior to publication.
The next release of published statistics for the WHP is planned for 30 May 2024. This release will include statistics on starts, referrals and individual referrals to WHP Pioneer. Statistics on job outcomes and first earnings from employment will be released in later publications.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people are being assisted through Universal Support.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We have interpreted your question as referring to the Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care (IPSPC) initiative and Work and Health Programme (WHP) Pioneer, both of which form part of the first phase of Universal Support.
We explained in our press release that we expect to help 25,000 people by September 2024. Progress will be reported in the WHP official statistics publication on GOV.UK. Information relating to IPSPC is not currently available; however, the Secretary of State has committed to the publication of data for the IPSPC initiative as part of the first phase of Universal Support. This will be pre-announced prior to publication.
The next release of published statistics for the WHP is planned for 30 May 2024. This release will include statistics on starts, referrals and individual referrals to WHP Pioneer. Statistics on job outcomes and first earnings from employment will be released in later publications.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much his Department has spent on its Disability Confident employer scheme.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Disability Confident scheme is delivered by a small policy team within the department, and by colleagues across the Jobcentre Plus network, who engage with employers and partner organisations as part of their day-to-day business. Total scheme expenditure is not separately recorded within departmental budgets.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of disabled people receiving Personal Independence Payment are in work.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In March 2023, 475,000 people in receipt of PIP in England, Wales, or outside the UK were in employment in the UK, including self-employment. The proportion of people in receipt of PIP who are in employment was published in Modernising Support for Independent Living - The Health and Disability Green Paper found here.
These figures contain all PIP claimants, including claimants with disabilities and long-term health conditions, and those over pension age.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department plans to take to settle Access to Work payments owed to Icarus Theatre Collective in Southwark to support a disabled actor.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are unable to comment on individual cases.
Claims for Access to Work payments can be submitted via our online portal or through the post and this is clearly explained in customer letters. Approved claims submitted through the proper channels are typically processed within 10 days.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if his Department will conduct analysis on the potential impact on NHS costs of proposed changes to the work capability assessment.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The WCA activities and descriptors consultation closed on Monday 30 October and received over 1300 responses.
The department does not intend to make an assessment of the potential impact on the NHS.
We are committed to ensuring our welfare system encourages and supports people into work, while providing a vital safety net for those who need it most. Working can help promote recovery, lead to better health outcomes, reduce long-term incapacity, and promote participation in society.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to reduce waiting times on Access to Work applications.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Access to Work has continued to improve wait times for customers applying to the service. During the summer wait times have been halved.
Access to Work has received a significant increase in demand and applications over the last year. To address this and to reduce waiting times we have recruited new staff in the year and continue to redeploy staff to reduce decision times. Our latest cohort of redeployed staff started in November. We are now consolidating their learning, which will grow capability and build additional available resource into the next quarter.