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Written Question
Individual Savings Accounts
Tuesday 28th March 2023

Asked by: Alan Whitehead (Labour - Southampton, Test)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 18 November 2023 to Question 87713 on Individual Savings Accounts, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of abolishing the 25 per cent penalty on removing savings from Lifetime ISAs in the context of the affordability of housing for first time buyers where (a) the Lifetime ISA limit has remained at £450,000 and (b) house prices have increased 24 per cent between December 2016 and December 2021.

Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

LISA funds, including any government bonus, can be withdrawn for the purchase of a first home valued under £450,000, in the case of terminal illness or from age 60. Withdrawals for any other reason are subject to a 25% fee to recoups the government bonus and any interest or growth arising from it.

Data from the latest UK House Price Index demonstrates that the average price paid by first-time buyers is below the Lifetime ISA property price cap in all regions of the UK except for Inner London, where the average price paid is affected by Boroughs with very high property values. The Office for Budget Responsibility is also forecasting for house prices to fall by 9% by the end of 2024.

The Government keeps the operational aspects of the Lifetime ISA under review, as it does all aspects of the tax system, with any changes being announced at a fiscal event.


Written Question
Palliative Care: Telephone Services
Thursday 16th March 2023

Asked by: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of 24/7 palliative care telephone advice lines for people with a terminal illness and their carers.

Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

No assessment has been made. NHS England has published statutory guidance on palliative and end of life care to support commissioners with implementation of the Health and Care Act 2022. The guidance makes specific reference to commissioners defining how their services will meet population needs 24 hours a day, seven days a week (24/7). Furthermore, between December 2021 and March 2022, NHS England provided circa £4 million to support 24/7 and single point of contact specialist palliative care support and advice services in local areas.


Written Question
Personal Independence Payment
Tuesday 14th 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, in how many and what proportion of cases in which there was mandatory reconsideration of a Personal Independence Payment assessment was the resulting points award the same as the points award in the initial decision.

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

For Personal Independence Payment (PIP) initial decisions made in the period 1st July 2016 to 30th June 2022 there were 595,500 Mandatory Reconsideration (MR) outcomes where the total points score was the same as that at the initial decision. This equates to 73% of the decided MRs relating to those initial decisions. For some cases, points scores are missing from the data and so these have not been included.

Please note:

  • This is unpublished data. It should be used with caution and it may be subject to future revision.
  • Figures are rounded to the nearest 100 and percentages to the nearest percent.
  • We have provided data for England and Wales (excluding Scotland) in line with the latest published figures on PIP.
  • This data covers initial decisions following a PIP assessment only (New Claims or DLA Reassessments) between 1st July 2016 and 30th June 2022, the latest period for which data is available. It does not include applications which end before an assessment (for example, due to failure to return required paperwork or attend an assessment) or decisions made at an Award Review or Change of Circumstance.
  • Figures do not include cases which are classified as Special Rules for Terminal Illness (SRTI) at either initial decision or MR stage.
  • These figures include information on MR related to those initial decisions which were decided by 30th September 2022, the latest date for which published data is available. Note that more MRs could be made and completed after September 2022, so numbers may change. Only completed MRs where a decision was made are included in these figures. Withdrawn/Cancelled MR have been excluded.
  • Comparison was based on total points score at each stage – that is, the sum of Daily Living and Mobility score elements. This means that scores against individual descriptors could have changed, but with zero net effect.

Written Question
State Retirement Pensions: Terminal Illnesses
Thursday 2nd March 2023

Asked by: Patricia Gibson (Scottish National Party - North Ayrshire and Arran)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will hold discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the potential merits of enabling people of working age with a terminal illness to have early access their state pension.

Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

There are no plans for discussions with cabinet colleagues regarding early access to state pension for people with a terminal illness.

Hearing that your illness cannot be cured can be a frightening and devastating experience. For those at the end of their life, the Government’s priority is providing financial support quickly and compassionately. The main way that the Department does this is through special benefit rules, sometimes referred to as “the Special Rules”. These enable people who are nearing the end of their lives to get faster, easier access to certain benefits, without needing to attend a medical assessment, serve waiting periods and in most cases, receive the highest rate of benefit. For many years, the Special Rules have applied to people who have 6 months or less to live and now they are being changed so they apply to people who have 12 months or less to live.


Written Question
Terminal Illnesses
Wednesday 22nd February 2023

Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of the UK's population has been diagnosed with a terminal illness in each of the last ten years

Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

There are no centrally recorded statistics on the proportion of the population diagnosed with a terminal illness in the United Kingdom in the last 10 years.


Written Question
Disability Living Allowance and Personal Independence Payment
Tuesday 21st February 2023

Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) Personal Independence Payment and (b) Disability Living Allowance claimants are identified as needing additional support in the last month for which data is available.

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

All Personal Independence Payment (PIP) customers with an Additional Support (AS) marker at registration are automatically referred to an assessment provider. The table below shows the number of PIP claimants who had a confirmed AS marker at the point of registration and the number who were referred to an assessment provider. The latest data is up to October 2022.

These figures do not include the claimants who were given an AS marker at later stages of the process, and not all these registrations would have necessarily gone on to be awarded.

Year

Claimants with a confirmed AS marker at registration

Claimants automatically progressed to an assessment provider

Nov 2021 – Oct 2022

131,100

130,700

Nov 2020 – Oct 2021

187,800

187,800

Nov 2019 – Oct 2020

133,800

133,800

Nov 2018 – Oct 2019

50,900

50,900

Nov 2017 – Oct 2018

62,200

62,100

AS customers cannot be disallowed from PIP for failing to return their PIP2 form, so the difference in figures between registrations and referrals to an assessment provider, may be due to other circumstances such as the claimant pulling out of the process.

The number of current PIP recipients with an AS marker in October 2022 was 422,200. This will include claimants who received an AS marker after registration. The equivalent data is not available for recipients of Disability Living Allowance.


Source: PIP Atomic Data Store

  • Figures are for England and Wales only;
  • These figures include claims made under normal rules and special rules for terminal illness and include new claims and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) to PIP reassessment claims;
  • Figures are rounded to the nearest 100; and
  • This is unpublished data. It should be used with caution and it may be subject to future revision.


Written Question
Personal Independence Payment
Tuesday 21st February 2023

Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Personal Independence Payment claimants were identified as needing Additional Support and automatically progressed to the provider for an assessment in each of the last five years.

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

All Personal Independence Payment (PIP) customers with an Additional Support (AS) marker at registration are automatically referred to an assessment provider. The table below shows the number of PIP claimants who had a confirmed AS marker at the point of registration and the number who were referred to an assessment provider. The latest data is up to October 2022.

These figures do not include the claimants who were given an AS marker at later stages of the process, and not all these registrations would have necessarily gone on to be awarded.

Year

Claimants with a confirmed AS marker at registration

Claimants automatically progressed to an assessment provider

Nov 2021 – Oct 2022

131,100

130,700

Nov 2020 – Oct 2021

187,800

187,800

Nov 2019 – Oct 2020

133,800

133,800

Nov 2018 – Oct 2019

50,900

50,900

Nov 2017 – Oct 2018

62,200

62,100

AS customers cannot be disallowed from PIP for failing to return their PIP2 form, so the difference in figures between registrations and referrals to an assessment provider, may be due to other circumstances such as the claimant pulling out of the process.

The number of current PIP recipients with an AS marker in October 2022 was 422,200. This will include claimants who received an AS marker after registration. The equivalent data is not available for recipients of Disability Living Allowance.


Source: PIP Atomic Data Store

  • Figures are for England and Wales only;
  • These figures include claims made under normal rules and special rules for terminal illness and include new claims and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) to PIP reassessment claims;
  • Figures are rounded to the nearest 100; and
  • This is unpublished data. It should be used with caution and it may be subject to future revision.


Written Question
State Retirement Pensions: Terminal Illnesses
Tuesday 31st January 2023

Asked by: Andrew Western (Labour - Stretford and Urmston)

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 allowing people who receive terminal diagnoses to access their allowance under the State Pension before they reach pensionable age.

Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

No assessments have been made on early access to the State Pension for terminally ill people.

Hearing that your illness cannot be cured can be a frightening and devastating experience. For those at the end of their life, the Government’s priority is providing financial support quickly and compassionately. The main way that the Department does this is through special benefit rules, sometimes referred to as “the Special Rules”. These enable people who are nearing the end of their lives to get faster, easier access to certain benefits, without needing to attend a medical assessment, serve waiting periods and in most cases, receive the highest rate of benefit. For many years, the Special Rules have applied to people who have 6 months or less to live and now they are being changed so they apply to people who have 12 months or less to live.


Written Question
State Retirement Pensions: Terminal Illnesses
Wednesday 25th January 2023

Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the potential merits of providing early access to the state pension for working aged people with a terminal illness.

Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

The Department has not held any such discussions.


Written Question
Terminal Illnesses: Suicide
Tuesday 24th January 2023

Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an estimate of the number of people who took their own life after receiving a terminal illness diagnosis in the last five years.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

There are no current plans to make an assessment.