Asked by: Richard Burgon (Independent - Leeds East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will take steps to ensure that disabled jobseekers can access the assistive technology they need to look for work.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
As part of our reforms to jobcentres outlined in the Get Britain Working White Paper, we will explore how we can use assistive digital technology and modern premises design to support greater accessibility and inclusiveness. We will also ensure we offer a range of channels to meet people’s differing needs, whether online, on the phone or in person.
Asked by: Richard Burgon (Independent - Leeds East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will ensure that every computer in a jobcentre is equipped with assistive technology.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Computers allocated to DWP staff in jobcentres are equipped with the suite of software that comes with the operating system, augmented by specialist software as determined through the reasonable adjustments process on an individual basis to meet the specific needs of the staff member in question.
As part of its commitment to make services accessible to all customers, the Department provides computers for customer use in Jobcentres. All the computers have assistive technology built into those Operating Systems such as screen readers and screen magnification and are managed separately from the wider DWP IT estate.
The Department also provides a range of other items in Jobcentres such as alternative keyboards. Computers for customer use with assistive technology are currently in 634 permanent jobcentres.
Asked by: Richard Burgon (Independent - Leeds East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department plans to take steps to reduce the clearance time for mandatory reconsiderations of Personal Independence Payment decisions.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Whilst we aim to make the right decision as early as possible in the claim journey, Mandatory Reconsideration is a key element of the Department’s decision-making process. It offers customers an opportunity to challenge decisions and provide any additional information which may be relevant to their claim.
We recognise that the most recent data shows an increase in Mandatory Reconsideration clearance times, from 37 calendar days in December 2023 to 71 calendar days in July 2024. To address this, we are recruiting Mandatory Reconsideration Decision Makers and have made overtime available to increase productivity.
Asked by: Richard Burgon (Independent - Leeds East)
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 effectiveness of the mandatory reconsideration process.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Whilst we aim to make the right decision as early as possible in the claim journey, Mandatory Reconsideration is a key element of the Department’s decision-making process. It offers customers an opportunity to challenge decisions and provide any additional information which may be relevant to their claim.
We recognise that the most recent data shows an increase in Mandatory Reconsideration clearance times, from 37 calendar days in December 2023 to 71 calendar days in July 2024. To address this, we are recruiting Mandatory Reconsideration Decision Makers and have made overtime available to increase productivity.
Asked by: Richard Burgon (Independent - Leeds East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle poverty for people on low incomes; and if she will bring forward legislative proposals to introduce a statutory duty to progressively reduce levels of poverty for those people.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the Rt. Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 6 December to PQ17569 in relation to poverty and living standards.
Asked by: Richard Burgon (Independent - Leeds East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what level her Department will raise the living standards of those struggling to meet their basic needs by 2030; and if she will bring forward legislative proposals to ensure a statutory commitment to a level of progress.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are committed to tackling poverty and raising living standards.
We know that good work can significantly reduce the chances of people falling into poverty so this will be the foundation of our approach. Backed by £240 million investment, the Get Britain Working White Paper launched on 26 November will target and tackle economic inactivity and unemployment and join up employment, health and skills support to meet the needs of local communities.
Alongside this, we are committed to reviewing Universal Credit to make sure it is doing the job we want it to do. We started this work with the announcement of the Fair Repayment Rate in the Budget and will continue to work with stakeholders as the review progresses.
We are taking further steps to tackle poverty through our commitments to triple investment in breakfast clubs to over £30 million and increase the National Living Wage to £12.21 an hour from April 2025 to boost the pay of 3 million workers.
The Child Poverty Taskforce also continues its urgent work to publish the Child Poverty Strategy and will explore all available levers to drive forward short and long-term actions across government to deliver an enduring reduction in child poverty in this parliament, as part of a 10-year Strategy for lasting change. The taskforce is exploring a range of metrics and will make decisions alongside the publication of the strategy in Spring 2025.
Asked by: Richard Burgon (Independent - Leeds East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Written Statement of 8 October 2024 on DWP Fraud, Error and Debt Bill, HCWS114, what estimate her Department has made of the proportion of the £1.6 billion saved over the next five year period will be due to tackling (a) fraud, (b) error and (c) debt in each of the next five years.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The savings from the Eligibility Verification Measure (EVM) come from both fraud and error, and it is not possible to separate the components.
The measures referred to have now been scrutinised by the Office for Budget Responsibility and included in the Budget (table 2.1 https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/672b98bb40f7da695c921c61/Autumn_Budget_2024_Print.pdf) that sets out the year by year savings and estimates £1.5bn over five years from 25/26.
The proportions coming from a) fraud and error which comes from EVM and b) debt which comes from the new debt recovery powers in each year is as follows:
| 2025-26 | 2026-27 | 2027-28 | 2028-29 | 2029-30 |
F&E | N/A | 33% | 55% | 64% | 65% |
Debt | N/A | 67% | 45% | 36% | 35% |
Asked by: Richard Burgon (Independent - Leeds East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the total amount lost to personal independence payment (a) fraud and (b) over-payment in financial year (a) 2023-24 and (b) 2024-25.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Estimates of the levels of fraud and error in the benefit system for financial year 2023-24 can be found at: Fraud and error in the benefit system - GOV.UK
Below is an extract:
PERSONAL INDEPENDENCE PAYMENTS (PIP) | ||
| Overpayments | |
| FYE 24 | FYE 23 |
All | 0.4% (£90m) | 1.1% (£200m) |
Fraud | 0.0% (£0m) | 0.2% (£40m) |
Claimant Error | 0.3% (£60m) | 0.8% (£140m) |
Official Error | 0.1% (£30m) | 0.1% (£20m) |
The Department will publish the figures for 2024 – 25 in the upcoming year.
Asked by: Richard Burgon (Independent - Leeds East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will hold discussions with disability organisations on the potential merits of visits by job coaches to mental health patients in hospital.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Ministers across Government value the insights that can be gained from meeting with people with experience and the organisations that represent them. The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions demonstrated this recently, sharing her experience of visiting a severe mental illness Individual Placement and Support programme.
The Individual Placement and Support employment model is internationally recognised as one of the most effective ways to support people with mental health problems to gain and keep paid employment. IPS services offer intensive, individually tailored support to help people choose and find the right job, with ongoing support for the employer and employee to help ensure the person sustains their employment.
Policy responsibility for the severe mental illness Individual Placement and Support programme rests with Ministerial colleagues at the Department for Health and Social Care.
Asked by: Richard Burgon (Independent - Leeds East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate her Department has made of the number of additional people that will register for Pension Credit between 1 September and 31 December 2024.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
No such estimate has been made.
For Pension Credit claims received up to 22 September 2024, the following report contains weekly figures: Weekly Pension Credit claims received from 1 April 2024 to 22 September 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)