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1130974

	registered interest
	date	10/06/2019
	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	Retirement: Health
	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 help reduce the number of people over the age of 60 that have had to retire as a result of ill-health.
	tabling member constituency	Strangford
	tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
	uin	262373
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/06/2019 answer text <p>The Department set out its strategy to see one million more disabled people in work by 2027 in the 2017 Command Paper “Improving Lives: The Future of Work, Health and Disability”. A key element of this is action to help keep people (including older workers) with health conditions in work. We are already investing in testing new interventions to support people, including our Health-Led Trials, and the Government is working to ensure employers and key stakeholders across all sectors adopt and implement the core and enhanced mental health standards set out in <em>Thriving at Work: The Stevenson / Farmer review of mental health</em>.</p><p>To support older people falling out of labour market due to health conditions, the Government has extended the right to request flexible working for all employees with 26 weeks’ continuous service with their employer. Access to flexible working practices, such as flexi-time, compressed hours and remote working, is key to helping older workers stay in the labour market.</p><p> </p><p>We are also exploring further ways to reduce the number of people who leave work each year for health reasons and will consult on measures to encourage and support all employers to play their part. This consultation will also propose ways to improve access to occupational health.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Background</strong></p><p> </p><p>In February 2017 Government published an employer-led Strategy <em>Fuller Working Lives: a partnership approach</em>, which sets out the importance of Fuller Working Lives for employers and individuals. It also sets out action Government is taking to support older workers to remain in the labour market.</p><p> </p><p><em>Improving Lives: The Future of Work, Health and Disability</em> published in November 2017 set out an ambitious and comprehensive programme of action to support disabled people and people with long term physical and mental health conditions to get into and stay in work and progress in rewarding careers. This action spans the workplace, health and welfare settings.</p><p> </p><p>Since the launch of the publication, progress has been made in a number of areas including:</p><ul><li>Health Led Trials, the worlds largest trial of Individual Placement and Support, testing whether the internationally proven model to support people with severe mental health conditions to find sustained work can be as effective to those with different conditions.</li><li>More than doubled the number of Employment Advisors in IAPT services, ensuring that more people with mental health problems receive employment support to them get into or remain in work.</li><li>Undertaken a substantial package of activity within the health system itself, both to support healthcare professionals to have effective, appropriate, work conversations with their patients, and are exploring ways to reform the fit note.</li></ul> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 18/06/2019 16:10:19 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1133141

	registered interest
	date	19/06/2019
	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	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 steps the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission is taking to retrieve money owed by absent parents.
	tabling member constituency	Strangford
	tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
	uin	266704
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/06/2019 answer text <p>The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) replaced the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission in 2012 and brought significant reforms to the Child Maintenance system in Great Britain. Child Maintenance in Northern Ireland is a devolved issue, although they run a broadly similar scheme. Any questions should be directed to the Department for Communities in Northern Ireland.</p><p> </p><p>We support separated parents to make their own family based arrangements wherever possible. This allows families to create flexible arrangements that work for their individual circumstances and, where parents are able to work together, this can be better for their children. Where this is not possible, the CMS offers an effective and efficient statutory scheme for those parents who really need it.</p><p> </p><p>Under the statutory scheme, where paying parents fail to pay on time and in full, we aim to take immediate action to recover the debt and re-establish compliance. Where compliance is not achieved we are committed to using our wide ranging enforcement powers proportionally, and in the best interests of children and separated families.</p><p /> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 24/06/2019 16:42:19 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1144599

	registered interest
	date	04/09/2019
	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	Personal Income
	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 she has made of the change in the level of household income with two people in employment in 2019 and 2009.
	tabling member constituency	Strangford
	tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
	uin	286750
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p>Estimates for the net median equivalised weekly household income after housing costs of UK couples in employment where both are in work are presented below, for 2009/10 and 2017/2018 in both nominal and real terms (2017/18 prices).</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>2009/10</p></td><td><p>2017/18</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Nominal terms</p></td><td><p>£560</p></td><td><p>£561</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>CPI-adjusted real terms</p></td><td><p>£470</p></td><td><p>£561</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>These figures have been taken from the Households Below Average Income (HBAI) survey tables from Stat-Xplore and are rounded to the nearest pound. Stat-Xplore data is publicly available at the link below:</p><p><a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/jsf/tableView/tableView.xhtml" target="_blank">https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/jsf/tableView/tableView.xhtml#</a></p><p>We do not have available data to 2019 and so have used the most recent data available which is to 2017/18.</p><p>Analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies has shown that the reason there have not been higher increases in average incomes in working households is partly due to increases in employment over this period. They state that “falls in worklessness have brought relatively low-earning types of households (such as lone parents) into work”. A link to the report is available below:</p><p><a href="https://www.ifs.org.uk/uploads/WP201912.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.ifs.org.uk/uploads/WP201912.pdf</a></p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 09/09/2019 11:00:07 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1144619

	registered interest
	date	04/09/2019
	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	Social Security Benefits: Disqualification
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether benefit sanctions are applied in cases where parole or probation conditions have not been met satisfactorily.
	tabling member constituency	Strangford
	tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
	uin	286757
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p>Benefit sanctions are only used when people fail to meet their agreed work-related conditionality requirements without good reason.</p><p /> answering member constituency Eastleigh answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 09/09/2019 14:11:05 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1173643

	registered interest
	date	27/01/2020
	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	State Retirement Pensions: Females
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Government plans to provide financial support to women born in the 1950's who are subject to the changes to the state pension age.
	tabling member constituency	Strangford
	tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
	uin	8288
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/02/2020 answer text <p>Changes to State Pension age were made over a series of Acts by successive governments from 1995 onwards; including the Coalition 2010-2015, Labour 1997-2010 and the Conservatives 1995-1997, following public consultations and extensive debates in both Houses of Parliament. Through the welfare system, the Government is committed to providing financial support for people at every stage of their life, including when they near or reach retirement.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 04/02/2020 15:09:31 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1190157

	registered interest
	date	23/04/2020
	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	State Retirement Pensions: Females
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on granting early access to the state pension for women reaching state pension age in 2020-21 in response to the covid-19 outbreak.
	tabling member constituency	Strangford
	tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
	uin	39620
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/05/2020 answer text <p>Unlike a personal or workplace pension, which is payable at the scheme's normal pension age and that can potentially be drawn earlier on grounds of ill health, it has always been the case that nobody can claim their State Pension before they reach their State Pension age.</p><p> </p><p>The welfare system continues to provide a safety-net for those experiencing hardship, including that caused by unemployment, disability, and coping with caring responsibilities, which affect those unable to work and therefore most in need in the run up to their State Pension age.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 04/05/2020 12:32:51 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1194161

	registered interest
	date	11/05/2020
	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	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, what steps she is taking through the benefits system to support vulnerable claimants with cancer during the covid-19 outbreak.
	tabling member constituency	Strangford
	tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
	uin	45198
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/05/2020 answer text <ul><li>The Department is committed to ensuring people affected by cancer are supported in a sensitive, fair and appropriate way.</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>In Employment and Support Allowance a light touch evidence gathering process exists, to help determine eligibility. Claimants should not delay making a claim because of difficulties in providing supporting medical information. We will continue to process claims and work with customers to gather the best supporting evidence available.</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>We’ve suspended award reviews and DLA to PIP reassessment activity and extended existing awards to ensure they don’t go out of payment. We have also suspended all routine award reviews and re-assessments of disability additions in Universal Credit.</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>Supporting people who are terminally ill remains an absolute priority for the Department and we will continue to fast track terminally ill claimants to higher rates of award.</li></ul><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 18/05/2020 15:36:38 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1194162

	registered interest
	date	11/05/2020
	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	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, what steps her department has taken to help ensure that decision making on new claims for disability benefits continues during the covid-19 outbreak.
	tabling member constituency	Strangford
	tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
	uin	45199
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/05/2020 answer text <p>The Department’s immediate focus has been supporting people impacted by COVID-19 by putting claims into payment as quickly as possible and being flexible in our response to the challenges claimants are facing while keeping them safe.</p><p> </p><p>I should emphasis that for all disability benefits, people should not delay making a claim because of difficulties in providing supporting medical information. We will continue to process claims and work with claimants to gather the best supporting evidence available.</p><p> </p><p>We are continuing to refer people making new claims for disability benefits to health assessments. Where it is not possible to complete an assessment based on the paper evidence, a telephony assessment will be arranged where possible and appropriate.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 19/05/2020 14:19:58 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1194163

	registered interest
	date	11/05/2020
	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	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, what steps her Department is taking to monitoring the effectiveness of its systems in managing increased demand during the covid-19 outbreak; and what data her Department holds on (a) processing times and (b) payment timeliness across all benefits during the covid-19 outbreak.
	tabling member constituency	Strangford
	tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
	uin	45200
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/05/2020 answer text <p>The Department has a robust and effective performance management regime, tracking performance across all social security benefits using a range of metrics. When COVID-19 struck in mid-March, we accelerated our normal reporting from monthly or weekly, to be able to track the daily profiles of incoming work and telephone calls and support a focus on managing significantly increased demand on key benefits.</p><p> </p><p>We do hold data on benefit processing times, and publish an annual view in the Annual Report and Accounts, which is published here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-annual-report-and-accounts-2018-to-2019" target="_blank">Annual Report and Accounts</a>. We also publish data on key benefits such as Universal Credit payment timeliness, which is published here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/universal-credit-29-april-2013-to-12-march-2020" target="_blank">Universal Credit 2013-2020</a> and on PIP processing times which is published here:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/search/all?keywords=PIP%20statistics&amp;order=relevance" target="_blank">PIP Statistics</a>.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 19/05/2020 16:58:21 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1218363

	registered interest
	date	29/06/2020
	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	State Retirement Pensions: Females
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	What plans she has to review the equity of state pension ages for women.
	tabling member constituency	Strangford
	tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
	uin	903920
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/06/2020 answer text <p>We committed in legislation to undertake a review of State Pension age every six years, which means that the statutory deadline for the publication of the next Government review is 2023.</p><p> </p><p>The purpose of the review is to ensure that the State Pension system protects current pensioners, is affordable, sustainable and fair to future tax payers.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 29/06/2020 16:03:04 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon