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46389

	registered interest
	date	01/04/2014
	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
	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 reasons for backlogs of medical assessments for personal independence payments.
	tabling member constituency	Bolton South East
	tabling member printed	Yasmin Qureshi
	uin	194642
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/04/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>We are committed to ensuring personal independence payment (PIP) claimants receive high quality, objective, fair and accurate assessments. Since the introduction of PIP new claims in April 2013, we have been closely monitoring all aspects of the process.</p><p>As personal independence payment (PIP) is a new benefit, processes are currently bedding in. Our latest analysis is telling us that the end-to-end claimant journey is taking longer than expected. We are working closely with the assessment providers to ensure that they are taking all necessary steps to improve performance, speed up the process and ensure claimants receive a satisfactory experience. We are also seeking to ensure that all the steps in the process run as smoothly as possible and that there are no barriers in our processes and systems that contribute to claims taking longer than necessary to progress.</p><p>Whilst there are no statutory (legal) requirements to complete action on a claim to PIP within a specified time, we have set both personal independence payment assessment providers a target for the length of time to complete assessments of 30 working days.</p><p>Any delays experienced in the new claims process will not affect the date from which claimants are paid; all successful claims will be paid from the date the claim was initially made or the date the qualifying period is met, whichever is the later.</p><p>As for the administration of all benefits, a claimant is free to complain about the service they have received from the Department for Work and Pensions. Complaints about the service received from our assessment providers should be made direct to the relevant assessment provider. A complaint may result in a special payment if the claimant has experienced unfair treatment or suffered financially.</p><p>The Department has robust expectations for provider performance and contracts include a full set of service level agreements setting out expectations for service delivery, including quality of assessments and the number of days to provide advice to the Department. Officials meet regularly with both assessment providers to discuss performance. The contracts include a range of remedies and failure to meet contractual obligations will result in the Department applying service credits in line with the contract.</p> answering member constituency Hemel Hempstead answering member printed Mike Penning grouped question UIN 194643 194644 194645 194646 question first answered 08/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1528 label Biography information for Sir Mike Penning
	tabling member	3924 label Biography information for Yasmin Qureshi

46387

	registered interest
	date	01/04/2014
	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
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what compensation is available to those suffering financial hardship as a result of failure to carry out assessments for personal independence payments in a timely manner.
	tabling member constituency	Bolton South East
	tabling member printed	Yasmin Qureshi
	uin	194645
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/04/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>We are committed to ensuring personal independence payment (PIP) claimants receive high quality, objective, fair and accurate assessments. Since the introduction of PIP new claims in April 2013, we have been closely monitoring all aspects of the process.</p><p>As personal independence payment (PIP) is a new benefit, processes are currently bedding in. Our latest analysis is telling us that the end-to-end claimant journey is taking longer than expected. We are working closely with the assessment providers to ensure that they are taking all necessary steps to improve performance, speed up the process and ensure claimants receive a satisfactory experience. We are also seeking to ensure that all the steps in the process run as smoothly as possible and that there are no barriers in our processes and systems that contribute to claims taking longer than necessary to progress.</p><p>Whilst there are no statutory (legal) requirements to complete action on a claim to PIP within a specified time, we have set both personal independence payment assessment providers a target for the length of time to complete assessments of 30 working days.</p><p>Any delays experienced in the new claims process will not affect the date from which claimants are paid; all successful claims will be paid from the date the claim was initially made or the date the qualifying period is met, whichever is the later.</p><p>As for the administration of all benefits, a claimant is free to complain about the service they have received from the Department for Work and Pensions. Complaints about the service received from our assessment providers should be made direct to the relevant assessment provider. A complaint may result in a special payment if the claimant has experienced unfair treatment or suffered financially.</p><p>The Department has robust expectations for provider performance and contracts include a full set of service level agreements setting out expectations for service delivery, including quality of assessments and the number of days to provide advice to the Department. Officials meet regularly with both assessment providers to discuss performance. The contracts include a range of remedies and failure to meet contractual obligations will result in the Department applying service credits in line with the contract.</p> answering member constituency Hemel Hempstead answering member printed Mike Penning grouped question UIN 194642 194643 194644 194646 question first answered 08/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1528 label Biography information for Sir Mike Penning
	tabling member	3924 label Biography information for Yasmin Qureshi

46386

	registered interest
	date	01/04/2014
	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
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans he has to penalise companies who have failed to carry out medical assessments for personal independence payments in a timely manner.
	tabling member constituency	Bolton South East
	tabling member printed	Yasmin Qureshi
	uin	194646
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/04/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>We are committed to ensuring personal independence payment (PIP) claimants receive high quality, objective, fair and accurate assessments. Since the introduction of PIP new claims in April 2013, we have been closely monitoring all aspects of the process.</p><p>As personal independence payment (PIP) is a new benefit, processes are currently bedding in. Our latest analysis is telling us that the end-to-end claimant journey is taking longer than expected. We are working closely with the assessment providers to ensure that they are taking all necessary steps to improve performance, speed up the process and ensure claimants receive a satisfactory experience. We are also seeking to ensure that all the steps in the process run as smoothly as possible and that there are no barriers in our processes and systems that contribute to claims taking longer than necessary to progress.</p><p>Whilst there are no statutory (legal) requirements to complete action on a claim to PIP within a specified time, we have set both personal independence payment assessment providers a target for the length of time to complete assessments of 30 working days.</p><p>Any delays experienced in the new claims process will not affect the date from which claimants are paid; all successful claims will be paid from the date the claim was initially made or the date the qualifying period is met, whichever is the later.</p><p>As for the administration of all benefits, a claimant is free to complain about the service they have received from the Department for Work and Pensions. Complaints about the service received from our assessment providers should be made direct to the relevant assessment provider. A complaint may result in a special payment if the claimant has experienced unfair treatment or suffered financially.</p><p>The Department has robust expectations for provider performance and contracts include a full set of service level agreements setting out expectations for service delivery, including quality of assessments and the number of days to provide advice to the Department. Officials meet regularly with both assessment providers to discuss performance. The contracts include a range of remedies and failure to meet contractual obligations will result in the Department applying service credits in line with the contract.</p> answering member constituency Hemel Hempstead answering member printed Mike Penning grouped question UIN 194642 194643 194644 194645 question first answered 08/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1528 label Biography information for Sir Mike Penning
	tabling member	3924 label Biography information for Yasmin Qureshi

46390

	registered interest
	date	01/04/2014
	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
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to address backlogs of medical assessments for personal independence payments.
	tabling member constituency	Bolton South East
	tabling member printed	Yasmin Qureshi
	uin	194643
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/04/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>We are committed to ensuring personal independence payment (PIP) claimants receive high quality, objective, fair and accurate assessments. Since the introduction of PIP new claims in April 2013, we have been closely monitoring all aspects of the process.</p><p>As personal independence payment (PIP) is a new benefit, processes are currently bedding in. Our latest analysis is telling us that the end-to-end claimant journey is taking longer than expected. We are working closely with the assessment providers to ensure that they are taking all necessary steps to improve performance, speed up the process and ensure claimants receive a satisfactory experience. We are also seeking to ensure that all the steps in the process run as smoothly as possible and that there are no barriers in our processes and systems that contribute to claims taking longer than necessary to progress.</p><p>Whilst there are no statutory (legal) requirements to complete action on a claim to PIP within a specified time, we have set both personal independence payment assessment providers a target for the length of time to complete assessments of 30 working days.</p><p>Any delays experienced in the new claims process will not affect the date from which claimants are paid; all successful claims will be paid from the date the claim was initially made or the date the qualifying period is met, whichever is the later.</p><p>As for the administration of all benefits, a claimant is free to complain about the service they have received from the Department for Work and Pensions. Complaints about the service received from our assessment providers should be made direct to the relevant assessment provider. A complaint may result in a special payment if the claimant has experienced unfair treatment or suffered financially.</p><p>The Department has robust expectations for provider performance and contracts include a full set of service level agreements setting out expectations for service delivery, including quality of assessments and the number of days to provide advice to the Department. Officials meet regularly with both assessment providers to discuss performance. The contracts include a range of remedies and failure to meet contractual obligations will result in the Department applying service credits in line with the contract.</p> answering member constituency Hemel Hempstead answering member printed Mike Penning grouped question UIN 194642 194644 194645 194646 question first answered 08/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1528 label Biography information for Sir Mike Penning
	tabling member	3924 label Biography information for Yasmin Qureshi

46391

	registered interest
	date	01/04/2014
	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
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what time limit he has set for medical assessments for personal independence payments.
	tabling member constituency	Bolton South East
	tabling member printed	Yasmin Qureshi
	uin	194644
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/04/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>We are committed to ensuring personal independence payment (PIP) claimants receive high quality, objective, fair and accurate assessments. Since the introduction of PIP new claims in April 2013, we have been closely monitoring all aspects of the process.</p><p>As personal independence payment (PIP) is a new benefit, processes are currently bedding in. Our latest analysis is telling us that the end-to-end claimant journey is taking longer than expected. We are working closely with the assessment providers to ensure that they are taking all necessary steps to improve performance, speed up the process and ensure claimants receive a satisfactory experience. We are also seeking to ensure that all the steps in the process run as smoothly as possible and that there are no barriers in our processes and systems that contribute to claims taking longer than necessary to progress.</p><p>Whilst there are no statutory (legal) requirements to complete action on a claim to PIP within a specified time, we have set both personal independence payment assessment providers a target for the length of time to complete assessments of 30 working days.</p><p>Any delays experienced in the new claims process will not affect the date from which claimants are paid; all successful claims will be paid from the date the claim was initially made or the date the qualifying period is met, whichever is the later.</p><p>As for the administration of all benefits, a claimant is free to complain about the service they have received from the Department for Work and Pensions. Complaints about the service received from our assessment providers should be made direct to the relevant assessment provider. A complaint may result in a special payment if the claimant has experienced unfair treatment or suffered financially.</p><p>The Department has robust expectations for provider performance and contracts include a full set of service level agreements setting out expectations for service delivery, including quality of assessments and the number of days to provide advice to the Department. Officials meet regularly with both assessment providers to discuss performance. The contracts include a range of remedies and failure to meet contractual obligations will result in the Department applying service credits in line with the contract.</p> answering member constituency Hemel Hempstead answering member printed Mike Penning grouped question UIN 194642 194643 194645 194646 question first answered 08/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1528 label Biography information for Sir Mike Penning
	tabling member	3924 label Biography information for Yasmin Qureshi

45137

	registered interest
	date	25/03/2014
	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
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many personal independence payment applications have been processed in each month since April 2013.
	tabling member constituency	Rutherglen and Hamilton West
	tabling member printed	Tom Greatrex
	uin	193589
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/03/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>Personal Independence Payment started from April 2013 and although limited data has started to feed through, we need to wait until the Department has quality assured, meaningful figures for publication. The Department is working to guidelines set by the UK Statistics Authority to ensure we are able to publish statistics that meet high quality standards at the earliest opportunity. We intend to publish official statistics on personal independence payment from spring 2014.</p><p> </p><p>An ad-hoc release of PIP information was published on Tuesday 11 February 2014. www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/277986/adHoc-pip-statistics-feb14.pdf</p> answering member constituency Hemel Hempstead answering member printed Mike Penning question first answered 31/03/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1528 label Biography information for Sir Mike Penning
	tabling member	4047 label Biography information for Tom Greatrex

64450

	registered interest
	date	26/06/2014
	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	Energy
	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 his Department's consumption in kWh of (a) gas and (b) electricity in each month since June 2010; and what the cost of such consumption has been in each such month.
	tabling member constituency	Rutherglen and Hamilton West
	tabling member printed	Tom Greatrex
	uin	202711
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/07/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>The actual consumption and cost for gas and electricity, as requested, has been provided on an annex and will be available in the library.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Hemel Hempstead answering member printed Mike Penning question first answered 02/07/2014 14:19:20 answering member 1528 label Biography information for Sir Mike Penning
	tabling member	4047 label Biography information for Tom Greatrex

42627

	registered interest
	date	11/03/2014
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	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 tackle delays faced by people waiting for a medical assessment following their application for personal independence payment.
	tabling member constituency	Westmorland and Lonsdale
	tabling member printed	Tim Farron
	uin	191500
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/03/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>We are committed to ensuring Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claimants receive high quality, objective, fair and accurate assessments. Since the introduction of PIP new claims in April, we have been closely monitoring all aspects of the process.</p><p /> <p>Our latest analysis is telling us that the end-to-end claimant journey is taking longer than expected. We are working closely with the assessment providers to ensure that they are taking all necessary steps to improve performance, speed up the process and ensure claimants receive a satisfactory experience. We are also seeking to ensure that all the steps in the process run as smoothly as possible and that there are no barriers in our processes and systems that contribute to claims taking longer than necessary to progress. </p> answering member constituency Hemel Hempstead answering member printed Mike Penning question first answered 17/03/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1528 label Biography information for Sir Mike Penning
	tabling member	1591 label Biography information for Tim Farron

42341

	registered interest
	date	10/03/2014
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) deaf and (b) deafblind people have employed a full-time communication professional following recent changes in the implementation of access to work guidance.
	tabling member constituency	Erith and Thamesmead
	tabling member printed	Teresa Pearce
	uin	191256
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/03/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>Access to Work supports employed people with all types of disability; the budget is not allocated to particular disability groups in advance of applications. Existing policies on the cost effective funding of full time support workers are being enforced to ensure the programme remains available for new applicants.</p><p> </p><p>Access to Work supports employed people with all types of disability; the budget is not allocated to particular disability groups in advance of applications. Existing policies on the cost effective funding of full time support workers are being enforced to ensure the programme remains available for new applicants.</p><p> </p><p>There are no quotas applied to customer numbers or funding for particular disability groups.</p><p> </p><p>There are currently a small number of investigations where charges have been made and are due to be heard in court over the summer months. We continue to monitor the system for abuse.</p><p> </p><p>Please note that DWP only has information based on Primary Disability type. Therefore total spend on hearing impaired customers is shown below, this includes other Access to Work support. However spend relating to Deafblind customers is not available from our records.</p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="5"><p><strong>Department of Work and Pensions - Access To Work (</strong><strong>ATW</strong><strong>)</strong></p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Number of people helped with hearing impairments</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Amount spent on Hearing impairment £M</strong></p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p><strong>Total ATW customers</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Total ATW spend £M</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2008/09 </p></td><td><p> 4,950 </p></td><td><p>21.7</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> 32,130 </p></td><td><p>69</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2009/10 </p></td><td><p> 5,450 </p></td><td><p>28.5</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> 37,280 </p></td><td><p>98</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010/11 </p></td><td><p> 5,300 </p></td><td><p>32.7</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> 35,820 </p></td><td><p>107</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011/12 </p></td><td><p> 4,960 </p></td><td><p>34.1</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> 30,780 </p></td><td><p>93</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012/13 </p></td><td><p> 5,250 </p></td><td><p>34.5</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> 31,460 </p></td><td><p>95.3</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Hemel Hempstead answering member printed Mike Penning grouped question UIN 191235 191236 191237 191238 191243 191253 191254 191255 191257 191258 question first answered 17/03/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1528 label Biography information for Sir Mike Penning
	tabling member	4003 label Biography information for Teresa Pearce

42338

	registered interest
	date	10/03/2014
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many fraudulent claims were received by Access to Work for communication support for deaf and deafblind people in each year for which figures are available.
	tabling member constituency	Erith and Thamesmead
	tabling member printed	Teresa Pearce
	uin	191238
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/03/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>Access to Work supports employed people with all types of disability; the budget is not allocated to particular disability groups in advance of applications. Existing policies on the cost effective funding of full time support workers are being enforced to ensure the programme remains available for new applicants.</p><p> </p><p>Access to Work supports employed people with all types of disability; the budget is not allocated to particular disability groups in advance of applications. Existing policies on the cost effective funding of full time support workers are being enforced to ensure the programme remains available for new applicants.</p><p> </p><p>There are no quotas applied to customer numbers or funding for particular disability groups.</p><p> </p><p>There are currently a small number of investigations where charges have been made and are due to be heard in court over the summer months. We continue to monitor the system for abuse.</p><p> </p><p>Please note that DWP only has information based on Primary Disability type. Therefore total spend on hearing impaired customers is shown below, this includes other Access to Work support. However spend relating to Deafblind customers is not available from our records.</p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="5"><p><strong>Department of Work and Pensions - Access To Work (</strong><strong>ATW</strong><strong>)</strong></p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Number of people helped with hearing impairments</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Amount spent on Hearing impairment £M</strong></p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p><strong>Total ATW customers</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Total ATW spend £M</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2008/09 </p></td><td><p> 4,950 </p></td><td><p>21.7</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> 32,130 </p></td><td><p>69</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2009/10 </p></td><td><p> 5,450 </p></td><td><p>28.5</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> 37,280 </p></td><td><p>98</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010/11 </p></td><td><p> 5,300 </p></td><td><p>32.7</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> 35,820 </p></td><td><p>107</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011/12 </p></td><td><p> 4,960 </p></td><td><p>34.1</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> 30,780 </p></td><td><p>93</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012/13 </p></td><td><p> 5,250 </p></td><td><p>34.5</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> 31,460 </p></td><td><p>95.3</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Hemel Hempstead answering member printed Mike Penning grouped question UIN 191235 191236 191237 191243 191253 191254 191255 191256 191257 191258 question first answered 17/03/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1528 label Biography information for Sir Mike Penning
	tabling member	4003 label Biography information for Teresa Pearce