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1002198

	registered interest
	date	05/11/2018
	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	Workplace Pensions
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Buscombe on 31 October (HL10751), what assessment they have made of the obligations on (1) employers, and (2) pension schemes to report failures to pay correct contributions, regardless of whether the errors are large or small; and whether there is a definition of what contributes a material error.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Altmann
	uin	HL11219
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/11/2018 answer text <p>Government has put in place a robust, proportionate, compliance framework for automatic enrolment which ensures that the vast majority of employers are meeting their legal duties, including: declaring compliance, accurately paying contributions and passing contributions to their chosen pension scheme. This framework is backed by statutory powers which enable the Regulator to compel compliance with the law.</p><p>Employers, trustees, managers and providers must keep records including details of the pension contributions payable in each relevant pay reference period by an employer to the scheme, and the amount payable. This includes the contributions due on the employer’s behalf and deductions made from an individual’s earnings.</p><p>The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has published codes of practice on its website setting out how trustees of defined contribution pension schemes and managers of personal pension schemes should monitor the payment of contributions, provide information to help members check their contributions and report material payment failures to TPR. The codes set out what is considered a material breach, specifically: paragraphs 173 and 174 of Code 3; paragraphs 46 and 47 of Code 5; paragraphs 48 and 49 of Code 6; and paragraphs 173 to 186 of Code 14.</p><p>In addition, TPR publishes regular assessments of its automatic enrolment compliance and enforcement activities as well as an annual commentary and analysis report, both of which are available on its website.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe grouped question UIN HL11220 HL11221 HL11222 question first answered 12/11/2018 16:59:44 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	4533 label Biography information for Baroness Altmann

1002199

	registered interest
	date	05/11/2018
	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	Workplace Pensions
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the amount of auto-enrolment pension contributions which are incorrect.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Altmann
	uin	HL11220
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/11/2018 answer text <p>Government has put in place a robust, proportionate, compliance framework for automatic enrolment which ensures that the vast majority of employers are meeting their legal duties, including: declaring compliance, accurately paying contributions and passing contributions to their chosen pension scheme. This framework is backed by statutory powers which enable the Regulator to compel compliance with the law.</p><p>Employers, trustees, managers and providers must keep records including details of the pension contributions payable in each relevant pay reference period by an employer to the scheme, and the amount payable. This includes the contributions due on the employer’s behalf and deductions made from an individual’s earnings.</p><p>The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has published codes of practice on its website setting out how trustees of defined contribution pension schemes and managers of personal pension schemes should monitor the payment of contributions, provide information to help members check their contributions and report material payment failures to TPR. The codes set out what is considered a material breach, specifically: paragraphs 173 and 174 of Code 3; paragraphs 46 and 47 of Code 5; paragraphs 48 and 49 of Code 6; and paragraphs 173 to 186 of Code 14.</p><p>In addition, TPR publishes regular assessments of its automatic enrolment compliance and enforcement activities as well as an annual commentary and analysis report, both of which are available on its website.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe grouped question UIN HL11219 HL11221 HL11222 question first answered 12/11/2018 16:59:44 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	4533 label Biography information for Baroness Altmann

1002200

	registered interest
	date	05/11/2018
	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	Workplace Pensions
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to introduce reporting requirements to monitor accuracy of auto-enrolment pension contribution records on an annual basis; and if so, what those requirements will be.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Altmann
	uin	HL11221
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/11/2018 answer text <p>Government has put in place a robust, proportionate, compliance framework for automatic enrolment which ensures that the vast majority of employers are meeting their legal duties, including: declaring compliance, accurately paying contributions and passing contributions to their chosen pension scheme. This framework is backed by statutory powers which enable the Regulator to compel compliance with the law.</p><p>Employers, trustees, managers and providers must keep records including details of the pension contributions payable in each relevant pay reference period by an employer to the scheme, and the amount payable. This includes the contributions due on the employer’s behalf and deductions made from an individual’s earnings.</p><p>The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has published codes of practice on its website setting out how trustees of defined contribution pension schemes and managers of personal pension schemes should monitor the payment of contributions, provide information to help members check their contributions and report material payment failures to TPR. The codes set out what is considered a material breach, specifically: paragraphs 173 and 174 of Code 3; paragraphs 46 and 47 of Code 5; paragraphs 48 and 49 of Code 6; and paragraphs 173 to 186 of Code 14.</p><p>In addition, TPR publishes regular assessments of its automatic enrolment compliance and enforcement activities as well as an annual commentary and analysis report, both of which are available on its website.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe grouped question UIN HL11219 HL11220 HL11222 question first answered 12/11/2018 16:59:44 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	4533 label Biography information for Baroness Altmann

1002201

	registered interest
	date	05/11/2018
	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	Workplace Pensions
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to put procedures in place to (1) monitor error rates in auto-enrolment contribution records, and (2) assess the proportion of schemes which have taken steps to correct those errors.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Altmann
	uin	HL11222
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/11/2018 answer text <p>Government has put in place a robust, proportionate, compliance framework for automatic enrolment which ensures that the vast majority of employers are meeting their legal duties, including: declaring compliance, accurately paying contributions and passing contributions to their chosen pension scheme. This framework is backed by statutory powers which enable the Regulator to compel compliance with the law.</p><p>Employers, trustees, managers and providers must keep records including details of the pension contributions payable in each relevant pay reference period by an employer to the scheme, and the amount payable. This includes the contributions due on the employer’s behalf and deductions made from an individual’s earnings.</p><p>The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has published codes of practice on its website setting out how trustees of defined contribution pension schemes and managers of personal pension schemes should monitor the payment of contributions, provide information to help members check their contributions and report material payment failures to TPR. The codes set out what is considered a material breach, specifically: paragraphs 173 and 174 of Code 3; paragraphs 46 and 47 of Code 5; paragraphs 48 and 49 of Code 6; and paragraphs 173 to 186 of Code 14.</p><p>In addition, TPR publishes regular assessments of its automatic enrolment compliance and enforcement activities as well as an annual commentary and analysis report, both of which are available on its website.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe grouped question UIN HL11219 HL11220 HL11221 question first answered 12/11/2018 16:59:44 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	4533 label Biography information for Baroness Altmann

1002760

	registered interest
	date	06/11/2018
	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: Telephone Services
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what process is used by her Department to estimate the (a) average call duration and (b) amount of calls taken by case managers working on universal credit; and if she will publish the results of such estimates for each year for which information is available.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
	tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
	uin	188875
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/11/2018 answer text <p>Data can be extracted from the Universal Credit Full Service system to establish the average number of calls per day and the average duration.</p><p> </p><p>We have no plans to collect or publish this data routinely given the costs involved in maintaining it to official statistics standards.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 12/11/2018 18:05:10 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1002761

	registered interest
	date	06/11/2018
	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: Telephone Services
	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 case managers working on universal credit who are seconded to the national telephony team for each shift; and if she will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
	tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
	uin	188876
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/11/2018 answer text <p>We currently have 400 colleagues assigned to Universal Credit national tier telephony. We retain the flexibility to adjust the number of colleagues working on some of the core functions within Universal Credit to accommodate fluctuations in demand and the number of colleagues deployed to National Tier telephony will vary month on month as required.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 12/11/2018 18:02:05 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1002759

	registered interest
	date	06/11/2018
	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 discussions she has had with representatives of staff working in job centres and service centres on difficulties experienced by such staff in (a) applying for and (b) receiving payment as claimants of universal credit.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
	tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
	uin	188874
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/11/2018 answer text <p>My officials regularly meet with trade union representatives to discuss areas of concerns that staff may have.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 12/11/2018 17:51:28 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1002711

	registered interest
	date	06/11/2018
	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: Cystic Fibrosis
	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 with cystic fibrosis have qualified for (a) personal independence payments and (b) disability living allowance in each of the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Kingston upon Hull North
	tabling member printed	Diana Johnson
	uin	188757
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/11/2018 answer text <p>Statistics on Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claim outcomes (clearances) at disability level are not readily available and have not previously been published as Official Statistics. We are producing the statistics requested and issuing them in an Official Statistics release on 11<sup>th</sup> December 2018 in accordance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The information requested is not readily available for Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p>Statistics on the number of individuals in receipt of Disability Living Allowance and Personal Independence payments broken down by disability, age and date are already available on Stat Xplore:</p><p><a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/" target="_blank">https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk</a></p><p> </p><p>Guidance for users is available at:</p><p><a href="https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html" target="_blank">https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html</a>.</p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Truro and Falmouth answering member printed Sarah Newton question first answered 12/11/2018 17:16:06 answering member 4071 label Biography information for Sarah Newton
	tabling member	1533 label Biography information for Dame Diana Johnson

1000260

	registered interest
	date	02/11/2018
	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, for what reason the taper that is applied to wages is not applied to pensions in relation to universal credit.
	tabling member constituency	Barnsley Central
	tabling member printed	Dan Jarvis
	uin	187333
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/11/2018 answer text <p>The taper is the rate at which Universal Credit is reduced to take account of earnings. It is specifically for in work claimants and linked to earnings to incentivise work, and those in work to earn more. Universal Credit has a single taper of 63 per cent so payments reduce in a transparent and predictable way as earnings increase. Universal Credit is a means tested benefit, and income other than earnings, such as pensions, is taken fully into account in the assessment of Universal Credit. This is consistent with how legacy means tested benefits such as Employment and Support Allowance, Jobseeker’s Allowance and Income Support treat pension income. Therefore it would not be consistent to extend the earnings taper to pensions income and doing so would also undermine the incentives to work for people of working age.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 12/11/2018 18:05:06 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	4243 label Biography information for Dan Jarvis

1002127

	registered interest
	date	05/11/2018
	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	Members: Correspondence
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he plans to reply to the letter of 4 October 2018 from the hon. Member for Delyn on statutory maternity pay and maternity allowance.
	tabling member constituency	Delyn
	tabling member printed	David Hanson
	uin	188032
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/11/2018 answer text <p>The Department takes the issue seriously and we are in the process of responding.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 12/11/2018 16:23:46 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	533 label Biography information for David Hanson

1002727

	registered interest
	date	06/11/2018
	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	Bereavement Benefits
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his Department's policy is on the payment of bereavement benefits for unmarried partners with children.
	tabling member constituency	Wolverhampton North East
	tabling member printed	Emma Reynolds
	uin	188820
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/11/2018 answer text <p>Bereavement benefits are paid to a surviving spouse or civil partner; they can only be paid to those in legal unions. Therefore, they cannot be paid in respect of cohabitees, either with or without children. We are currently considering how to proceed following the recent Supreme Court judgement which ruled it incompatible with ECHR principles to provide that cohabitees with children are not entitled to Widowed Parent’s Allowance.</p><p> </p><p>Cohabitees do have access to income-related benefits. They may also qualify for help with funeral costs from the Social Fund and may of course choose to provide security for their families by way of private pension or life insurance arrangements.</p><p /> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 12/11/2018 11:44:51 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4077 label Biography information for Emma Reynolds

1000268

	registered interest
	date	02/11/2018
	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	State Retirement Pensions: Females
	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 1 November 2018 to Question 185131 on Independent Case Examiner, if she will publish that same information for complaints by women on the equalisation of the state pension age.
	tabling member constituency	Rutherglen and Hamilton West
	tabling member printed	Ged Killen
	uin	187381
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/11/2018 answer text <p>Individual departments have set up complaints procedures. That approach has not changed under Labour 1997-2010 or successive governments. The DWP has a two tier complaints process which considers formal complaints about our service<strong>. </strong>Once a complainant has exhausted the DWP complaint process they are signposted to the Independent Case Examiner’s Office if they are dissatisfied with the final response to their complaint.</p><p>The Independent Case Examiner is independent, and discusses complaints. The Independent Case Examiner is appointed under contract to adjudicate on escalated complaints about the DWP, and its contracted service providers, in cases where the complainant has exhausted the relevant internal complaints process and remains dissatisfied. If a complainant is dissatisfied with the outcome of an I Independent Case Examiner investigation (or the service provided by the Independent Case Examiner) they can ask their Member of Parliament to escalate their complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.</p><p>The table below provides details of the number of complaints concerning the equalisation of women’s state pension age, that have been (a) received; (b) accepted for investigation and (c) resolved by the Independent Case Examiner in each month since January 2017 (we have interpreted (c) as a request for the number of concluded complaint examinations).</p><p>At the end of October 2018, there were 865 such cases awaiting a decision on whether the complaint could be accepted for investigation, which explains the drop in the number of cases accepted for investigation since April 2018.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Month</p></td><td><p>Complaints received</p></td><td><p>Complaints accepted for investigation</p></td><td><p>Concluded complaint examinations</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>January 2017</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>February 2017</p></td><td><p>26</p></td><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>March 2017</p></td><td><p>211</p></td><td><p>187</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>April 2017</p></td><td><p>172</p></td><td><p>157</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>May 2017</p></td><td><p>171</p></td><td><p>148</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>June 2017</p></td><td><p>144</p></td><td><p>124</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>July 2017</p></td><td><p>222</p></td><td><p>185</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>August 2017</p></td><td><p>290</p></td><td><p>243</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>September 2017</p></td><td><p>297</p></td><td><p>232</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>October 2017</p></td><td><p>418</p></td><td><p>338</p></td><td><p>3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>November 2017</p></td><td><p>320</p></td><td><p>265</p></td><td><p>6</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>December 2017</p></td><td><p>222</p></td><td><p>177</p></td><td><p>4</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>January 2018</p></td><td><p>314</p></td><td><p>254</p></td><td><p>11</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>February 2018</p></td><td><p>240</p></td><td><p>210</p></td><td><p>28</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>March 2018</p></td><td><p>171</p></td><td><p>132</p></td><td><p>16</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>April 2018</p></td><td><p>196</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>11</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>May 2018</p></td><td><p>159</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>15</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>June 2018</p></td><td><p>147</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>30</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>July 2018</p></td><td><p>131</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>13</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>August 2018</p></td><td><p>108</p></td><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>14</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>September 2018</p></td><td><p>101</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>15</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>October 2018</p></td><td><p>119</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>14</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 12/11/2018 14:57:29 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	4672 label Biography information for Ged Killen

1002684

	registered interest
	date	06/11/2018
	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 number of claimants of universal credit that are paid every (a) four weeks, (b) two weeks and (c) every week.
	tabling member constituency	Bishop Auckland
	tabling member printed	Helen Goodman
	uin	188752
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/11/2018 answer text <p>I refer the hon Member to question <a href="https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2018-06-07/151086/" target="_blank">151086</a> anwered on 12 June 2018.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 12/11/2018 17:57:07 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	1484 label Biography information for Helen Goodman

1000285

	registered interest
	date	02/11/2018
	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: Muscular Dystrophy
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what representations she has received from claimants of personal independence payment with myotonic dystrophy on personal independence payment assessments; and if she will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Gedling
	tabling member printed	Vernon Coaker
	uin	187298
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/11/2018 answer text <p>I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 5<sup>th</sup> November 2018 to Question <a href="https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-questions-answers/?page=1&amp;max=20&amp;questiontype=AllQuestions&amp;house=commons%2clords&amp;uin=186178" target="_blank"><strong>UIN 186178</strong></a></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Truro and Falmouth answering member printed Sarah Newton question first answered 12/11/2018 15:04:21 answering member 4071 label Biography information for Sarah Newton
	tabling member	360 label Biography information for Lord Coaker

1002095

	registered interest
	date	05/11/2018
	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: Advisory Services
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the White Paper, Improving Lives published in November 2017, when the funding for Jobcentre Plus Community Partners and additional Disability Employment Advisers is due to end; and whether the Department has plans to allocate additional funding for those initiatives.
	tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
	tabling member printed	Frank Field
	uin	188029
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/11/2018 answer text <p>Funding for Jobcentre Plus Community Partners and additional Disability Employment Advisers has been agreed up until 31st March 2019.</p><p> </p><p>There is a range of support available for claimants with a health condition or disability, including one-to-one support from Work Coaches, The Work and Health Programme and the Personal Support package. Our overall aim is for work coaches to continue to develop the skills and confidence to provide good coaching and effective support. Disability Employment Advisers and Community Partners are among a number of the enablers in place to support this priority.</p><p> </p><p>We are carrying out continuous evaluation, including a review of the Community Partner and Disability Employment Adviser role functions. Recommendations from this review will be considered by Ministers and DWP Senior Leaders as they decide how to ensure that we continue to provide a cohesive support offer beyond 31st March 2019.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Truro and Falmouth answering member printed Sarah Newton question first answered 12/11/2018 16:30:33 answering member 4071 label Biography information for Sarah Newton
	tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

1002096

	registered interest
	date	05/11/2018
	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: Advisory Services
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has plans to undertake an assessment of the adequacy of the Jobcentre Plus Personalised Support Package for disabled people.
	tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
	tabling member printed	Frank Field
	uin	188030
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/11/2018 answer text <p>The Department has commissioned an externally contracted evaluation of the Jobcentre Plus Personalised Support Package. This will explore the experiences of claimants, employers, providers and DWP staff, of the personalised support provided through the package.</p><p> </p><p>A synthesis report of the over-arching evaluation will be published in Autumn 2021.</p> answering member constituency Truro and Falmouth answering member printed Sarah Newton question first answered 12/11/2018 16:26:59 answering member 4071 label Biography information for Sarah Newton
	tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

998921

	registered interest
	date	31/10/2018
	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	Department for Work and Pensions: Contracts
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Buscombe on 23 October (HL10674), whether they include in supplier contracts a specific requirement that they do nothing to harm public confidence in the person of the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions; and if so, whether this is a new policy, and when it was introduced.
	tabling member printed	Lord Myners
	uin	HL11170
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/11/2018 answer text <p>Contractual provisions that impose obligations on suppliers not to harm the reputation of the purchasing authority or otherwise bring it into disrepute are not new policy, such provisions are well-established and widely used in both the public and private sector and are transparent throughout the tendering process. These provisions ensure that contractors adhere to good working practices and governance, for example by ensuring they do not break employment law or use dangerous, unfair or unethical practices which may bring the Authority into disrepute or harm public confidence. Such provisions do not stop any contract holders or affiliates from criticising any specific government department, government policy or politicians.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 12/11/2018 16:51:13 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	3869 label Biography information for Lord Myners

1002754

	registered interest
	date	06/11/2018
	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: Disability
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to Table A08 of the recent Labour Market Bulletin published by the Office for National Statistics, what assessment she has made of the reasons for people with disabilities having an employment rate of 30.4 percentage points lower than people without disabilities between April to June 2018; and what plans her Department has to address that disability employment gap.
	tabling member constituency	Liverpool, Wavertree
	tabling member printed	Luciana Berger
	uin	188805
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/11/2018 answer text <p>The employment rate gap between disabled and non-disabled people fell from 33.1% in April-June 2013 to 31.3% in April-June 2017.</p><p> </p><p>We remain committed to further improving outcomes for disabled people. The manifesto commitment to get one million more disabled people in work by 2027 gives us a clear, ambitious, and time bound goal.</p><p> </p><p>We set out our continued commitment to improving employment rates for disabled people and people with long-term health conditions in <em>Improving Lives: the Future of Work, Health and Disability</em>. We believe people should get the support they need whatever their health condition or disability, whether that’s from their employer, from the health system or from the welfare system.</p><p> </p><p>We have invested in our Personal Support Package, which includes £330 million of funding over four years with a range of new interventions and initiatives designed to provide support that is tailored to the individual needs of claimants. We have recruited 300 additional Disability Employment Advisers and we are introducing 200 new Community Partners, bringing specialist advice and support into the Jobcentre.</p><p> </p><p>We are supporting employers to help them recruit and retain disabled people and people with health conditions through Disability Confident, the Access to Work scheme, and specialist advisers in Jobcentres.</p><p> </p><p>Recognising the importance of keeping people in work, we want to reform the Statutory Sick Pay system so that it more effectively supports returns to work, and we are exploring how to shape, fund and deliver transformational change to provide effective occupational health services that can support people in work.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Truro and Falmouth answering member printed Sarah Newton question first answered 12/11/2018 15:14:13 answering member 4071 label Biography information for Sarah Newton
	tabling member	4036 label Biography information for Luciana Berger

999641

	registered interest
	date	01/11/2018
	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 and Health Programme: Autism
	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 effectiveness of the Health and Work Programme for autistic people.
	tabling member constituency	Battersea
	tabling member printed	Marsha De Cordova
	uin	187155
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/11/2018 answer text <p>Over contract duration we expect 75% of Work and Health Programme (WHP) outcomes to be from participants with a disability or long term health condition. Whilst the programme is not aimed exclusively at autistic people, we expect that many will benefit from its support; we will be releasing official statistics this year. However, the programme has been warmly welcomed by WHP Providers and their supply chain, external stakeholders and, most importantly, our customers, and is already helping people into lasting work.</p> answering member constituency Truro and Falmouth answering member printed Sarah Newton question first answered 12/11/2018 12:03:05 answering member 4071 label Biography information for Sarah Newton
	tabling member	4676 label Biography information for Marsha De Cordova

999640

	registered interest
	date	01/11/2018
	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: Autism
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to close the autism employment gap.
	tabling member constituency	Battersea
	tabling member printed	Marsha De Cordova
	uin	187154
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/11/2018 answer text <p>The Government is strongly committed to increasing employment opportunities for disabled people, including those with autism. Taking a life course approach, we are working across Government and with local authorities, voluntary organisations and employers in the public and private sectors to achieve this. Help and support for people with autism includes:</p><p> </p><ul><li>Access to Work, a discretionary grant scheme which offers advice and practical and financial support above the level of reasonable adjustments to disabled people who are in work or about to start work. Access to Work has also put in place a Hidden Impairment Specialist Team that gives advice and guidance to help employers support employees with conditions such as Autism, Learning Disability and/or Mental Health conditions. It also offers eligible people an assessment to find out their needs at work and help to develop a support plan.</li><li>In 2017/18, the highest ever number of people received AtW payments - 33,860, up 13% on 2016/17.</li><li>Through working with Autism Alliance, we have developed the Disability Confident Autism and Neurodiversity Toolkit, to help staff from all Government Departments understand how to support people with autism and associated neuro-diverse conditions. We also developed the Disability Passport ‘About Me’ which aims to encourage disabled claimants, including individuals with autism, to disclose their disability/ health conditions at the earliest stage to their Adviser, to improve communication and ensure reasonable adjustments are put in place. Both the toolkit and passport are hosted on Autism Alliance’s website.</li><li>Also through working with Autism Alliance, we delivered Autism and Hidden Impairment training to over 1000 nominated staff across the Jobcentre Plus network. Feedback from delegates confirms that the training helped staff to understand how to support people with autism or hidden impairments into employment.</li><li>The Civil Service has committed to support the Autism Exchange Programme, and my Department is working with Ambitious about Autism to provide work placement opportunities for young people.</li><li>Through the Disability Confident scheme, DWP is engaging with employers and helping to promote the skills, talents and abilities of people with autism and associated hidden impairment conditions. Through the scheme, DWP is providing advice and support to help employers feel more confident about employing disabled people, by signposting them to appropriate advice guidance and support.</li></ul><p><em>Improving Lives: the Future of Work, Health and Disability</em>, published last year, sets out the Government’s strategy for helping people with disabilities or health conditions, including learning difficulties and autism, enter and remain in employment. Whilst the initiatives are not all aimed exclusively at autistic people, we expect that many will benefit from these initiatives.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Truro and Falmouth answering member printed Sarah Newton question first answered 12/11/2018 11:51:57 answering member 4071 label Biography information for Sarah Newton
	tabling member	4676 label Biography information for Marsha De Cordova

999722

	registered interest
	date	01/11/2018
	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: Cancer
	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 with (a) leukaemia, (b) myeloma, (c) Hodgkin’s lymphoma and (d) non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma are in receipt of personal independence payment.
	tabling member constituency	Scunthorpe
	tabling member printed	Nic Dakin
	uin	187016
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/11/2018 answer text <p>The Department publishes a range of detailed statistics for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) on Stat-Xplore: <a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/" target="_blank">https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/</a>. 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><p>These statistics include monthly caseloads (claims in payment) for claimants of PIP broken down by disability including leukaemia, myeloma, Hodgkin’s and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.</p> answering member constituency Truro and Falmouth answering member printed Sarah Newton question first answered 12/11/2018 12:07:28 answering member 4071 label Biography information for Sarah Newton
	tabling member	4056 label Biography information for Nic Dakin

999725

	registered interest
	date	01/11/2018
	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: Cancer
	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 with (a) leukaemia, (b) myeloma, (c) Hodgkin's lymphoma and (d) non-Hodgkin's lymphoma have (i) been reassessed from disability living allowance to personal independence payment and (ii) received reduced rates of award.
	tabling member constituency	Scunthorpe
	tabling member printed	Nic Dakin
	uin	187018
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/11/2018 answer text <p>Personal Independence Payment (PIP) has different eligibility criteria to Disability Living Allowance (DLA), and takes a more holistic view of a person’s health condition or disability and the impact it has on their ability to live an independent life. Therefore, when a DLA claimant is invited to claim PIP and is reassessed, the level of their award may stay the same, go up, down or cease altogether depending on their assessed level of need. It is important to note that the claimant may no longer have the condition recorded in the DLA system when they apply for PIP.</p><p>We introduced PIP to replace the outdated DLA system. PIP is a fairer benefit, which takes a much wider look at the way an individual’s health condition or disability impacts them on a daily basis. Under PIP, 30 per cent of claimants are receiving the highest possible support, compared with just 15 per cent under DLA.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>3,480 DLA claimants with Leukaemia have been reassessed from DLA to PIP and of this 1,080 received a reduced award amount on PIP compared to DLA, 840 were disallowed PIP post referral to the Assessment Provider and 140 were disallowed PIP pre-referral to the Assessment Provider.</p><p> </p><p>520 DLA claimants with Myeloma have been reassessed from DLA to PIP and of this 200 received a reduced award amount on PIP compared to DLA, 70 were disallowed PIP post referral to the Assessment Provider and 10 were disallowed PIP pre-referral to the Assessment Provider.</p><p> </p><p>300 DLA claimants with Hodgkin's lymphoma have been reassessed from DLA to PIP and of this 100 received a reduced award amount on PIP compared to DLA, 90 were disallowed PIP post referral to the Assessment Provider and 20 were disallowed PIP pre-referral to the Assessment Provider.</p><p> </p><p>660 DLA claimants with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma have been reassessed from DLA to PIP and of this 240 received a reduced award amount on PIP compared to DLA, 160 were disallowed PIP post referral to the Assessment Provider and 20 were disallowed PIP pre-referral to the Assessment Provider.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Notes</strong></p><ul><li>The category “Leukaemia” includes 6 categories under the DLA computer system - Leukaemia - myelogenous (myeloid) acute, Leukaemia - lymphoblastic – acute, Leukaemia - myeloid - chronic, Leukaemia - lymphocytic – chronic, Leukaemias - Other / type not known, Cancer and Leukaemia.</li><li>The PIP Reassessment outcome is the outcome of the first DWP decision on each reassessment claim (i.e. prior to any reconsideration, appeal action and award review), where that decision was made between 1st October 2013 and 31st October 2017.</li><li>Claimants that withdrew their claim to PIP are excluded.</li><li>DLA Entitlement is the DLA award at the time of PIP reassessment registration.</li><li>Reassessment outcomes are for individuals who were aged 16 to 64 on 8th April 2013.</li><li>Data includes PIP claims made under both Normal Rules and Special Rules for the Terminally Ill. However, under DLA a claimant can be recorded as “Terminally Ill” rather than as having a named disability. Therefore, such cases are excluded from the above figures.</li><li>The statistics provided relate to DLA award levels so primary disabling condition is reported as recorded on the DLA computer system. Claimants may often have multiple disabling conditions upon which the decision is based but only the primary condition is shown in these statistics.</li><li>Primary disabling condition may be recorded differently on the PIP and DLA computer systems.</li><li>Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.</li><li>Great Britain only.</li></ul> answering member constituency Truro and Falmouth answering member printed Sarah Newton question first answered 12/11/2018 12:15:49 answering member 4071 label Biography information for Sarah Newton
	tabling member	4056 label Biography information for Nic Dakin

1002186

	registered interest
	date	05/11/2018
	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	Discretionary Housing Payments: North Lincolnshire
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to Answer of 5 November to Question 907432, how much discretionary housing payment was (a) awarded to and (b) spent by North Lincolnshire Council in each of the last three years.
	tabling member constituency	Scunthorpe
	tabling member printed	Nic Dakin
	uin	188225
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/11/2018 answer text <p>The table below shows the amount awarded to and spent by North Lincolnshire Council in Discretionary Housing Payments in the last 3 financial years:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Awarded</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Spent</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015/16</p></td><td><p>£240,930</p></td><td><p>£39,626</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016/17</p></td><td><p>£294,816</p></td><td><p>£50,735</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017/18</p></td><td><p>£395,413</p></td><td><p>£84,105</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><strong> </strong></p><p>Figures on the amount of Discretionary Housing Payments awarded to and spent by Local Authorities are available:</p><p><br><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/discretionary-housing-payments-statistics" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/discretionary-housing-payments-statistics</a></p><p> </p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 12/11/2018 14:41:35 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4056 label Biography information for Nic Dakin

1002137

	registered interest
	date	05/11/2018
	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	Pensions: Consumer Information
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress her Department has made on proposed verification and security measures for individual users of the proposed Pensions Dashboard.
	tabling member constituency	Blaenau Gwent
	tabling member printed	Nick Smith
	uin	188089
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/11/2018 answer text <p>On Tuesday 4 September 2018, I published a written statement providing an update on pensions including the pensions dashboard. This statement can be found here: <a href="https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2018-09-04/HCWS933/" target="_blank">https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2018-09-04/HCWS933/</a></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>An industry-led Dashboard, facilitated by Government, will harness the best of industry innovation. We will continue to engage with industry, consumer groups and other stakeholders on this model and Government will protect pension savers and personal information by legislating where necessary.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 12/11/2018 12:45:41 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	3928 label Biography information for Nick Smith

1002138

	registered interest
	date	05/11/2018
	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	Pensions: Consumer Information
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the participation of pension schemes in the Pensions Dashboard will be compulsory.
	tabling member constituency	Blaenau Gwent
	tabling member printed	Nick Smith
	uin	188090
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/11/2018 answer text <p>As set out in the Autumn Budget, DWP will consult on the detailed design for pensions dashboards, and on how an industry-led approach could harness innovation while protecting consumers. As part of the consultation, due to be published shortly, the Department will explore how to maximise the participation of pension schemes.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 12/11/2018 12:44:09 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	3928 label Biography information for Nick Smith