Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of proposed changes to the Access to Work Scheme in the Pathways to Work Green Paper on individual claimants.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We will review all aspects of the Access to Work scheme after evaluating the findings of the Pathways to Work consultation alongside the work of the collaboration committees.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to implement proposed changes to the Access to Work Scheme in the Pathways to Work Green Paper.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Reforms to Access to Work are needed to ensure a better service for customers, to help disabled people start and stay in work, to provide clarity in what support should be provided and to ensure we are providing value for money for the taxpayer.
Following the consultation launched by the Pathways to Work Green Paper, which closed in June, we are reviewing all aspects of the Scheme. We are working closely on proposals with stakeholders, and in particular disabled people and their representatives. We have established a Collaboration Committee that brings disabled people and other experts together to inform changes to the design of the Scheme.
No changes have been made to Access to Work policy. We will announce any changes prior to them being implemented.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many successful mandatory reconsiderations there have been since 2020, broken down by (a) year, (b) value, and (c) benefit type.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Information for Personal Independence Payment and Employment and Support Allowance can be found on Stat Xplore.
Successful Personal Independence Payment (PIP) mandatory reconsiderations (MRs) can be found on the ‘PIP MR Clearances’ dataset. Use the ‘Geography’ and ‘National – Regional – LA – OAs’ filter to select ‘DWP policy ownership’. The ‘MR Decision’ filter can be used to select ‘New Decision – Award Changed’ and the ‘Month’ filter can be used to select the years you are interested in.
For Employment Support Allowance Work Capability Assessment (ESA WCA) successful MRs, use the ‘Mandatory Reconsiderations – Clearances’ dataset. Use the ‘Geography’ and ‘National – Regional – LA – Ward’ filter to select ‘Great Britain’ and then ‘England’ and ‘Wales’. The ‘Decision’ filter can be used to select ‘Revised – allowed’ and the ‘Date of Decision’ filter can be used to select the time period needed.
You can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest user and, if needed, you can access guidance on how to extract the information required.
Universal Credit (UC) MRs can be found in Table 1 below.
Table 1: volume of successful UC MRs by financial year
| 2019_20 | 2020_21 | 2021_22 | 2022_23 | 2023_24 | 2024_25 |
Volume of successful MRs | 50,000 | 47,000 | 61,000 | 100,000 | 107,000 | 110,000 |
Notes:
Information on other benefit MRs as well as their value is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make a comparative assessment of the level of Universal Credit payments made to foster carers with the prior system of (a) Working Tax Credit and (b) Child Tax Credit.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No such assessment has been made. Whilst the UC child element won’t be paid if the child or qualifying young person is looked after by a foster carer, the allowance and fees received by foster carers in return for fostering are not treated as earnings and are fully disregarded for the purposes of calculating entitlement to Universal Credit. The rules differ to how WTC and CTC treated the income.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the service standards of Royal Mail’s parcel (a) management and (b) delivery.
Answered by Justin Madders
Ofcom is the independent regulator for the postal sector with the responsibility and powers to regulate postal services.
Ofcom engages regularly with parcel operators to understand their approach to implementation of Ofcom’s consumer protection measures. The results of its most recent survey research on consumer satisfaction with parcel delivery services is published in Ofcom’s 2023-24 Post Monitoring Report: www.ofcom.org.uk/siteassets/resources/documents/postal-services/monitoring-reports/2023-2024/post-monitoring-report-2023-24.pdf
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has made an assessment of levels of customer satisfaction with Royal Mail’s parcel (a) management and (b) delivery.
Answered by Justin Madders
Ofcom is the independent regulator for the postal sector with the responsibility and powers to regulate postal services.
Ofcom engages regularly with parcel operators to understand their approach to implementation of Ofcom’s consumer protection measures. The results of its most recent survey research on consumer satisfaction with parcel delivery services is published in Ofcom’s 2023-24 Post Monitoring Report: www.ofcom.org.uk/siteassets/resources/documents/postal-services/monitoring-reports/2023-2024/post-monitoring-report-2023-24.pdf
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the charging of (a) interest and (b) compound interest on Equity Release Loans by financial services companies on (i) elderly customers and (ii) relatives of deceased customers.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Decisions concerning the design of loans, including the interest charged, are commercial decisions for firms in which the Government does not intervene.
However, equity release products are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and so benefit from consumer protections under the Financial Conduct Authority’s rules, including requiring lenders to engage and provide tailored support to their customers and that advertising is clear, fair and not misleading. Anyone considering equity release should seek independent financial advice to help ensure that the product is suitable for their individual needs.
The Equity Release Council, which represents the sector, also promotes high standards of conduct and practice across the industry.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many benefit overpayments have been recovered since 2020, broken down by (a) year, (b) value, and (c) benefit type.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Estimates of the overpayment cost of fraud and error in the benefit system for the past five financial years can be found at: Fraud and error in the benefit system - GOV.UK
Recovery of benefit overpayments can be found in the attached annex.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many benefit overpayments there have been since 2020, broken down by (a) year, (b) value, and (c) benefit type.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Estimates of the overpayment cost of fraud and error in the benefit system for the past five financial years can be found at: Fraud and error in the benefit system - GOV.UK
Recovery of benefit overpayments can be found in the attached annex.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has conducted an impact assessment of Royal Mail’s service standards performance on connectivity between local communities.
Answered by Justin Madders
It is for Ofcom, as the independent regulator for the postal sector to ensure the provision of the universal postal service. I recently met representatives of Ofcom who gave their reassurance that the regulator is closely monitoring Royal Mail’s performance and will regularly press Royal Mail on this issue to improve service levels as a matter of urgency.