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576940

registered interest
date	06/09/2016
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' Benefits: Living Wage
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect of the living wage on the earnings threshold for carers allowance; and if he will bring forward proposals to raise the existing threshold.
tabling member constituency	Redcar
tabling member printed	Anna Turley
uin	45121
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/09/2016 answer text <p>The primary purpose of Carer's Allowance is to provide a measure of financial support and recognition for people who give up the opportunity of full-time employment in order to provide regular and substantial care for a severely disabled person. It is not, and was never intended to be, a carer’s wage or a payment for the services of caring, nor is it intended to replace lost or forgone earnings in their entirety.</p><p> </p><p>The earnings limit for Carer's Allowance is a net figure which is the figure left once income tax, National Insurance contributions and half of any contributions to an occupational or personal pension are deducted from earnings. There are also a number of other deductions which can be made that mean that people can earn significantly more than £110 per week and still be eligible for Carer's Allowance.</p><p> </p><p>Whilst the Government does not link the earnings limit to any other particular factor (including the National Living Wage), we do keep it under regular review and increase it when it is warranted and affordable, and this will continue to be our approach. Most recently in April 2015 the earnings limit was increased by 8% to £110, far outstripping the general increase in earnings.</p> answering member constituency Portsmouth North answering member printed Penny Mordaunt question first answered 12/09/2016 11:54:24 answering member 4017 label Biography information for Penny Mordaunt
tabling member	4449 label Biography information for Anna Turley

576942

registered interest
date	06/09/2016
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Disability Living Allowance: Refugees
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance his Department plans to issue to its staff on the application of residency tests to refugees applying for disability living allowance.
tabling member constituency	Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East
tabling member printed	Stuart C. McDonald
uin	45160
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/09/2016 answer text <p>Refugees and people in Great Britain with humanitarian protection status who are disabled and in need of financial support are entitled to claim Disability Living Allowance, providing they meet all the necessary conditions of entitlement set out in regulations.</p> answering member constituency Portsmouth North answering member printed Penny Mordaunt question first answered 12/09/2016 10:39:53 answering member 4017 label Biography information for Penny Mordaunt
tabling member	4393 label Biography information for Stuart C McDonald

576530

registered interest
date	05/09/2016
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Disability
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans his Department has to increase awareness of the Disability Confident campaign; and how his Department plans to measure the effectiveness of that campaign.
tabling member constituency	Banff and Buchan
tabling member printed	Dr Eilidh Whiteford
uin	44951
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/09/2016 answer text <p>We have developed a new Disability Confident employer accreditation scheme. This went live in July.</p><p>This will be core to our engagement with employers to raise awareness, improve performance and drive up engagement on the disability employment agenda.</p><p>We are developing plans to formally launch the scheme in the Autumn and more information on take up and effectiveness measures will be available from then.</p> answering member constituency Portsmouth North answering member printed Penny Mordaunt question first answered 12/09/2016 11:44:48 answering member 4017 label Biography information for Penny Mordaunt
tabling member	3911 label Biography information for Dr Eilidh Whiteford

576532

registered interest
date	05/09/2016
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Personal Independence Payment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average time taken is for a decision to be made for a personal independence payment claim in (a) Airdrie and Shotts constituency, (b) Scotland and (c) England.
tabling member constituency	Airdrie and Shotts
tabling member printed	Neil Gray
uin	45061
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/09/2016 answer text <p>The table below shows the average (median) actual clearance times (AACT), in weeks, for normal rules new claims and DLA reassessments to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) for Airdie and Shotts, Scotland and England in April 2016.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>April 2016</p></td><td><p>Normal Rules, New Claims AACT (weeks)</p></td><td><p>Normal Rules, DLA Reassessments AACT (weeks)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Airdie and Shotts parliamentary constituency</p></td><td><p>11</p></td><td><p>13</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Scotland</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>13</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>England</p></td><td><p>9</p></td><td><p>12</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><em>Source – PIP Computer Systems</em> <em>management information.</em></p><p> </p><p><em>Notes to table:</em></p><p>1) The figures are for normal rules only, and do not include special rules for the terminally ill, as these claims have a separate and faster route through the claims process.</p><p>2) ‘Time take for a decision’ has been interpreted as the average time between the date of referral to the assessment provider and the date of the DWP decision to either award or disallow the claim. It does not include claims that were withdrawn by the claimant or claims that were disallowed by DWP pre-referral to the Assessment Providers (e.g. for failure to meet basic eligibility criteria or failure to return the Part 2 form within the time limit).</p><p>3) Figures have been rounded to the nearest whole number of weeks.</p><p> </p><p>Further information on AACTs is published and available at;</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/personal-independence-payment-statistics" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/personal-independence-payment-statistics</a></p> answering member constituency Portsmouth North answering member printed Penny Mordaunt question first answered 12/09/2016 14:38:11 answering member 4017 label Biography information for Penny Mordaunt
tabling member	4365 label Biography information for Neil Gray

576533

registered interest
date	05/09/2016
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, how many people in Scotland received support from Access to Work grants (a) in total and (b) for a mental health condition in each of the last three years.
tabling member constituency	Airdrie and Shotts
tabling member printed	Neil Gray
uin	45060
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/09/2016 answer text <p>The requested data is as follows:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Financial year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Number of people helped by Access to Work in Scotland</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Number of people helped by Access to Work in Scotland with a primary medical condition recorded as “Mental health condition</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013/14</p></td><td><p>2,840</p></td><td><p>80</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014/15</p></td><td><p>2,860</p></td><td><p>90</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015/16</p></td><td><p>2,790</p></td><td><p>110</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p><em><strong>Note:</strong></em></p><p><em>The Department does not routinely publish regional breakdowns of Access to Work data. These data were obtained from the Disability Service Client database and are rounded to the nearest 10.</em></p> answering member constituency Portsmouth North answering member printed Penny Mordaunt question first answered 12/09/2016 13:41:12 answering member 4017 label Biography information for Penny Mordaunt
tabling member	4365 label Biography information for Neil Gray

576534

registered interest
date	05/09/2016
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, what steps he is taking to monitor the effect of the change from disability living allowance to personal independence payments on the standard of living of the recipients of those payments.
tabling member constituency	Edinburgh North and Leith
tabling member printed	Deidre Brock
uin	44986
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/09/2016 answer text <p>Both Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) are designed to contribute towards the extra cost of having a disability. PIP is a modern benefit that maintains the key principles of DLA; it is a non-means-tested, non-taxable cash benefit available to people in and out of work. In addition, it takes proper account of mental health conditions and targets resources on those who need support. Most people will continue to receive support under PIP and, in fact, a greater proportion of claimants are receiving the highest rates of the benefit than in DLA – 23 per cent compared to 15 per cent on DLA.</p> answering member constituency Portsmouth North answering member printed Penny Mordaunt question first answered 12/09/2016 11:14:54 answering member 4017 label Biography information for Penny Mordaunt
tabling member	4417 label Biography information for Deidre Brock

573534

registered interest
date	02/09/2016
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Personal Independence Payment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what forms of medical evidence his Department accepts for personal independence payments claims from a person suffering from (a) myalgic encephalopathy and (b) other illnesses with variable symptoms that permit part-time work.
tabling member constituency	Torbay
tabling member printed	Kevin Foster
uin	44154
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/09/2016 answer text <p>Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is a non-means-tested, non-taxable cash benefit that is paid regardless of the employment status of the claimant. It has been designed to take full account of fluctuating and variable conditions.</p><p> </p><p>The Department encourages claimants to provide as much relevant evidence as necessary to support their claim. The “How your disability affects you” form and accompanying guidance sets out the range of information that can help the Department reach a decision. The guidance for Health Professionals also sets out sources of further evidence which could help inform their advice to the Department (Section 2.3 Further Evidence); this includes family members, carers or anyone else who supports them.</p><p> </p><p>This guidance can be accessed on the gov.uk website:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/547146/pip-assessment-guide.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/547146/pip-assessment-guide.pdf</a></p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Portsmouth North answering member printed Penny Mordaunt question first answered 12/09/2016 12:44:20 answering member 4017 label Biography information for Penny Mordaunt
tabling member	4451 label Biography information for Kevin Foster

573535

registered interest
date	02/09/2016
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Personal Independence Payment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance his Department issues on the assessment of (a) rare conditions and (b) hereditary angioedema for personal independence payment claims.
tabling member constituency	Dudley North
tabling member printed	Ian Austin
uin	44113
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/09/2016 answer text <p>The assessment for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is designed to treat people as individuals, considering the impact of their impairment or health condition on their everyday life and how each claimant has personally adapted to living with a disability.</p><p> </p><p>The assessment is carried out by registered health professionals who have specialist training in assessing the impact of disability and health conditions on an individual’s functional ability, including some rare conditions. Prior to carrying out an assessment they routinely refresh their knowledge of any condition with which they are not fully familiar.</p><p> </p><p>The PIP Assessment Guide for Health Professionals includes guidance on the assessment criteria and how they should be applied. This guidance can be accessed on the gov.uk website:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/449043/pip-assessment-guide.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/449043/pip-assessment-guide.pdf</a></p><p> </p><p>Since its inception, all aspects of the PIP assessment process have been continually reviewed and refined in order to improve its efficiency, effectiveness and the experience of all claimants including those with rare conditions. As part of this continuous improvement process, Paul Gray CB is undertaking the second independent review of the PIP assessment.</p><p> </p><p>The review will look at all stages of the PIP process, with a particular focus on the use of further evidence in the claim process, data sharing and the claimant experience. The terms of reference were published in July and can be found at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/534681/terms-of-reference-pip-second-independent-review.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/534681/terms-of-reference-pip-second-independent-review.pdf</a>. The report will be laid before Parliament by April 2017.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Portsmouth North answering member printed Penny Mordaunt grouped question UIN 44265 question first answered 12/09/2016 14:17:00 answering member 4017 label Biography information for Penny Mordaunt
tabling member	1511 label Biography information for Lord Austin of Dudley

573536

registered interest
date	02/09/2016
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Personal Independence Payment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent discussions he has had with groups representing people with rare conditions on the criteria used in personal independence payment assessments.
tabling member constituency	Dudley North
tabling member printed	Ian Austin
uin	44112
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/09/2016 answer text <p>We are committed to ensuring that the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessment process works effectively across the spectrum of disabilities and health conditions, including rare conditions.</p><p> </p><p>I, along with my officials, meet regularly with disability representative groups, including members of our Implementation Stakeholder Forum which hears views from a wide range of organisations representing and supporting disabled people, including those with rare conditions. We have worked extensively with them to make improvements to guidance, training and audit procedures in order to ensure a quality service for all claimants including those with rare conditions.</p> answering member constituency Portsmouth North answering member printed Penny Mordaunt grouped question UIN 44266 question first answered 12/09/2016 13:58:50 answering member 4017 label Biography information for Penny Mordaunt
tabling member	1511 label Biography information for Lord Austin of Dudley

573537

registered interest
date	02/09/2016
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 recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of (a) the Access to Work scheme and (b) its administration.
tabling member constituency	North West Leicestershire
tabling member printed	Andrew Bridgen
uin	44140
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/09/2016 answer text <p>Access to Work continues to support over 36,000 people per year take up or retain employment. Last year the scheme helped people with mental health conditions, learning disabilities and young people in larger numbers than ever before.</p><p> </p><p>On 2 September 2016 we launched the Access to Work Digital Service in response to customer feedback requesting a more convenient, accessible and quicker process. This transformation will also enable staff to administer the scheme more efficiently as we look to increase the number of disabled people who could be helped into or remain in work as part of the Government’s ambition to halve the disability employment gap.</p><p> </p><p>The Spending Review announcement confirmed we’re increasing the capacity of Access to Work through a real term increase in spending starting in 16/17. Funding will reflect the numbers of applicants and their needs, and recognises expected increases in demand of around 25,000 extra customers by the end of the Parliament.</p><p> </p><p>To support this we have been working with jobcentres, businesses and local organisations to promote the Access to Work Scheme. We have also promoted Access to Work as part of the Disability Confident Campaign and are currently looking at further marketing and promotion of the Access to Work programme.</p> answering member constituency Portsmouth North answering member printed Penny Mordaunt question first answered 12/09/2016 14:35:04 answering member 4017 label Biography information for Penny Mordaunt
tabling member	4133 label Biography information for Andrew Bridgen