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 question first answered answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

1229126

registered interest
date	28/08/2020
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	Personal Independence Payment: Coronavirus
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 been made of the current clearance time frame for a personal independence payment claim compared to the three year average.
tabling member constituency	Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey
tabling member printed	Drew Hendry
uin	82099
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/09/2020 answer text <p>The table below shows the median clearance time in weeks from registration to initial decision for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) Normal Rules New Claims and Reassessments from Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for all decisions made in April 2020 (the latest data available) and for the period May 2017 – April 2020 (the latest 3-year period for which data is available).</p><p> </p><p>The median time from registration to initial decision for PIP Normal Rules claims for each month from April 2013 – April 2020 for New Claims and Reassessments from DLA is published and can be found in Table 2A of the published statistical tables linked below:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/904392/tables-pip-statistics-to-april-2020-revised-july-2020.xlsx" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/904392/tables-pip-statistics-to-april-2020-revised-july-2020.xlsx</a></p><p> </p><p><strong>Table 1: Median Clearance Times in weeks for PIP New Claims and Reassessments from DLA for April 2020 and the 3-year period up to April 2020</strong></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td colspan="2"><p><strong>Reassessment Type</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>New Claim</p></td><td><p>Reassessment</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>April 2020</p></td><td><p>16</p></td><td><p>27</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>May 2017 - April 2020</p></td><td><p>14</p></td><td><p>15</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p><strong>Notes</strong></p><p> </p><p><strong>Source: PIP ADS</strong></p><p> </p><ul><li>PIP data includes normal rules claimants only and is for both new claims and DLA reassessment claims.</li><li>Figures have been rounded to the nearest whole number of weeks.</li></ul><ul><li>The status of claims as 'normal rules' and 'new claim/reassessment' is shown as at the point of clearance.</li><li>The figures in the table are the median clearance time of claims which are cleared in the given time period.</li><li>The median time is the middle value if you were to order all the times within the distribution from lowest value to highest value. The median is presented here instead of the mean because the mean can be unduly affected by outlying cases (e.g. cases where the person has been hard to reach due to being in prison, hospital, failed to attend the assessment on numerous occasions etc.)</li><li>The 'Registration to DWP decision (end to end)' clearance time is measured as the median time between the date of registration of the claim and the date of the DWP decision to either award or disallow the claim. It does not include claims that were withdrawn by the claimant or claims that were disallowed by DWP pre-referral to the Assessment Providers (e.g. for failure to meet basic eligibility criteria or failure to return the Part 2 form within the time limit).</li><li>Great Britain only.</li></ul><ul><li>The median clearance time for May 2017 – April 2020 is unpublished data. It should be used with caution and it may be subject to future revision.</li></ul><p> </p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 03/09/2020 16:29:54 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4467 label Biography information for Drew Hendry

1226501

registered interest
date	20/07/2020
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Universal Credit
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of extending the time frame beyond 30 days of the date of decision for the mandatory reconsideration of a universal credit decision to provide support agencies with a wider time frame to help people with that process.
tabling member constituency	Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey
tabling member printed	Drew Hendry
uin	76779
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/09/2020 answer text <p>Whilst the time limit for applying for a Mandatory Reconsideration is one month, if an application is made within this period but more time is needed to provide supporting evidence, the claimant or their representative can ask that a decision is not made pending the provision of that evidence.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 01/09/2020 12:07:26 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4467 label Biography information for Drew Hendry

1221065

registered interest
date	06/07/2020
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	Carer's Allowance: Students
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 introducing a backdated carers allowance payment for individuals in full time education who undertook caring responsibilities whilst staying in their family home during the covid-19 outbreak.
tabling member constituency	Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey
tabling member printed	Drew Hendry
uin	69616
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/07/2020 answer text <p>Carer’s Allowance is a devolved benefit in Scotland, but is being administered temporarily by DWP under an Agency Agreement with the Scottish Government until the replacement Scottish benefit is available. Provision of new benefits under devolved powers, such as the Young Carer Grant, is a matter for the Scottish Government. The UK Government believes that people in full-time education should be supported by the educational maintenance system rather than the benefit system. That is why, as a general principle, full-time students are precluded from entitlement to income-related and income-maintenance benefits administered by DWP.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 09/07/2020 13:38:45 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4467 label Biography information for Drew Hendry

1221204

registered interest
date	06/07/2020
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Social Security Benefits: Terminal Illnesses
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress she has made on changing the six months to live rule that her Department uses to determine accessibility to additional support for people who are terminally ill.
tabling member constituency	Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey
tabling member printed	Drew Hendry
uin	69617
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/07/2020 answer text <p>In July 2019, the Secretary of State announced an in-depth evaluation of how the benefits system supports people nearing the end of their life. The evaluation included 3 strands of research:</p><p>- hearing directly from claimants and charities about their first-hand experiences;</p><p>- considering international evidence to find out what works in other nations and the support they provide; and</p><p>- reviewing current DWP performance to better understand how our Special Rules for Terminal Illness process operates and performs.</p><p> </p><p>The evaluation remains a priority for the Department. The Department has made good progress and we expect to be able to provide an update on the outcome of the evaluation shortly.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 09/07/2020 15:12:07 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4467 label Biography information for Drew Hendry

1219876

registered interest
date	01/07/2020
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Social Security Benefits: Terminal Illnesses
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what comparative assessment her Department has made of the number of DS1500 forms issued during March to June (a) 2020 and (b) 2019.
tabling member constituency	Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey
tabling member printed	Drew Hendry
uin	67692
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/07/2020 answer text <p>The DS1500 is not issued by DWP. It is completed by a terminally ill patient’s doctor or other healthcare professional and returned to DWP. The doctor or healthcare professional provides information about their patient’s condition, including its clinical features and ongoing or planned treatment on the DS1500.</p><p> </p><p>The DS1500 is not a claim form in itself and is not a requirement to support a claim under the special rules for terminal illness but it remains the quickest and most appropriate route to gather evidence to support entitlement in these cases.</p><p> </p><p>Guidance for Healthcare Professionals can be found here</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-factual-medical-reports-guidance-for-healthcare-professionals/dwp-medical-factual-reports-a-guide-to-completion" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-factual-medical-reports-guidance-for-healthcare-professionals/dwp-medical-factual-reports-a-guide-to-completion</a></p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 06/07/2020 14:07:49 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4467 label Biography information for Drew Hendry

1216877

registered interest
date	23/06/2020
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Statutory Sick Pay: Coronavirus
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 ensure the continuity of statutory sick pay payments for those individuals asked to continue to shielding beyond 1 August 2020.
tabling member constituency	Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey
tabling member printed	Drew Hendry
uin	63397
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/06/2020 answer text <p>The current epidemiological data shows the risk is currently low enough to allow the relaxation in guidance that we have outlined. From 1 August. the Government will further relax advice to those shielding, bringing it in line with the advice to those who are clinically vulnerable. In broad terms, this means that although the advice is still to stay at home as much as possible, those shielding may wish to go out to more places and see more people, as long as they take particular care to minimise contact with others outside their household and follow hygiene measures. This means that if they are unable to work from home but can work on site, they should do so, provided the business is COVID-safe. Therefore, clinically extremely vulnerable individuals will no longer be eligible for Statutory Sick Pay on the basis of being clinically extremely vulnerable.</p><p> </p><p>The government expects employers to do the right thing to help their employees to transition back to work safely and support them to follow strict social distancing in the workplace where they cannot work from home.</p><p> </p><p>If employers cannot provide a safe working environment, they will still be able to access a range of government support: this includes the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme for employees who have previously been furloughed for a full three-week period prior to 30 June and the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme.</p><p> </p><p>Guidance around shielding will be continually reviewed and informed by the latest scientific evidence and advice. We will continue to assess the support in place should advice to shield be reinstated.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Background</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><ul><li>Employees will remain eligible for SSP if they are unable to work and are required to self-isolate because they, or someone in their household, has symptoms of COVID-19, or because they have been notified by the NHS or public health authorities that they have come into contact with someone who has coronavirus.</li><li>SSP also remains available to those who are off sick for reasons other than coronavirus.</li><li>SSP eligibility conditions apply.</li></ul> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 29/06/2020 14:42:06 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4467 label Biography information for Drew Hendry

1201148

registered interest
date	08/06/2020
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Medical Examinations: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of maintaining the suspension of face-to-face health assessments until the final phase of the lockdown period is entered during the covid-19 outbreak.
tabling member constituency	Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey
tabling member printed	Drew Hendry
uin	56041
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/06/2020 answer text <p>I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 9 June 2020 to Question <a href="https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2020-06-01/52251/" target="_blank">UIN 52251</a>.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 11/06/2020 13:22:22 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4467 label Biography information for Drew Hendry

1201149

registered interest
date	08/06/2020
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Employment Support Allowance: Terminal Illnesses
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 has undertaken to ensure that people classed as terminally ill but have not submitted a DS1500 continue to have their claims for employment support allowance managed in a timely manner.
tabling member constituency	Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey
tabling member printed	Drew Hendry
uin	56042
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/06/2020 answer text <p>DS1500 forms have never been a requirement for a claim under the terminal illness rules but remain the quickest and most appropriate route to gather evidence to support entitlement in these cases. Where it is not possible to supply a DS1500 in support of a terminal illness claim we will continue to consider alternative evidence and work flexibly and quickly with the claimant and/or their clinician(s) to make a quick determination. Supporting people who are terminally ill is an absolute priority for the Department and we will continue to process claims as quickly as possible.</p><p /><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 11/06/2020 13:27:16 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4467 label Biography information for Drew Hendry

1198443

registered interest
date	01/06/2020
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Social Security Benefits: Medical Examinations
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department has taken to support (a) people who have recently received a cancer diagnosis and (b) other people who would normally require work capability assessments for (a) universal credit and (b) new style contributory employment support allowance to access additional support.
tabling member constituency	Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey
tabling member printed	Drew Hendry
uin	52163
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/06/2020 answer text <p>From 17 March 2020 we suspended all face-to-face assessments for sickness and disability benefits, initially for three months, to protect vulnerable people and assessment centre staff from unnecessary risk of exposure to COVID-19. We continue to complete paper based assessments where possible and have introduced telephone assessments.</p><p> </p><p>Where a claimant declares they have cancer in the ESA/UC50 Health Questionnaire a Health care practitioner considers this evidence and in the majority of cases a recommendation will be made at this stage based on the papers alone.</p><p> </p><p>If it is not possible to complete an assessment based on the paper evidence, a WCA will be conducted, where possible, over the telephone in coming months. We anticipate customers may experience a longer wait to be referred for their assessment and for the assessment to take place during this period, as we have redeployed some staff to manage unprecedented volumes of demand for benefits. Backdating rules mean that claimants will not lose out in the long-run.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 04/06/2020 14:56:14 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4467 label Biography information for Drew Hendry

1196334

registered interest
date	15/05/2020
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	Personal Independence Payment: Coronavirus
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 to ensure that change of circumstance based PIP2 application forms are assessed in a timely manner during the covid 19 outbreak.
tabling member constituency	Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey
tabling member printed	Drew Hendry
uin	47345
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/05/2020 answer text <p>The Department continues to process both New Claims and Changes of Circumstance and encourage anyone with a change in their needs to contact the Department so that we can ensure they are receiving the correct level of support.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 20/05/2020 15:02:51 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4467 label Biography information for Drew Hendry