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1202405

registered interest
date	10/06/2020
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: Medical Examinations
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many assessments for (a) personal independence payments, (b) employment and support allowance and (c) the limited capability for work component of universal credit were scheduled to take place after 1 March 2020; and how many of those assessments have taken place.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
uin	58015
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/07/2020 answer text <p>Our priority throughout this Covid-19 period continues to be to protect the public and staff, while ensuring people receive the benefits they are entitled to quickly and safely. We suspended face-to-face assessments, reviews and reassessments. We continue to assess people based on written evidence alone, where that is possible, and have introduced telephone assessments. We also automatically extended awards where necessary for certain health and disability benefits, providing reassurance to those in receipt of them. This action enabled us to prioritise activity on new claims and changes of circumstances.</p><p> </p><p>The number of assessments that were scheduled to have taken place between 1 March 2020 and 30 May 2020 and the number of assessments that took place during that time can be found in the table below:</p><p /><p><strong> </strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p><strong>Assessments</strong> <strong>Scheduled</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Assessments</strong> <strong>Completed</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>PIP</p></td><td><p>187,700</p></td><td><p>117,050</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>ESA</p></td><td><p>20,370</p></td><td><p>14,500</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>UC</p></td><td><p>34,530</p></td><td><p>19,890</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p>Please note:</p><p>Data has been rounded to the nearest 10.</p><p>Figures do not include paper based reviews.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>PIP</strong></p><p>The Assessments Scheduled data has been produced by the assessment providers (Capita and Independent Assessment Services).</p><p>The Assessments Completed data is derived from unpublished contractual management information produced by the assessment providers which was collected for internal departmental use only and has not been quality assured to Official Statistics Publication standards.</p><p> </p><p>Face-to-face assessments for PIP were paused due to Covid-19 from 17 March 2020. Telephone assessments began a piloted roll out from 23 March 2020 for Capita and 03 April 2020 for IAS.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>ESA and UC</strong></p><p>Face-to-face assessments for UC and ESA were paused due to Covid-19 from 17 March 2020. Telephone assessments began a piloted roll out from 04 May 2020 where only Limited Capability for Work Related Activity recommendations were being made.</p><p> </p><p>The department continues to process both New Claims and Changes of Circumstance and encourage anyone with a change in their needs to contact the Department so that we can ensure they are receiving the correct level of support.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 17/07/2020 14:07:10 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson previous answer version 28975 answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1180346

registered interest
date	25/02/2020
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: Complaints
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many cases involving universal credit claims have been (a) through her Department's complaints process, (b) decided by an Independent Case Examiner and (c) referred to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
uin	20528
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2020 answer text <p>The Department has received a total of number of 39,187 Universal Credit complaints up to January 2020.</p><p> </p><p>Details of the number of complaints concerning Universal Credit that have been decided on by the Independence Case Examiner’s is 185 (please note the data is only available from July 2016 to January 2020)</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>All ICE Reports signpost the complainant to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman’s Office, via a Member of Parliament, in the event that they are dissatisfied with the outcome of the ICE investigation. We do not hold information about the number of complaints about Universal Credit which were subsequently referred by an MP to the Ombudsman’s Office.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>For context, the latest figures show that there are 3 million people on Universal Credit as of 12 March 2020.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 28/04/2020 14:34:04 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies previous answer version 9749 answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1568604

registered interest
date	19/01/2023
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: Trade Unions
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what human resources information their Department shares with trade unions on a regular basis.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
uin	127787
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/01/2023 answer text <p>Senior Departmental officials meet with Departmental Trade Union Side to discuss resourcing issues including finance, demand, and recruitment.</p><p>As part of the annual delegated pay negotiations, the department provides the three trade unions that are recognised in DWP with detailed information on pay, including pay scales and where employees currently sit within these.</p><p> </p><p>Individual Departmental Directors with responsibility for Service Delivery meet trade unions annually to discuss the resourcing position specific to their area of work. In addition, Departmental Directors meet trade unions regularly to update and share information on issues such as resources, staffing, workloads, performance, health and safety and wellbeing.</p><p> </p><p>There is also a range of publicly available HR information published on GOV.UK.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 25/01/2023 16:56:21 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies previous answer version 49841 answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1588194

registered interest
date	22/02/2023
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: 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 they have taken to operate a disability confident scheme for those seeking promotion in their Department; and how many and what proportion of those candidates who declared themselves as having a disability and who applied under the scheme were (a) interviewed and (b) promoted in (i) 2021 and (ii) 2022.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
uin	150533
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/02/2023 answer text <p>In line with the commitment made in the Civil Service Workforce Plan all DWP recruitment has been ‘External by Default’ since August 2020. It is therefore departmental policy that all permanent vacancies, including those that would result in promotion for an existing employee, are advertised externally unless there is clear rationale for not doing so.</p><p> </p><p>To comply with CS Commission Recruitment Principles, our external recruitment is Fair, Open and Merit based and as a Disability Confident Leader all our advertised campaigns, internal or external, carries the Disability Confident Logo to make this clear to applicants. We are committed to offering an interview to any disabled candidate, internal or external, who applies under the Disability Confident Scheme and meets the minimum criteria for the role.</p><p> </p><p>It is only within internal recruitment exercises, where candidates are asked if they are applying on promotion, as such, we only hold data on promotion figures for internally advertised campaigns.</p><p> </p><p>The figures in the table show the number of DWP candidates who declared themselves as having a disability, or who applied for internal vacancies under the Guaranteed Interview Scheme, and their progression through the recruitment process.</p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Internal Recruitment Campaigns Only </strong>(applying on promotion) **</p></td><td><p><strong>2021</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2022</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Applications received from DWP candidates who <strong>declared</strong> themselves as having a disability, <strong>or</strong> who applied under the Guaranteed Interview Scheme.</p></td><td><p><strong>152</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>244</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Number of the above candidates who were successful at sift stage and invited to interview.</p></td><td><p><strong>28</strong> (18.4%)</p></td><td><p><strong>37</strong> (15.2%)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Number of the above candidates who were successful at interview stage and made an offer.</p></td><td><p><strong>9</strong> (5.9%)</p></td><td><p><strong>6</strong> (2.5%)</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><strong>.</strong><strong>** </strong>Applications made by internal DWP candidates for internally advertised DWP / Cross Government vacancies, on promotion.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 27/02/2023 18:49:59 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies previous answer version 58181 answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1542909

registered interest
date	16/11/2022
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: Disqualification
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many benefit claims were subject to sanctions in the last three months for which data is available by constituency; and how much was the (a) total and (b) average sum of benefit income lost by claimants due to sanctions in each constituency.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
uin	88916
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/11/2022 answer text <p>Monthly Universal Credit full service sanction rate statistics are published every three months on <a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/" target="_blank">Stat-Xplore</a>.</p><p>The information requested for part a) and b) is provided in the attached spreadsheet.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 22/11/2022 17:56:40 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman attachment 1 file name 88916 wo.xlsx title 88916 workbook previous answer version 36037 answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1172108

registered interest
date	20/01/2020
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 value of deductions to universal credit payments under each reason for deduction in the latest period for which figures are available.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
uin	5465
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/01/2020 answer text <p>The Department’s deductions policy strikes a fair balance between a claimant’s need to meet their obligations and their ability to ensure they can meet their day-to-day needs. From October 2019, Universal Credit deductions have been reduced to 30% of a claimant’s standard allowance down from 40% to better achieve these objectives.</p><p> </p><p>In the latest period for which figures are available (August 2019), £1.3 billion of Universal Credit was paid, of which £94 million (7%) was deducted. The table below provides a breakdown of the deductions by reason.</p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Deduction reason</p></td><td><p>Value of Deductions (£)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>UC advance repayments</p></td><td><p>50,252,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Tax Credit overpayments</p></td><td><p>14,295,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>DWP overpayments</p></td><td><p>8,042,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Social fund loans</p></td><td><p>5,466,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Arrears of rent and/or service charges</p></td><td><p>5,001,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Fines</p></td><td><p>4,931,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>HB overpayments</p></td><td><p>1,771,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Arrears of Community Charge or Council Tax</p></td><td><p>1,285,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>UC Recoverable Hardship payments</p></td><td><p>843,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>DWP Fraud overpayments</p></td><td><p>742,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Fuel and Water Ongoing consumption</p></td><td><p>615,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Child maintenance</p></td><td><p>527,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Arrears of water charges</p></td><td><p>273,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>HB and DWP Civil Penalties</p></td><td><p>121,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>HB Fraud overpayments</p></td><td><p>113,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>HB and DWP Administrative Penalties</p></td><td><p>76,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Arrears of fuel (electric and gas)</p></td><td><p>67,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Arrears of Eligible loans</p></td><td><p>51,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Arrears of Integration loans</p></td><td><p>44,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Tax Credit Fraud overpayments</p></td><td><p>1,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Mortgage interest</p></td><td><p>less than 500</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong>Notes:</strong></p><p>1. Values of deductions in the table are rounded to the nearest thousand. The total value of all deductions and the amount of universal credit paid is rounded to the nearest £1,000,000.</p><p>2. Deductions include advance repayments, third party deductions and all other deductions, but exclude sanctions and fraud penalties which are reductions of benefit rather than deductions.</p><p>3. Amount of Universal Credit paid reflects the amount of money paid to claimants and their landlords as part of their award, including the amount which they would have been entitled to had it not been deducted. It does not include other payments such as advances and hardship payments.</p><p>4. Figures are provisional and are subject to retrospective change as later data becomes available.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 27/01/2020 18:05:44 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince previous answer version 2667 answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1180558

registered interest
date	25/02/2020
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, how many and what proportion of universal credit claims that have had a deduction applied had (a) up to 20 per cent, (b) between 21 and 30 per cent, (c) between 31 and 40 per cent and (d) more than 41 per cent deducted in the latest period for which data is available.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
uin	20637
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/03/2020 answer text <p>This Government is committed to providing a strong welfare safety-net for those who need it. There is a well-established system of hardship payments, benefit advances and budgeting loans for those who need extra support.</p><p> </p><p>Our deductions policy strikes a fair balance between a claimant’s need to meet their financial obligations and their ability to ensure they can meet their day-to-day needs. Since October 2019, Universal Credit deductions are a maximum of 30% of a claimant’s standard allowance down from 40% previously.</p><p> </p><p>We also recognise the importance of safeguarding the welfare of claimants who have incurred debt, so last resort deductions over the 30% cap can be applied to protect vulnerable claimants from eviction and/or having their fuel supply disconnected, by providing a repayment method for arrears of these essential services.</p><p> </p><p>Of all eligible claims to Universal Credit Full Service due a payment in November 2019, 58% (1,307,000 claims) had a deduction.</p><p> </p><p>Of this 1,307,000 claims with a deduction:</p><p> </p><p>a) 44% (569,000 claims) had deductions up to and including 20% of the Standard Allowance (25% of all eligible claims).</p><p> </p><p>b) 52% (681,000 claims) had deductions between 20% and 30% of the Standard Allowance (30% of all eligible claims).</p><p> </p><p>For last resort deductions –</p><p> </p><p>c) 4% (51,000 claims) had deductions between 30% and 40% of their Standard Allowance (2% of all eligible claims).</p><p> </p><p>d) 1% (7,000 claims) had deductions above 40% of their Standard Allowance (0.3% of all eligible claims).</p><p> </p><p>Notes:</p><p> </p><p>1. Claim numbers may not match official statistics caseloads due to small methodological differences.</p><p>2. Claim numbers are rounded up to the nearest 1,000.</p><p>3. Deductions include advance repayments and all other deductions, but exclude sanctions and fraud penalties which are reductions of benefit rather than deductions.</p><p>4. Deduction bands exclude the lower limit but include the upper limit, i.e. 'between 20% and 30% of the Standard Allowance' includes claimants having 30% of their standard allowance deducted but not those having 20% deducted.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 03/03/2020 11:05:40 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince previous answer version 9751 answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1183047

registered interest
date	05/03/2020
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, pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2020 to Question 10759, how many claimants had deductions taken from their universal credit payments in each parliamentary constituency in August 2019.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
uin	25696
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/04/2020 answer text <p>This Government is committed to providing a strong welfare safety-net for those who need it. Our deductions policy strikes a fair balance between a claimant’s need to meet their financial obligations and their ability to ensure they can meet their day-to-day needs. Since October 2019, Universal Credit deductions are set at a maximum of 30% of a claimant’s standard allowance, down from 40% previously.</p><p> </p><p>The requested information surrounding deductions to Universal Credit payments by parliamentary constituency is shown in the attached table.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 25694 question first answered 24/04/2020 08:30:03 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince attachment 1 file name PQs 25694, 25696- Chris Stephens- Additional Data Deductions incl. table.xlsx title Additional data deductions table previous answer version 11689 answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1458504

registered interest
date	19/04/2022
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: Alcoholism
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 support people with a history of alcohol dependence into work.
tabling member constituency	Liverpool, Walton
tabling member printed	Dan Carden
uin	155899
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/04/2022 answer text <p>DWP has a range of interventions in place to support individuals with a history of alcohol dependence into work.</p><p> </p><p>The Department has commissioned the Individual Placement and Support for Drug and Alcohol Dependency programme. Delivered by the Office for Health Improvements and Disparities, this provision blends intensive job-search and in-work support with clinical treatment to enable individuals with a dependency to overcome barriers to employment. The programme is currently being delivered in 46 Local Authority areas, including Birmingham, Sheffield, and Leeds, and will be expanded to all 150 Local Authority areas in England by the end of 2024/25. This brings the total investment in the programme to over £39 million across the next three years.</p><p> </p><p>Individuals with a history of alcohol dependence can also receive tailored support from our dedicated work coaches, such as the adjustment of Universal Credit work-search requirements and access to the Access to Work grant for any adaptations required in the workplace. They are also able to gain priority access to the Work and Health Programme, which supports people to enter into and stay in work.</p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 27/04/2022 16:01:34 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
tabling member	4651 label Biography information for Dan Carden

1240223

registered interest
date	05/10/2020
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	Pension Credit
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 the potential merits of automatically registering all eligible pensioners for pension credit.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
uin	99017
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/10/2020 answer text <p>It is a long-established policy of all governments, that provision of income-related benefits is contingent on a person making a valid claim. Like other means-tested benefits, Pension Credit eligibility and award amounts are determined by a person’s financial and personal circumstances and it is the responsibility of the person making a claim to provide the correct and accurate information required to establish entitlement.</p><p /><p>Pension Credit is intended to target help at the poorest pensioner households. It would not therefore be practical to automatically register everyone of State Pension age for Pension Credit when the majority of them will simply not qualify. There may also be pensioners, who might qualify for Pension Credit, who do not wish to claim it.</p><p> </p><p>In 2010 the Department ran an innovative pilot scheme to try to boost take-up of Pension Credit. The trial involved automatically paying Pension Credit to some 2,000 people who the Department had identified as possibly having entitlement to Pension Credit without them having to make an actual claim first. At the end of the trial the group were invited to go on and make a claim. The level of take-up was surprisingly low and disappointing, with less than 9% of those involved going on to take up their entitlement. It was therefore not considered a viable and cost effective mechanism to take forward. A copy of the evaluation of the pilot is available at <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/214583/rrep796.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/214583/rrep796.pdf</a>.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 08/10/2020 14:48:58 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens