Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many of his Department's (a) laptops, (b) mobile phones, (c) memory sticks and (d) external hard drives have been lost or stolen in each of the last five years.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Please see the table provided for figures on lost or stolen computers and phones.
Information requested for memory sticks and external hard drives is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Lost and stolen | 17/18 | 18/19 | 19/20 | 20/21 | 21/22 | 22/23* |
Computers (laptops and Surface Pros) | 24 | 40 | 52 | 47 | 140 | 130 |
Mobile Phones | 44 | 75 | 92 | 32 | 67 | 60 |
*up to end of November 2022
All DWP mobile phones and laptops are password protected and encrypted in accordance with Data Protection guidelines.
The figures provided combine lost and stolen items and do not include cases where items have been recovered. The majority of these losses/thefts occurred in home/office break-ins and whilst travelling. To put this in context, DWP is the largest government department employing over 82,000 staff and is a geographically dispersed organisation, with managers having responsibility for colleagues across a number of locations.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to introduce means testing for (a) Disability Living Allowance and (b) Personal Independence Payment.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
We have no plans to means test Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and Personal Independence Payment (PIP).
Both DLA and PIP are intended to act as a contribution towards the extra costs that arise as a result of a long-term health condition, or disability, and have been non-means tested since they were introduced.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
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 to reform Support for Mortgage Interest by (a) removing the zero earnings rule, (b) reducing the qualifying period from nine months to three months and (c) offering the support as a grant.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government announced a package of Housing Reforms on 9th June 2022, including changes to extend the Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) scheme. The reforms include reducing the qualifying period from nine to three months and removing the zero earnings rule to extend SMI eligibility to all eligible Universal Credit claimants. Further details of the changes are being worked on by officials and will be announced in due course.
There are no plans to revert SMI to a benefit. The purchase of a home involves the acquisition of a valuable capital asset and so a fair balance has to be struck between the needs of homeowners and the cost to taxpayers. The loan system offers the same degree of protection from repossession at the point of need but strikes a better balance between the needs of claimants and the cost to taxpayers.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will publish a breakdown of the number of recipients of Support for Mortgage Interest by (a) constituency and (b) region.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The table below shows the number of households with Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) loan in payment, by region, for the latest quarter (March to May 2022). This comes from the latest published data on Support for Mortgage Interest and includes all cases in payment in Great Britain. Statistical disclosure control has been applied.
Region | March to May 2022 |
North East | 578 |
North West | 1,880 |
Yorkshire and The Humber | 1,015 |
East Midlands | 929 |
West Midlands | 1,208 |
East of England | 1,080 |
London | 1,423 |
South East | 1,517 |
South West | 1,221 |
Wales | 924 |
Scotland | 1,063 |
Total | 12,845 |
The table below shows the number of households with SMI loan in payment, by parliamentary constituency, for the latest quarter (March to May 2022). Statistical disclosure control has been applied to this table to avoid the release of confidential data where ".." denotes a nil or negligible number of claimants. Therefore, the total number of households with an SMI loan in payment may not sum due to the disclosure control applied.
Parliamentary Constituency | Number of households receiving an SMI payment in quarter March to May 2022 |
|
|
Aberavon | 26 |
Aberconwy | 9 |
Aberdeen North | 10 |
Aberdeen South | 12 |
Airdrie and Shotts | 24 |
Aldershot | 21 |
Aldridge-Brownhills | 22 |
Altrincham and Sale West | 22 |
Alyn and Deeside | 18 |
Amber Valley | 7 |
Angus | 5 |
Arfon | 9 |
Argyll and Bute | 9 |
Arundel and South Downs | 20 |
Ashfield | 27 |
Ashford | 21 |
Ashton-under-Lyne | 20 |
Aylesbury | 15 |
Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock | 18 |
Banbury | 12 |
Banff and Buchan | 9 |
Barking | 30 |
Barnsley Central | 18 |
Barnsley East | 21 |
Barrow and Furness | 26 |
Basildon and Billericay | 25 |
Basingstoke | 15 |
Bassetlaw | 20 |
Bath | 8 |
Batley and Spen | 24 |
Battersea | 15 |
Beaconsfield | 7 |
Beckenham | 15 |
Bedford | 23 |
Bermondsey and Old Southwark | 19 |
Berwick-upon-Tweed | 5 |
Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk | 10 |
Bethnal Green and Bow | 17 |
Beverley and Holderness | 17 |
Bexhill and Battle | 22 |
Bexleyheath and Crayford | 21 |
Birkenhead | 37 |
Birmingham, Edgbaston | 25 |
Birmingham, Erdington | 36 |
Birmingham, Hall Green | 41 |
Birmingham, Hodge Hill | 41 |
Birmingham, Ladywood | 19 |
Birmingham, Northfield | 24 |
Birmingham, Perry Barr | 23 |
Birmingham, Selly Oak | 24 |
Birmingham, Yardley | 53 |
Bishop Auckland | 19 |
Blackburn | 26 |
Blackley and Broughton | 33 |
Blackpool North and Cleveleys | 39 |
Blackpool South | 48 |
Blaenau Gwent | 21 |
Blaydon | 16 |
Blyth Valley | 15 |
Bognor Regis and Littlehampton | 35 |
Bolsover | 15 |
Bolton North East | 10 |
Bolton South East | 30 |
Bolton West | 22 |
Bootle | 38 |
Boston and Skegness | 27 |
Bosworth | 18 |
Bournemouth East | 40 |
Bournemouth West | 46 |
Bracknell | 15 |
Bradford East | 40 |
Bradford South | 58 |
Bradford West | 35 |
Braintree | 12 |
Brecon and Radnorshire | 8 |
Brent Central | 21 |
Brent North | 23 |
Brentford and Isleworth | 17 |
Brentwood and Ongar | 17 |
Bridgend | 34 |
Bridgwater and West Somerset | 20 |
Brigg and Goole | 15 |
Brighton, Kemptown | 34 |
Brighton, Pavilion | 18 |
Bristol East | 39 |
Bristol North West | 21 |
Bristol South | 25 |
Bristol West | 12 |
Broadland | 18 |
Bromley and Chislehurst | 18 |
Bromsgrove | 10 |
Broxbourne | 35 |
Broxtowe | 13 |
Buckingham | 11 |
Burnley | 22 |
Burton | 13 |
Bury North | 26 |
Bury South | 26 |
Bury St Edmunds | 23 |
Caerphilly | 36 |
Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross | 6 |
Calder Valley | 19 |
Camberwell and Peckham | 18 |
Camborne and Redruth | 33 |
Cambridge | 9 |
Cannock Chase | 20 |
Canterbury | 9 |
Cardiff Central | 26 |
Cardiff North | 24 |
Cardiff South and Penarth | 49 |
Cardiff West | 34 |
Carlisle | 10 |
Carmarthen East and Dinefwr | 16 |
Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire | 21 |
Carshalton and Wallington | 15 |
Castle Point | 26 |
Central Ayrshire | 27 |
Central Devon | 15 |
Central Suffolk and North Ipswich | 18 |
Ceredigion | 14 |
Charnwood | 22 |
Chatham and Aylesford | 21 |
Cheadle | 24 |
Chelmsford | 16 |
Chelsea and Fulham | 6 |
Cheltenham | 11 |
Chesham and Amersham | 8 |
Chesterfield | 25 |
Chichester | 8 |
Chingford and Woodford Green | 25 |
Chippenham | 21 |
Chipping Barnet | 28 |
Chorley | 26 |
Christchurch | 22 |
Cities of London and Westminster | 5 |
City of Chester | 21 |
City of Durham | 13 |
Clacton | 45 |
Cleethorpes | 33 |
Clwyd South | 15 |
Clwyd West | 20 |
Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill | 32 |
Colchester | 13 |
Colne Valley | 22 |
Congleton | 17 |
Copeland | 10 |
Corby | 24 |
Coventry North East | 31 |
Coventry North West | 27 |
Coventry South | 18 |
Crawley | 10 |
Crewe and Nantwich | 17 |
Croydon Central | 28 |
Croydon North | 41 |
Croydon South | 26 |
Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East | 37 |
Cynon Valley | 23 |
Dagenham and Rainham | 19 |
Darlington | 26 |
Dartford | 24 |
Daventry | 13 |
Delyn | 34 |
Denton and Reddish | 19 |
Derby North | 16 |
Derby South | 18 |
Derbyshire Dales | 7 |
Devizes | 12 |
Dewsbury | 24 |
Don Valley | 19 |
Doncaster Central | 36 |
Doncaster North | 14 |
Dover | 20 |
Dudley North | 18 |
Dudley South | 14 |
Dulwich and West Norwood | 18 |
Dumfries and Galloway | 16 |
Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale | 11 |
Dundee East | 14 |
Dundee West | 9 |
Dunfermline and West Fife | 16 |
Dwyfor Meirionnydd | 12 |
Ealing Central and Acton | 19 |
Ealing North | 30 |
Ealing, Southall | 27 |
Easington | 20 |
East Devon | 18 |
East Dunbartonshire | 29 |
East Ham | 24 |
East Hampshire | 12 |
East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow | 34 |
East Lothian | 12 |
East Renfrewshire | 21 |
East Surrey | 18 |
East Worthing and Shoreham | 24 |
East Yorkshire | 18 |
Eastbourne | 38 |
Eastleigh | 31 |
Eddisbury | 15 |
Edinburgh East | 9 |
Edinburgh North and Leith | 14 |
Edinburgh South | 7 |
Edinburgh South West | 14 |
Edinburgh West | 12 |
Edmonton | 39 |
Ellesmere Port and Neston | 25 |
Elmet and Rothwell | 11 |
Eltham | 22 |
Enfield North | 32 |
Enfield, Southgate | 22 |
Epping Forest | 31 |
Epsom and Ewell | 11 |
Erewash | 21 |
Erith and Thamesmead | 24 |
Esher and Walton | 13 |
Exeter | 23 |
Falkirk | 16 |
Fareham | 16 |
Faversham and Mid Kent | 17 |
Feltham and Heston | 24 |
Filton and Bradley Stoke | 25 |
Finchley and Golders Green | 18 |
Folkestone and Hythe | 34 |
Forest of Dean | 10 |
Fylde | 25 |
Gainsborough | 19 |
Garston and Halewood | 31 |
Gateshead | 17 |
Gedling | 22 |
Gillingham and Rainham | 22 |
Glasgow Central | 20 |
Glasgow East | 50 |
Glasgow North | 17 |
Glasgow North East | 37 |
Glasgow North West | 29 |
Glasgow South | 31 |
Glasgow South West | 43 |
Glenrothes | 15 |
Gloucester | 27 |
Gordon | 16 |
Gosport | 19 |
Gower | 23 |
Grantham and Stamford | 12 |
Gravesham | 19 |
Great Grimsby | 36 |
Great Yarmouth | 21 |
Greenwich and Woolwich | 10 |
Guildford | 9 |
Hackney North and Stoke Newington | 9 |
Hackney South and Shoreditch | 17 |
Halesowen and Rowley Regis | 19 |
Halifax | 28 |
Haltemprice and Howden | 9 |
Halton | 38 |
Hammersmith | 18 |
Hampstead and Kilburn | 13 |
Harborough | 16 |
Harlow | 18 |
Harrogate and Knaresborough | 14 |
Harrow East | 20 |
Harrow West | 17 |
Hartlepool | 31 |
Harwich and North Essex | 18 |
Hastings and Rye | 43 |
Havant | 29 |
Hayes and Harlington | 19 |
Hazel Grove | 25 |
Hemel Hempstead | 15 |
Hemsworth | 22 |
Hendon | 29 |
Henley | 16 |
Hereford and South Herefordshire | 25 |
Hertford and Stortford | 14 |
Hertsmere | 21 |
Hexham | 5 |
Heywood and Middleton | 29 |
High Peak | 17 |
Hitchin and Harpenden | .. |
Holborn and St Pancras | 14 |
Hornchurch and Upminster | 23 |
Hornsey and Wood Green | 17 |
Horsham | 6 |
Houghton and Sunderland South | 25 |
Hove | 32 |
Huddersfield | 18 |
Huntingdon | 7 |
Hyndburn | 15 |
Ilford North | 21 |
Ilford South | 36 |
Inverclyde | 24 |
Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey | 12 |
Ipswich | 21 |
Isle of Wight | 42 |
Islington North | 16 |
Islington South and Finsbury | 19 |
Islwyn | 21 |
Jarrow | 16 |
Keighley | 14 |
Kenilworth and Southam | 10 |
Kensington | 10 |
Kettering | 22 |
Kilmarnock and Loudoun | 12 |
Kingston and Surbiton | 27 |
Kingston upon Hull East | 11 |
Kingston upon Hull North | 18 |
Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle | 15 |
Kingswood | 17 |
Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath | 15 |
Knowsley | 41 |
Lanark and Hamilton East | 26 |
Lancaster and Fleetwood | 25 |
Leeds Central | 21 |
Leeds East | 11 |
Leeds North East | 24 |
Leeds North West | 12 |
Leeds West | 17 |
Leicester East | 29 |
Leicester South | 22 |
Leicester West | 28 |
Leigh | 40 |
Lewes | 14 |
Lewisham East | 34 |
Lewisham West and Penge | 19 |
Lewisham, Deptford | 16 |
Leyton and Wanstead | 9 |
Lichfield | 7 |
Lincoln | 24 |
Linlithgow and East Falkirk | 23 |
Liverpool, Riverside | 19 |
Liverpool, Walton | 38 |
Liverpool, Wavertree | 30 |
Liverpool, West Derby | 33 |
Livingston | 26 |
Llanelli | 24 |
Loughborough | 25 |
Louth and Horncastle | 28 |
Ludlow | 10 |
Luton North | 31 |
Luton South | 34 |
Macclesfield | 18 |
Maidenhead | 6 |
Maidstone and The Weald | 12 |
Makerfield | 30 |
Maldon | 11 |
Manchester Central | 23 |
Manchester, Gorton | 30 |
Manchester, Withington | 19 |
Mansfield | 17 |
Meon Valley | 15 |
Meriden | 26 |
Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney | 23 |
Mid Bedfordshire | 9 |
Mid Derbyshire | 14 |
Mid Dorset and North Poole | 17 |
Mid Norfolk | 12 |
Mid Sussex | 11 |
Mid Worcestershire | 14 |
Middlesbrough | 23 |
Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland | 27 |
Midlothian | 15 |
Milton Keynes North | 18 |
Milton Keynes South | 24 |
Mitcham and Morden | 26 |
Mole Valley | 14 |
Monmouth | 12 |
Montgomeryshire | 8 |
Moray | .. |
Morecambe and Lunesdale | 25 |
Morley and Outwood | 20 |
Motherwell and Wishaw | 22 |
Na h-Eileanan an Iar | .. |
Neath | 37 |
New Forest East | 27 |
New Forest West | 17 |
Newark | 18 |
Newbury | 7 |
Newcastle upon Tyne Central | 19 |
Newcastle upon Tyne East | 16 |
Newcastle upon Tyne North | 28 |
Newcastle-under-Lyme | 12 |
Newport East | 19 |
Newport West | 18 |
Newton Abbot | 30 |
Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford | 15 |
North Ayrshire and Arran | 29 |
North Cornwall | 19 |
North Devon | 22 |
North Dorset | 11 |
North Durham | 18 |
North East Bedfordshire | 7 |
North East Cambridgeshire | 33 |
North East Derbyshire | 10 |
North East Fife | 12 |
North East Hampshire | 8 |
North East Hertfordshire | .. |
North East Somerset | 25 |
North Herefordshire | 14 |
North Norfolk | 13 |
North Shropshire | 22 |
North Somerset | 15 |
North Swindon | 37 |
North Thanet | 40 |
North Tyneside | 27 |
North Warwickshire | 20 |
North West Cambridgeshire | 25 |
North West Durham | 21 |
North West Hampshire | 15 |
North West Leicestershire | 14 |
North West Norfolk | 17 |
North Wiltshire | 16 |
Northampton North | 37 |
Northampton South | 24 |
Norwich North | 14 |
Norwich South | 17 |
Nottingham East | 23 |
Nottingham North | 34 |
Nottingham South | 26 |
Nuneaton | 24 |
Ochil and South Perthshire | 13 |
Ogmore | 34 |
Old Bexley and Sidcup | 16 |
Oldham East and Saddleworth | 26 |
Oldham West and Royton | 14 |
Orkney and Shetland | .. |
Orpington | 13 |
Oxford East | 10 |
Oxford West and Abingdon | 12 |
Paisley and Renfrewshire North | 24 |
Paisley and Renfrewshire South | 22 |
Pendle | 17 |
Penistone and Stocksbridge | 9 |
Penrith and The Border | .. |
Perth and North Perthshire | 10 |
Peterborough | 34 |
Plymouth, Moor View | 30 |
Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport | 31 |
Pontypridd | 28 |
Poole | 26 |
Poplar and Limehouse | 17 |
Portsmouth North | 27 |
Portsmouth South | 25 |
Preseli Pembrokeshire | 16 |
Preston | 24 |
Pudsey | 15 |
Putney | 10 |
Rayleigh and Wickford | 13 |
Reading East | 14 |
Reading West | 7 |
Redcar | 26 |
Redditch | 19 |
Reigate | 14 |
Rhondda | 23 |
Ribble Valley | 13 |
Richmond (Yorks) | 10 |
Richmond Park | 12 |
Rochdale | 26 |
Rochester and Strood | 21 |
Rochford and Southend East | 35 |
Romford | 24 |
Romsey and Southampton North | 7 |
Ross, Skye and Lochaber | 13 |
Rossendale and Darwen | 27 |
Rother Valley | 20 |
Rotherham | 14 |
Rugby | 28 |
Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner | 11 |
Runnymede and Weybridge | 12 |
Rushcliffe | 13 |
Rutherglen and Hamilton West | 30 |
Rutland and Melton | 10 |
Saffron Walden | 10 |
Salford and Eccles | 16 |
Salisbury | 14 |
Scarborough and Whitby | 15 |
Scunthorpe | 20 |
Sedgefield | 15 |
Sefton Central | 24 |
Selby and Ainsty | 15 |
Sevenoaks | 10 |
Sheffield Central | 7 |
Sheffield South East | 18 |
Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough | 21 |
Sheffield, Hallam | 12 |
Sheffield, Heeley | 19 |
Sherwood | 25 |
Shipley | 28 |
Shrewsbury and Atcham | 19 |
Sittingbourne and Sheppey | 35 |
Skipton and Ripon | 12 |
Sleaford and North Hykeham | 18 |
Slough | 21 |
Solihull | 20 |
Somerton and Frome | 16 |
South Basildon and East Thurrock | 22 |
South Cambridgeshire | 9 |
South Derbyshire | 19 |
South Dorset | 19 |
South East Cambridgeshire | 13 |
South East Cornwall | 33 |
South Holland and The Deepings | 34 |
South Leicestershire | 12 |
South Norfolk | 8 |
South Northamptonshire | 15 |
South Ribble | 19 |
South Shields | 17 |
South Staffordshire | 9 |
South Suffolk | 6 |
South Swindon | 21 |
South Thanet | 34 |
South West Bedfordshire | 36 |
South West Devon | 27 |
South West Hertfordshire | 8 |
South West Norfolk | 15 |
South West Surrey | 7 |
South West Wiltshire | 27 |
Southampton, Itchen | 26 |
Southampton, Test | 18 |
Southend West | 22 |
Southport | 35 |
Spelthorne | 14 |
St Albans | 8 |
St Austell and Newquay | 24 |
St Helens North | 28 |
St Helens South and Whiston | 36 |
St Ives | 25 |
Stafford | 16 |
Staffordshire Moorlands | 13 |
Stalybridge and Hyde | 28 |
Stevenage | 14 |
Stirling | 8 |
Stockport | 27 |
Stockton North | 22 |
Stockton South | 25 |
Stoke-on-Trent Central | 17 |
Stoke-on-Trent North | 18 |
Stoke-on-Trent South | 17 |
Stone | 14 |
Stourbridge | 30 |
Stratford-on-Avon | 11 |
Streatham | 21 |
Stretford and Urmston | 33 |
Stroud | 11 |
Suffolk Coastal | 15 |
Sunderland Central | 24 |
Surrey Heath | 12 |
Sutton Coldfield | 17 |
Sutton and Cheam | 12 |
Swansea East | 26 |
Swansea West | 20 |
Tamworth | 16 |
Tatton | 20 |
Taunton Deane | 24 |
Telford | 30 |
Tewkesbury | 12 |
The Cotswolds | 10 |
The Wrekin | 23 |
Thirsk and Malton | 10 |
Thornbury and Yate | 17 |
Thurrock | 33 |
Tiverton and Honiton | 13 |
Tonbridge and Malling | 6 |
Tooting | 11 |
Torbay | 35 |
Torfaen | 25 |
Torridge and West Devon | 19 |
Totnes | 35 |
Tottenham | 15 |
Truro and Falmouth | 20 |
Tunbridge Wells | 11 |
Twickenham | 12 |
Tynemouth | 20 |
Uxbridge and South Ruislip | 18 |
Vale of Clwyd | 46 |
Vale of Glamorgan | 48 |
Vauxhall | 14 |
Wakefield | 12 |
Wallasey | 48 |
Walsall North | 20 |
Walsall South | 19 |
Walthamstow | 28 |
Wansbeck | 18 |
Wantage | 15 |
Warley | 30 |
Warrington North | 29 |
Warrington South | 24 |
Warwick and Leamington | 14 |
Washington and Sunderland West | 26 |
Watford | 21 |
Waveney | 37 |
Wealden | 24 |
Weaver Vale | 19 |
Wellingborough | 29 |
Wells | 28 |
Welwyn Hatfield | 14 |
Wentworth and Dearne | 11 |
West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine | 7 |
West Bromwich East | 21 |
West Bromwich West | 24 |
West Dorset | 10 |
West Dunbartonshire | 18 |
West Ham | 24 |
West Lancashire | 42 |
West Suffolk | 14 |
West Worcestershire | 13 |
Westminster North | 15 |
Westmorland and Lonsdale | 13 |
Weston-Super-Mare | 39 |
Wigan | 16 |
Wimbledon | 8 |
Winchester | 8 |
Windsor | 17 |
Wirral South | 20 |
Wirral West | 22 |
Witham | 16 |
Witney | 14 |
Woking | 9 |
Wokingham | 8 |
Wolverhampton North East | 21 |
Wolverhampton South East | 23 |
Wolverhampton South West | 10 |
Worcester | 20 |
Workington | 8 |
Worsley and Eccles South | 29 |
Worthing West | 32 |
Wrexham | 14 |
Wycombe | 21 |
Wyre Forest | 14 |
Wyre and Preston North | 25 |
Wythenshawe and Sale East | 29 |
Yeovil | 19 |
Ynys Môn | 11 |
York Central | 10 |
York Outer | 10 |
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will publish the number of recipients of Support for Mortgage Interest in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The table below shows the number of households who had a Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) loan in payment for the past four years from April 2018, the point at which SMI became a loan, to March 2022.
Number of households with an SMI loan in payment by year
2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 |
18,400 | 18,000 | 16,400 | 15,500 |
Note: the year runs from 1st April to 31st March. These figures include all cases in payment in Great Britain and are rounded to the nearest hundred
Note that quarterly experimental statistics are published which include the number of households in receipt of a Support for Mortgage Interest loan payment per quarter. The publication can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/support-for-mortgage-interest-statistics.
The number of households receiving SMI, prior to it becoming a loan, has been published and can be viewed in table 3c, row 20 of the ‘Benefit expenditure and caseload tables’ publication. The publication can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/benefit-expenditure-and-caseload-tables-2022. Note that this does not include Universal Credit households in receipt of SMI.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to keep the (a) triple lock on pensions, (b) winter fuel payment, (c) the older person's bus pass and (d) all other pensioner benefits.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is currently conducting his statutory annual review of State Pension and benefit rates. We cannot pre-empt the outcome of that review, which will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many job vacancies there are in England (a) in total and (b) by region.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Regional figures on the number of job vacancies are not published by the ONS.
ONS data shows that there are 1.25 million job vacancies in the UK in Jul-Sep 2022. This number has been falling for three consecutive quarters from a record high of 1.3 million.
The ONS publishes a weekly index of regional online job adverts, which give us an idea of regional trends in vacancies. As we can see from the data below, online job adverts have fallen in every English region since last year, meaning we are successfully filling vacancies in the labour market and getting people into work.
Change on the year in Online Job Adverts by Region
England: -19.5%
North East: -27.5%
North West: -16.9%
Yorkshire & the Humber: -20.4%
East Midlands: -28.3%
West Midlands: -25%
East of England: -22.7%
London: -16.9%
South East: -15.9%
South West: -17.2%
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has made a comparative assessment of the levels of accuracy between Personal Independence Payment assessments that are made (a) over the phone and (b) face to face.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The department is absolutely committed to ensuring claimants receive high quality, objective and accurate assessments, as part of the suite of evidence the department uses to decide entitlement.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, DWP worked at pace with its providers to deliver telephone and video assessments, changing from face-to-face assessments with minimum delay to the service for claimants. In line with feedback from our Health and Disability Green Paper consultation (2021), we continue to offer telephone and video assessments, alongside face-to-face and paper-based assessments.
The development of the future health assessment strategy will be supported by a programme of in-house analysis, and externally commissioned research into the outcomes and experiences of the multi-channel approach.
Assessment providers work continuously to drive improvements in assessment services, and the department ensures a high standard is maintained across all types of assessment. An Independent Audit function continually monitors performance and provides feedback to the assessment providers. Claimants also have the option to request an audio recording of their Personal Independence Payment telephone assessment, which can improve trust in the process.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she has taken to ensure the accuracy of phone-based assessments for Personal Independence Payments claimants.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The department is absolutely committed to ensuring claimants receive high quality, objective and accurate assessments, as part of the suite of evidence the department uses to decide entitlement.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, DWP worked at pace with its providers to deliver telephone and video assessments, changing from face-to-face assessments with minimum delay to the service for claimants. In line with feedback from our Health and Disability Green Paper consultation (2021), we continue to offer telephone and video assessments, alongside face-to-face and paper-based assessments.
The development of the future health assessment strategy will be supported by a programme of in-house analysis, and externally commissioned research into the outcomes and experiences of the multi-channel approach.
Assessment providers work continuously to drive improvements in assessment services, and the department ensures a high standard is maintained across all types of assessment. An Independent Audit function continually monitors performance and provides feedback to the assessment providers. Claimants also have the option to request an audio recording of their Personal Independence Payment telephone assessment, which can improve trust in the process.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much her Department has spent on consultancy fees in each of the last five years.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The DWP consultancy spend for the financial years ending 2018 through to 2022 is shown below.
2017/18 £7,200,259
2018/19 £4,446,169
2019/20 £4,570,665
2020/21 £1,284,861
2021/22 £1,041,058