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1338525

registered interest
date	21/06/2021
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	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 average timeframe is for Access to Work applications to (a) be allocated an advisor, (b) have evidence gathered and (c) reach a resolution.
tabling member constituency	Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle
tabling member printed	Emma Hardy
uin	19660
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/06/2021 answer text <p>The information requested about average timeframes for Access to Work applications for allocations, evidence gathering and reaching resolutions for people who have applied for support from Access to Work is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 25/06/2021 12:21:15 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4645 label Biography information for Emma Hardy

1331490

registered interest
date	09/06/2021
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Habitual Residence Test
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of covid-19 international travel restrictions on an individual's ability to meet the criteria for the Habitual Residency Test.
tabling member constituency	Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle
tabling member printed	Emma Hardy
uin	13209
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/06/2021 answer text <p>Eligibility for Universal Credit and other income related benefits depends on an individual’s immigration status. In order to assess this the Department operates a Habitual Residence Test (HRT). The HRT contains two elements: an assessment of the legal right of residence and an assessment of factual habitual residence.</p><p> </p><p>All claimants to income related benefits must be factually habitually resident in the UK in order to make a claim. Existing benefit recipients who have left the country on a temporary basis and found it difficult to return due to Covid-19 travel restrictions, will satisfy the second element of the HRT upon their return if they can be shown to be resuming a former period of residence. Each case would be dealt with on an individual basis.</p><p> </p><p>Income-related benefits are only payable to people who are in the UK and cannot be claimed by those outside the UK. The Department has put into place measures to support existing benefit recipients in exceptional cases where their absence abroad goes over the period allowed under the temporary absence benefit rules and are awaiting repatriation due to covid-19 travel restrictions.</p><p> </p><p>FCDO consular staff continue to provide advice and support to British nationals who face financial difficulties overseas due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Those in real financial distress whilst stranded overseas can seek advice and support from their local consular team, who will be able to advise on any local support that may be available as well as facilitate contact with friends and families who may be able to help.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 15/06/2021 13:12:55 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4645 label Biography information for Emma Hardy

1302210

registered interest
date	12/03/2021
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Mobility Allowance
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 her Department has made of the potential merits of increasing the eligibility age of the Mobility Allowance.
tabling member constituency	Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle
tabling member printed	Emma Hardy
uin	167939
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/03/2021 answer text <p>Mobility Allowance was incorporated into Disability Living Allowance (DLA), as the lower and higher rates of the mobility component, from 1992 and subsequently the standard and enhanced rates of the mobility component of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) when PIP was introduced to replace working age DLA from 2013.</p><p> </p><p>Prior to the introduction of changes to State Pension age (SPa), to equalise and increase pensionable age for men and women, the upper age limit for claiming DLA and PIP was the day before reaching age 65. DLA claimants who were age 65 or over on 8 April 2013, when PIP was introduced, can continue to receive the benefit after that age for as long as they satisfy the conditions of entitlement. DLA claimants who were under the age of 65 on 8 April 2013 will be invited to claim PIP regardless of whether they are over the age of 65 at the time they are invited and can gain access to either component, at either rate, regardless of their age.</p><p> </p><p>The upper age limit for claiming PIP by new claimants for the first time was last reviewed prior to the most recent changes to SPa made by the Pensions Act 2014 and is the day before reaching SPa, as set out in the Pensions Act 1995. Once someone is entitled to PIP they can continue to be paid beyond SPa so long as the conditions of entitlement remain satisfied.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 19/03/2021 13:15:44 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4645 label Biography information for Emma Hardy

1277565

registered interest
date	18/01/2021
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Personal Independence Payment: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department plans to temporarily suspend personal independent payment reviews as a result of the covid-19 lockdown announced in January 2021.
tabling member constituency	Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle
tabling member printed	Emma Hardy
uin	139117
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/01/2021 answer text <p>Throughout the pandemic the department has ensured that claimants continue to receive the benefits that they are entitled to. In March last year, we suspended face to face assessments following public health guidelines and introduced a telephony assessment service to ensure claimants and staff were safe. This service currently covers all claims types including award reviews. There is no plan to suspend assessments for award reviews as a result of this lockdown.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 21/01/2021 16:17:06 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4645 label Biography information for Emma Hardy

1250078

registered interest
date	06/11/2020
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: Appeals
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 factors behind for the rates of success for personal independence payment claimants at the mandatory reconsideration stage; and what steps is taking to increase this rate.
tabling member constituency	Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle
tabling member printed	Emma Hardy
uin	91917
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/11/2020 answer text <p>We are focussed on making the right decision for our customers. Last year we implemented a new approach to handling Mandatory Reconsiderations. This approach empowers Decision Makers to contact customers, where appropriate, to see if there is information that would enable us to change the decision. As you have noted it is had a positive effect on outcomes. We will continue with this approach, whilst both enhancing our internal processes and engaging with stakeholders to explore how they can support us to further improve the effectiveness of the MR process.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 16/11/2020 16:46:38 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4645 label Biography information for Emma Hardy

1250080

registered interest
date	06/11/2020
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	Disability: Pay
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 tackle the disability pay gap.
tabling member constituency	Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle
tabling member printed	Emma Hardy
uin	91918
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/11/2020 answer text <p>Pay gaps are caused by a range of factors. To address them, we must ensure that everybody has equal access to opportunities.</p><p> </p><p>We support disabled people to enter employment and stay in work through a range of initiatives such as the Work and Health Programme, Access to Work and Employment Advice in Improving Access to Psychological Therapies services. One of the key transformational elements of Universal Credit is that it provides us with the opportunity to support people who are in work to progress and increase their earnings.</p><p> </p><p>In November 2018, we published a voluntary reporting framework on disability, mental ill health and wellbeing. This is aimed at large employers (with over 250 employees) and it is recommended that they publicly report on the pay and progression of disabled people at regular intervals. The framework can also be used to support smaller employers who are keen to drive greater transparency in their organisation or industry.</p><p> </p><p>The Government will publish a National Strategy for Disabled People which will take into account the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on disabled people. The strategy will focus on the issues that disabled people say affect them the most in all aspects of life, including employment.</p><p> </p><p>More broadly, while our current focus, rightly, is on helping to get people into work, our longer-term ambition, based on clear evidence about the importance of work in tacking poverty, remains to build an economy that gives everyone the opportunity to progress out of low pay.</p><p> </p><p>Baroness Ruby McGregor-Smith is leading a time-limited Commission looking at how DWP, wider Government and employers can best support people to progress out of low pay, especially for those groups more likely to be in persistent low pay, such as disabled workers. The Commission has recently launched a call for evidence to help inform their report, which will be published in the new year: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/call-for-evidence-and-good-practice-on-in-work-progression" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/call-for-evidence-and-good-practice-on-in-work-progression</a>.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 16/11/2020 17:02:59 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4645 label Biography information for Emma Hardy

1250081

registered interest
date	06/11/2020
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: Chronic 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 the Government is taking to help ensure that people with (a) hidden and (b) fluctuating conditions can (i) find and (ii) stay in work.
tabling member constituency	Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle
tabling member printed	Emma Hardy
uin	91919
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/11/2020 answer text <p>The Government continues to provide disability employment support through initiatives such as Access to Work (AtW), Disability Confident, the Work and Health Programme, Intensive Personalised Employment Support, and other forms of support that disabled people need to retain, adapt and move into employment. In recognition of the changing working environments since the COVID-19 outbreak and to provide greater flexibility, AtW has flexed and adapted support. Disabled people with fluctuating conditions can have support to work from home when their condition fluctuates and they do not feel well enough to go to work. In addition, assistive technology support is available or technology can be moved from the workplace to the home to enable home working.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Background</strong></p><p>The Government is committed to supporting all disabled people affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. We continue to monitor the impact of COVID-19 on disabled people using existing and new data sources.</p><p> </p><p>We are ensuring that disabled people continue to have access to disability benefits, food, medicines, essentials, accessible communications, updated guidance, including workplace and transport related guidance, as well as financial and other support during the COVID-19 outbreak, e.g. AtW has continued to provide funding for people with a disability or health condition whether they are working in the workplace or are working from home.</p><p>In recognition of the changing working environments since the COVID-19 outbreak, AtW has flexed and adapted support, by making greater use of assistive technology and facilitated moving technology from the workplace to the home to enable home working.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 16/11/2020 17:38:29 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4645 label Biography information for Emma Hardy

1241230

registered interest
date	07/10/2020
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether industrial injuries disablement benefit claims will be assessed via (a) telephone, (b) video call and (c) other means during the covid-19 restrictions.
tabling member constituency	Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle
tabling member printed	Emma Hardy
uin	100523
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/10/2020 answer text <p>The suspension of face-to-face assessments for the Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB) means the majority of new claims are not being assessed at present. We are urgently exploring approaches to safely progress new IIDB claims awaiting an assessment. Due to the nature of assessment we are not currently operating telephone assessments. We will restart face to face assessments in a safe manner with adherence to the latest public health guidance as soon as we are able to.</p><p> </p><p>To support existing claimants, reassessment case awards have been extended to ensure that payments continue unhindered on those cases. Any deteriorations which would have meant an increase in award, will be backdated once face-to-face assessments recommence, to ensure no one is left out of pocket.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 14/10/2020 15:22:12 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4645 label Biography information for Emma Hardy

1185270

registered interest
date	16/03/2020
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Social Security Benefits: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department plans to limit (a) Statutory Sick Pay and (b) other benefits in the event that people are required to self-isolate repeatedly.
tabling member constituency	Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle
tabling member printed	Emma Hardy
uin	30013
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/03/2020 answer text <p>As both the Prime Minister and Chancellor have made clear, the Government will do whatever it takes to support people affected by COVID 19 and we have been clear in our intention that no one should be penalised for doing the right thing. These are rapidly developing circumstances, we continue to keep the situation under review and will keep Parliament updated accordingly.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 24/03/2020 12:11:14 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4645 label Biography information for Emma Hardy

1134033

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	Disability Living Allowance: Children
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many children in receipt of disability living allowance in the Yorkshire and Humber region were required to transition to personal independence payment upon turning 16 years of age, whilst still in full-time education.
tabling member constituency	Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle
tabling member printed	Emma Hardy
uin	268513
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/07/2019 answer text <p>Whilst designing Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and Personal Independence Payment (PIP), the Department considered the relevance of what data should be collected and recorded to support the good management of a DLA or PIP claim. The education status of a claimant is not relevant to a DLA or PIP claim and thus it is not collected for the administration of either a PIP or a DLA claim.</p><p> </p><p>You may be interested to know that there are published statistics available on Stat-Xplore on the number of DLA claims in payment which can be split by region and by age. Filtering on claimants who are aged 15 and 16 will show the number of DLA claimants in payment who are due to be transferred to PIP. Stat-Xplore 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/index.html" target="_blank">https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/index.html</a></p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 02/07/2019 13:41:48 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4645 label Biography information for Emma Hardy