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1138809

	registered interest
	date	15/07/2019
	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	Department for Work and Pensions: Termination of Employment
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to Office for National Statistics Public Sector Employment data, what assessment she has made of the effect on the performance of her Department of the loss of over 20,000 staff since 2013.
	tabling member constituency	Hove
	tabling member printed	Peter Kyle
	uin	277229
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/07/2019 answer text <p>Since 2013, through using a range of tools, we have improved the Department’s efficiency without dropping our performance levels. Our latest published figures show that we:</p><ul><li>delivered the lowest unemployment rate since 1974, getting on average 1,000 people into work every day since 2010</li><li>processed 78% of new claims within planned timescales and achieved customer satisfaction of 81%</li><li>processed Universal Credit (UC) faster - UC Full Service claimants for households with new claims receiving full payment on time had increased to around 86% in February 2019</li></ul> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 18/07/2019 14:31:43 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4505 label Biography information for Peter Kyle

1138941

	registered interest
	date	15/07/2019
	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	Children: Maintenance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has plans to undertake a public consultation on changing the sequence by which deductions from benefits are ordered to ensure that child maintenance payments take priority over debts to private companies.
	tabling member constituency	Bristol South
	tabling member printed	Karin Smyth
	uin	277210
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2019 answer text <p>Under Universal Credit there is a structured approach to deductions from benefit, which simplifies the current complex arrangements of the legacy system.</p><p>The aims of the deductions policy in Universal Credit are to protect vulnerable claimants by providing a last resort repayment method for arrears of essential services, to enforce social obligations and to recover Government debt in a cost effective manner.</p><p>Deductions are made following the priority order, which determines the order in which items should be deducted. ‘Last resort’ deductions, such as rent or fuel costs, are at the top of the priority order, ensuring that claimant welfare is prioritised, followed by social obligation deductions, such as child maintenance, and finally benefit debt, such as Social Fund loans and benefit overpayments.</p><p>We prioritise the welfare of claimants, as this is the best way to support them and to help them to move towards work and off benefits.</p><p>The Deduction Priority Order can be found here (p. 72) - <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/683470/benefit-overpayment-recovery-guide.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/683470/benefit-overpayment-recovery-guide.pdf</a></p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 23/07/2019 09:28:18 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	4444 label Biography information for Karin Smyth

1138928

	registered interest
	date	15/07/2019
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Personal Independence Payment
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average time taken was to process a claim for personal independence payment in the last 12 months for which information is available.
	tabling member constituency	Cardiff Central
	tabling member printed	Jo Stevens
	uin	277206
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/07/2019 answer text <p>The median clearance time from registration to DWP decision for Personal Independence Payment claims cleared under normal rules from 1<sup>st</sup> May 2018 – 30<sup>th</sup> April 2019, the latest 12-month period for which data is available is 100 calendar days, which is approximately 14 weeks. The median clearance time for claims decided in April 2019 was 13 weeks, down by over two thirds since July 2014.</p><p> </p><p>Source: PIP ADS</p><p> </p><p><strong>Notes:</strong></p><ul><li>The status of claims as 'normal rules' is shown as at the DWP decision. It is possible for claims to transition between normal/special rules during the course of the claimant journey.</li><li>The 'Registration to DWP decision (end to end)' clearance time is measured as the average time between the date of registration of the claim and the date of the DWP decision to either award or disallow the claim. It does not include claims that were withdrawn by the claimant or claims that were disallowed by DWP pre-referral to the Assessment Providers (e.g. for failure to meet basic eligibility criteria or failure to return the Part 2 form within the time limit).</li><li>The median time is the middle value if you were to order all the times within the distribution from lowest value to highest value. The median is presented here instead of the mean because the mean can be unduly affected by outlying cases (e.g. cases were the person has been hard to reach due to being in prison, hospital, failed to attend the assessment on numerous occasions etc.)</li><li>Great Britain only.</li><li>This is unpublished data. It should be used with caution and it may be subject to future revision.</li><li>The median clearance time is rounded to the nearest whole day.</li></ul> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 18/07/2019 13:18:35 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4425 label Biography information for Jo Stevens

1138912

	registered interest
	date	15/07/2019
	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	Statutory Sick Pay
	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 increase access to statutory sick pay for low-paid workers.
	tabling member constituency	Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill
	tabling member printed	Hugh Gaffney
	uin	277255
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2019 answer text <p>On Monday 15th July, the Government launched its consultation: `Health is everyone’s business: proposals to reduce ill health-related job loss.’ The consultation invites views on a range of matters including extending Statutory Sick Pay to the lowest paid. It closes on 7 October 2019 and can be found here:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/health-is-everyones-business-proposals-to-reduce-ill-health-related-job-loss" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/health-is-everyones-business-proposals-to-reduce-ill-health-related-job-loss</a></p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 22/07/2019 16:06:19 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4614 label Biography information for Hugh Gaffney

1138917

	registered interest
	date	15/07/2019
	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	Industrial Accidents: Scotland
	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 recorded workplace deaths in Scotland in each of the last three years.
	tabling member constituency	Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill
	tabling member printed	Hugh Gaffney
	uin	277258
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2019 answer text <p>Notifications of workplace fatal injuries to workers are made under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR).</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The table below provides the number of fatal injuries to workers in Scotland reported under RIDDOR over the last 3 years.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Fatal injuries to workers in Scotland 2016/17 – 2018/19</strong></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>Number of fatal injuries to workers</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016/17</p></td><td><p>18</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017/18</p></td><td><p>17</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018/19</p></td><td><p>29*</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>*Data for 2018/19 is provisional.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>There has been an increase of 12 deaths between 2017/18 and 2018/19 in Scotland, mostly due to an increase in deaths in the Agriculture, forestry and fishing sector (from 3 in 2017/18 to 13 in 2018/19, though 2017/18 was a particularly low year for fatalities in the Agriculture, forestry and fishing sector in Scotland).</p><p> </p><p>Numbers from one-year to the next are subject to natural variation. The increase seen in the number of workplace deaths in Scotland in 2018/19 are within bounds of natural variation.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 22/07/2019 14:23:16 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4614 label Biography information for Hugh Gaffney

1138839

	registered interest
	date	15/07/2019
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Personal Independence Payment: Medical Examinations
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what data her Department holds on the number of applications for personal independence payments that were (a) refused and (b) reduced based on informal observations made of the applicant upon face to face assessment.
	tabling member constituency	East Lothian
	tabling member printed	Martin Whitfield
	uin	277271
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2019 answer text <p>The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p>Informal observations form part of the suite of evidence used by Health Professionals at the face to face assessment to help Case Managers determine entitlement to benefit, along with medical evidence, history of conditions, social and occupational history, functional history including the ‘typical day’ and the functional examination.</p><p> </p><p>More information can be found at paragraph 1.6 in the Personal Independence Payment Assessment Guide at the following link:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/personal-independence-payment-assessment-guide-for-assessment-providers/pip-assessment-guide-part-1-the-assessment-process#carrying-out-pip-assessments" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/personal-independence-payment-assessment-guide-for-assessment-providers/pip-assessment-guide-part-1-the-assessment-process#carrying-out-pip-assessments</a></p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson grouped question UIN 277818 question first answered 22/07/2019 16:16:40 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4626 label Biography information for Martin Whitfield

1138864

	registered interest
	date	15/07/2019
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Universal Credit
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential benefits of enabling childcare costs to be paid directly to providers through universal credit.
	tabling member constituency	Hampstead and Kilburn
	tabling member printed	Tulip Siddiq
	uin	277240
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/07/2019 answer text <p>The Government recently submitted its response to the Work and Pensions Select Committee’s follow-up report into Universal Credit: Childcare which sets out an assessment of the position in relation to payments direct to childcare providers. The response will be published in due course.</p><p> </p><p>Universal Credit is paid in a single monthly amount directly into people’s bank accounts, giving them control over their own money and making the move into work easier.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is committed to supporting parents with moving into work and, as part of this, we have increased the level of support for childcare costs from 70 per cent in legacy benefits to up to 85 per cent in Universal Credit. The Universal Credit childcare policy aligns with the wider government childcare offer, which includes free childcare hours and tax free childcare. This offer means that reasonable childcare costs should not form a barrier to work.</p><p> </p><p>Where upfront childcare costs or deposits may prevent a claimant from starting work, jobcentres will use the Flexible Support Fund to support the transition into work. When parents have good reason for late reporting of their childcare costs, the Department is piloting a more flexible approach to enable parents to be reimbursed at a later point.</p><p> </p><p>Since February 2018, Universal Credit claimants have been able to upload digital copies of their childcare cost receipts or invoices through their online Universal Credit account.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 18/07/2019 15:39:49 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4518 label Biography information for Tulip Siddiq

1138830

	registered interest
	date	15/07/2019
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Disability
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how the new cross-departmental strategy for disability will reflect the needs of people with neurodevelopmental conditions.
	tabling member constituency	North Norfolk
	tabling member printed	Norman Lamb
	uin	277126
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/07/2019 answer text <p>On Tuesday 25 June the Government launched a new cross-government approach on disability which is guided by a vision that recognises the contributions that disabled people make and where disabled people can participate fully in society.</p><p> </p><p>To drive forward this approach, government will establish a new cross-departmental disability team in the Cabinet Office and the Office for Disability Issues will be incorporated into the team. This move recognises that disabled people, including those with neurodevelopmental conditions, face barriers across a wide range of aspects of their lives and across the whole of the life course, and that coordinated cross-government action is therefore vital.</p><p> </p><p>The new disability team in the Cabinet Office will sit in the new Equalities Hub alongside the Government Equalities Office and the Race Disparity Unit. Together they will be better equipped to drive meaningful progress on equality and to tackle intersectional issues.</p><p> </p><p>The team will work closely with disabled people, disabled people’s organisations and charities to take forward this new approach to disability, with their views and experiences at the forefront of any new policy.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 18/07/2019 13:47:23 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	1439 label Biography information for Norman Lamb

1138836

	registered interest
	date	15/07/2019
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Personal Independence Payment: Multiple Sclerosis
	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 by people with multiple sclerosis have been returned by decision makers to assessment providers having been deemed to be of insufficient quality in each year since 2013.
	tabling member constituency	East Lothian
	tabling member printed	Martin Whitfield
	uin	277269
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2019 answer text <p>The information requested is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 22/07/2019 16:00:41 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4626 label Biography information for Martin Whitfield

1138890

	registered interest
	date	15/07/2019
	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: Sickle Cell Diseases
	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 sickle cell disease were in receipt of (a) personal independence payments and (b) employment support allowance or their universal credit equivalents in the most recent period for which data are available; and what the annual cost to the public purse of providing that support in each of those groups is.
	tabling member constituency	Kingston upon Hull North
	tabling member printed	Diana Johnson
	uin	277139
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/07/2019 answer text <p>The information requested on the number of people with Sickle Cell Disease in receipt of Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and Universal Credit (UC) and the cost to the public purse of providing support for claimants with Sickle Cell Disease for ESA and UC is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p>Information on health conditions of ESA claimants is only available by high level medical conditions, including Diseases of the Blood and Blood forming organs and certain diseases involving the immune mechanism, is published on Stat-Xplore.</p><p> </p><p>The latest data on PIP claims in payment can be which can be broken down by month from April 2013 to April 2019 and by disability which includes Sickle Cell Anaemia can be found on Stat-Xplore too: <a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/" target="_blank">https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/</a></p><p>Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here:</p><p><a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html" target="_blank">https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html</a></p><p> </p><p>The latest data on the PIP expenditure broken down by disability subgroup including Haemolytic disease, of which Sickle Cell Disease is one disease is in this category is published and can be found at: <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/741592/pip-expenditure-by-medical-condition-2017-18.ods" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/741592/pip-expenditure-by-medical-condition-2017-18.ods</a></p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 18/07/2019 13:36:17 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	1533 label Biography information for Dame Diana Johnson