Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people were in receipt of a vehicle under the Motability Scheme in (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland in 2021.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
The information requested is not readily available for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claimants and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
The Department does not hold the data requested for Disability Living Allowance (DLA) claimants.
The latest available Motability annual report can be found here. The report shows that over 640,000 people use the scheme.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance her Department provides to disabled people on applying for benefits and wider support, such as housing and social care.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
Gov.uk provides information on eligibility and how to make a claim for benefits, including signposting to telephony routes (including textphone and Relay UK) for people who are unable to complete forms online. For Personal Independence Payment and Disability Living Allowance for children, there are videos on the DWP YouTube channel that provide further information about those benefits, including how to claim and what to expect once a claim has been made.
Guidance on gov.uk includes information on benefits people may be able to claim and other financial support. This includes housing support, help with council tax and direct payments for social care. Where appropriate DWP letters include signposting to additional help and support.
We have produced 30 easy read guides, over 90 British Sign Language videos and are ensuring benefit claim forms are accessible to all covering a variety of DWP benefits and services. These provide disabled people with information on benefit type, who can apply, how to make a claim and assist with making a claim.
Operational staff also have access to a database of known support called a District Provision Tool. It covers national and local information. This contains support for customers such as housing, debt, domestic abuse, modern slavery, and other complex needs alongside specific organisations that support people with disabilities or specific health conditions. This tool is used to facilitate signposting discussions with customers so they can access tailored support where required.
Anyone who requires support to make a new claim to Universal Credit - whether they are claiming benefits for the first time, have had a change of circumstance on legacy benefits which has initiated a move to Universal Credit, or have chosen voluntarily to move to Universal Credit - will be able to access the Help to Claim support provided by Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of Personal Independence Payment claimants have had their claim lapsed by her Department in Scotland.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The table below provides information on Personal Independence Payment appeal registrations and lapses for both the whole of Great Britain and for Scotland, between 1st April 2013 and 31st December 2021.
GB Appeals registered | GB Appeals lapsed | Scotland Appeals registered | Scotland Appeals lapsed |
604,080 | 112,100 (19% of GB appeals registered) | 72,590 | 12,270 (17% of Scotland appeals registered) |
Notes:
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many appeals against Personal Independence Payment decisions were lapsed by her Department as at the latest date for which data is available.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The table below provides information on Personal Independence Payment appeal registrations and lapses for both the whole of Great Britain and for Scotland, between 1st April 2013 and 31st December 2021.
GB Appeals registered | GB Appeals lapsed | Scotland Appeals registered | Scotland Appeals lapsed |
604,080 | 112,100 (19% of GB appeals registered) | 72,590 | 12,270 (17% of Scotland appeals registered) |
Notes:
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will review the universal credit eligibility requirements for disabled people in education.
Answered by Chloe Smith
Most full-time students in higher education do not qualify for Universal Credit because one of the conditions of entitlement is that a claimant must not be in education.
Students, including disabled students and those with health conditions, access fees and living costs support for their higher education courses through various loans and grants funded through the student support system. It is important that Universal Credit does not duplicate this support, which is designed for their needs unlike the social security system.
In some circumstances, people in full-time education are able to claim Universal Credit. These exceptions to the rules generally provide financial help not covered by the student support system or avoid anomalies in cases where one member of a couple is a student.
There is an exception where a person has already been determined to have limited capability for work before entering education and is entitled to Attendance Allowance, Personal Independence Payment, Disability Living Allowance, Disabled Adult/Child Payment (Scotland) or Armed Forces Independence Payment. The rules for this exception are designed to encourage those already claiming Universal Credit because of disability or ill health to take up education that may help them into work in the future.
As with all policies, we continue to keep the support we offer to disabled students claiming UC under review.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to offer greater support to claimants of employment and support allowance in response to the rise in the cost of living.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The Government understands that people are concerned about pressure on household budgets and is taking action to help. Alongside the £9.1 billion Energy Bills Rebate announced on 3 February, it is providing £12 billion of support over this financial year and next to ease cost of living pressures, with help targeted at working families, low-income households and the most vulnerable.
The Government is making sure we continue to deliver the financial support that people need. Our spending on disability support is the second highest in the G7 – with a record £59 billion forecast to be spent this year (2021/2022), or 2.5% of GDP. This will increase by £3.5 billion to over £62 billion in 2022/23.
This year, the total amount that the Government spends on Employment and Support Allowance will increase by 3.1% from April 2022, in line with the Consumer Prices Index. This approach is fair to both benefit recipients and taxpayers.
Claimants receiving legacy benefits who believe they may be better off on Universal Credit should first refer to the independent benefits calculators on GOV.UK. They can also get help through the government funded Help to Claim scheme as well as Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland.
In addition, Personal Independence Payment is available to help with the extra costs faced by people with a long-term health condition or disability.
Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of appeals to the tribunals service in (a) Coventry, (b) the West Midlands and (c) England in respect of (i) personal independence payments, (ii) employment and support allowance, (iii) jobseeker's allowance and (iv) universal credit were successful in each of the last three years.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Information about the outcomes of appeals in the First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support) (SSCS) is published at:
www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics
SSCS appeals are listed into the hearing venue nearest to the appellant’s home address. The published data (which can be viewed at the link above) provide information about the outcomes of (i) Personal Independence Payment (PIP), (ii) Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and (iv) Universal Credit (UC) appeals for hearing venues covering (a) Coventry, (b) the West Midlands and (c) England for the period requested.
The table below contains this information for (iii) Job Seekers Allowance (JSA):
| Coventry | West Midlands1 | England2 |
2018/19 | ~ | 25% | 34% |
2019/20 | 50% | 27% | 39% |
2020/21 | ~ | ~ | 27% |
Q1 2021/22P | 100% | ~ | 17% |
Q2 2021/22p | 86% | 39% | 30% |
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Notes:
SSCS data are normally registered to the venue nearest to the appellant’s home address. We cannot retrieve data based on the appellant’s actual address but can produce reports detailing the numbers of cases that were dealt with at one of our Regional centres or heard at a specific venue. The proportion of successful appeals is based on the number of cases found in favour of the appellant at a tribunal hearing as a percentage of the cases heard at a tribunal hearing. |
1West Midlands includes the venues: Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Walsall, Coventry, Nuneaton, Stoke, Telford, Hereford and Worcester. | |||||
2 Excludes SSCS Scotland Region and Wales Region. |
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~ Equates to a value of fewer than five |
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P Provisional, in line with published data |
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Although care is taken when processing and analysing the data, the details are subject to inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale case management system and are the best data that are available. These data may differ slightly to that of the published statistics as these data were run on a different date. | |||||
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, what assessment the Government has made of the effect of the introduction of Adult Disability Payments in Scotland on the alignment of case law on that matter in (a) Scotland and (b) the rest of the UK.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The Scottish Government has not yet introduced Adult Disability Payment which will, over time, replace Personal Independence Payment for people in Scotland. DWP will keep relevant legal issues, including case law, under review.
Asked by: Peter Grant (Scottish National Party - Glenrothes)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate her Department has made of the average waiting time to process personal independence payment applications in (a) Scotland and (b) Fife.
Answered by Chloe Smith
We are committed to ensuring that people can access financial support through Personal Independence Payment (PIP) in a timely manner and reducing customer journey times for PIP claimants is a priority for the Department. We always aim to make an award decision as quickly as possible, taking into account the need to review all available evidence.
Average waiting times for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) new claims made under normal rules (i.e. excluding those processed under special rules for terminal illness, which typically take 3 days) are calculated as the median number of weeks from registration to DWP decision, and published as the “Average Actual Clearance Time”. For claims cleared in July 2021, which is the most recent data available:
(a) The Average (median) Actual Clearance Time for new claims in Scotland was 26 weeks.
(b) The Average (median) Actual Clearance Time for new claims in the Fife Local Authority was 26 weeks.
Notes:
Data Source: PIP Atomic Data Store (ADS)
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions her Department has had with the Scottish Government on changing the eligibility criteria to access adult disability payment from the current criteria in personal independence payment.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The eligibility criteria for Adult Disability Payment are a matter for the Scottish Government. My Department works closely with the Scottish Government to support its implementation of the social security provisions of the Scotland Act 2016.