Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of the benefit cap on people living in regions with high housing costs outside of Greater London; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) aligning the benefit cap with Local Housing Allowance rates and (b) exempting housing-related benefits from a benefits cap set at a lower rate.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No assessment has been made and there are no current plans to change the policy.
Asked by: Marion Fellows (Scottish National Party - Motherwell and Wishaw)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Prime Minister's speech on welfare of 19 April 2024, if he will publish equality impact assessments made in connection with the proposals announced in that speech.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Secretary of State has complied with his duties under the Equality Act 2010 in respect of the policies announced within the PM's speech. We will continue to consider equalities impacts and take any decisions about publication as policies develop.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what data his Department holds on the number of people who were claiming (a) Disability Living Allowance and (b) Personal Independence Payment where their main disabling condition was (i) attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, (ii) anxiety and depression and (iii) autistic spectrum disorders, in each month since November 2008.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
On Employment Support Allowance and out of work Universal Credit, the information requested is not readily available due to how the medical condition is recorded so to collate and provide it would incur disproportionate cost. However, Monthly statistics on the outcomes of Employment and Support Allowance work capability assessments are available by primary high-level medical condition on Stat-Xplore. The latest statistics are available by date of decision from November 2008 to September 2023, or date of claim start from October 2008 to June 2023. Statistics on the outcomes of Universal Credit work capability assessments (UC WCA) are available by high-level medical condition for the period from January 2022 to November 2023 in Table 7 of the latest UC WCA data tables.
On Disability Living Allowance (DLA), the information requested is in the attached document.
Points to note:
The latest available data on Personal Independence Payment claims can be found at https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/. The volume of PIP claimants with certain conditions can be found in the ‘PIP Cases with Entitlement’ dataset by going to ‘Disability’ and selecting the relevant conditions. To show the data since April 2013, select all months and then ‘Add to Column/Row’.
The data is based on primary disabling condition as recorded on the PIP computer systems. Claimants may often have multiple disabling conditions upon which the decision is based but only the primary condition is shown in these statistics. PIP was first introduced in April 2013, so there is no data available before this point.
Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here. An account is not required to use Stat- Xplore, the ‘Guest Login’ feature gives instant access to the main functions.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what data his Department holds on the number of people who were claiming (a) Employment Support Allowance and (b) out of work Universal Credit where their main disabling condition was (i) attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, (ii) anxiety and depression and (iii) autistic spectrum disorders, in each month since November 2008.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
On Employment Support Allowance and out of work Universal Credit, the information requested is not readily available due to how the medical condition is recorded so to collate and provide it would incur disproportionate cost. However, Monthly statistics on the outcomes of Employment and Support Allowance work capability assessments are available by primary high-level medical condition on Stat-Xplore. The latest statistics are available by date of decision from November 2008 to September 2023, or date of claim start from October 2008 to June 2023. Statistics on the outcomes of Universal Credit work capability assessments (UC WCA) are available by high-level medical condition for the period from January 2022 to November 2023 in Table 7 of the latest UC WCA data tables.
On Disability Living Allowance (DLA), the information requested is in the attached document.
Points to note:
The latest available data on Personal Independence Payment claims can be found at https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/. The volume of PIP claimants with certain conditions can be found in the ‘PIP Cases with Entitlement’ dataset by going to ‘Disability’ and selecting the relevant conditions. To show the data since April 2013, select all months and then ‘Add to Column/Row’.
The data is based on primary disabling condition as recorded on the PIP computer systems. Claimants may often have multiple disabling conditions upon which the decision is based but only the primary condition is shown in these statistics. PIP was first introduced in April 2013, so there is no data available before this point.
Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here. An account is not required to use Stat- Xplore, the ‘Guest Login’ feature gives instant access to the main functions.
Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)
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 merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to remove access to benefits for people sentenced to be held in secure mental health facilities.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The DWP Secretary of State has asked officials to look into the rules around benefits entitlements for offenders who are detained in psychiatric hospitals.
Asked by: Oliver Heald (Conservative - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claims for (a) Disability Living Allowance and (b) the Personal Independence Payment were made for children in the last 12 months.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
There were 199,000 new claims made in the last 12 months (Apr 2023 to March 2024 inclusive), for DLA Child in Great Britain. This figure includes claims made under normal rules and special rules, rounded to the nearest 1,000. The figure is sourced from unpublished internal data, and therefore have been quality assured to a different standard compared to official data publications by DWP.
The latest available data on Personal Independence Payment claims can be found here. The requested data can be found in the ‘PIP Clearances’ dataset by going to ‘Age (bands and single year)’ and selecting the relevant age range.
Children are not eligible to claim PIP until they are 16 years old. Disability Living Allowance (DLA) is available for those under 16.
Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here. An account is not required to use Stat- Xplore, the ‘Guest Login’ feature gives instant access to the main functions.
Asked by: David Linden (Scottish National Party - Glasgow East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the press release entitled Disability benefits system to be reviewed as PM outlines "moral mission" to reform welfare, published on 19 April 2024, what discussions he has had with the Scottish Government on the recently announced proposed reforms to the disability benefits system.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The department discusses various aspects of social security with the Scottish Government, at both Ministerial and official level. We continue to engage with the Scottish Government to consider the implications of the proposals outlined in the Prime Minister’s announcement and the Health and Disability Green Paper consultation in Scotland.
Modernising Support for Independent Living: The Health and Disability Green Paper was published on Monday 29 April.
The UK Government is committed to improving the lives of disabled people and people with long-term health conditions in all parts of the UK. Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is devolved in Scotland and has been replaced with Adult Disability Payment. No new claims to PIP have been made in Scotland since August 2022.
However, DWP continues to deliver PIP in Scotland for existing cases on behalf of Scottish Ministers whilst Scottish cases are being transferred to Social Security Scotland. All cases are due to be transferred in 2025 and DWP will no longer have any delegated administrative authority regarding PIP in Scotland once transfer is complete.
Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of claims processed within planned processing timescales.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department has seen a sustained increase in applications and demand for DWP services as a result of the pandemic and subsequent cost of living pressures, as well as ongoing publicity campaigns such as Help for Households and Pension Credit take-up.
Whilst we have seen an overall improvement in claims processed within planned timescales, and we expect that overall performance to continue to improve in the 24-25 figures, we acknowledge that across our services more needs to be done to improve the number of claims processed within the planned timescales.
Through recruitment in 23-24 we have started 17,166 people in new roles (and have further candidates due to start in Q1 of 24-25). This level of recruitment has resulted in a net increase in our Service Delivery resource levels to meet customer demand. We also have utilised our existing contracts with external partners to increase our service delivery capacity.
Across our service lines we continue to focus on productivity improvement activities, as well as continuing to modernise our benefit services through our digital transformation and Service Modernisation programmes, which mean an increasing number of claims can now be made online and through self-service. The Department strategy is to continue our modernisation programme, enable our people to focus on supporting more vulnerable customers who are unable to self-serve or need additional support.
Asked by: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many domestic violence easements were granted in (a) 2023 and (b) 2024 to date.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
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 merits of undertaking post-legislative scrutiny of the Fraud Act 2006 and its potential impact on female welfare claimants.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
No assessment has been made as this is not a matter for the Department for Work and Pensions.
The Ministry of Justice carried out a post-implementation review on the Fraud Act 2006: Post-legislative Assessment of the Fraud Act 2006 (publishing.service.gov.uk) and the Home Office have confirmed that on 12 October 2023 the Government launched the Independent Review of Disclosure and Fraud Offences. Part two of the Review will evaluate the operation of the Fraud Act: Independent Review of Disclosure and Fraud Offences - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).’