Show Search Form

Search Results

registered interest	true false
date	exactly: or between: and
answering body
answering dept id
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
hansard heading
house id
legislature	pref label
question text
tabling member constituency
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member constituency answering member printed grouped question UIN question first answered question first ministerially corrected answering member label previous answer version answering member constituency answering member printed answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

1005853

	registered interest
	date	12/11/2018
	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	Funeral Payments
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what her Department's policy is on supporting benefit claimants who must pay for the funeral of a family member; and if her Department will introduce an allowance for benefit claimants who must pay for the funeral of a family member to ensure that their benefit claims are not adversely affected.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	190493
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/11/2018 answer text <p>The Social Fund Funeral Expenses Payment scheme makes a contribution towards the cost of a funeral for people in receipt of certain income related benefits and tax credits. To qualify, the applicant must be accepted as responsible for arranging the funeral, they (or their partner) must receive one of the qualifying benefits and they must be the partner or a close relative or close friend of the deceased.</p><p> </p><p>The amount payable depends on whether there is any other money available, for example from the deceased’s estate. As the Payment is linked to the deceased’s assets, it does not adversely affect the applicant’s savings.</p><p> </p><p>The scheme offers support by meeting the ‘necessary costs’ of a cremation or burial, including acquiring a burial plot. An allowance of up to £700 is also available to meet other funeral costs such as a coffin, religious venue and funeral director fees.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 15/11/2018 09:55:33 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1019329

	registered interest
	date	03/12/2018
	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	Children: Maintenance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of enabling parents to pursue (a) child maintenance arrears and (b) arrears transferred from the Child Support Agency under through the legal system.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	198381
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/12/2018 answer text <p>The Child Maintenance Service has a wide range of strong enforcement powers, including applying to the court to remove a non-paying parent’s driving licence, order the sale of property, commit them to prison, or disqualify them from holding or obtaining a passport.</p><p> </p><p>There is a longstanding legal position that a permanent arrangement cannot be ordered by a court as part of any settlement action in respect of child maintenance payments. The statutory child maintenance system was established because court outcomes for families were frequently inconsistent. There is little merit in enabling parents to pursue arrears through the court system which is inevitably adversarial, costly and often a slow process which many clients may be unable to afford.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 06/12/2018 10:11:31 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1020006

	registered interest
	date	04/12/2018
	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	Children: Maintenance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much child support arrears are concerned in (a) Motherwell and Wishaw, (b) North Lanarkshire Westminster Parliamentary constituencies, and (c) Scotland, under the Child Support (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2018.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	198884
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/12/2018 answer text <p>As of June 2018 (most recent published regional data, rounded to nearest thousand), there were the following amounts of unpaid maintenance from Child Support Agency cases:</p><p> </p><p>(a) Motherwell and Wishaw parliamentary constituency - £4,034,000 of child support arrears</p><p> </p><p>(b) North Lanarkshire Local Authority - £17,366,000 of child support arrears</p><p> </p><p>(c) Scotland - £ 225,269,000 of child support arrears</p><p> </p><p>Figures for b and c are published in the regional tables of the Child Support Agency Quarterly Summary of Statistics <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-support-agency-quarterly-summary-of-statistics-june-2018" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-support-agency-quarterly-summary-of-statistics-june-2018</a></p><p> </p><p>These amounts include all Child Support Agency cases with arrears. This includes cases where recent payments have been made and those where there has been no payment made within the last 3 months. The vast majority of these cases have received no recent payment, and it is only these cases that will be addressed under the Child Support (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2018.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 10/12/2018 10:21:05 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1023269

	registered interest
	date	11/12/2018
	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	Children: Maintenance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of enabling parents to pursue Child Support Agency arrears written off under the Child Support (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2018 through the legal system.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	201254
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/12/2018 answer text <p>I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 06 December 2018 to Question 198381.</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2018-12-03/198381/" target="_blank">https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2018-12-03/198381/</a></p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 17/12/2018 15:28:33 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1043721

	registered interest
	date	18/01/2019
	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 much money has been spent from the public purse on the running of the office of the Independent Case Examiner for each available year; and what her Department's plans are for the future funding on that office.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	210055
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/01/2019 answer text <p>Funding for the Independent Case Examiner’s Office is reviewed on an annual basis. The table below provides details of the budget allocated to the Office in the last four financial years.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Financial Year (April to March)</p></td><td><p>Amount</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015/16</p></td><td><p>£2,563,702</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016/17</p></td><td><p>£2,733,114</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017/18</p></td><td><p>£2,534,005</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018/19</p></td><td><p>£3,008,587</p></td></tr></tbody></table> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 23/01/2019 14:58:53 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1043722

	registered interest
	date	18/01/2019
	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 assessment her Department has made of the Independent Case Examiner's ability to process complaints in a timely manner.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	210056
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/01/2019 answer text <p>The Independent Case Examiner (ICE) is appointed under contract to adjudicate on escalated complaints about 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 ICE investigation, or the service provided by the Office (including processing times) they can ask their Member of Parliament to escalate their complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. The Permanent Secretary is apprised of the Ombudsman’s findings each year.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 23/01/2019 14:50:19 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1043723

	registered interest
	date	18/01/2019
	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 her Department's target timetable is for complaints to the Independent Case Examiner to be concluded; and what (a) proportion and (b) number of complaints met that target in each year for which information.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	210057
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/01/2019 answer text <p>The table below provides details of the clearance time targets for the Independent Case Examiner’s Office and its performance against those targets since they were introduced in their current form.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>Resolution: Aim to resolve the complaint, to the complainants satisfaction, within 8 weeks of it being accepted for investigation</p></td><td><p>Settlement: Aim to settle the complaint, to the complainants satisfaction, with 15 weeks of the investigation commencing</p></td><td><p>ICE Report: Aim to issue the ICE Report within 20 weeks of the investigation commencing</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2015/16</strong></p></td><td><p>80 complaints resolved 79% within target</p></td><td><p>91 complaints settled 74% within target</p></td><td><p>586 ICE Reports 56% within target</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2016/17</strong></p></td><td><p>84 complaints resolved 86% within target</p></td><td><p>127 complaints settled 87% within target</p></td><td><p>660 ICE Reports 41% within target</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2017/18</strong></p></td><td><p>83 complaints resolved 74% within target</p></td><td><p>141 complaints settled 84% within target</p></td><td><p>698 ICE Reports 40% within target</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2018/19</strong> <strong>(April to December 2018)</strong></p></td><td><p>131 complaints resolved 68% within target</p></td><td><p>139 complaints settled 81% within target</p></td><td><p>628 ICE Reports 45% within target</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 23/01/2019 14:42:35 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1049995

	registered interest
	date	28/01/2019
	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: Overpayments
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the effect on the living standards of benefit claimants of the rate at which repayments of overpayments are repaid to her Department.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	213410
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/01/2019 answer text <p>The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) balances a requirement to protect tax payer’s money with a duty to ensure that claimants are not placed in undue hardship by excessive deductions from their benefit.</p><p> </p><p>For this reason, the maximum deduction rates that can be applied to an on-going benefit award for the recovery of an overpayment are set out in legislation. Different deduction rates will be applied in different circumstances, with the highest rate only being applicable where an overpayment has been classified as fraud.</p><p> </p><p>DWP administers benefits to approximately 20 million people with a wide variety of individual circumstances so it is difficult to make a general assessment on living standards. Therefore, we apply any considerations of this type at an individual level. If a person states they cannot afford the proposed rate of recovery, they are asked to provide details of their income and expenditure. Their individual circumstances will then be taken into account and a temporary reduction in the rate of repayment may be agreed. In exceptional circumstances, a temporary suspension of recovery may be appropriate.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 31/01/2019 14:45:32 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1055055

	registered interest
	date	05/02/2019
	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 her Department's target timetable is for deciding whether complaints to the Independent Case Examiner will be accepted for investigation; what (a) proportion and (b) number of complaints met that target in each year for which information is available; and how many complaints are currently awaiting a decision on whether or not they will be investigated.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	217031
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/02/2019 answer text <p>Funding for the Independent Case Examiner’s (ICE) Office is reviewed on an annual basis. In the current financial year, the ICE Office has received funding for thirteen additional posts.</p><p> </p><p>Productivity in the ICE Office has increased by 34% in the current reporting year, with the Office having cleared 1,047 cased by the end of January 2019, compared with 782 in the same period during 2017/18.</p><p>The Office has an internal target to inform 90% of complainants within four weeks of its reciept, whether thier complaint can be accepted for investigation. The Office can only accept a complaint for investigation once it has (a) established that the complainant has exhausted the relevant business complaints process, and (b) reached agreement with the complainant regarding the scope of any investigation.</p><p> </p><p>The table below provides the available performance data.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>Number of complaints received</p></td><td><p>Number of complaints not accepted for investigation</p></td><td><p>Number of complaints accepted for investigation</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017/18</p></td><td><p>5,886</p></td><td><p>2,247 (81% within internal target of four weeks)</p></td><td><p>3,639 (38% within internal target of four weeks)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018/19 (1<sup>st</sup> April 2018 to 6<sup>th</sup> February 2019)</p></td><td><p>4,169</p></td><td><p>2,928 (68% within internal target of four weeks)</p></td><td><p>1,073 (47% within internal target of four weeks)</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>As at 6<sup>th</sup> February 2019, there were 168 complainants awaiting a decision on whether their complaint could be accepted for examination.</p><p> </p><p>During the period covered by this response the Independent Case Examiner’s Office received 4,118 complaints from women concerning changes to State Pension age, which directly impacted on its ability to meet its internal target for determining whether a complaint can be accepted for examination.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 08/02/2019 12:40:02 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1057082

	registered interest
	date	08/02/2019
	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 steps she is taking to improve the performance of the Independent Case Examiner.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	218827
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/02/2019 answer text <p>During 2017/18, the Independent Case Examiner’s Office received high levels of demand.</p><p>In the 2018/19 reporting year, the Office received funding for thirteen additional staff and productivity increased. By the end of January 2019 the Office had cleared 1,047 complaints, compared to 782 at the end of January 2018.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 13/02/2019 12:31:56 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1059766

	registered interest
	date	12/02/2019
	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	Cold Weather Payments
	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 cold weather payments are given to people receiving income related employment and support allowance but not contributions-based employment and support allowance; and if she will review her Departments's policy.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	220280
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/02/2019 answer text <p>Cold Weather Payments are made to people who receive certain income-related benefits and satisfy the eligibility conditions. People who receive contribution-based benefits are not eligible for Cold Weather Payments. This is because the scheme was specifically designed to target the additional heating costs of the most vulnerable people in society. The scheme is subject to financial constraints and to ensure that limited public funds are used in the most effective way possible, the Government believes that the fairest way of managing this is by linking eligibility to income-related benefits.</p><p>To put this into context, during the 2010/11 Cold Weather Payment season over £435 million was paid to eligible claimants. If the scheme were to be extended to all contributory benefit recipients, the scheme would become unaffordable.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 18/02/2019 15:01:28 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1081728

	registered interest
	date	04/03/2019
	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	Bereavement Support Payment
	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 her Department does not pay bereavement support to widows and widowers where tacit consent to marriage with their former partner was not given but where the material circumstances of their relationship were the same as those of a married couple.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	228066
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/03/2019 answer text <p>Marriage and civil partnerships are legal contracts that are associated with certain rights, including inheritance, recognition in the tax system and entitlement to certain benefits.</p><p> </p><p>A key principle of the National Insurance system is that all rights to benefits derived from another person’s contributions, such as bereavement benefits, are based on the concept of legal marriage or civil partnership.</p><p> </p><p>Under Scottish law, in certain circumstances, a person can be classed as married by cohabitation with habit and repute. Marriage by habit and repute was abolished for new relationships in 2006 by the Family Law (Scotland) Act. Marriages deemed to have been constituted prior to the 4 May 2006 are still recognised as such for benefit purposes.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 07/03/2019 10:38:56 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1083674

	registered interest
	date	07/03/2019
	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, pursuant to the Answer of 23 January 2019 to Question 210057, for each available year, what the (a) mean and (b) median waiting time is for complaints (i) which are not resolved within eight weeks of being accepted, (ii) which are not settled within 15 weeks of the investigation commencing and (iii) where an ICE report is not issued within 20 weeks of the investigation commencing.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	229798
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/03/2019 answer text <p>Whilst high level clearance target performance data is routinely included in the Independent Case Examiner’s Annual Report, the Office only retain case specific information for 26 months following case closure, and as such the requested information is only available for 2017/18 and the current reporting year. The available information is provided in the tables below.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Resolution</strong></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>Mean - Time taken to resolve complaints that were not cleared within 8 weeks of the complaint being accepted for investigation</p></td><td><p>Median - Time taken to resolve complaints that were not cleared within 8 weeks of the complaint being accepted for investigation</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017/18 (April to March)</p></td><td><p>11 weeks</p></td><td><p>10 weeks</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018/19 (April to February 2019)</p></td><td><p>11 weeks</p></td><td><p>10 weeks</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p><strong>Settlement</strong></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>Mean - Time taken to settle complaints that were not cleared within 15 weeks of the investigation commencing</p></td><td><p>Median - Time taken to settle complaints that were not cleared within 15 weeks of the investigation commencing</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017/18 (April to March)</p></td><td><p>23 weeks</p></td><td><p>21 weeks</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018/19 (April to February 2019)</p></td><td><p>23 weeks</p></td><td><p>22 weeks</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p><strong>ICE Report</strong></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>Mean - Time taken to issue ICE Reports in those cases that were not concluded within 20 weeks of the investigation commencing</p></td><td><p>Median - Time taken to issue ICE Reports in those cases that were not concluded within 20 weeks of the investigation commencing</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017/18 (April to March)</p></td><td><p>30 weeks</p></td><td><p>28 weeks</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018/19 (April to February 2019)</p></td><td><p>27 weeks</p></td><td><p>26 weeks</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 12/03/2019 15:58:27 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1083675

	registered interest
	date	07/03/2019
	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, pursuant to the Answer of 8 February 2019 to Question 217031 on Independent Case Examiner, what the (a) mean and (b) median waiting time is for complainants who are not informed within four weeks of whether their complaint has been accepted for investigation in each of the last three years.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	229799
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/03/2019 answer text <p>The Independent Case Examiner’s Office can only accept a complaint for investigation once it has (a) established that the complainant has exhausted the relevant business complaints process, and (b) reached agreement with the complainant regarding the scope of any investigation. The Office retain case specific information for 26 months following case closure, and as such the requested information is only available for 2017/18 and the current reporting year. The available information is provided in the table below.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>Mean – Time taken to inform complainants whether their complaint could be accepted for investigation, in those cases that exceeded the four week internal target</p></td><td><p>Median – Time taken to inform complainants whether their complaint could be accepted for investigation, in those cases that exceeded the four week internal target</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017/18 (April to March)</p></td><td><p>11 weeks</p></td><td><p>8 weeks</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018/19 (Year to date – April to February)</p></td><td><p>15 weeks</p></td><td><p>11 weeks</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 12/03/2019 15:44:46 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1108750

	registered interest
	date	01/04/2019
	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	Child Maintenance Service: 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 (a) points of dissatisfaction and (b) complaints have been logged with the Child Maintenance Service in each year for which information is available.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	239268
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/04/2019 answer text <p><strong> </strong></p><p>In terms of volumes of dissatisfactions, the table below refers. This includes all Dissatisfaction actions that have been opened, regardless of the outcome.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>-</p></td><td><p><strong>2015</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2016</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2017</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2018</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Total Dissatisfactions</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>4,988</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>8,038</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>13,574</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>24,255</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Caseload at year end</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>180,100</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>291,000</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>391,800</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>463,300</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>% of Caseload</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2.8%</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2.8%</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>3.5%</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>5.2%</strong></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>The latest statistics on complaints received by the Child Maintenance Service are published in Table 17 of the Child Maintenance Service statistics, which highlights the number of complaints received by the Child Maintenance Service each quarter. It is available online at:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-on-the-2012-statutory-child-maintenance-scheme" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-on-the-2012-statutory-child-maintenance-scheme</a>.”</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 04/04/2019 11:24:16 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1108751

	registered interest
	date	01/04/2019
	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	Child Maintenance Service: Staff
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many members of staff (a) were employed in each year for which information is available and (b) are employed by the Child Maintenance Service to deal with complaints; and whether that Service has plans to employ more such staff.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	239269
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/04/2019 answer text <table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>CMG Headcount/FTE (a)</p></td><td><p>Complaints Headcount/FTE (b)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>February 2019</p></td><td><p>7056</p></td><td><p>135</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>March 2018</p></td><td><p>6963</p></td><td><p>184</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>March 2017</p></td><td><p>8066</p></td><td><p>153</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>March 2016</p></td><td><p>8558.2</p></td><td><p>94.5</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>March 2015</p></td><td><p>8442.8</p></td><td><p>111.1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>March 2014</p></td><td><p>8098.9</p></td><td><p>127.16</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>March 2013</p></td><td><p>6961.8</p></td><td><p>142.5</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>March 2012</p></td><td><p>7528.8</p></td><td><p>175.7</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>March 2011</p></td><td><p>7635.1</p></td><td><p>203.8</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The numbers in column (a) reflects the total number of people or headcount in Child Maintenance Group.</p><p> </p><p>The numbers in column (b) are the resource supporting complaints for CMS and CSA. We are unable to provide a CMS only breakdown as the team deal with both CMS and CSA complaints. Resourcing in Complaints team is reviewed regularly, with the most recent review completed in April 2018. However, I can confirm that there are no plans in place at present to increase staffing in that area.</p><p> </p><p>Prior to 2017 this was counted as total resource required, however from 2017 this was recorded as headcount i.e. people. Hence from 2017 the number increases as it began counting number of individuals.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 04/04/2019 14:48:59 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1108755

	registered interest
	date	01/04/2019
	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, whether a claimant of personal independence payment that received a health assessment report audited by her Department is entitled to the (a) original and (b) audited report.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	239270
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/04/2019 answer text <p>If a claimant requests a copy of their assessment report they are entitled to receive it. Where an assessment report has been reviewed or reworked by DWP the claimant will receive copies of both the original and audited versions. Please note, the audited version of an assessment report is different to the Auditors Report produced by the Department about the Assessment Provider. Claimants are not entitled to see Auditors Reports.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 04/04/2019 13:29:37 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1109936

	registered interest
	date	05/04/2019
	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	Employment and Support Allowance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether a claimant of employment support allowance that received a health assessment report audited by her Department is entitled to the (a) original and (b) audited report.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	241449
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/04/2019 answer text <p>If a claimant requests a copy of their assessment report they are entitled to receive it. Where an assessment report has been reviewed or reworked by DWP the claimant will receive copies of both the original and audited versions. Please note, the audited version of an assessment report is different from the Auditor's Report produced by the Department about the Assessment Provider. Claimants are not entitled to see Auditor's Reports.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 10/04/2019 09:44:26 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1110739

	registered interest
	date	09/04/2019
	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, pursuant to the Answer of 4 April 2019 to Question 239270 on Personal Independence Payment: Medical Examinations, what is meant by reworked by DWP.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	242874
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>An assessment report must contain everything necessary for a decision to be made and must be:</p><p>• Fair and impartial, so that it doesn’t compromise decision making</p><p>• Legible and concise</p><p>• In accordance with relevant legislation</p><p>• Comprehensive, clearly explaining the medical issues raised, fully clarifying any contradictions in evidence</p><p>• In plain English and free of medical jargon and unexplained medical abbreviations</p><p>• Complete with no questions unanswered</p><p>After consideration of the full PIP Assessment Report a DWP Case Manager (Decision Maker) will return a case to the Assessment Provider (AP) to be looked at again (rework)</p><ul><li>If any of the above criteria are not met</li><li>if the correct award cannot be reasonably determined from the information in the report or</li><li>if the information provided by the AP to DWP suggests there will be a change to an award/award length and there is no reasonable justification recorded, this could be to increase or decrease the award.</li></ul> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 15/04/2019 09:38:47 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1110741

	registered interest
	date	09/04/2019
	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, pursuant to the Answer of 4 April 2019 to Question 239270 on Personal Independence Payment: Medical Examinations, for what reason claimants are not entitled to access Auditors' Reports.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	242875
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>The audit reports are a feedback tool for the Providers to ensure their Health Professionals provide good quality assessment reports. These reports are not retained under departmental destruction policy.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 15/04/2019 10:29:29 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1110742

	registered interest
	date	09/04/2019
	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, pursuant to the Answer of 4 April 2019 to Question 239270 on Personal Independence Payment: Medical Examinations, what is contained within an Auditors' Report.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	242876
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>Audit refers to a comprehensive check of the elements of the assessment, including the evidence collection, further evidence provided and the assessment report completed by the Healthcare Professional. The check is completed against a set of guidelines, set out publicly in the Personal Independence Assessment Guide, to ensure a consistent approach is taken. This ensures assessment reports are adequately justified and provide sufficient information for the department’s Case Managers decisions on entitlement to benefit.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 15/04/2019 10:28:04 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1121933

	registered interest
	date	18/04/2019
	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	Employment and Support Allowance
	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 8 April 2019 to Question 239928 on Employment and Support Allowance, when she plans to complete her update of the ESA65B letter.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	245846
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/04/2019 answer text <p>I refer the right honourable member to Parliamentary 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=242946" target="_blank">242946</a> answered on 15<sup>th</sup> April 2019.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 25/04/2019 12:51:18 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1121934

	registered interest
	date	18/04/2019
	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	Employment and Support Allowance
	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 8 April 2019 to Question 239928 on Employment and Support Allowance, which medical organisations she is consulting to advise on the updating of the ESA65B letter.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	245847
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/04/2019 answer text <p>The Department is consulting the British Medical Association and the Royal College of General Practitioners on the revised wording of the ESA65B letter.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 25/04/2019 12:35:23 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1121977

	registered interest
	date	18/04/2019
	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: Medical Examinations
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether GP’s are required when recommending a claimant has home assessment for the purpose of a benefit claim to follow her Department‘s required and accepted terminology; and what guidance her Department has issued to GPs on statements her Department accepts in agreeing to grant a home assessment.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	245848
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/04/2019 answer text <p>DWP has not issued any guidance to GPs on the subject of providing letters to support requests for home visits from assessment providers for their patients.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 25/04/2019 14:46:12 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1121987

	registered interest
	date	18/04/2019
	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, as a result of reassessments of personal independence payment claim eligibility at the end of a payment time frame, how many of such payments have (a) been stopped, (b) been reduced (c) increased and (d) remained the same in each of the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	245849
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/04/2019 answer text <p>The latest available data on the initial outcomes of PIP award reviews, whether they were increased, maintained, decreased or disallowed each month from June 2016 – October 2018 can be found in Table 3A of the data tables <em>“</em><em>PIP: Planned Award Review and Change of Circumstance Registrations and Clearances, October 2018”</em> which can be found here:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-independence-payment-april-2013-to-october-2018" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-independence-payment-april-2013-to-october-2018</a>.</p><p><strong><em> </em></strong></p><p>Note that prior to June 2016, the outcomes recorded for award reviews were either ‘changed’ or ‘unchanged’ on the PIP Computer system.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 25/04/2019 12:27:50 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1126910

	registered interest
	date	15/05/2019
	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
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether claimants of (a) personal independence payments and (b) employment and support allowance whose claims were subject to a review by her Department's Quality Team are entitled to access the Quality Team's report of that review.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	254839
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/05/2019 answer text <p>Based on our understanding of the question, we believe the ‘quality report’ refers to a report based on the overall quality of the Department’s Decision Making, not on the quality of assessment. Internally within DWP there is no Quality Assessment Report.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 20/05/2019 11:16:03 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1127567

	registered interest
	date	20/05/2019
	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 Assessment 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 audits requiring amendments to be made to Independent Assessment Service health assessment reports, in what circumstances are such amendments not made by the health professional who conducted the assessment.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	256358
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/05/2019 answer text <p>Data is not specifically collated on the number of reports that have been amended by the Health Professional that conducted the health assessment or those that had not.</p><p> </p><p>Where Independent Assessment Service reports require amendment via audit then this activity, wherever possible, should be taken by the Health Professional who carried out the original assessment. Exceptions to this may be as a result of the Health Professional’s availability for example, annual leave which would cause an unnecessary delay to the assessment process.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson grouped question UIN 256359 question first answered 23/05/2019 10:29:44 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1127568

	registered interest
	date	20/05/2019
	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 Assessment 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 she has made of the number of Independent Assessment Service health assessment reports that have been amended during audit by a health professional that (a) conducted the health assessment and (b) did not conduct the health assessment for all years for which information is available.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	256359
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/05/2019 answer text <p>Data is not specifically collated on the number of reports that have been amended by the Health Professional that conducted the health assessment or those that had not.</p><p> </p><p>Where Independent Assessment Service reports require amendment via audit then this activity, wherever possible, should be taken by the Health Professional who carried out the original assessment. Exceptions to this may be as a result of the Health Professional’s availability for example, annual leave which would cause an unnecessary delay to the assessment process.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson grouped question UIN 256358 question first answered 23/05/2019 10:29:44 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1127569

	registered interest
	date	20/05/2019
	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 Assessment Services
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the minimum training requirements are for auditors of Independent Assessment Service health assessment reports.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	256360
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/05/2019 answer text <p>Auditors of Independent Assessment Services health assessment reports are qualified health professionals who are registered with a professional body, with experience in PIP assessments.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 23/05/2019 16:02:12 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1127570

	registered interest
	date	20/05/2019
	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 Assessment Services
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many audited Independent Assessment Service health assessment reports were graded as (a) acceptable, (b) unacceptable and (c) acceptable report amendment required in each year for which figures are available.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	256361
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/05/2019 answer text <p>Please find the figures requested in the table below. In addition to this information we have also included the category ‘acceptable with feedback’ which was not requested but may be of interest.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Grades</p></td><td><p>Apr 16- Mar 17</p></td><td><p>Apr 17-Mar 18</p></td><td><p>Apr 18-Mar 19</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Acceptable</p></td><td><p>7,300</p></td><td><p>7,930</p></td><td><p>7,480</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Acceptable with Feedback</p></td><td><p>1,380</p></td><td><p>1,820</p></td><td><p>1,990</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Acceptable with Amendments</p></td><td><p>650</p></td><td><p>1,220</p></td><td><p>1,780</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Unacceptable</p></td><td><p>460</p></td><td><p>620</p></td><td><p>500</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Total Audited</p></td><td><p>9,790</p></td><td><p>11,590</p></td><td><p>11,750</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Figures rounded to the nearest 10</p><p>Data obtained from the CHES MI Team</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 23/05/2019 08:42:52 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1127571

	registered interest
	date	20/05/2019
	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 Assessment Services
	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 help ensure Independent Assessment Service assessment centres accommodate the needs of people with autistic spectrum conditions.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	256362
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/05/2019 answer text <p>All Independent Assessment Services (IAS) centres meet the department’s required accessibility requirements. In addition, IAS have plans in place to use their claimant champion stakeholder network to work with autism groups to improve the experience in centres for claimants with autistic spectrum conditions.</p><p> </p><p>IAS PIP claimant communications were reviewed by the National Autistic Society with feedback being received that map/directions which include exterior centre photos were particularly helpful for autistic claimants to allow them to orientate before arriving.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 23/05/2019 16:08:05 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1127591

	registered interest
	date	20/05/2019
	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
	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 20 May 2019 to Question 254839 on Social Security Benefits, whether claimants of (a) personal independence payments and (b) employment and support allowance whose claims were subject to a review by her Department's Quality Team are entitled to access any feedback on their claim from Quality Team reviewers.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	256373
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/05/2019 answer text <p>The Department has one quality team who check all benefits, any feedback from this team, on individual claims, can be requested through a Right to Access Request.</p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 28/05/2019 14:40:35 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1128534

	registered interest
	date	23/05/2019
	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 Assessment Services
	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 23 May 2019 to Question 256361 on Independent Assessment Services, whether reports classified as acceptable with feedback provide non-prescriptive amendments to the health professional.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	257766
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/06/2019 answer text <p>An “acceptable with feedback” grade results in feedback being given to the Health Professional, but does not require an amendment to the assessment report.</p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 05/06/2019 12:07:44 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1132524

	registered interest
	date	17/06/2019
	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	Carers: Re-employment
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support her Department provides to single adult carers of adult dependants to re-enter work.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	265549
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/06/2019 answer text <p>Jobcentre Plus work coaches offer all claimants, including carers, a comprehensive menu of help, including skills provision and job search support, including individual support packages to help people into work. Support and coaching is personalised to the individual so that it works best for them.</p><p /><p>For example, Jobcentre Plus Work Coaches utilise packages of support such as New Enterprise Allowance (NEA) for those considering self-employment and funding from the Flexible Support Fund to help individuals overcome their barriers to enter employment.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, support is available via the National Careers Service in England, co-located in around 90% of Jobcentres and available online. This includes a Skills Health Check designed to help users explore their skills and interests to help identify the right job. In Scotland a broader offer is made via My World of Work.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 20/06/2019 12:55:56 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1134100

	registered interest
	date	24/06/2019
	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: Autism
	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 in receipt of (a) employment support allowance and (b) personal independence payments are (i) autistic and (ii) have autistic spectrum disorders.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	268546
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/07/2019 answer text <p>The information requested for Employment and Support Allowance is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p>The latest available data on the number of Personal Independent Payment (PIP) claims in payment split by disability for both new claims and Disability Living Allowance reassessed claims, each month from the start of PIP in April 2013 – April 2019 can be found at <a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/" target="_blank">https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/</a></p><p> </p><p>Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here:<a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/User-Guide.html" target="_blank"> https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/User-Guide.html</a></p><p> </p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson grouped question UIN 268547 question first answered 02/07/2019 16:18:12 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1134101

	registered interest
	date	24/06/2019
	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: Autism
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants of (a) employment support allowance and (b) personal independence payments have (a) Autism and (b) autistic spectrum disorders in each of the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	268547
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/07/2019 answer text <p>The information requested for Employment and Support Allowance is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p>The latest available data on the number of Personal Independent Payment (PIP) claims in payment split by disability for both new claims and Disability Living Allowance reassessed claims, each month from the start of PIP in April 2013 – April 2019 can be found at <a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/" target="_blank">https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/</a></p><p> </p><p>Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here:<a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/User-Guide.html" target="_blank"> https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/User-Guide.html</a></p><p> </p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson grouped question UIN 268546 question first answered 02/07/2019 16:18:12 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1134104

	registered interest
	date	24/06/2019
	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	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 support adults with Autism gain employment.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	268550
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/07/2019 answer text <p>The Government is committed to improving employment outcomes for people with autism. Improving Lives: the Future of Work, Health and Disability is our strategy for helping people with disabilities or health conditions enter and remain in employment. It includes details of several initiatives that will help support disabled people, including people with autism, in making a successful transition to employment. For example:</p><p> </p><ul><li>The Work and Health Programme will provide innovative support for around 275,000 people over five years. The majority of people of starting on the programme (around 220,000) will be disabled people, including people with autism, who can volunteer for the programme at any time.</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>The Personal Support Package for people with health conditions and disabilities, with a range of new interventions and initiatives designed to provide support that is tailored to the individual needs of claimants, including people with autism</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>Access to Work is a demand-led, discretionary grant scheme which offers advice and in-work support to disabled people, including those with autism, above the level of statutory reasonable adjustments. An Access to Work customer may receive an award of up to £59,200 p.a. to pay for support to help them to enter or retain employment. This can include help with getting to work.</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>Through the Disability Confident scheme, DWP is engaging with employers, offering online guidance and helping to promote the skills, talents and abilities of disabled people, including people with autism and associated hidden impairments</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>We are also continuing to build on local initiatives in jobcentres, to ensure that we deliver a consistently supportive service across Jobcentre Plus. For example, as part of Autism Awareness Week in April 2019, we introduced short “Bitesize” Autism Awareness Learning for work coaches and promoted Calm and Quiet Sessions in jobcentres.</li></ul><p> </p><p>Looking forward, the new Intensive Personalised Employment Support Programme, which will roll out by the end of 2019, will provide highly personalised packages of employment support for disabled people, including those with autism, who are at least a year away from moving into work.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 02/07/2019 16:05:08 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1140217

	registered interest
	date	18/07/2019
	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	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 further to the Disability Confident Scheme and the Disability Confident Toolkit to ensure people with autism spectrum conditions are supported within the workplace through (a) peer and (b) mentor support.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	279085
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2019 answer text <p>Access to Work offers eligible individuals practical advice and a discretionary grant of up to £59,200 per year to fund support above the level of an employer’s statutory obligation to make reasonable adjustments, and this can include specialist mentoring. DWP is working with the Supported Business Alliance (SBA) and The British Association for Supported Employment (BASE) to develop a new long term element of Access to Work, to support people working for a supported business, many of whom have autism spectrum conditions.</p><p> </p><p>DWP, in partnership with Department of Health and Social Care, has published a consultation: ‘Health is everyone’s business: proposals to reduce ill health-related job loss’ on how employers can best support disabled people and people with long-term health conditions, including those with autism spectrum conditions, to stay and thrive in work.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 23/07/2019 10:18:10 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1140219

	registered interest
	date	18/07/2019
	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	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, in addition to the Disability Confident Scheme and the Disability Confident Toolkit, to ensure people with autism spectrum conditions are supported in the workplace in relation to the working environment and their sensory needs.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	279086
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2019 answer text <p>Access to Work staff have a specialist knowledge of disabilities and health conditions, including autism spectrum conditions, which enables them to offer customers tailored packages of support, and the scheme offers eligible individuals a workplace assessment to establish what personalised support would be most appropriate to support them at work.</p><p> </p><p>DWP is working with the Supported Business Alliance (SBA) and The British Association for Supported Employment (BASE) to develop a new long term element of Access to Work, to support people working for a supported business, many of whom have autism spectrum conditions.</p><p> </p><p>DWP is also working in partnership with Department of Health and Social Care to publish a consultation on how employers can best support disabled people and people with long-term health conditions, including those with autism spectrum conditions, to stay and thrive in work.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 23/07/2019 10:24:38 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1140220

	registered interest
	date	18/07/2019
	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	Employment: Autism
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if her Department will offer people with autistic spectrum conditions of working age access to interview training designed and delivered by individuals with extensive knowledge of autism spectrum conditions through Jobcentres.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	279087
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2019 answer text <p>The new Health and Work Conversation allows work coaches to build engagement with claimants with disabilities and health issues. Work Coaches are given comprehensive training to build their empathy skills and help them to actively listen to claimants. In addition, two new specialist job roles were introduced into Jobcentres from April 2019 - a revised Disability Employment Adviser role, bringing together the current role and incorporating elements of the Community Partner and Small Employer Adviser roles, and a new Disability Employment Adviser Leader role. These new roles will be instrumental in driving the government’s commitment to providing high quality support to disabled people and those with health conditions, including autism spectrum conditions. In total, more than 800 people will be employed in these new roles.</p><p> </p><p>Work Coaches can refer individuals to a range of personalised support, which can include specialist interview training, through programmes like The Work and Health Programme. Work and Health Programme providers have links to organisations with extensive knowledge of autism spectrum conditions, including Autism Plus, Triple A (All About Autism), Autism Anglia, Autism Spectrum Connections CYMRU (ASCC), Gwent Integrated Autism Service, and The Autism Directory.</p><p> </p><p>By the end of 2019 we will have rolled out our new Intensive Personalised Employment Support Programme, which will provide highly personalised packages of employment support for disabled people, including people with autism spectrum conditions, who are at least a year away from moving into work.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 23/07/2019 10:10:39 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1140556

	registered interest
	date	19/07/2019
	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, with reference to the Supreme Court ruling of July 2019, if her Department will review the assessment criteria for personal independence payments for claimants with mental health illnesses that requires assessors to make a distinction between whether a claimant needs prompting to engage with other people or social support.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	279441
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/07/2019 answer text <p>The Supreme Court handed down its decision on the case known as MM (SSWP v MM) on 18 July 2019. The case concerns the definition of ‘social support’ when engaging with other people face to face under activity 9 of the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) Regulations, and how far in advance that support can be provided.</p><p> </p><p>The Department will carefully consider the judgment and work with stakeholders to implement it fully so that claimants get the PIP support they are entitled to. This will include reviewing and updating where needed the guidance used for PIP assessments.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 26/07/2019 10:23:16 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1143872

	registered interest
	date	02/09/2019
	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	Employment: Disability
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Disability Employment Adviser Leaders are based in (a) Scotland, (b) Wales, (c) Northern Ireland, and (d) each region of England; and what estimate she has made of the number of Disability Employment Adviser Leaders in those areas in each of the next three years.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	285338
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p>Each area receives an appropriate allocation of DEA’s and DEAL’s based on its size and claimant caseload. As at the end of August 2019 the Department has 104.29 full time equivalent (FTE) Disability Employment Adviser Leaders in place across the Jobcentre Network.</p><p> </p><p>The following table provides a breakdown of the number of FTE DEAL’s allocated by area as at the end of August 2019.</p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Area</p></td><td><p>DEAL (FTE)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Scotland</p></td><td><p>9.26</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Wales</p></td><td><p>7.00</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>North West</p></td><td><p>9.26</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>North East</p></td><td><p>9.24</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>North Central</p></td><td><p>9.90</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>West Midlands</p></td><td><p>12.04</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>North and East Midlands</p></td><td><p>13.44</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>London and Essex</p></td><td><p>14.42</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>South East</p></td><td><p>10.23</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>South West</p></td><td><p>9.50</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>The figures provided are taken from the Departments ‘Activity Based Management’ (ABM) system. The data is derived from unpublished management information, collected and intended for internal departmental use and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard.</p><p> </p><p>The Northern Irish Assembly has devolved responsibility for social security benefits. As such any questions relating to staffing figures should be directed to the Department for Communities in Northern Ireland.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson grouped question UIN 285339 question first answered 09/09/2019 10:45:13 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1143873

	registered interest
	date	02/09/2019
	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	Employment: Disability
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what criteria her Department uses to assign Disability Employment Advisor Leaders to locations throughout the UK.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	285339
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p>Each area receives an appropriate allocation of DEA’s and DEAL’s based on its size and claimant caseload. As at the end of August 2019 the Department has 104.29 full time equivalent (FTE) Disability Employment Adviser Leaders in place across the Jobcentre Network.</p><p> </p><p>The following table provides a breakdown of the number of FTE DEAL’s allocated by area as at the end of August 2019.</p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Area</p></td><td><p>DEAL (FTE)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Scotland</p></td><td><p>9.26</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Wales</p></td><td><p>7.00</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>North West</p></td><td><p>9.26</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>North East</p></td><td><p>9.24</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>North Central</p></td><td><p>9.90</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>West Midlands</p></td><td><p>12.04</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>North and East Midlands</p></td><td><p>13.44</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>London and Essex</p></td><td><p>14.42</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>South East</p></td><td><p>10.23</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>South West</p></td><td><p>9.50</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>The figures provided are taken from the Departments ‘Activity Based Management’ (ABM) system. The data is derived from unpublished management information, collected and intended for internal departmental use and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard.</p><p> </p><p>The Northern Irish Assembly has devolved responsibility for social security benefits. As such any questions relating to staffing figures should be directed to the Department for Communities in Northern Ireland.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson grouped question UIN 285338 question first answered 09/09/2019 10:45:13 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1170705

	registered interest
	date	14/01/2020
	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	Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
	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 put into statute the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	3243
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/01/2020 answer text <p>The UK became a party to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2009. As a signatory to the convention, the UK remains committed to the progressive realisation of the rights for disabled people that it sets out. The Equality Act 2010 enshrines the rights of people in England, Scotland and Wales with any of nine protected characteristics to live free from discrimination, harassment or victimisation and have equal opportunities in domestic law. It systematically ensures consideration of the rights of disabled people by public authorities, at both national and local levels, through the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED).</p><p> </p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 20/01/2020 13:14:32 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1171008

	registered interest
	date	15/01/2020
	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	Employment and Support Allowance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what savings have accrued to the public purse under the £30 reduction for claimants of employment and support allowance in the work-related activity group in each month since that reduction was implemented.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	3794
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/01/2020 answer text <p><del class="ministerial">There are no savings from the removal of the Employment and Support Allowance Work Related Activity Component for new claims from April 2017.</del></p><p> </p><p><del class="ministerial">This change enabled the Department to recycle money into providing practical support that will make a significant difference to the life chances of those in the Work-Related Activity Group. We have invested £330m over 4 years with £100m available in 2020/21 and will support those with limited capability for work to move towards and into suitable employment.</del></p><p> </p><p><ins class="ministerial"><em>The information requested on the savings accrued from the removal of the Work Related Activity Component (WRAC) is not available. It would incur disproportionate cost to calculate any actual net savings from the removal of the WRAC. </em></ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial"><em> </em></ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial"><em>When the WRAC was removed we made a clear commitment to instead provide practical support that will make a significant difference to the life chances of those in the Work-Related Activity Group. We have been investing an additional £330m over 4 years to support those with limited capability for work to move towards and into suitable employment. </em></ins></p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 20/01/2020 15:00:20 question first ministerially corrected 24/01/2020 14:36:26 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson previous answer version 1615 answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1171037

	registered interest
	date	15/01/2020
	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	Access to Work Programme: Scotland
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if her Department will take steps to ensure that Scotland is allocated a proportionate share of the Access to Work budget.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	3800
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/01/2020 answer text <p>We continue to raise awareness of Access to Work throughout the country, including Scotland, using a targeted marketing approach; focusing on previously underrepresented groups such as young people, people with mental health conditions and people with learning disabilities.</p><p> </p><p>Access to Work funding is not allocated on a regional basis. The scheme is available for anyone aged 16 or over who lives in England, Scotland or Wales and who has a disability or health condition (physical or mental) that makes it hard for them to do parts of their job or get to and from work. The number of people in Scotland receiving support through Access to Work follows trends in the growth of the service overall, and has been increasing year-on-year since 2015/16.</p><p> </p><p>Further statistical information on Access to Work can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/access-to-work-statistics" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/access-to-work-statistics</a></p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 20/01/2020 14:47:17 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1171059

	registered interest
	date	15/01/2020
	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	UN Committee On the Rights of Persons With Disabilities
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support her Department is providing to the Disabled People's Organisation to monitor the implementation of the recommendations of the UN Committee on the Rights of Disabled People in relation to the UK Government's social welfare policies.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	3801
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/01/2020 answer text <p>We submitted the most recent UK Government report to the UN in September 2019, outlining our progress made against the recommendations in the 2016 inquiry into welfare, independent living, legal aid, accessible communications and engagement with disabled people.</p><p> </p><p>The Department for Work and Pensions will be bringing forward a Green Paper in the coming months on how the health and disability welfare system can better meet the needs of people with health conditions and disabilities. We will work with disabled people and disabled people’s organisations to ensure we are addressing the right problems in the system.</p><p> </p><p>The Disability Unit, based in the Cabinet Office, will work closely with disabled people, disabled people’s organisations and charities to develop the National Strategy for Disabled People, 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 24/01/2020 14:41:16 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1171060

	registered interest
	date	15/01/2020
	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	Access to Work Programme
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the (a) average and (b) median waiting times were for decisions on applications for people who have applied for support from her Department's Access to Work scheme in the most recent period for which figures are available.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	3802
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/01/2020 answer text <p>The information requested about average and median waiting times for decisions on applications for people who have applied for support from Access to Work is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.</p><p /> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 20/01/2020 16:49:41 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1171062

	registered interest
	date	15/01/2020
	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	Access to Work Programme
	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 increase participation in the Access to Work programme.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	3803
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/01/2020 answer text <p>We continue to raise awareness of Access to Work through a targeted marketing approach, focusing on previously underrepresented groups such as young people, people with mental health conditions and people with learning disabilities.</p><p> </p><p>The 2018/19 Access to Work statistics illustrate the success of the scheme, with over 36,000 people receiving tailored and flexible support - up 7% on 2017/18 and currently the highest ever number - including record numbers of young people, people with learning disabilities and people with mental health conditions.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 20/01/2020 17:06:57 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1171638

	registered interest
	date	17/01/2020
	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	Employment Schemes
	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 it her policy to maintain the Local Supported Employment scheme.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	4760
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/01/2020 answer text <p>The Local Supported Employment Proof of Concept ran between November 2017 and May 2019 and was delivered in partnership with 9 Local Authorities. We are currently considering our next steps to build on the findings from this test.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 27/01/2020 15:59:04 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows