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1138414

	registered interest
	date	11/07/2019
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Independent Case Examiner
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many complaints to the Independent Complaints Commissioner are (a) allocated to a caseworker and (b) awaiting allocation to a caseworker as at 11 July 2019.
	tabling member constituency	East Ham
	tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
	uin	276137
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/07/2019 answer text <p>When the Independent Case Examiner’s (ICE) office accepts a complaint for investigation, it will initially attempt to broker a solution between the complainant and the relevant business area or supplier, without having to request evidence to inform an investigation – this is known as “resolution”. If it’s not possible to resolve the complaint, the evidence will be requested and the case will await allocation to an Investigation Case Manager (ICM). The majority of complaints that are referred to ICE are complex and require a full investigation.</p><p> </p><p>Complaint investigations are dealt with by dedicated teams and complaints are usually brought into investigation in strict date order. The time complaints wait to be allocated for investigation varies depending on the volume and complexity of cases on hand and the available investigative resource. Productivity within the ICE Office increased during the 2018-19 reporting year, with the Office clearing 1,246 complaints, compared to 955 during the 2017-18 reporting year.</p><p> </p><p>As at 11 July 2019, there were 488 complaints under investigation (allocated to an ICM), and 1,377 complaints were awaiting allocation to an ICM.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 16/07/2019 13:47:47 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

1138459

	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: Payments
	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 claims for universal credit were made using the bank account details of the main carer in each of the last 12 months.
	tabling member constituency	High Peak
	tabling member printed	Ruth George
	uin	276273
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/07/2019 answer text <p>The information requested can only be provided at disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 19/07/2019 11:25:22 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4662 label Biography information for Ruth George

1138418

	registered interest
	date	11/07/2019
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Independent Case Examiner
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many complaints for the Independent Complaints Commissioner were received in 2018; and how many of those complaints have been allocated to a caseworker.
	tabling member constituency	East Ham
	tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
	uin	276139
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/07/2019 answer text <p>The Independent Case Examiner’s (ICE) Office received 5,307 complaints in 2018 of which 1,943 were accepted for examination. Of those complaints accepted, 567 have been allocated to Case Managers.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 16/07/2019 13:45:25 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

1138379

	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	Poverty: Children
	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 been made of the number of children living in poverty that have at least one parent in work.
	tabling member constituency	York Central
	tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
	uin	276232
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/07/2019 answer text <p>National statistics on the number of children in low income households are published annually in the “Households Below Average Income” publication. The latest statistics show that 1.7m children in households where at least one adult works are in 'before housing cost absolute poverty', and 2.5m are in 'after housing cost absolute poverty'.</p><p> </p><p>These statistics can be found using the link below, in table 4.20ts, in the file “children-hbai-timeseries-1994-95-2017-18-tables”.</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/households-below-average-income-199495-to-201718" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/households-below-average-income-199495-to-201718</a></p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 19/07/2019 12:30:00 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1138380

	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	Poverty: Children
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the effect of the increase in the gig economy on levels of child poverty.
	tabling member constituency	York Central
	tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
	uin	276233
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/07/2019 answer text <p>National statistics on child poverty are published annually in the “Households Before Average Income” publication. These statistics do not separate households based on their employment in the gig economy and therefore do not make an assessment of the effect of the gig economy on levels of child poverty.</p><p> </p><p>Overall, 18 percent of children are in 'before housing costs absolute poverty' and 26 percent of children are in after housing costs absolute poverty. 'Before housing cost absolute poverty' is down by 1 percentage point since 2009/10 and after housing costs absolute poverty is down by 2 percentage points since 2009/10. The number of children in 'before housing cost absolute poverty' is unchanged since 2009/10 and has fallen by 100,000 for after housing cost absolute poverty.</p><p> </p><p>These statistics can be found using the link below, in table 4.2ts, in the file “children-rends-hbai-1994-95-2017-18-tables.ods”.</p><p /><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/households-below-average-income-199495-to-201718" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/households-below-average-income-199495-to-201718</a></p><p> </p><p>Advances in technology and the rise of the gig economy have increased opportunities for people to work more flexibly. While we welcome these opportunities, they cannot be at the expense of workers’ rights. That is why the Prime Minister commissioned Matthew Taylor to undertake his review of Modern Working Practices, and why the Government is taking the decisive action set out in the Good Work Plan to address his recommendations.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 19/07/2019 12:39:19 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1138415

	registered interest
	date	11/07/2019
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Independent Case Examiner
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average time taken is between a case being accepted by the Independent Complaints Commissioner and being allocated to a caseworker in the most recent period for which figures are available; and if she will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	East Ham
	tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
	uin	276138
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/07/2019 answer text <p>Complaint investigations are dealt with by dedicated teams and complaints are usually brought into investigation in strict date order. The time complaints wait to be allocated to an Investigation Case Manager (ICM) varies depending on the volume and complexity of cases on hand and the available investigative resource. Productivity within the ICE Office increased during the 2018-19 reporting year, with the Office clearing 1,246 complaints, compared to 955 during the 2017-18 reporting year.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>As at 11 July 2019, the average time taken for a complaint which requires investigation to be allocated to an ICM was 52 weeks.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 16/07/2019 14:01:36 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

1138422

	registered interest
	date	11/07/2019
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Social Security Benefits: Terminal Illnesses
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to improve access to benefits for all people who have been diagnosed as terminally ill.
	tabling member constituency	Coventry South
	tabling member printed	Mr Jim Cunningham
	uin	276141
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/07/2019 answer text <p>The Special Rules for Terminal Illness provide a guaranteed entitlement to benefit under a fast track process, without people being required to attend a face-to-face assessment.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>On 11 July the Secretary of State announced an in-depth evaluation of how the benefits system supports people nearing the end of their life, and those with the most severe conditions.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 16/07/2019 12:38:34 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	308 label Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham

1138512

	registered interest
	date	11/07/2019
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Universal Credit: Terminal Illnesses
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 9 July 2019 to Question 273334, if she will make it her Department's policy to mandate her Department's assessors to record instances in which they have formally questioned a prognosis given by health professionals in DS1500 forms.
	tabling member constituency	Vale of Clwyd
	tabling member printed	Chris Ruane
	uin	276163
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/07/2019 answer text <p>Guidance for assessors is that they should contact the clinician who has completed a DS1500 for clarification if it contains insufficient information, or where no DS1500 is received, to confirm that the claimant is terminally ill. The assessor will record the outcome of their engagement with the clinician when providing their advice to the Department, but these records are not centrally collated.</p><p> </p><p>To be clear, the DS1500 states that the clinician is not required to provide a prognosis. Rather, they are asked to provide details of their patient’s diagnosis, clinical features and current or planned treatment.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 16/07/2019 12:42:07 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	534 label Biography information for Chris Ruane

1138385

	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	Universities Superannuation Scheme
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of claims that the Universities Superannuation Scheme exaggerated its budget deficit in November 2017.
	tabling member constituency	Bristol North West
	tabling member printed	Darren Jones
	uin	276269
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/07/2019 answer text <p>It is not appropriate for Government to comment on individual cases, which are a matter for the independent Pensions Regulator.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 19/07/2019 12:19:41 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	4621 label Biography information for Darren Jones

1138410

	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	State Retirement Pensions
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how the increases in state pension for 2019-20 were calculated; and for what reasons pensioners reaching the age of 80 are awarded an increase of 25 pence in 2019-20.
	tabling member constituency	Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath
	tabling member printed	Lesley Laird
	uin	276270
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/07/2019 answer text <p>As a result of the Triple Lock, from April 2019, the full yearly amount of the basic State Pension is around £675 higher than if it had just been up-rated by earnings since April 2010. That’s a rise of over £1,600 in cash terms.</p><p /><p>The Government is committed to ensuring economic security for people at every stage of their life, including during retirement. We are forecast to spend over £120 billion on benefits for pensioners in 2019/20. This includes £99 billion of expenditure on the State Pension.</p><p> </p><p>In 2019/20, the basic State Pension and the new State Pension (apart from Protected Payments) were both uprated by 2.6%. This was in line with the Triple Lock guarantee that these will rise by the highest of average earnings growth, price inflation, or 2.5%. In 2019/20 the highest measure was earnings growth at 2.6%. The full basic State Pension went up by £3.25 to £129.20 a week whilst the full rate of the new State Pension rose by £4.25 to £168.60 a week.</p><p> </p><p>Protected Payments, Additional State Pension and Graduated Retirement Benefit elements are uprated each year by the increase in prices. They rose by 2.4% (CPI) in 2019/20.</p><p> </p><p>The 25p age addition to contributory and non-contributory retirement pensions is paid with the State Pension when individuals reach age 80. It is a separate issue from the uprating process outlined above. When the age addition was first introduced in 1971 the value of the basic State Pension for a single person was £6 per week and the amount of 25p constituted a more substantial sum in relation to the total State Pension than it does nowadays in relation to the current basic State Pension of £129.20 a week.</p><p> </p><p>Although there are no plans to uprate the age addition amount, this should be considered alongside the range of other measures and benefits, including Pension Credit, that are available to pensioners, over age 80. Moreover, people who are aged 80 and over receive a Winter Fuel Payment of £300, instead of the standard Winter Fuel Payment of £200 for pensioners below that age. Additionally, the non-contributory Category D State Pension is available to those aged over 80 with either no entitlement to a basic State Pension or who are entitled to State Pension of less than £77.45 per week who meet the residency conditions.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 19/07/2019 12:29:42 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	4660 label Biography information for Lesley Laird