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1133190

registered interest
date	19/06/2019
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Work Capability Assessment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of training for fit-to-work assessors to assess a person's mental health.
tabling member constituency	Coventry South
tabling member printed	Mr Jim Cunningham
uin	266653
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/06/2019 answer text <p>All Healthcare Professionals receive training on how to assess the impact of mental health conditions on individuals. This is followed by on-going professional training and support which continues for the duration of their employment in the role. In addition, Mental Health Function Champions support Healthcare Professionals by providing additional expertise about mental health, cognitive, developmental and learning disabilities and can be referred to at any time during the assessment process.</p><p>Health Assessment Providers frequently engage with medical experts, charities and relevant stakeholders to strengthen, review and update training programmes for all their assessment staff.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 24/06/2019 13:17:35 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	308 label Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham

1133192

registered interest
date	19/06/2019
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Work Capability Assessment: Veterans
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of training for fit-to-work assessors for military veterans.
tabling member constituency	Coventry South
tabling member printed	Mr Jim Cunningham
uin	266654
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/06/2019 answer text <p>Military Veterans who claim Employment and Support Allowance/Universal Credit are likely to have a variety of health conditions both physical and mental health related. Healthcare Professionals undertaking work capability assessments are equipped to identify the impact of these conditions as part of the existing assessment process.</p><p>All Healthcare Professionals carrying out work capability assessments are medically qualified and highly-trained practitioners in their own field. They are subject to a rigorous recruitment process followed by a comprehensive training programme in disability assessment. The assessment is not a medical assessment requiring the Healthcare Professional to diagnose a condition and recommend treatment options. The focus is on ensuring Healthcare Professionals are experts in disability analysis, drawing on evidence supplied by the individual and their GP or specialist clinical team, with knowledge of the likely functional effects of a wide range of health conditions.</p><p>While preparing to undertake an assessment, Healthcare Professionals can access a wide range of clinical resources to research any conditions presented. This includes evidence based protocols, e-learning modules or case studies as well as keeping knowledge up to date through Continuous Professional Development.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 24/06/2019 12:14:51 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	308 label Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham

1133198

registered interest
date	19/06/2019
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Universal Credit: Veterans
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the number of military veterans claiming universal credit that have been sanctioned.
tabling member constituency	Coventry South
tabling member printed	Mr Jim Cunningham
uin	266655
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/06/2019 answer text <p>The Department has not made an estimate of the number of military veterans claiming universal credit that have been sanctioned because this information is not held.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 24/06/2019 16:10:37 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	308 label Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham

1133239

registered interest
date	19/06/2019
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Employment: Poverty
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the number of people in employment that live in poverty.
tabling member constituency	Coventry South
tabling member printed	Mr Jim Cunningham
uin	266657
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/06/2019 answer text <p>National statistics on the number of working-age adults, in a family with at least one adult in work, in low income can be calculated from figures published in the annual &quot;Households Below Average Income&quot; publication.</p><p> </p><p>In 2017/18 there were 2.9m working-age adults in absolute low income (before housing costs) in families with at least one adult in work. However, over 80% of these are from families where at least one adult is not in full-time employment. The majority of those in in-work poverty are in families with part-time work only, single earner couples, or are self-employed.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 24/06/2019 12:49:09 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	308 label Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham

1131674

registered interest
date	12/06/2019
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Zero-hours Contracts: West Midlands
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people in the West Midlands on zero-hour contracts.
tabling member constituency	Coventry South
tabling member printed	Mr Jim Cunningham
uin	263688
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/06/2019 answer text <p>Data from the independent Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that in 2018 75,000 people in the West Midlands are employed on zero hours’ contracts – representing just 2.7% of people employed in the West Midlands.</p><p> </p><p>In the UK in 2018 the ONS estimate that 844,000 people were employed on zero hours’ contracts – 2.6% of all people employed.</p><p> </p><p>A record number of people (32.7 million) in the UK are employed. Since 2010 nearly 80% of the growth in employment has been in full-time work and over 75% has come from permanent employment’. Average wages have grown faster than inflation for 15 consecutive months.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 17/06/2019 15:05:37 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	308 label Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham

1125021

registered interest
date	07/05/2019
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Social Security Benefits: Coventry
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of people affected by administrative errors made by her Department which led to the overpayment of benefits in Coventry.
tabling member constituency	Coventry South
tabling member printed	Mr Jim Cunningham
uin	251210
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/05/2019 answer text <p>The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is focused on paying people their correct entitlement.</p><p> </p><p>Administrative errors are referred to as ‘official errors’ which have arisen from processing errors or delays by DWP or a Local Authority.</p><p> </p><p>A quality checking regime is in place and this is helping address official error.</p><p> </p><p>National Statistics Fraud and Error 2018/19 published 9 May 2019, indicate that estimated losses from official error account for 0.4% of total benefit expenditure.</p><p> </p><p>Internal Management Information shows that 48k claimants with a CV postcode had an actual ‘official error’ overpayment in 2018/19.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 13/05/2019 16:33:14 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	308 label Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham

1124189

registered interest
date	01/05/2019
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Food Poverty: Disability
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of disabled people in food poverty.
tabling member constituency	Coventry South
tabling member printed	Mr Jim Cunningham
uin	249834
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/05/2019 answer text <p>We will spend over £55 billion this year (2019/20) on benefits to support disabled people and people with health conditions. This is around 2.5% of GDP, and over 6% of government spending, and as a share of GDP, the UK’s public spending is second highest in the G7, bar Germany [OECD 2015 data]. This year spending on the main disability benefits (PIP, DLA and Attendance Allowance) will be over £6bn higher in real terms than it was in 2010.</p><p> </p><p>Alongside this, we want to build a better understanding of household food needs so that future support reaches those who need it most. The new questions that we are including on the Family Resources Survey starting from April 2019 will enable us to better understand the drivers of food insecurity and identify which groups are most at risk.</p><p> </p><p>We are committed to helping people with health conditions and disabilities move nearer to the labour market and, when ready, into work, by building more personalised tailored employment and health support, such as:</p><ul><li>The Work and Health programme, which was rolled out between November 2017 and March 2018, and will provide innovative support for around 275,000 people. The majority of people of starting on the programme (around 220,000) will be disabled people who can volunteer for the programme at any time.</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>Access to Work, which is a demand-led, discretionary grant scheme that offers advice and in-work support above the level of statutory reasonable adjustments to disabled people who are in work or about to start work, up to an annual limit of £59,200 per person.</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>We also are promoting the skills and talents of disabled people and those with long term health conditions to employers through the Disability Confident Scheme. The Scheme focuses on the crucial role that employers play in ensuring disabled people are recruited, retained and developed in their careers. Over 11,500 employers have already signed up to the campaign, and this number continues to grow.</li></ul> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 08/05/2019 11:57:41 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	308 label Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham

1123898

registered interest
date	30/04/2019
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Universal Credit
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her Department's policies of the Trussell Trust recommendation to change the five-week wait for universal credit payments to reduce the use of foodbanks.
tabling member constituency	Coventry South
tabling member printed	Mr Jim Cunningham
uin	249202
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/05/2019 answer text <p>No UC claimant has to wait five weeks for their first payment. If required, advances of up to 100 per cent of their expected UC award are available to claimants from day one of their claim. Advances are paid back over a maximum of 12 months and in the Autumn Budget 2018, we announced that from October 2021, the payback period for these advances will be extended further, allowing claimants up to 16 months. This is just one of a number of measures the Department has put in place to support claimants such as paying those claimants moving from Housing Benefit onto Universal Credit a two week ‘transitional housing payment’. We are also introducing a two-week run on for eligible claimants of Income Support, Jobseeker’s Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance from July 2020.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 07/05/2019 15:02:03 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	308 label Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham

1123530

registered interest
date	29/04/2019
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Carer's Allowance: Overpayments
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of unprocessed change in circumstance notifications which led to the over-payment of carer's allowance.
tabling member constituency	Coventry South
tabling member printed	Mr Jim Cunningham
uin	248577
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/05/2019 answer text <p>There is no estimate. When we receive a notification of change, consideration is given as to whether the change will affect the benefit. Where it does, action is taken to prevent an overpayment, or to stop an overpayment. Once the customer has notified us of a change in their circumstances, any delay in actioning that notification would be official error and would not be recoverable from the customer.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 02/05/2019 15:26:47 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	308 label Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham

1123532

registered interest
date	29/04/2019
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Carer's Allowance: Overpayments
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what safeguards are in place to ensure reasonable rates of repayment from recipients of carers' allowance who have been overpaid through no fault of their own.
tabling member constituency	Coventry South
tabling member printed	Mr Jim Cunningham
uin	248578
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/05/2019 answer text <p>Claimants are required to tell us about any changes in their circumstances. Once a claimant has advised us of a change, any subsequent overpayment is called official error.</p><p> </p><p>The Department does not seek the recovery of Carer’s Allowance official error overpayments as this is not permitted under the Social Security Administration Act 1992 Section 71 (1).</p><p> </p><p>Where a claimant has failed to report a change, or has provided inaccurate information, overpayments are recoverable. When recovering overpayments, the Department ensures that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect the welfare of claimants, including renegotiating repayment rates where this is needed.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 02/05/2019 14:58:20 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	308 label Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham