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1138414

registered interest
date	11/07/2019
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	Independent Case Examiner
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many complaints to the Independent Complaints Commissioner are (a) allocated to a caseworker and (b) awaiting allocation to a caseworker as at 11 July 2019.
tabling member constituency	East Ham
tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
uin	276137
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/07/2019 answer text <p>When the Independent Case Examiner’s (ICE) office accepts a complaint for investigation, it will initially attempt to broker a solution between the complainant and the relevant business area or supplier, without having to request evidence to inform an investigation – this is known as “resolution”. If it’s not possible to resolve the complaint, the evidence will be requested and the case will await allocation to an Investigation Case Manager (ICM). The majority of complaints that are referred to ICE are complex and require a full investigation.</p><p> </p><p>Complaint investigations are dealt with by dedicated teams and complaints are usually brought into investigation in strict date order. The time complaints wait to be allocated for investigation varies depending on the volume and complexity of cases on hand and the available investigative resource. Productivity within the ICE Office increased during the 2018-19 reporting year, with the Office clearing 1,246 complaints, compared to 955 during the 2017-18 reporting year.</p><p> </p><p>As at 11 July 2019, there were 488 complaints under investigation (allocated to an ICM), and 1,377 complaints were awaiting allocation to an ICM.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 16/07/2019 13:47:47 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

1138415

registered interest
date	11/07/2019
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	Independent Case Examiner
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average time taken is between a case being accepted by the Independent Complaints Commissioner and being allocated to a caseworker in the most recent period for which figures are available; and if she will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	East Ham
tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
uin	276138
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/07/2019 answer text <p>Complaint investigations are dealt with by dedicated teams and complaints are usually brought into investigation in strict date order. The time complaints wait to be allocated to an Investigation Case Manager (ICM) varies depending on the volume and complexity of cases on hand and the available investigative resource. Productivity within the ICE Office increased during the 2018-19 reporting year, with the Office clearing 1,246 complaints, compared to 955 during the 2017-18 reporting year.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>As at 11 July 2019, the average time taken for a complaint which requires investigation to be allocated to an ICM was 52 weeks.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 16/07/2019 14:01:36 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

1138418

registered interest
date	11/07/2019
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	Independent Case Examiner
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many complaints for the Independent Complaints Commissioner were received in 2018; and how many of those complaints have been allocated to a caseworker.
tabling member constituency	East Ham
tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
uin	276139
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/07/2019 answer text <p>The Independent Case Examiner’s (ICE) Office received 5,307 complaints in 2018 of which 1,943 were accepted for examination. Of those complaints accepted, 567 have been allocated to Case Managers.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 16/07/2019 13:45:25 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

1138422

registered interest
date	11/07/2019
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: Terminal Illnesses
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to improve access to benefits for all people who have been diagnosed as terminally ill.
tabling member constituency	Coventry South
tabling member printed	Mr Jim Cunningham
uin	276141
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/07/2019 answer text <p>The Special Rules for Terminal Illness provide a guaranteed entitlement to benefit under a fast track process, without people being required to attend a face-to-face assessment.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>On 11 July the Secretary of State announced an in-depth evaluation of how the benefits system supports people nearing the end of their life, and those with the most severe conditions.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 16/07/2019 12:38:34 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	308 label Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham

1138512

registered interest
date	11/07/2019
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: Terminal Illnesses
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 9 July 2019 to Question 273334, if she will make it her Department's policy to mandate her Department's assessors to record instances in which they have formally questioned a prognosis given by health professionals in DS1500 forms.
tabling member constituency	Vale of Clwyd
tabling member printed	Chris Ruane
uin	276163
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/07/2019 answer text <p>Guidance for assessors is that they should contact the clinician who has completed a DS1500 for clarification if it contains insufficient information, or where no DS1500 is received, to confirm that the claimant is terminally ill. The assessor will record the outcome of their engagement with the clinician when providing their advice to the Department, but these records are not centrally collated.</p><p> </p><p>To be clear, the DS1500 states that the clinician is not required to provide a prognosis. Rather, they are asked to provide details of their patient’s diagnosis, clinical features and current or planned treatment.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 16/07/2019 12:42:07 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	534 label Biography information for Chris Ruane

1138046

registered interest
date	10/07/2019
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	Personal Independence Payment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons claimants of personal independence payments who have received a tribunal decision since the Upper Tribunal’s judgments on MH and RJ have been excluded from the administrative review.
tabling member constituency	Glenrothes
tabling member printed	Peter Grant
uin	275788
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2019 answer text <p>Following the MH and RJ judgments, the Department updated its guidance on Personal Independence Payment (PIP). In June 2018 it began an administrative exercise to identify claimants assessed using previous guidance to identify those who may be entitled to more support under PIP.</p><p> </p><p>Claimants who have had a tribunal decision since the judgments are not being reviewed as part of the MH RJ administrative exercise. The tribunals are obliged to apply the law as it stands (including the MH and RJ Upper Tribunal judgments) to all appeals, and to award claimants accordingly. The Department does not have the legal powers to override tribunal decisions.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 15/07/2019 15:02:23 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4466 label Biography information for Peter Grant

1138074

registered interest
date	10/07/2019
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	Sahaviriya Steel Industries UK: Redundancy
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the timetable is for the publication of its final report on the effectiveness of programmes to protect former SSI steelworkers from long-term unemployment.
tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
tabling member printed	Frank Field
uin	275684
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2019 answer text <p>The Sahaviriya Steel Industries (SSI) Task Force, funded by the Government to support individuals and businesses directly affected by the closure of SSI in Redcar, has published 3 annual reports (the most recent in 2018) setting out progress with helping the people affected by the liquidation of SSI. Further details are at: <a href="https://www.redcar-cleveland.gov.uk/SSITaskForce" target="_blank">https://www.redcar-cleveland.gov.uk/SSITaskForce</a></p><p> </p><p>The Task Force has commissioned the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to analyse the outcomes of workers affected by the closure.</p><p> </p><p>The DWP has been working to identify; quality assure; integrate and securely store and handle data on former SSI UK employees and workers in its supply chain to fulfil the commission of the Task Force. The department’s analysis will innovatively combine data from the official receiver; local tracking data from collected by Job Centre Plus; DWP/HMRC administrative data; and published ONS data.</p><p> </p><p>The analysis is currently being finalised and will be published in due course by the Department for Work and Pensions.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 15/07/2019 14:30:53 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

1138075

registered interest
date	10/07/2019
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	Personal Independence Payment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 8 July 2019 to Questions 272897 and 272898, what assessment she has made of whether the feedback of Presenting Officers has led to (a) an increase in successful mandatory reconsiderations for claimants, (b) more correct decisions resulting in fewer successful appeals and (c) fewer claims reaching appeal stage.
tabling member constituency	Hove
tabling member printed	Peter Kyle
uin	275796
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2019 answer text <p>Feedback from Presenting Officers has contributed to our new approach which includes contacting claimants, where appropriate, to see if there is information that would enable us to change the decision ourselves. To support this, we are investing additional time for communication, evidence gather and review. This approach supports our aim - to make the right decision as early as possible - so claimants don’t need to progress to the Appeal stage.</p><p> </p><p>It is still too early to assess the full impact of this approach. However initial feedback has been positive and the recently published PIP Official Statistics up to April 2019 showed an increase in the proportion of decisions changed at the Mandatory Reconsideration stage since the approach was implemented.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 15/07/2019 13:17:27 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4505 label Biography information for Peter Kyle

1138132

registered interest
date	10/07/2019
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	Flexible Support Fund
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applications for funding from the Flexible Support Fund have been received for up-front childcare costs in each of the last 12 months; and how many of those applications have been (a) paid in full, (b) paid in part and (c) refused.
tabling member constituency	High Peak
tabling member printed	Ruth George
uin	275816
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2019 answer text <p>The information requested is not held in a format that can be easily disaggregated and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 15/07/2019 14:14:48 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4662 label Biography information for Ruth George

1138133

registered interest
date	10/07/2019
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, how many people have people on universal credit who have turned down a job offer in the last 12 months have cited lack of affordable childcare as the reason; and how many of those people received (a) a civil penalty and (b) a sanction.
tabling member constituency	High Peak
tabling member printed	Ruth George
uin	275817
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2019 answer text <p>On Universal Credit, claimants are able to claim up to 85 per cent of their childcare costs, compared to 70 per cent on the legacy system. Where the initial month’s childcare costs may prevent a claimant from starting work, Jobcentres can use the Flexible Support Fund to help claimants. This is a non-repayable award, which can be used to meet the upfront costs of childcare to help support a claimant into work.</p><p> </p><p>Civil Penalties may be imposed by both DWP and Local Authorities, where an individual incurs a recoverable overpayment as a result of failing to provide accurate information as part of their benefit claim or in connection with an award of benefit, and have not taken reasonable steps to correct the error. Civil Penalties are not imposed in the event of a claimant refusing to accept a job offer.</p><p> </p><p>The information request about those receiving a sanction is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 15/07/2019 15:15:03 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	4662 label Biography information for Ruth George