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1180341

	registered interest
	date	25/02/2020
	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, pursuant to the Answer of 12 February to Question 15027, whether her Department collects data on the correlation between the number of people borrowing from loan sharks and the roll-out of universal credit in an area.
	tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
	tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
	uin	20473
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/03/2020 answer text <p><strong> </strong></p><p>The Department does not collect data about the use of loan sharks.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is creating a Breathing Space scheme to help people experiencing problem debt. Breathing Space will be implemented in early 2021 and provide access to advice and allow people the time and space to fully engage with professional support, helping them identify a sustainable solution to their debts. The scheme will cover a broad range of debts, including not only financial services debts but also arrears owed to utility companies and to central and local government.</p><p /> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 02/03/2020 17:19:32 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield

1388196

	registered interest
	date	15/12/2021
	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	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, how many people are awaiting a work capability assessment as of 15 December 2021; and what the average waiting time is for a claimant in the latest period for which that data is available.
	tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
	tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
	uin	93754
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/01/2022 answer text <p><strong></strong></p><p>The number of outstanding Work Capability Assessment (WCA) referrals as of 15 December 2021 is 335,500. This includes claimants who have been asked to return a Capability for Work questionnaire and have yet to do so. Not all these cases will require the claimant to attend an assessment and where there is sufficient evidence, claims will be assessed on a paper basis. DWP closely monitors the levels of outstanding referrals.</p><p> </p><p>DWP publishes Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) WCA processing times for initial claims on gov.uk, which can be found <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/esa-outcomes-of-work-capability-assessments-including-mandatory-reconsiderations-and-appeals-december-2021" target="_blank">here</a>. We are currently unable to provide Universal Credit (UC) WCA statistics as these could only be provided at disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p>DWP is committed to assessing people as quickly as possible in order that they receive the benefit(s) and support they are entitled to in a timely manner. It is important to remember that claimants will receive the Assessment Rate of ESA/Standard Rate of UC whilst they are awaiting their WCA. Any additional amounts the claimant may qualify for after their assessment, will be backdated where appropriate.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong>Please note</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>Figure has been rounded to the nearest 100.</p><p>The above data is derived from contractual management information produced by the assessment providers.</p><p>The above data is derived from unpublished management information which is collected for internal departmental use only and has not been quality assured to Official Statistics Publication standards.</p> answering member constituency Norwich North answering member printed Chloe Smith question first answered 07/01/2022 14:21:33 answering member 1609 label Biography information for Chloe Smith
	tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield

1186202

	registered interest
	date	18/03/2020
	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	Personal Independence Payment: 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 recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of personal independence payment evaluation criteria for evaluating (a) chronic fatigue syndrome, (b) fibromyalgia and (c) other chronic illnesses.
	tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
	tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
	uin	31499
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/03/2020 answer text <p>All health professionals carrying out assessments are clinically qualified and registered practitioners in their own field. DWP requires health professionals to have a broad training in disability analysis as well as awareness training in specific conditions, which includes chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia and other chronic illness.</p><p> </p><p>The PIP consultation is not a medical assessment requiring the health professional to diagnose a condition or its severity and recommend treatment options. Instead it requires the assessor to look at the impact of conditions and impairments on an individual’s daily life. This helps ensure that assessment reports are fit for purpose, clinically justified and sound, and provide sufficient information for the department to make a reasonable decision on entitlement to benefit.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 23/03/2020 14:49:30 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield

1195660

	registered interest
	date	13/05/2020
	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	Universal Credit: 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 effect of the decision not to extend the covid-19 emergency £20 funding for universal credit claimants to those on legacy benefits.
	tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
	tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
	uin	46632
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/06/2020 answer text <p>As part of the Government’s strategy to support people affected by COVID 19, DWP has made a number of changes to make sure people can self-isolate, and to ensure people who need financial help have access to the benefit system. We have announced measures that benefit those experiencing the most financial disruption and which can be quickly and effectively operationalised, these include:</p><p> </p><ul><li>Increasing the Local Housing Allowance rates so that they cover 30% of local market rents – which is on average an additional £600 per year in people’s pockets.</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>Amendments to Housing Benefit so that increases in Working Tax Credits can be disregarded rather than reducing the Housing Benefit award.</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li><strong> </strong>Treating all ESA claimants who satisfy the conditions of entitlement and are suffering from COVID-19, or who are required to self-isolate in line with government guidance, as having limited capability for work, without the requirement to provide a fit note or to undergo a Work Capability Assessment.</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>Removing waiting days for ESA for those claimants affected by Covid-19, so it will be payable from day one of the claim, subject to the claimant satisfying the normal conditions of entitlement.</li></ul> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 05/06/2020 11:24:12 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince previous answer version 22282 answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield

1143587

	registered interest
	date	02/09/2019
	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	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 she has made of the ability of universal credit claimants to access passported benefits.
	tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
	tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
	uin	285018
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/09/2019 answer text <p>Claimants may currently be entitled to a number of other benefits because they are in receipt of Universal Credit. These are known as passported benefits, which include free school meals and free prescriptions. The eligibility criteria for each passported benefit remain the responsibility of the Departments and Devolved Administrations that own them.</p><p> </p><p>Government Departments and Devolved Administrations continue to work closely together to look at how to reduce the complexity of the current passported benefits system and put in place arrangements for Universal Credit, as it expands, that will continue to target available support at those who need it most.</p><p> </p><p>The Department currently signposts Universal Credit households to other financial support via their online account/payment statement, as well as on the GOV.UK website at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/universal-credit/other-financial-support" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/universal-credit/other-financial-support</a></p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 06/09/2019 10:21:46 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield

1176045

	registered interest
	date	04/02/2020
	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 assessment she has made of the potential merits of amending her Department's requirements on the use of audio recording equipment to make it easier for claimants to record benefits assessment interviews.
	tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
	tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
	uin	12293
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/02/2020 answer text <p>DWP remains committed to improving the assessment process, especially around trust and transparency. We are currently developing an approach to provide consistency for claimants across audio recording of Work Capability Assessments and PIP assessments.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 10/02/2020 17:18:19 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield

1302130

	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	Disability: 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 the proposal of Scope for an emergency support package to protect disabled people, published on 18 January 2021.
	tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
	tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
	uin	167860
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/03/2021 answer text <p>I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave on 09 February to question number <a href="https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2021-02-04/149299" target="_blank">149299</a>.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 22/03/2021 13:21:02 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield

1143590

	registered interest
	date	02/09/2019
	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
	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 benefit cap on the income of families with more than two children.
	tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
	tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
	uin	285025
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p>In May 2019, 49,700 households had their Housing Benefit claim capped in Great Britain, of which 44,800 households had 2 or more dependent children. Claimants are exempt from the cap in Housing Benefit if they are entitled to Working Tax Credits. UC households are exempt if they have earnings of at least £569 per month. There are also exemptions for the most vulnerable groups such as severely disabled claimants and carers. In addition, households are exempt from the cap for 9 months (the grace period) if there is a previous consistent work history.</p><p>The average weekly cap amount for households with 2 or more dependent children deducted from the Housing Benefit award was £56 in May 2019, compared to an average cap amount of £55 for all capped households.</p><p>(Source: DWP Stat Xplore portal, ‘Benefit cap average amount by family type’ table)</p><p>In May 2019, 25,700 households had their Universal Credit claim capped in Great Britain, of which 89% (23,000) had dependent children. Statistics on the Universal Credit capped caseload, by number of dependent children in the household, will be published for the first time on the DWP Stat-Xplore portal during the w/c 9th September.</p> answering member constituency Eastleigh answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 09/09/2019 14:36:41 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield

1311769

	registered interest
	date	23/04/2021
	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	State Retirement Pensions: National Insurance
	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 reforming the qualification criteria for the State Pension to include part year National Insurance contributions.
	tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
	tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
	uin	186154
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/04/2021 answer text <p>It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Dissolution.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 29/04/2021 12:28:51 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield

1147998

	registered interest
	date	02/10/2019
	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	Welfare Assistance Schemes
	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 departmental responsibility for local welfare assistance schemes.
	tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
	tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
	uin	293545
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/10/2019 answer text <p>Local welfare assistance is an umbrella term used describe local authority provision for people who are in need of urgent help. Local authorities’ abilities to act in this area are provided under various powers, for example, section 2 of the Local Government Act 2000 enables local authorities to provide financial assistance to any individual.</p><p> </p><p>Since the reforms to the Social Fund in 2013 which abolished Crisis Loans and Community Care Grants, the Local Government Financial Settlement has included a notional amount relating to local welfare provision in each upper-tier and unitary authority’s general grant. The settlement for 2015-16 set this amount at £129.6 million for England in each year until 2019/20.</p><p> </p><p>The Department for Work and Pension's (DWP) 2014 review found that local authorities delivered support more effectively than the previous provision and that councils are best placed to decide how to target flexible help to support local welfare needs. The Government has no further plans to review provision.</p><p /> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 293440 question first answered 08/10/2019 13:21:57 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield