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Written Question
Cancer: Children and Young People
Tuesday 26th March 2024

Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)

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 financial support available for carers of children and young people with cancer for (a) travel costs, (b) energy bills, (c) accommodation and (d) dietary requirements.

Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Government recognises and appreciates the vital role unpaid carers play in caring for, and supporting, members of their own family.

Providing they meet the entitlement conditions, unpaid carers of children and young people with cancer may be able to receive Carer’s Allowance and/or an extra amount in means tested benefits, including Universal Credit. Carer’s Allowance provides a measure of financial support and recognition for people who are not able to work full time because of their caring responsibilities. The extra amounts in means tested benefits at least partly recognise the additional costs associated with providing unpaid care.

Disability benefits, such as Disability Living Allowance for children and Personal Independence Payment, are available as a contribution towards the extra costs of being disabled and recipients are free to choose how they spend them.


Written Question
Social Security Benefits: Long Covid
Tuesday 26th March 2024

Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and Penge)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has made an assessment of the adequacy of the eligibility criteria for people with long covid to access (a) Universal Credit and (b) Employment and Support Allowance.

Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

No assessment has been made.

People living with a condition arising from exposure to the Covid-19 virus can access the financial support that is available through Statutory Sick Pay, Universal Credit, New Style ESA or Pension Credit depending on individual circumstances.

Disability benefits such as Personal Independence Payment or Attendance Allowance do not include or exclude by condition, instead they look at the needs arising from a long-term health condition or disability. Therefore people living with a condition arising from exposure to the Covid-19 virus are also able to access these benefits in the same way as other people with long-term conditions or disabilities.


Written Question
Cost of Living: Disability
Tuesday 26th March 2024

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

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal steps his Department is taking to provide financial support for disabled people with the rise in the cost of living.

Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The government has demonstrated its commitment to supporting the most vulnerable. Over the last two years, the government has provided support to help households with the cost of living totalling £96 billion – an average of £3400 per UK household.

Individuals who incur extra cost due to a long-term health conditions or disability may be eligible for Personal Independence Payment, which can be worth over £8,900 per year. This has been complemented in recent years with two £150 Disability Cost of Living Payments, to help the most vulnerable through the period of high inflation.


Written Question
Personal Independence Payment
Tuesday 26th March 2024

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, with reference to his Department's publication entitled Transforming Support: The Health and Disability White Paper, published on 16 March 2023, what progress his Department has made on testing matching a Personal Independent Payment applicant’s primary health condition to a specialist assessor; and when he plans to publish the findings.

Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Health and Disability White Paper, published in March 2023, set out ambitious and extensive reforms to further support disabled people including exploring the initiative referred to as “Specialist Assessors”.

As the term “specialist” has a very specific meaning in a medical context, the decision has been made to rename the initiative to “Condition Focused Assessors” to avoid misalignment with clinical definitions. The ambition and intent of the initiative remains the same.

In September 2023, we began a small-scale test matching certain PIP claimants’ primary health condition to an existing healthcare professional (HCP) with relevant clinical experience. This test ran until January 2024, at which point it was expanded to cover claimants with multiple conditions.

We continue to work closely with key stakeholders and support organisations as we progress our testing. Initial exploratory research will be published later this year. The Health Transformation Programme looks to publish evaluation when services are suitably developed, and when findings are robust and provide a representative picture of our progress.


Written Question
Personal Independence Payment
Tuesday 26th March 2024

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, what steps he has taken to inform recipients of the (a) limited capability for work-related activity element of Universal Credit and (b) Employment and Support Allowance support group of their potential entitlement to Personal Independence Payment.

Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

DWP Work Coaches and Disability Advisers can signpost and support claimants who may be eligible for other benefits. Signposting is also performed by Citizens Advice Bureau, Disability Groups, healthcare professionals and Welfare Rights organisations.

Information for those who want to know more about DWP benefits is also available on GOV.UK and via social media.


Written Question
Social Security Benefits: Long Covid
Monday 25th March 2024

Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Streatham)

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 provide benefit support to individuals with Long Covid.

Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

People living with a condition arising from exposure to the Covid-19 virus can access the financial support that is available through Statutory Sick Pay, Universal Credit, New Style ESA or Pension Credit depending on individual circumstances.

Disability benefits such as Personal Independence Payment or Attendance Allowance do not include or exclude by condition, instead they look at the needs arising from a long-term health condition or disability. Therefore people living with a condition arising from exposure to the Covid-19 virus are also able to access these benefits in the same way as other people with long-term conditions or disabilities.


Written Question
Personal Independence Payment
Monday 25th March 2024

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, with reference to his Department's publication entitled Transforming Support: The Health and Disability White Paper, published on 16 March 2023, what progress his Department has made on the test of the feasibility of sharing assessment reports with Personal Independent Payment applicants before a decision is made; and when he plans to publish the findings.

Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

We are currently conducting a test to understand the impact of sharing assessment reports with PIP claimants by default. As part of the evaluation, we will gather insight from claimants to understand whether sharing the assessment report provides them with the opportunity to clarify evidence so that we can make the right decision as early as possible and improve trust and transparency in the decision-making process. Once the analysis of that insight is complete, we will consider next steps.


Written Question
Disability Living Allowance and Personal Independence Payment: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Friday 15th March 2024

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, how many people claimed (a) PIP and (b) DLA for ADHD since 2013.

Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The latest available data on personal independence payment (PIP) clearances split by condition, including ADHD, can be found at https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/. 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.

Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/index.html. An account is not required to use Stat- Xplore, the ‘Guest Login’ feature gives instant access to the main functions.

Data on Disability Living Allowance (DLA) clearances by condition is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.


Written Question
Personal Independence Payment: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Friday 15th March 2024

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, how many people claimed PIP for ADHD in each year since 2010.

Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The latest available data on personal independence payment (PIP) clearances split by condition, including ADHD, can be found at https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/. 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.

Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/index.html. An account is not required to use Stat- Xplore, the ‘Guest Login’ feature gives instant access to the main functions.


Written Question
Personal Independence Payment: Veterans
Wednesday 13th March 2024

Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will introduce a marker to enable the collection of data on the number of veterans that are claiming Personal Independence Payments.

Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

We have no immediate plans to introduce such a marker. Where a Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claimant is a veteran, then relevant information on the functional impact of their medical condition will be gathered as part of the claiming process, either through the medical assessment, or by the DWP decision maker.

PIP is based on the needs of the individual and current or previous occupation is unrelated to entitlement.