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1144954

registered interest
date	05/09/2019
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	Unemployment: Mental Health
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the effect of unemployment on a person's mental health.
tabling member constituency	Vale of Clwyd
tabling member printed	Chris Ruane
uin	287476
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p>The Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Work and Pensions recognise the impact unemployment can have on an individual’s mental health. An independent review* of the scientific evidence on the relationship between work and health, commissioned by the Department for Work and Pensions, found strong evidence that unemployment is generally harmful to health and linked with poorer mental health, psychological distress, and psychiatric morbidity. Our jobcentre staff work in partnership with mental health providers and services to ensure individuals experiencing unemployment receive the necessary help they need to support them in their job search, work entry and job retention.</p><p>Notes: * Waddell G and Burton AK. (2006). Is work good for your health and well-being. London: TSO.</p><p /><p> </p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 09/09/2019 14:05:17 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	534 label Biography information for Chris Ruane

1141068

registered interest
date	22/07/2019
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: Wales
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 who claimed personal independence payment in Wales in each year since its inception.
tabling member constituency	Vale of Clwyd
tabling member printed	Chris Ruane
uin	280163
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/07/2019 answer text <p>The latest available data on Personal Independence Payment (PIP) registrations, clearances (whether the claim was awarded, disallowed or withdrawn) and claims in payment can be found on Stat-Xplore at: <a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/" target="_blank">https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/</a>. This data can be broken down by region and by month.</p><p> </p><p>Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here: <a href="https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/index.html" target="_blank">https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/index.html</a>.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 26/07/2019 10:39:59 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	534 label Biography information for Chris Ruane

1141070

registered interest
date	22/07/2019
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: Wales
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 who have claimed universal credit in Wales in each year since its inception.
tabling member constituency	Vale of Clwyd
tabling member printed	Chris Ruane
uin	280164
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/09/2019 answer text <p>Statistics surrounding the volume of Universal Credit claims is routinely published and can be found on the Department’s Stat-Xplore service: <a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/" target="_blank">https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk</a>/. Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:</p><p><a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html" target="_blank">https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html</a></p><p /> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 02/09/2019 14:36:29 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	534 label Biography information for Chris Ruane

1140398

registered interest
date	18/07/2019
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: Northern Ireland
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 merits of twice monthly universal credit payments in Northern Ireland.
tabling member constituency	Vale of Clwyd
tabling member printed	Chris Ruane
uin	278916
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2019 answer text <p>Social security matters are the responsibility of the Department for Communities in Northern Ireland. The Department for Communities therefore delivers Universal Credit with the support of DWP and its Universal Credit Programme. Mitigations agreed as part of the Fresh Start Agreement allow the Department for Communities to deliver UC differently from the way it is delivered in GB, and responsibility for evaluating the effectiveness of the mitigations package rests with them.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 23/07/2019 16:39:17 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	534 label Biography information for Chris Ruane

1139921

registered interest
date	17/07/2019
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, what proportion of claimants of universal credit that have taken an advance payment have seen payments reduced by (a) up to 20 percent (b) between 21 and 30 per cent, (c) 31 to 40 per cent and (d) over 40 percent of the initial amount in each of the last three years.
tabling member constituency	Vale of Clwyd
tabling member printed	Chris Ruane
uin	278385
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2019 answer text <p>Universal Credit (UC) new claim advances provide access to a payment for those in financial need, which can be accessed on the same day, until their first UC payment is due. Claimants can access up to 100% of the total expected monthly award, for which they can pay back over a period of up to 12 months.</p><p> </p><p>The Department has taken a number of steps to ensure that advances meet the needs of claimants and that recovery arrangements are personalised and reasonable. The maximum rate of deductions cannot normally exceed 40 per cent of the Universal Credit standard allowance and does not reduce other components of an award, such as money paid for children, housing or when someone is caring for a severely disabled person. From October 2019 this will be reduced to 30 per cent and from October 2021 we are increasing the maximum recovery period for advances from 12 to 16 months.</p><p> </p><p>However, the Government recognises the importance of safeguarding the welfare of claimants who have incurred debt, so last resort deductions can be applied to protect vulnerable claimants from eviction and/or having their fuel supply (gas/electricity) cut off, by providing a last resort repayment method for arrears of these essential services. In these cases, when it is considered to be in the best interests of the claimant and their family, deductions may be taken above the 40 per cent limit.</p><p> </p><p>If a claimant is in financial difficulty as a result of the level of deductions being made they can contact the Department to request that a reduction in deductions be considered.</p><p> </p><p>The latest available data for eligible claims to UC Full Service is provided in table 1:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Table 1</p></td><td colspan="3"><p>Month Payment Due</p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>Feb-17</p></td><td><p>Feb-18</p></td><td><p>Feb-19</p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>%</p></td><td><p>%</p></td><td><p>%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>up to 20 percent of Standard Allowance</p></td><td><p>42%</p></td><td><p>49%</p></td><td><p>47%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>between 21 and 30 per cent of Standard Allowance</p></td><td><p>20%</p></td><td><p>19%</p></td><td><p>18%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>31 to 40 per cent of Standard Allowance</p></td><td><p>35%</p></td><td><p>31%</p></td><td><p>33%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>over 40 percent of Standard Allowance</p></td><td><p>3%</p></td><td><p>1%</p></td><td><p>2%</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p>Notes</p><p>1. The latest month for which data is available is February 2019.</p><p>2. When categorising claims into the groups above, the figures for the percentage of the Standard Allowance for individual claims have been rounded to the nearest percent.</p><p>3. Deductions include advance repayments and all other deductions, but exclude sanctions and fraud penalties which are reductions of benefit rather than deductions.</p><p>4. A claim can have more than one type of deduction applied to a given payment e.g. the total deduction could be the total of both an advance repayment and another deduction type.</p><p>5. Figures are for Universal Credit Full Service only; Universal Credit full service was fully rolled out by the end of 2018.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 22/07/2019 15:03:58 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	534 label Biography information for Chris Ruane

1139923

registered interest
date	17/07/2019
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	Occupational Health: Termination of Employment
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 proportion of ill-health related job losses that have been attributed to (a) mental ill and (b) physical ill health in each of the last three years.
tabling member constituency	Vale of Clwyd
tabling member printed	Chris Ruane
uin	278386
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2019 answer text <p>Recently published analysis of new data in the 2018 Annual Population Survey (APS) shows that 104,000 people leave work following a long-term sickness absence every year. Of the 99,000 people that left work and reported the health condition that was the main cause of their long-term sickness absence, 37,000 of them reported that the main condition causing their long-term sickness absence was mental health, 25,000 reported that it was because of a musculoskeletal condition and 37,000 reported other health conditions including some physical health conditions.</p><p> </p><p>DWP/DHSC, 2019, Health in the workplace – patterns of sickness absence, employer support and employment retention, <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/health-in-the-workplace-patterns-of-sickness-absence-employer-support-and-employment-retention" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/health-in-the-workplace-patterns-of-sickness-absence-employer-support-and-employment-retention</a></p><p /> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 22/07/2019 16:18:54 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	534 label Biography information for Chris Ruane

1139404

registered interest
date	16/07/2019
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, what estimate he has made of the proportion of personal independence payment reports completed by ATOS that were categorised as (a) unacceptable and (b) learning required in each of the last four years.
tabling member constituency	Vale of Clwyd
tabling member printed	Chris Ruane
uin	277656
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2019 answer text <p>Independent Assessment Services (IAS), previously Atos Healthcare carries out Personal Independence Payment (PIP) consultations in Scotland, North East and North West England, London and Southern England. Capita carry out PIP consultations in Wales and Central England.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>PIP reports are graded as either ‘acceptable’, ‘acceptable with feedback’, ‘acceptable with amendments’ or ‘unacceptable’. The table below provides IAS figures for all these categories and is only available from April 2016.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Grades</p></td><td><p>Apr 16- Mar 17</p></td><td><p>Apr 17-Mar 18</p></td><td><p>Apr 18-Mar 19</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Acceptable</p></td><td><p>7,300</p></td><td><p>7,930</p></td><td><p>7,480</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Acceptable with Feedback</p></td><td><p>1,380</p></td><td><p>1,820</p></td><td><p>1,990</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Acceptable with Amendments</p></td><td><p>650</p></td><td><p>1,220</p></td><td><p>1,780</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Unacceptable</p></td><td><p>460</p></td><td><p>620</p></td><td><p>500</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Total Audited</p></td><td><p>9,790</p></td><td><p>11,590</p></td><td><p>11,750</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Figures rounded to the nearest 10</p><p>Data obtained from the CHES MI Team</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 22/07/2019 13:08:44 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	534 label Biography information for Chris Ruane

1139405

registered interest
date	16/07/2019
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	Disability and Society Inter-ministerial Group
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, on how many occasions the Inter-Ministerial Group on disability and society has met in each of the last two years; and which ministers attended each of those meetings.
tabling member constituency	Vale of Clwyd
tabling member printed	Chris Ruane
uin	277657
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2019 answer text <p>The new Inter-Ministerial Group on Disability and Society was established in spring/summer 2018, and met on Wednesday 4th July 2018, on Wednesday 31st October 2018 and on Monday 25th March 2019.</p><p> </p><p>Details about the meetings, including ministerial attendance are confidential to allow full and frank discussions between Government Ministers and ensure the effectiveness of ministerial discussions and collective decision-making processes.</p><p /><p /> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 22/07/2019 13:00:39 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	534 label Biography information for Chris Ruane

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

1137863

registered interest
date	09/07/2019
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, what estimate she has made of the cost to her Department of fraudulent universal credit claims since the roll-out of universal credit.
tabling member constituency	Vale of Clwyd
tabling member printed	Chris Ruane
uin	275122
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/07/2019 answer text <p>The Department is open and transparent about the cost of fraud and error in the benefit system, publishing our National “Fraud and Error in the Benefit System” statistics each year which detail the amount we estimate is lost to both fraud and error across all benefits.</p><p> </p><p>The latest publication to Gov.uk was made on 9 May 2019 and contains estimates of fraud and error in Universal Credit. The publication can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fraud-and-error-in-the-benefit-system-financial-year-2018-to-2019-estimates" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fraud-and-error-in-the-benefit-system-financial-year-2018-to-2019-estimates</a></p><p> </p><p>As UC expenditure increases, we would also expect to see an increase in the value of fraud and error. We also expect a further increase as UC involves significantly expanding the Department’s caseload and expenditure to include Tax Credits, which were previously administered by Her Majesty’s Revenue &amp; Customs.</p><p> </p><p>The design of UC is expected to lead to a reduction in overpayments across welfare. UC allows us to adjust benefit entitlement in line with changing circumstances in real time. Internal and external data matches are increasingly helping to inform benefit payments and alerting staff to check for any undeclared changes in people’s circumstances.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 17/07/2019 13:42:09 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	534 label Biography information for Chris Ruane