Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance his Department produces for Personal Independent Payment assessors on how to process cases where an applicant has epilepsy.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
All claimants, including those with epilepsy, are assessed in accordance with the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) Assessment Guide available on GOV.UK. All PIP Health Professionals (HPs) complete training on neurological conditions, including epilepsy.
HPs can access a wide range of clinical resources, including e-learning modules and case studies, to research any conditions presented. Both PIP providers also have a Condition Insight Report on epilepsy for use by their HPs. In addition, HPs are also expected to keep their knowledge up to date through Continuous Professional Development.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of conducting a review of into the adequacy of the level of universal credit payments.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
No assessment of such a review has been made.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
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 (a) adequacy of digital accessibility for disabled people and (b) potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to guarantee online disabled rights similar to those in the Equality Act 2010.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Government remains fully committed to supporting disabled people in the UK through creating more opportunities, protecting their rights and ensuring they fully benefit from, and can contribute to, every aspect of our society.
The National Disability Strategy (NDS) suggested ways for the Government to consider improving digital accessibility for disabled people. Following the successful appeal in the NDS Judicial Review we are considering how best to take this important work forward.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support DWP is providing to social security benefit claimants using the Support for Mortgage Interest scheme who are coming to the end of a mortgage fixed rate term.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The purpose of Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) is to enable people to stay in their homes without fear of repossession and, as such, it makes a contribution towards the interest on their mortgages.
The rate of SMI we pay is based on the Bank of England published average rate and recently increased from 2.09% to 2.65% on May 2023. Any further changes to the interest rate will occur when the Bank of England average mortgage rate differs by 0.5 percentage points or more from the rate in payment.
As we use an average figure, some people will receive more than the amount of interest charged on their mortgage and other less. We have broad agreement with the lending industry that the amount we pay in SMI will be sufficient to avert any threat of repossession, even where that is less than the borrowers contracted liability.
To support benefit claimants with rising interest rates, on 3 April 2023, we extended the support SMI provides by offering UC claimants loans after three months, instead of nine. We have also extended SMI to in- work UC claimants so they can now receive support while working. The SMI reforms will extend support to an additional approximate 200,000 low income homeowners, providing an additional approximate £50m in support.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
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 adequacy of the Support for Mortgage Interest scheme, in the context of the increase in the bank rate in June 2023.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No assessment has been made of the adequacy of Support for Mortgage interest (SMI) since interest rates have risen, although the Department continues to monitor the impact of our policies on an on-going basis.
SMI is intended to provide reasonable support by making a contribution towards mortgage interest to protect claimants against the threat of repossession. The rate of SMI we pay is based on the Bank of England average and recently increased from 2.09% to 2.65% in May 2023. Any further changes will occur when the average differs by 0.5 percentage points or more.
To support low-income mortgage borrowers with rising interest rates, from April 2023, we extended the support SMI provides by allowing those on Universal Credit to apply for a loan after three months, instead of nine. We also abolished the rule which prevented Universal Credit claimants from receiving support if they were in work.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what additional support he has introduced to assist claimants moving from legacy benefits to Universal Credit.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Support arrangements are in place in Northern Ireland, administered by the Department for Communities.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies on the managed migration of legacy benefit claims to Universal Credit of the recommendations of Advice NI's publication entitled the move to Universal Credit: get ready, published on 25 April 2023.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Administration of Universal Credit in Northern Ireland is devolved to the Department for Communities. DWP regularly engages with a broad range of external stakeholders and is committed to ensuring the manged migration of legacy benefit claimants to Universal Credit in Great Britain provides a smooth and safe transition.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the increased rate of inflation and cost of living on (a) the adequacy of the Local Housing Allowance and (b) private renters.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government recognises the financial pressures tenants are facing and is providing total support of over £94bn over 2022-23 and 2023-24 to help households and individuals with the rising cost of living. Individuals who need help to make their rent payments may be eligible for a range of financial support through the welfare system.
LHA determines the maximum amount of housing support for Housing Benefit and Universal Credit claimants renting in the private rented sector. LHA is not intended to meet all rents in all areas.
In April 2020 LHA rates were raised to the 30th percentile of local market rents, a significant investment of almost £1 billion. We have maintained the increase since then so that everyone who benefited continues to do so.
The Local Housing Allowance (LHA) policy is kept under regular review. We monitor average rents and housing support levels provided to claimants to assess the impact of the policy. Any assessment made is always within the context of the economic landscape at the time.
For those who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs and need further support, Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) are available from local authorities. Since 2011 the Government has provided nearly £1.6 billion in DHP funding to local authorities
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
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 (a) extending the transitional arrangements for buying missing national insurance contributions beyond 5 April 2023 and (b) increasing staffing for the relevant HMRC and Pension Centre Helplines.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
I am pleased to confirm that a Written Ministerial Statement (Written statements - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament) was made on 7 March 2023 by the Financial Secretary to the Treasury confirming that the deadline for contributions has been extended to 31 July. This is to ensure customers do not miss out on the opportunity to make voluntary NICs for the period between 5 April 2006 to the end of the 2016/17 tax year. All voluntary NICs payments for this period will now be accepted at the existing 2022/23 rates until the 31 July 2023. This extension allows HMRC and DWP the time to process enquiries and payments to ensure people’s State Penson eligibility can be maximised.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether it is his policy to extend deadline for people to transition from (a) tax credits, (b) Housing Benefit and (c) other legacy benefits to Universal Credit.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
There are no plans to change the three-month time limit that has been agreed.
The Migration Notice informs the claimant to contact the department if they are unable to make their claim within the 3-month window; an extension may be agreed in certain circumstances.