Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to support people with (a) Parkinson's and (b) other long-term conditions with their basic financial outgoings.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
People on low, or no income or earnings who have a health condition or disability which restricts the amount of work they can do, can claim Universal Credit (UC). They must provide medical evidence to support their claim - most commonly a Statement of Fitness for Work, usually referred to as a fit note. Claimants whose health condition or disability continues for four weeks or more are referred for a work capability assessment (WCA). The WCA determines how an individual’s health condition or disability affects their ability to work. A key principle is that the WCA considers the impact a person’s disability or health condition has on them, not the condition itself.
Where it has been decided that claimants have limited capability for work (LCW) or limited capability for work and work-related activity (LCWRA), they will be entitled to a work allowance, and in couple claims where one is working, access to help with childcare costs. Where it has been decided that claimants have LCWRA, they may be entitled to the award of an additional amount of benefit – the LCWRA addition – which is £390.06 per month (2023-24 rates).
Where it has been decided that claimants have LCW, they are not reasonably expected to look for work at present but are expected to prepare for work in the future. Where it has been decided that claimants have LCWRA, they are not expected to look for work or required to undertake any work-related activity. Where it has been decided that claimants are fit for work, they are expected to undertake work-related activity and to look for work.
People whose capability for work is impacted because they are disabled or have a health condition, including people who have Parkinson’s and other long term health conditions, may also be eligible for New Style Employment and Support Allowance (NS ESA) subject to satisfying both the basic and National Insurance contribution conditions. NS ESA is an earnings replacement benefit for working age people who are unable to work due to a health condition or disability. In addition to the support provided for basic financial outgoings by UC people with a long-term health condition or disability may be entitled to support with disability-related extra costs through benefits such as Personal Independence Payment.
Asked by: Kwasi Kwarteng (Conservative - Spelthorne)
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 support people with disabilities that impact their ability to work.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government has a wide range of initiatives to support disabled people and people with health conditions to start, stay and succeed in work. These include:
Building on existing provision and the £2 billion investment announced at the Spring Budget 2023, we announced a new package of support in Autumn Statement 2023. This includes:
From 2025, we are reforming the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) to reflect new flexibilities in the labour market and greater employment opportunities for disabled people and people with health conditions, whilst maintaining protections for those with the most significant conditions. Alongside these changes, a new Chance to Work Guarantee will effectively remove the WCA for most existing claimants who have already been assessed without work-related requirements removing the fear of reassessment and giving this group the confidence to try work.
People on low, or no income or earnings, who have a health condition or disability which restricts the amount of work they can do or prevents them from working altogether, and where they meet the entitlement criteria, can claim Universal Credit and/or New Style Employment and Support Allowance with medical evidence, usually a valid Statement of Fitness for work, commonly known as a ‘fit note’, from a clinician.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of sanctions for (a) minor infringements of welfare rules and (b) being late for jobcentre meetings on the mental health of people sanctioned.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No assessment has been made of the potential mental health impact of sanctions for (a) minor infringements of welfare rules and (b) being late for jobcentre meetings.
Under Universal Credit, sanctions do not apply to all customers. Those with a health condition, illness or disability who are found to have ‘limited capability for work and work-related requirements’, are not subject to work-related conditions and will therefore not be sanctioned. Those on work-related benefits are expected to take responsibility for meeting the conditionality requirements they have agreed with their work coach to do so. Where a customer on a work-related benefit has a health condition, illness or a disability, work coaches have the discretion to tailor their requirements to what is reasonable and achievable taking into account the individual's condition. Additionally, in some circumstances a customer’s work-related requirements maybe be lifted for a period if their ability to carry them out is disrupted due to their personal circumstances.
A sanction is only applied where an individual has failed to meet their agreed conditionality requirements without demonstrating good reason for doing so and in the cases where vulnerabilities are known or suspected, a pre-referral quality check is undertaken prior to any sanction referral to ensure that it is appropriate in the circumstances. For minor conditionality failures, including failing to attend a mandatory appointment with a work coach an open-ended sanction is applied. Open-ended sanctions can be ended at any time by the customer simply re-engaging with their work coach and complying with the failed conditionality requirement.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an assessment of the potential mental health impact of (a) disability tests and (b) sanctions.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
No assessment has been made of the potential mental health impact of PIP or WCA, assessments or social security sanctions.
a) Evaluations of Personal Independence Payments (PIP) and Work Capability Assessments (WCA) policy are routinely carried out, and often include engagement with external researchers. The methods used are designed to be appropriate to the specific type of intervention being evaluated. Customer experience of assessments is also continually monitored. However, it would be extremely difficult to objectively separate the specific impact of disability tests on mental health from other contributory factors.
b) Under Universal Credit and Employment and Support Allowance, sanctions do not apply to all customers. Those with a health condition, illness or disability who are found to have ‘limited capability for work and work-related requirements’, are not subject to work-related conditions and will therefore not be sanctioned. Those found to have limited capability for work and claimants on work-related benefits are expected to take responsibility for meeting the conditionality requirements they have agreed with their work coach. Where a customer has a health condition, illness or disability, work coaches have the discretion to tailor these requirements to what is reasonable and achievable, taking into account the individual's condition. Additionally, in some circumstances a customer’s work-related requirements may be lifted for a period if their ability to carry them out is disrupted due to their personal circumstances.
A sanction is only applied where an individual has failed to meet their agreed conditionality requirements without demonstrating good reason for doing so. In cases where vulnerabilities are known or suspected, a pre-referral quality check is undertaken prior to any sanction referral to ensure that it is appropriate in the circumstances.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Department's press release entitled, Employment boost for thousands of parents on Universal Credit, published on 25 October 2023, and the proposals announced in the Written Statement of 22 November 2023 on Work Capability Assessment Consultation, HCW64, whether his Department will take steps to support disabled single parents who have been deemed fit to work but are unable to work for 30 hours a week; and whether he has considered the potential merits of introducing accommodations for that group.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Disabled single parents in the Intensive Work Search conditionality group will continue to have their expected hours set at an appropriate level for their personal circumstances. The measures introduced on 25th October 2023 will ensure that lead carers of children aged 3-12 will be in a much better position to look for and prepare for work, increase their earnings and take full advantage of the increased childcare provision.
Work Coaches tailor the amount of hours any claimant is required to be available for work, search for work and undertake other work-related requirements to reflect the individual’s health condition, disability, caring responsibilities and wider circumstances.
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 he has made of the potential impact of the proposed changes to the Work Capability Assessment on disabled people’s finances.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The vast majority of existing Universal Credit (UC) or Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) claimants will not be affected by the Work Capability Assessment Changes if they have already been assessed as having Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity LCWRA. With the Chance to Work Guarantee, which will be introduced with the WCA changes in 2025, the majority of this group will be able to try work without the fear of reassessment, as we will be switching off department-led reassessments for existing claimants.
The financial impacts on individuals have been considered in taking decisions on the Work Capability Assessment (WCA), alongside consideration of the responses to the consultation.
The Office for Budget Responsibility have published their assessment of the numbers that they expect to be affected by the changes and HMT have also published the impacts in their policy costing note that accompanies the Autumn Statement. We will publish an Impact Assessment in due course.
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, whether income-related ESA claimants who are re-assessed upon moving to Universal Credit through Managed Migration after 2025 will be subject to the existing or new Work Capability Assessment.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
There is no automatic referral for reassessment for customers at the point that they move from Employment Support Allowance (ESA) to Universal Credit (UC). If a customer has an existing ESA Work Capability Assessment decision, they will not be required to have another assessment in order to get the health-related additions of Universal Credit, unless their health condition has changed.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to increase the number and proportion of benefit decisions that include a face-to-face interview with the claimant.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Many benefits across DWP use interviews or consultations to establish entitlement or eligibility. For example, Universal Credit requires face to face interviews for claimant commitments which impact eligibility, and Personal Independence Payment and the Work Capability Assessment use health-related consultations delivered in person, through telephony or video to help DWP decision makers determine eligibility.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with refence to paragraph 3.25 of the Autumn Statement 2023 on supporting the long-term unemployed into work, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of removing access to free prescriptions on levels of demand for acute care.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No assessment has been made as we are not removing access to free prescriptions.
In England, a broad range of NHS prescription charge exemptions are in place to help those with greatest need. Eligibility for these exemptions is dependent on whether people receive certain qualifying benefits, tax credits, or a war pension, whether they are pregnant or have recently had a baby, their age, whether they are in qualifying full-time education or have a qualifying medical condition.
If entitlement to passported benefits is reliant solely on a Universal Credit claim to establish eligibility, that eligibility will cease if the claim is closed. The claim closure measure will only impact claimants who have been disengaged for 6-months or more, and who are in receipt of nil benefit award following the application of a sanction. We will not be closing the claims of anyone who is in receipt of other UC elements, such as the housing, child, or disability elements.
The claims of those with limited capability for work or limited capability for work-related activity are not subject to the conditionality and sanctions regime.
Safeguards will be put in place to ensure that any claimant vulnerabilities are taken into consideration and impacted claimants may still be able to access financial support for NHS services through other means.
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 response to the Work Capability Assessment: Activities and Descriptors Consultation, published in November 2023, what his planned timetable is for publishing an equality impact assessment on proposals for changes to the eligibility criteria for the (a) Limited Capability for Work and Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity categories within universal credit and (b) Work-Related Activity Group and Support Group within Employment Support Allowance.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
We published our response to the consultation on changes to the Work Capability Assessment criteria on 22 November, having carefully considered feedback from disabled people, and people with health conditions, as well as the organisations that represent and support them.
The consultation was open from 5 September to 30 October 2023. This gave ample time for people to share their views. We undertook extensive engagement during the consultation period and received over 1,300 responses. We listened carefully to what people told us and took their views into account when deciding about which changes to take forward.
We also did a lot of work to make sure disabled people could share their views. We provided the consultation document in a range of accessible formats, including large print, Easy Read, Braille, Audio, BSL and hard copy versions. We ran a programme of in-person and virtual public events, so that people could share their views verbally and offered a range of methods to enable people to respond in writing, including online, by email or by post.
We will publish an Impact Assessment in due course.
The OBR have said that they expect these changes to mean that 371,000 fewer people will be declared as having Limited Capability for Work Related Activity by 2028/29 than otherwise would be the case. HMT have published the impacts in their policy costing note that accompanies the Autumn Statement.