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1354286

	registered interest
	date	09/09/2021
	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, what recent discussions officials of the Cabinet Office Disability Unit have had with representatives of the British Standards Institute on its development of a public information symbol to support disabled people with non-visible disabilities.
	tabling member constituency	Ellesmere Port and Neston
	tabling member printed	Justin Madders
	uin	45863
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/09/2021 answer text <p>The Cabinet Office Disability Unit joined discussions between 2019 and 2020 involving BSI and other stakeholders to consider the development of a new non-visible disability sign.</p> answering member constituency Norwich North answering member printed Chloe Smith question first answered 23/09/2021 14:27:02 answering member 1609 label Biography information for Chloe Smith
	tabling member	4418 label Biography information for Justin Madders

1354545

	registered interest
	date	10/09/2021
	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: EU Nationals
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when her Department plans to stop the universal credit and legacy benefit claims of individuals who qualify for EU Settled Status but have not yet applied for that scheme.
	tabling member constituency	Edmonton
	tabling member printed	Kate Osamor
	uin	47029
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/10/2021 answer text <p>The Government has made clear its commitment to safeguard the rights of EEA nationals, and their family members, living in the UK prior to the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020. They have done this though the introduction of the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS).</p><p> </p><p>The scheme opened to the public on 30 March 2019 and the deadline for the scheme for those resident in the UK by the end of the transition period was 30 June 2021. Every day thousands of people are being given status through the EUSS and to date the Home Office have received more than 6 million applications.</p><p> </p><p>There is scope to make a late application based on reasonable grounds for missing the deadline. The Home Office have also released guidance for late applications and reiterated their general approach under the EUSS which is to look to grant status, rather than looking for reasons to refuse. Those covered by the Withdrawal Agreement who submit a late application to the EUSS will also be able to access benefits and services, if they are eligible, from the point their application is validated, and identity has been verified.</p><p> </p><p>From 1 July 2021, the Department has continued to work in collaboration with the HO and HMRC to undertake further engagement activities and give those without status further opportunity to apply to the EUSS. Claimants that fail to make a late application will not have entitlement to benefits unless, and until, they apply. The Department is however taking all reasonable steps to engage claimants and provide them with multiple opportunities to apply before taking compliance action. This includes engaging with relevant customers through scheduled face to face and telephony contact, and Universal Credit (UC) journal prompts. The Department’s visiting service is also available for those customers who are identified as the most vulnerable.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Norwich North answering member printed Chloe Smith question first answered 01/10/2021 08:28:01 answering member 1609 label Biography information for Chloe Smith
	tabling member	4515 label Biography information for Kate Osamor

1355389

	registered interest
	date	14/09/2021
	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	Jobcentres: Hearing Impairment
	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 plans to take to help ensure that all Job Centre Plus sites are accessible to people with hearing loss.
	tabling member constituency	Southport
	tabling member printed	Damien Moore
	uin	49265
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/09/2021 answer text <p>The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is committed to making its services accessible for all its customers together with those who may have additional communication needs including hearing loss.</p><p>Deaf and hard of hearing customers visiting Jobcentres are able to access different support based on how hearing loss affects their communication needs. Job Centres are equipped and currently provide mainly portable, but also some fixed hearing loops across the network, for those customers with hearing loss. There is a new initiative to improve our environments for disabled customers and those with health conditions which will include people with hearing loss. This work is due to start in October. <strong> </strong></p><p>For those customers who are deaf or hard of hearing and attending a prearranged appointment with DWP, staff will already be aware of the customer’s communication needs from DWP’s computer systems and have access to a language services contract to pre-book an interpreter to support face to face contact. The interpreter will be skilled in providing non-spoken language support including British Sign Language (BSL).</p><p>Furthermore, a Disability Employment Adviser (DEA) is assigned to each Jobcentre site. The DEA is skilled in understanding the needs of disabled customers, including those who with hearing loss. The DEA provides support to Work Coaches to ensure that Work Coaches are able to increase their awareness and empathy when dealing with customers who have hearing loss.</p><p>The Employer and Partnerships role within DWP forms effective networks with a variety of local stakeholders, including organisations and charities that support customers with hearing loss. These relationships are vital to ensure that DWP is able to provide consistent and effective support to its customers.</p><p>On a national level, DWP has established a range of networks with its stakeholders to provide a voice for the customer. The Taskforce for Accessible Information, the Reasonable Adjustments Forum and the Operational Stakeholder Engagement Forum all regularly meet with a cross section of groups representing disabilities including those with hearing loss. The purpose of these forums are to ensure that DWP elicits feedback and insight into how its services are being used by those with additional communication needs and to seek continuous improvement.</p><p>Following the expansion of Video Relay Service last year, whereby deaf customers are now able to make an inbound telephone call to DWP via a British Sign Language interpreter using a video connection, DWP is currently exploring how this technology can be adapted to support video remote interpreting. This will increase the flexibility for DWP to conduct face to face and telephony based contact with deaf and hard of hearing customers.</p> answering member constituency Norwich North answering member printed Chloe Smith question first answered 24/09/2021 16:05:26 answering member 1609 label Biography information for Chloe Smith
	tabling member	4669 label Biography information for Damien Moore

1355425

	registered interest
	date	14/09/2021
	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	Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many of the 27 claims made to the Vaccine Damages Payment Scheme on behalf of deceased individuals who received a covid-19 vaccination have concluded.
	tabling member constituency	Aberdeen North
	tabling member printed	Kirsty Blackman
	uin	49157
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/09/2021 answer text <p>Currently no claims on behalf of deceased individuals who received a covid-19 vaccination have concluded.</p> answering member constituency Norwich North answering member printed Chloe Smith question first answered 23/09/2021 16:59:15 answering member 1609 label Biography information for Chloe Smith
	tabling member	4357 label Biography information for Kirsty Blackman

1355426

	registered interest
	date	14/09/2021
	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	Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many of he 33 claims made to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme on behalf of people who have died over the last five years have (a) concluded and (b) resulted in a positive outcome.
	tabling member constituency	Aberdeen North
	tabling member printed	Kirsty Blackman
	uin	49158
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/09/2021 answer text <p>Of the 33 claims in the last five years, 6 have concluded, with one resulting in an award.</p> answering member constituency Norwich North answering member printed Chloe Smith question first answered 24/09/2021 12:43:31 answering member 1609 label Biography information for Chloe Smith
	tabling member	4357 label Biography information for Kirsty Blackman

1355752

	registered interest
	date	15/09/2021
	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 and Social Security Benefits: Learning Disability
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps is she taking to improve the collection of benefit and employment data about people with a learning disability within her Department.
	tabling member constituency	Dulwich and West Norwood
	tabling member printed	Helen Hayes
	uin	50104
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/10/2021 answer text <p>The Department collects data in relation to people with a learning disability where it is relevant to their claim to certain health and disability benefits, as well as making use of the Office for National Statistics Labour Force Survey.</p><p> </p><p>The Department regularly publishes these statistics for those claiming Personal Independence Payment, Disability Living Allowance and Attendance Allowance, and these can be found at:</p><p><a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/" target="_blank">https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/</a>.</p><p>Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:</p><p><a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html" target="_blank">https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html</a></p><p> </p><p>Detailed information about the primary disability of those on Universal Credit receiving the Limited Capability for Work or Limited Capability for Work Related Activity element, and those receiving Employment and Support Allowance is not readily available and has not previously been published.</p><p> </p><p>The Department already publishes annual Official Statistics on the employment of disabled people. These include employment levels and rates for disabled people with severe or specific learning difficulties.</p><p> </p><p>The data can be found at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/the-employment-of-disabled-people" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/the-employment-of-disabled-people</a></p> answering member constituency Norwich North answering member printed Chloe Smith question first answered 20/10/2021 13:33:01 answering member 1609 label Biography information for Chloe Smith previous answer version 22438 answering member constituency Norwich North answering member printed Chloe Smith answering member 1609 label Biography information for Chloe Smith
	tabling member	4510 label Biography information for Helen Hayes

1355756

	registered interest
	date	15/09/2021
	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 recent assessment she made of the change in average waiting time for decision on personal independence payments (a) applications and (b) appeals.
	tabling member constituency	Dulwich and West Norwood
	tabling member printed	Helen Hayes
	uin	50108
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/09/2021 answer text <p>We are committed to ensuring that people can access financial support through Personal Independence Payment (PIP) in a timely manner and reducing customer journey times for PIP claimants is a priority for the Department. We always aim to make an award decision as quickly as possible, taking into account the need to review all available evidence.</p><p> </p><p>Processing times can vary reflecting factors including customer demand, operational resource and timescales for different parts of the process. In particular, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused distortion and work is ongoing to manage the recovery. This includes allowing a longer deadline for return of the PIP2 questionnaire for claims made between late February and late May 2021; these claims have now started to reach clearance.</p><p> </p><p>Processing times for new PIP claims in July 2021 (most recent data available) are similar to levels a year ago.</p><p> </p><p>The latest published statistics show that the waiting time for PIP appeals has come down: the average waiting time for PIP Tribunals in April to June 2021 was 27 weeks, a decrease of 4 weeks compared to the same quarter in the previous year.</p><p> </p><p>In the vast majority of PIP cases DWP makes the right decision, meaning they never go to appeal, and through recent improvements to our decision-making we are ensuring that disabled people get all the support they are entitled to as quickly as possible. DWP and HMCTS, who administer social security appeals, continue to work together to reduce the length of time it takes for appeals to be heard. Where appeals are made, waiting times generally can fluctuate temporarily and geographically, owing to a number of variable factors, including volumes of benefit decisions made locally, availability of medical/disability members, venue capacity and the complexity of the issue in dispute. Any disparity in waiting times is monitored and investigated locally.</p> answering member constituency Norwich North answering member printed Chloe Smith question first answered 23/09/2021 10:11:03 answering member 1609 label Biography information for Chloe Smith previous answer version 22440 answering member constituency Norwich North answering member printed Chloe Smith answering member 1609 label Biography information for Chloe Smith
	tabling member	4510 label Biography information for Helen Hayes

1355868

	registered interest
	date	15/09/2021
	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 Capability Assessments
	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 address the backlog of people waiting for work capability assessments.
	tabling member constituency	Wansbeck
	tabling member printed	Ian Lavery
	uin	50028
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/09/2021 answer text <p>We are currently delivering health assessments through a variety of channels. We have reintroduced face-to-face assessments, alongside the telephone and video assessments introduced in response to the pandemic. Whenever possible we will conduct a paper based assessment.</p><p>We are always looking at ways to improve the assessment process and continue to work with the assessment provider to maximise the number of WCAs completed.</p> answering member constituency Norwich North answering member printed Chloe Smith question first answered 24/09/2021 16:19:32 answering member 1609 label Biography information for Chloe Smith
	tabling member	4139 label Biography information for Ian Lavery

1355872

	registered interest
	date	15/09/2021
	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 steps she is taking to reduce the backlog of people waiting for personal independence payment claims to be processed.
	tabling member constituency	Wansbeck
	tabling member printed	Ian Lavery
	uin	50029
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/09/2021 answer text <p>We are committed to ensuring that people can access financial support through Personal Independence Payment (PIP) in a timely manner and reducing customer journey times for PIP claimants is a priority for the Department. We always aim to make an award decision as quickly as possible, taking into account the need to review all available evidence.</p><p> </p><p>The time it takes to clear a claim and the number of people awaiting a decision can vary reflecting factors including customer demand, operational resource and timescales for different parts of the process. In particular, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused distortion and work is ongoing to manage the recovery.</p><p> </p><p>The time it takes clear new PIP claims in July 2021 (most recent data available) are similar to levels a year ago.</p><p> </p><p>We are always looking at ways to improve the assessment process. In addition to face-to-face, we will continue to conduct paper-based, telephone and video assessments where appropriate.</p> answering member constituency Norwich North answering member printed Chloe Smith question first answered 30/09/2021 15:57:59 answering member 1609 label Biography information for Chloe Smith
	tabling member	4139 label Biography information for Ian Lavery

1355904

	registered interest
	date	15/09/2021
	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 Care Services: Industrial Diseases
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council has made on its review of lung cancer and COPD in former employees of the health and beauty industry.
	tabling member constituency	Blackpool North and Cleveleys
	tabling member printed	Paul Maynard
	uin	49983
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/09/2021 answer text <p>The Industrial Injuries Advisory Council have recently commissioned a comprehensive review and evaluation of the literature, including epidemiology, on work-related malignant and non-malignant respiratory diseases, primarily focussing on lung cancer and COPD. The broad remit of the review will cover former employees of the health and beauty industry and associated exposures. The review, which is about to commence, will inform the prescriptions for the purposes of Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefits. The review is expected to take up to two years to complete, after which time the Council will report on its findings.</p> answering member constituency Norwich North answering member printed Chloe Smith question first answered 24/09/2021 16:21:26 answering member 1609 label Biography information for Chloe Smith
	tabling member	3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard