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1041702

registered interest
date	15/01/2019
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: 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 auditors from her Department have the authority to instruct health professionals to make mandatory (a) specific and (b) general amendments to Independent Assessment Service reports.
tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
uin	208914
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/01/2019 answer text <p>The quality assurance audit process following consultation is in place to ensure that the report the Health Professional provides to the Department is of a high standard. This is a very important part of the process to check the information provided is fully explained and justified.</p><p>Where assessments have been graded as either ‘acceptable - report amendment required’ or ‘unacceptable’ the reports are returned to the Assessment Provider for remedial activity. Where possible, this activity should be taken by the Health Professional who carried out the original assessment. DWP is not prescriptive on how changes should be made. The Assessment Provider is responsible for ensuring the returned report is then fit for purpose prior to resubmitting it to DWP.</p> answering member constituency Truro and Falmouth answering member printed Sarah Newton question first answered 21/01/2019 13:27:16 answering member 4071 label Biography information for Sarah Newton
tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1041705

registered interest
date	15/01/2019
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	Independent Assessment Services: Audit
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many health professionals from Independent Assessment Services have been (a) dismissed and (b) referred for further training as a result of her Department's audits of health professionals' reports.
tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
uin	208915
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/01/2019 answer text <p>Independent Assessment Service are committed to providing the highest quality of service to all claimants when conducting a functional PIP assessment and in the preparation of claimant reports for consideration by the DWP.</p><p> </p><p>The figures requested is not available as Health Professionals are not dismissed based on the audit of a single assessment report. Audit is one of a number of tools used to monitor the quality of Health Professionals work and to inform ongoing support and performance management. All Health Professionals who have quality issues identified by audit will receive feedback and additional training as a result. Health Professionals who require full retraining to ensure they meet the required quality standards will receive this. Where Health Professionals do not meet the quality requirements on a regular basis, performance management will be taken, which can lead to dismissal.</p> answering member constituency Truro and Falmouth answering member printed Sarah Newton question first answered 21/01/2019 13:39:42 answering member 4071 label Biography information for Sarah Newton
tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1043687

registered interest
date	18/01/2019
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Electronic Tagging: Testing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will bring forward legislative proposals on the testing of microchips intended for implantation in humans.
tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
uin	210034
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/01/2019 answer text <p>Products made available on the UK market are required to be safe. The Department has no plans to bring forward legislative proposals on the testing of microchips intended for implantation in humans.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 24/01/2019 16:30:43 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst previous answer version 97073 answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1043714

registered interest
date	18/01/2019
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
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what her Department's target timetable is for applicants of personal independence payments to be notified of the decision on their application; and what (a) proportion and (b) number of applications met that target in each year for which information is available.
tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
uin	210050
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/01/2019 answer text <p>The Department does not have targets for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) applications.</p> answering member constituency Truro and Falmouth answering member printed Sarah Newton question first answered 23/01/2019 16:16:53 answering member 4071 label Biography information for Sarah Newton
tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1043721

registered interest
date	18/01/2019
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	Independent Case Examiner
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much money has been spent from the public purse on the running of the office of the Independent Case Examiner for each available year; and what her Department's plans are for the future funding on that office.
tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
uin	210055
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/01/2019 answer text <p>Funding for the Independent Case Examiner’s Office is reviewed on an annual basis. The table below provides details of the budget allocated to the Office in the last four financial years.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Financial Year (April to March)</p></td><td><p>Amount</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015/16</p></td><td><p>£2,563,702</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016/17</p></td><td><p>£2,733,114</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017/18</p></td><td><p>£2,534,005</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018/19</p></td><td><p>£3,008,587</p></td></tr></tbody></table> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 23/01/2019 14:58:53 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1043722

registered interest
date	18/01/2019
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	Independent Case Examiner
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 Independent Case Examiner's ability to process complaints in a timely manner.
tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
uin	210056
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/01/2019 answer text <p>The Independent Case Examiner (ICE) is appointed under contract to adjudicate on escalated complaints about DWP and its contracted service providers, in cases where the complainant has exhausted the relevant internal complaints process and remains dissatisfied. If a complainant is dissatisfied with the outcome of an ICE investigation, or the service provided by the Office (including processing times) they can ask their Member of Parliament to escalate their complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. The Permanent Secretary is apprised of the Ombudsman’s findings each year.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 23/01/2019 14:50:19 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1043723

registered interest
date	18/01/2019
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	Independent Case Examiner
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what her Department's target timetable is for complaints to the Independent Case Examiner to be concluded; and what (a) proportion and (b) number of complaints met that target in each year for which information.
tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
uin	210057
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/01/2019 answer text <p>The table below provides details of the clearance time targets for the Independent Case Examiner’s Office and its performance against those targets since they were introduced in their current form.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>Resolution: Aim to resolve the complaint, to the complainants satisfaction, within 8 weeks of it being accepted for investigation</p></td><td><p>Settlement: Aim to settle the complaint, to the complainants satisfaction, with 15 weeks of the investigation commencing</p></td><td><p>ICE Report: Aim to issue the ICE Report within 20 weeks of the investigation commencing</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2015/16</strong></p></td><td><p>80 complaints resolved 79% within target</p></td><td><p>91 complaints settled 74% within target</p></td><td><p>586 ICE Reports 56% within target</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2016/17</strong></p></td><td><p>84 complaints resolved 86% within target</p></td><td><p>127 complaints settled 87% within target</p></td><td><p>660 ICE Reports 41% within target</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2017/18</strong></p></td><td><p>83 complaints resolved 74% within target</p></td><td><p>141 complaints settled 84% within target</p></td><td><p>698 ICE Reports 40% within target</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2018/19</strong> <strong>(April to December 2018)</strong></p></td><td><p>131 complaints resolved 68% within target</p></td><td><p>139 complaints settled 81% within target</p></td><td><p>628 ICE Reports 45% within target</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 23/01/2019 14:42:35 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1045619

registered interest
date	21/01/2019
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: Chronic Illnesses
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 Employment Support Allowance (ESA), how many and what proportion of people with the most severe health conditions and disabilities with lifetime award of ESA have been placed in the ESA Support Group or Universal Credit Limited Capability for Work and Work Related Activity category and are exempt from repeat assessments; what steps his Department has taken to ensure individuals with lifelong illnesses will not be required to be reassessed; and for what reasons decision-makers are allocating timeframes for the award of ESA for applicants whose ESA 50 forms have not been reviewed.
tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
uin	210604
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/01/2019 answer text <p>In response to (a)(i), information on the number of claimants who have met the severe conditions criteria for Employment and Support Allowance is published and can be found in tables 5a and 5b in the file which can be found at the following link:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/esa-outcomes-of-work-capability-assessments-including-mandatory-reconsiderations-and-appeals-december-2018" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/esa-outcomes-of-work-capability-assessments-including-mandatory-reconsiderations-and-appeals-december-2018</a></p><p> </p><p>With regard to (a)(ii), the information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p>In response to (b), the Honourable lady might be interested to know that we have worked with healthcare professionals and other stakeholders to develop a set of criteria to switch off re-assessments for people with the most severe health conditions or disabilities (unless there is a change of circumstances). From 29 September 2017 those placed in ESA’s Support Group and the UC equivalent who have the most severe and lifelong health conditions or disabilities, whose level of function would always mean that they would have Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity, and be unlikely ever to be able to move into work, will no longer be routinely reassessed.</p><p> </p><p>With regards to question (c) to clarify, all ESA50 questionnaires completed and returned by claimants are reviewed by a Healthcare Professional. Their advice to the decision maker including advice on the review period will be based on all of the evidence they have considered.</p> answering member constituency Truro and Falmouth answering member printed Sarah Newton question first answered 24/01/2019 13:46:27 answering member 4071 label Biography information for Sarah Newton
tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1045895

registered interest
date	21/01/2019
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
hansard heading	Civil Service Widows Pension
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, for what reasons (a) the Civil Service Widows Pension Scheme rules include the 1972 Section in which premium deductions are taken should an individual marry after retirement and (b) the premium deduction is not paid out to children following the death of the policyholder; and whether MyCSP retains premium deductions.
tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
uin	211200
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/01/2019 answer text <p>(a) Widows/widowers/civil partners’ pension provisions exist in all parts of the Civil Service pension arrangements. The facility whereby a ‘premium deduction’ is taken from any refund of contributions payable to an unmarried member only exists in the 1972 Section (none of the other parts of the Civil Service pension arrangements provide refunds to unmarried members). The deduction is there to cover the scheme against the risk that the member marries/enters a civil partnership in retirement and then pre-deceases their spouse/civil partner, giving rise to a widow(er)/civil partner’s pension payable from the scheme.</p><p> </p><p>(b) If the premium were to be repaid to the member’s estate should they subsequently die without marrying or entering a civil partnership, the amount of the premium would need to be significantly higher as it would only be retained by the scheme in circumstances where a spouse/civil partner’s pension was payable.</p><p> </p><p>(c) The Civil Service pension arrangements are funded through the Civil Superannuation Vote. Contributions (both member and employer) are paid into the Vote, and benefits and refunds are paid out of the Vote. MyCSP are the scheme administrator. They arrange for refunds of contributions to be paid, where appropriate. But if a premium deduction is necessary, MyCSP do not retain that deduction themselves. It is retained in the Vote.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Hertsmere answering member printed Oliver Dowden question first answered 29/01/2019 09:41:58 answering member 4441 label Biography information for Oliver Dowden
tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1047011

registered interest
date	23/01/2019
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Passports: Applications
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 10 January 2019 to Question 207212 on Passports: Applications, how much (a) has been spent and (b) will be spent on radio advertising.
tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
uin	211806
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/01/2019 answer text <p>Of the total communications spend outlined previously (PQ 207212), £222,857 has been spent on radio and digital audio advertising. The 30 second advert aimed to raise awareness of the ease and convenience of the online passport renewal service including the £9.50 cost saving it offers for customers.</p><p>A re-launch of the campaign in the next financial year (2019/20) is being considered, with an estimate of £500,000 forecast for radio and digital audio advertising. However, this activity is dependent on the outcome of the EU Exit withdrawal agreement (in a ‘no deal’ scenario, budget would be re-allocated to activity informing passport holders about the passport validity rules changes).</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes question first answered 28/01/2019 16:41:28 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows