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Written Question
Work Capability Assessment
Wednesday 15th March 2023

Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many requests for special payments were received by his Department for decisions relating to the award of a (a) personal independence payment, (b) employment and support allowance work capability assessment and (c) Universal Credit work capability assessment in the latest 12 month period for which data is available.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

The department aims to provide a good level of service to our customers, which includes robust decision making. Whilst we strive to provide the best possible service to our customers, we don’t always get it right and, when this happens, the Special Payments scheme is there to acknowledge any impacts caused as a result of DWP maladministration. If a benefit decision is over-turned, it does not mean that the original decision was caused by maladministration.

In 2021-22, we authorised 9,585 ex-gratia payments (against our customer base of 22 million) totalling £1.20 million for maladministration. We do not hold a breakdown by benefit type for special payments issued.

The department publishes special payment data annually in their DWP Annual Report and Accounts on GOV.UK. See page 86 of the following link: DWP annual report and accounts 2021 to 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Special Payment data for 2022/23 will be available later in the year.

The DWP’s Policy and Guiding Principles guide: ‘Financial Redress for Maladministration’ explains each category of special payment (para 5 to 5.14). The guide can be found on: Compensation for poor service: staff guide - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).


Written Question
Work Capability Assessment
Wednesday 15th March 2023

Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many special payments were considered by his Department for decisions relating to the award of a (a) personal independence payment, (b) employment and support allowance work capability assessment and (c) Universal Credit work capability assessment in the latest 12 month period for which data is available.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

The department aims to provide a good level of service to our customers, which includes robust decision making. Whilst we strive to provide the best possible service to our customers, we don’t always get it right and, when this happens, the Special Payments scheme is there to acknowledge any impacts caused as a result of DWP maladministration. If a benefit decision is over-turned, it does not mean that the original decision was caused by maladministration.

In 2021-22, we authorised 9,585 ex-gratia payments (against our customer base of 22 million) totalling £1.20 million for maladministration. We do not hold a breakdown by benefit type for special payments issued.

The department publishes special payment data annually in their DWP Annual Report and Accounts on GOV.UK. See page 86 of the following link: DWP annual report and accounts 2021 to 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Special Payment data for 2022/23 will be available later in the year.

The DWP’s Policy and Guiding Principles guide: ‘Financial Redress for Maladministration’ explains each category of special payment (para 5 to 5.14). The guide can be found on: Compensation for poor service: staff guide - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).


National Audit Office
Work, welfare and pensions - Jul. 06 2023
Annual report and accounts (PDF)

Found: rate of loss (12.8% of Universal Credit expenditure).


Departmental Publication (Transparency)
Department for Work and Pensions

Jul. 06 2023

Source Page: DWP annual report and accounts 2022 to 2023
Document: DWP annual report and accounts 2022 to 2023 (print-ready PDF) (PDF)

Found: rate of loss (12.8% of Universal Credit expenditure).


Departmental Publication (Transparency)
Department for Work and Pensions

Jul. 06 2023

Source Page: DWP annual report and accounts 2022 to 2023
Document: DWP annual report and accounts 2022 to 2023 (web-ready PDF) (PDF)

Found: rate of loss (12.8% of Universal Credit expenditure).


Select Committee
Generation Rent, Centrepoint, Crisis, University of Kent, National Residential Landlords Association, Propertymark, Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford, and City of Edinburgh Council

Oral Evidence Jun. 28 2023

Inquiry: Benefit levels in the UK
Inquiry Status: Closed
Committee: Work and Pensions Committee (Department: Department for Work and Pensions)

Found: We can just use that mechanism for universal credit.


Grand Committee
Financial Services and Markets Bill
Committee stage - Mon 06 Feb 2023
HM Treasury

Mentions:
1: Baroness Tyler of Enfield (LDEM - Life peer) or are paying more for credit due to their credit rating or, frankly, because they cannot benefit from - Speech Link
2: Baroness Penn (CON - Life peer) negotiated a range of high-quality, low-cost broadband and mobile social tariffs for those in receipt of universal - Speech Link
3: Lord Moylan (CON - Life peer) Lords have quibbled about the detail of particular proposals in the amendments, but I think there was universal - Speech Link
4: None The Bank of Credit and Commerce International was forcibly closed in July 1991. - Speech Link


Departmental Publication (Transparency)
Northern Ireland Office

Aug. 03 2023

Source Page: Department for Communities Annual Report and Accounts 2022-2023
Document: Department for Communities Annual Report and Accounts 2022-2023 (PDF)

Found: All Welfare Reforms are now live in Northern Ireland, including Universal Credit (UC) which has been


Deposited Papers

Jan. 20 2009

Source Page: Government review of regulation and redress in the UK housing market: final report to the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, by Professor Colin Jones. 106 p.
Document: DEP2009-0155.pdf (PDF)

Found: R6 There is a strong case for consumer redress schemes in the housing market to be available on a universal


Commons Chamber
Business of the House - Thu 09 Mar 2023
Leader of the House

Mentions:
1: Andrew Gwynne (LAB - Denton and Reddish) These women are not going away.The Leader of the House knows that the ombudsman has already found maladministration - Speech Link
2: Kenny MacAskill (Alba - East Lothian) Initially, it was supplementary benefit and now, whether in work or on benefits, it is universal credit - Speech Link
3: Penny Mordaunt (CON - Portsmouth North) Universal credit, I think, is a huge and positive transformation of that. - Speech Link