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1091226

	registered interest
	date	19/03/2019
	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	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, when Ministers authorised a change to the ESA65B letter to GPs telling them there is no longer a need for them to supply fit notes to their patients who had been found fit for work through a Work Capability Assessment.
	tabling member constituency	Oldham East and Saddleworth
	tabling member printed	Debbie Abrahams
	uin	234145
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/03/2019 answer text <p>I refer the Honourable Member to the response given on 6 June 2018 to Parliamentary Question 146986.</p><p> </p><p>The original internal recommendation to change the ESA65B letter was in summer 2016.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 22/03/2019 14:15:49 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4212 label Biography information for Debbie Abrahams

1091227

	registered interest
	date	19/03/2019
	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	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, how many sick and disabled people have lost social security support payments whilst they appealed their work capability assessment as a result of GPs receiving the amended ESA65B letter; and what savings to the public purse have accrued as a result of stopped social security support arising from that change.
	tabling member constituency	Oldham East and Saddleworth
	tabling member printed	Debbie Abrahams
	uin	234146
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/03/2019 answer text <p>Claimants should not experience a loss of benefit in this situation.</p><p> </p><p>Claimants can be paid Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) whilst appealing a decision, the rate of which is equivalent to that of Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA). In order for someone to be paid ESA pending an appeal they need to provide the Department with fit notes in order to be treated as having Limited Capability for Work until the appeal is determined. However, this doesn’t apply where the claimant fails a second Work Capability Assessment. Where this is the case then ESA will not be paid pending the appeal and the claimant would need to claim new style Jobseeker’s Allowance (NSJSA) or Universal Credit (UC).</p><p> </p><p>If a claimant’s GP does not provide them with a fit note during the appeal period they cannot be paid ESA but are able to claim UC or NSJSA where eligible.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 22/03/2019 13:09:22 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4212 label Biography information for Debbie Abrahams

1091228

	registered interest
	date	19/03/2019
	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	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 assessment she has made of the effect of the changes to her Department's ESA65B letter to GPs on employment and support allowance claimants.
	tabling member constituency	Oldham East and Saddleworth
	tabling member printed	Debbie Abrahams
	uin	234147
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/03/2019 answer text <p>The Department is committed to ensuring all of its communications are clear, accurate and understandable and we continuously improve our letters. We do not routinely evaluate changes to external communications, however we do engage regularly with the welfare benefits advice sector and disability charities and take into account all of the feedback we receive.</p><p> </p><p>We have received comments from a number of sources including MPs, stakeholder organisations and GPs on the current version of the ESA65B letter and will take all of their feedback into account when revising it.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 22/03/2019 13:17:06 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4212 label Biography information for Debbie Abrahams

1088707

	registered interest
	date	14/03/2019
	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	Social Security Benefits: Disability
	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 oral contribution of the hon. Member for Oldham East and Saddleworth, of 6 March 2019, Official Report, column 969, what the terms of reference will be for the review into the adequacy of social security support for disabled people; and who will be involved in that review.
	tabling member constituency	Oldham East and Saddleworth
	tabling member printed	Debbie Abrahams
	uin	232571
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/03/2019 answer text <p>The Department has listened to the concerns and views of a wide range of organisations and individuals and we have been working to deliver real improvements, and we will continue to do so. The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions announced on 5<sup>th</sup> March that the Department would be commissioning a new piece of research to better understand disabled claimants’ experiences of the benefit system, and how to meet their needs.</p><p>This research will be delivered by external research contractors who have expertise in this area and involve in-depth interviews with claimants. We will look to commission this work later this year, with a view to publishing next year. As with all externally commissioned DWP social research, the findings will be published and available on the gov.uk website.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 19/03/2019 10:10:06 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4212 label Biography information for Debbie Abrahams

1088708

	registered interest
	date	14/03/2019
	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	Social Security Benefits: Disability
	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 oral contribution of the hon. Member for Oldham East and Saddleworth, of 6 March 2019, Official Report, column 969, what plans she has to change the culture of her Department.
	tabling member constituency	Oldham East and Saddleworth
	tabling member printed	Debbie Abrahams
	uin	232572
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/03/2019 answer text <p>As set out in the Secretary of State’s speech, the Department is committed to continue helping disabled people to achieve their potential and lead positive flourishing lives</p><p> </p><p>We have listened to, and acted on a number of concerns raised by our customers and stakeholders, which includes stopping those who have been awarded the highest level of Personal Independence Payment (PIP), whose needs are unlikely to decrease, now receive an ongoing award – with only a light touch review a decade later and SPA announcement. We have also listened to the feedback from claimants about their experience of assessments which is why we are now trialling the video recording of PIP assessments.</p><p> </p><p>However, there is more that we need to do, which is why we have announced it is our ambition to go further, to listen and reform effectively to deliver policies, strategies and structures that are co-produced with disabled people.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 19/03/2019 14:47:32 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4212 label Biography information for Debbie Abrahams

1087208

	registered interest
	date	12/03/2019
	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	Christmas Bonus
	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) personal independence payment and (b) disability living allowance were (i) entitled to the £10 Christmas bonus and (ii) received that Christmas bonus in 2018.
	tabling member constituency	Oldham East and Saddleworth
	tabling member printed	Debbie Abrahams
	uin	231471
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/03/2019 answer text <p>The Christmas Bonus is a one-off tax-free £10 payment paid to claimants who receive certain qualifying benefits including Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Disability Living Allowance (DLA). To qualify, the claimant must be in receipt of the qualifying benefit in the qualifying week which is normally the first full week of December. If a DLA or PIP claimant receives another qualifying benefit their bonus may be attached to that benefit rather than to their PIP or DLA award.</p><p> </p><p>The Department publishes a range of detailed statistics for PIP and DLA on Stat-Xplore: <a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/" target="_blank">https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/</a>. These statistics include monthly caseloads (claims in payment) to August 2018 for DLA and to October 2018 for PIP. Caseloads for December 2018 have not yet been published.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here: <a href="https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/index.html" target="_blank">https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/index.html</a>.</p><p> </p><p>The number of claimants, regardless of qualifying benefit, who received the Christmas Bonus in 2017/18 can be found in Table 1c of the “Outturn and forecast: Autumn Budget 2018 (XLS)” spreadsheet in the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/benefit-expenditure-and-caseload-tables-2018" target="_blank">2018 Benefit Expenditure and Caseload tables. </a> Outturn figures for 2018/19 will be published in due course.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 15/03/2019 13:47:16 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4212 label Biography information for Debbie Abrahams

1087210

	registered interest
	date	12/03/2019
	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	Christmas Bonus: Non-payment
	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 have contacted her Department since 1 December 2018 on non-payment of the 2018 Christmas bonus.
	tabling member constituency	Oldham East and Saddleworth
	tabling member printed	Debbie Abrahams
	uin	231472
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/03/2019 answer text <p>The Christmas Bonus was first paid in 1972 as a result of The Pensioners and Family Income Supplement Payments Act 1972 and was introduced as a means of providing additional financial support to customers in receipt of a pension or qualifying benefit.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>Both Pensioners and working age customers in receipt of certain benefits receive the tax-free £10 Christmas Bonus and payments are usually automatically generated based on receipt of a qualifying benefit.</p><p> </p><p>For the 2017/2018 qualifying period (latest data available) 15,922000.00 (fifteen million, nine hundred and twenty two thousand) DWP customers received the Christmas Bonus.</p><p> </p><p>DWP does not retain information relating to the number of customers who contacted the Department to report non-payment of the Christmas Bonus as it does not have a business requirement to do so. Therefore, this information is only available at disproportionate cost to The Department for Work &amp; Pensions.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 15/03/2019 14:43:36 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	4212 label Biography information for Debbie Abrahams

1087231

	registered interest
	date	12/03/2019
	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	Personal Independence Payment: Work Capability Assessment
	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 oral contribution of the hon. Member for Oldham East and Saddleworth, Official Report column 969, how she plans to merge the personal independence payment and work capability assessment processes; who will take part in that merger; whether there will be (a) a pilot and (b) an independent evaluation of that merger; and who will provide that assessment service.
	tabling member constituency	Oldham East and Saddleworth
	tabling member printed	Debbie Abrahams
	uin	231473
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/03/2019 answer text <p>The Health Transformation Programme within DWP has been established to transform the currently separate Work Capability Assessment service for Employment Support Allowance and Universal Credit, and the Personal Independence Payment assessment service, into a single integrated service from 2021.</p><p>As with any major change, this will take time to design, and it will be rolled out carefully – learning as we go. We need to take time to get this right and we will be seeking input from a wide range of stakeholders to ensure that the new service is one that works for our customers and that we safely transition to the new arrangements. We will continue to keep the most appropriate method of delivery under review and we believe assessment providers will continue to play an important role. For any elements that are outsourced, we will run a procurement process compliant with the Public Contracts Regulations.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 15/03/2019 11:14:28 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4212 label Biography information for Debbie Abrahams

1087232

	registered interest
	date	12/03/2019
	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	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 the medical records of claimants will be made available automatically to her Department as part of the new digital system for social security assessments.
	tabling member constituency	Oldham East and Saddleworth
	tabling member printed	Debbie Abrahams
	uin	231474
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/03/2019 answer text <p>Medical records of claimants are not automatically available to my Department. We use explicit and informed patient consent to access patient information from the NHS to support applications for health related benefits. The new digital platform will streamline this process to the benefit of claimants.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 15/03/2019 14:07:47 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4212 label Biography information for Debbie Abrahams

1087233

	registered interest
	date	12/03/2019
	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	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 she is taking to improve the (a) quality, (b) validity and (c) reliability of the (i) work capability and (ii) personal independence payment assessments.
	tabling member constituency	Oldham East and Saddleworth
	tabling member printed	Debbie Abrahams
	uin	231475
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/03/2019 answer text <p>The Department is committed to ensuring individuals receive high quality, objective and accurate assessments. We continue to work extensively with providers to make improvements to guidance; training and supplier audit procedures in order to ensure the quality of the services is continuously improved.</p><p>All elements of the providers performance are monitored including the requirements for the quality of assessments, which are assessed through independent audit, with feedback provided to the provider.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 15/03/2019 13:38:09 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4212 label Biography information for Debbie Abrahams