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1136405

registered interest
date	04/07/2019
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
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent steps her Department has taken to increase public understanding of invisible disabilities.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle-under-Lyme
tabling member printed	Paul Farrelly
uin	272164
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/07/2019 answer text <p>On Tuesday 25 June, the Government launched a new cross-government approach on disability which is guided by a vision that recognises the contributions that disabled people make and where disabled people can participate fully in society. To drive forward this approach, government will establish a new cross-departmental disability team in the Cabinet Office, and the Office for Disability Issues (ODI) will be incorporated into the team. This move recognises that disabled people, including those with hidden disabilities, face barriers across the life course and a wide range of aspects of their lives and coordinated cross-government action is therefore vital.</p><p>The British Standards Institution, and others involved in supporting the “Grace’s Sign” campaign, are currently exploring the potential for developing a symbol for hidden disabilities. The project is in an early scoping phase, but its intended aim is that the symbol would be recognised by the International Organization for Standardization. Achieving this involves a multi-stage process, which can take time, but if successful, greatly enhances the chances of its sustained future use in public signage. If successful, greater use and public acceptance of such a symbol would increase awareness of hidden disabilities, and help promote an understanding of the possible access and support needs of people with hidden disabilities.</p><p>Various Sector Champions appointed by the Minister for Disabled People are working within their sectors to support all disabled people, raise awareness of their needs and drive improvements in how these are met. Examples relating to hidden disabilities include: railway franchises thinking about supporting people with a wider range of disabilities, including through quiet areas at stations; a lanyard to identify those with hidden disabilities at airports, with staff trained to recognise this and offer help; and within the retail sector, many large stores holding quiet hours (no music and dimmed lighting) to improve the shopping experience for those with some hidden disabilities (such as autism or ADHD).</p><p> </p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 08/07/2019 15:56:14 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	1436 label Biography information for Paul Farrelly

1137007

registered interest
date	04/07/2019
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 estimate he has made of the number of people who decided not to pursue an appeal for personal independence payments due to the length of the waiting time for an appeal.
tabling member constituency	Weaver Vale
tabling member printed	Mike Amesbury
uin	273493
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/07/2019 answer text <p>There is no administrative data held that could determine the reasons why an individual, if dissatisfied with the decision received after their MR is completed, might not choose to pursue an appeal with HMCTS.</p><p> </p><p>There is already some data in the public domain that may be of interest. The Personal Independent Payment (PIP) Official Statistics holds information on the volumes of Mandatory Reconsiderations (MRs) registered (<em>Table 7A</em>) and cleared (<em>Table 7B</em>), and can be found here:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-independence-payment-april-2013-to-april-2019" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-independence-payment-april-2013-to-april-2019</a></p><p> </p><p>The Ministry of Justice Tribunal Statistics Quarterly publication contains the number of PIP cases for which an appeal is lodged with Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS) (<em>Table SSCS1</em>), and can be found here:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tribunal-statistics-quarterly-january-to-march-2019" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tribunal-statistics-quarterly-january-to-march-2019</a></p><p> </p><p>HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HCMTS) is taking positive steps to reduce the waiting time for appeals to be heard in the Social Security and Child Support (SSCS) jurisdiction. In 2018, 232 medical members and 118 disability-qualified members were additionally appointed to the SSCS jurisdiction and an extra 129 fee-paid judges have recently been appointed. The SSCS jurisdiction will also benefit from 100 salaried judges and 170 fee-paid judges being recruited across tribunals more widely. In addition, HMCTS is developing a new digital system with a view to enabling speedier processing of appeals and a better service for all parties to the proceedings. Case-management “triage” sessions are also being conducted, with the aim of reducing the number of cases that need to progress to an oral hearing.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 10/07/2019 15:18:58 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4667 label Biography information for Mike Amesbury

1137020

registered interest
date	04/07/2019
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 estimate he has made of the number of disabled car parking spaces at each assessment centre for (a) personal independence payments and (b) employment and support allowance.
tabling member constituency	Stretford and Urmston
tabling member printed	Kate Green
uin	273387
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/07/2019 answer text <p>Ensuring our assessment services are accessible to all claimants is a priority in line with the standards under the Equality Act 2010. Where claimants are not able to access particular assessment centre, our assessment providers provide alternative means of delivering the service. There is no requirement to provide on-site parking.</p><p> </p><p>All assessment providers delivering the Work Capability Assessment and Personal Independence Payment assessments are required to consider the needs of claimants such as proximity to public transport routes and access to suitable parking e.g. Blue Badge parking.</p><p> </p><p>Individuals can claim the cost of public and private transport from their current address plus parking fees. Taxi fares can also be claimed if customers cannot travel by public transport due to their health condition or disability. The assessment provider will try and meet any such reasonable requests.</p><p> </p><p>Individuals will be issued details about the assessment centre, if they are unable to attend or have any concerns they should contact the assessment provider.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 12/07/2019 12:04:45 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4120 label Biography information for Kate Green

1137024

registered interest
date	04/07/2019
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: Arthritis
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent steps she has taken to improve support in the workplace for sufferers of rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis.
tabling member constituency	Chesterfield
tabling member printed	Toby Perkins
uin	273371
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/07/2019 answer text <p>We are committed to improving employment outcomes for disabled people and people with health conditions like rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. We have seen almost 950,000 more disabled people in work over the five years to the first quarter of 2019.</p><p> </p><p>Access to Work offers disabled workers practical advice and a discretionary grant of up to £59,200 per year for in-work support. Access to Work does not record arthritis as a primary medical condition category, as the scheme uses the same categories as the Labour Force Survey. However, last year Access to Work paid over £13 million to individuals who listed ‘arms or hands, 'legs or feet' and 'back or neck' as their primary medical conditions, and many of these will be people living with rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. That represents over 10% of the total Access to Work spend and a 2% increase, in real terms, on the previous year.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, DWP is engaging with employers through the Disability Confident scheme - supporting them to feel more confident about both employing disabled people, including people with arthritis, and supporting disabled employees to realise their potential. Over 12,000 employers have signed up to the scheme so far.</p><p> </p><p>Looking forward, DWP is working in partnership with Department of Health and Social Care to publish a consultation on how employers can best support disabled people and people with long-term health conditions like arthritis, to stay and thrive in work. The proposals included in the consultation not only seek to benefit disabled people, but all employees who experience or are at risk of a long term sickness absence.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 10/07/2019 15:34:26 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	3952 label Biography information for Mr Toby Perkins

1136542

registered interest
date	03/07/2019
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	Silicosis
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what data her Department holds on the proportion of (a) construction workers and (b) the general population with silicosis.
tabling member constituency	Portsmouth South
tabling member printed	Stephen Morgan
uin	272923
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/07/2019 answer text <p>Statistics are not available for the proportion of construction workers and the general population that currently have silicosis. However, statistics are available for numbers of annual new cases of silicosis assessed for Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB).</p><p> </p><p>Silicosis, along with coal workers pneumoconiosis and asbestosis are the most common forms of pneumoconiosis, which is a prescribed disease within the IIDB scheme. Pneumoconiosis cases not specifically identified as asbestosis or coal workers’ pneumoconiosis are mainly silicosis and the annual numbers of such cases newly assessed for IIDB over the last ten years are shown in the table below. Of these annual cases, those associated with the construction industry are also shown.</p><p> </p><p>The number of silicosis cases within the IIDB scheme is likely to be lower than the true incidence of this disease. This is because IIDB does not compensate anyone who is self-employed, and not all affected individuals apply to the scheme.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Annual new cases of pneumoconiosis not recorded as asbestosis or coal workers’ pneumoconiosis assessed for IIDB, 2008-2017</strong></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2008</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2009</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2010</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2011</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2012</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2013</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2014</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2015</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2016</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2017</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Total</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>All cases</strong></p></td><td><p>85</p></td><td><p>80</p></td><td><p>60</p></td><td><p>50</p></td><td><p>40</p></td><td><p>45</p></td><td><p>55</p></td><td><p>25</p></td><td><p>30</p></td><td><p>30</p></td><td><p>500</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Cases associated with construction</strong></p></td><td><p>20</p></td><td><p>20</p></td><td><p>15</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>20</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>130</p></td></tr></tbody></table><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Note: values have been rounded to the nearest 5 to meet disclosure rules.</p></td></tr></tbody></table> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 12/07/2019 13:34:33 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4653 label Biography information for Stephen Morgan

1136545

registered interest
date	03/07/2019
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	Lung Diseases: Occupational Health
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether occupational health nurses take the occupational history of their client into account when assessing people who are showing signs of lung disease.
tabling member constituency	Portsmouth South
tabling member printed	Stephen Morgan
uin	272926
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/07/2019 answer text <p>As part of performing a competent occupational health assessment, the occupational history should be taken from the worker. Any relevant aspects of the occupational history should then be considered when formulating an opinion from an occupational health perspective in respect of that worker. As an example, the information considered when performing health surveillance of workers exposed to respirable crystalline silica can be found here: <a href="http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/healthsurveillance.htm" target="_blank">www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/healthsurveillance.htm</a>.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 12/07/2019 13:40:06 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4653 label Biography information for Stephen Morgan

1136548

registered interest
date	03/07/2019
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, how feedback from presenting officers in personal independence payment tribunals is used to inform future decision making on personal independence payment cases.
tabling member constituency	Hove
tabling member printed	Peter Kyle
uin	272897
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/07/2019 answer text <p>The helpful feedback from Presenting Officers (POs), has resulted in decision makers, appeals writers and POs themselves, reviewing their approach to the weighing of evidence, including taking a more considerative view of existing evidence. Changes have also been made to how decisions are being explained to claimants and in the paperwork prepared for appeal tribunals. Further, it has fed into our new approach for PIP cases where we contact claimants, where appropriate, to see if there is information that would enable us to change the decision ourselves at Mandatory Reconsideration or at the appeal stage.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson grouped question UIN 272898 question first answered 08/07/2019 15:39:36 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4505 label Biography information for Peter Kyle

1136550

registered interest
date	03/07/2019
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 assessment she has made of the quality of the feedback received from presenting officers on personal independence payment tribunals.
tabling member constituency	Hove
tabling member printed	Peter Kyle
uin	272898
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/07/2019 answer text <p>The helpful feedback from Presenting Officers (POs), has resulted in decision makers, appeals writers and POs themselves, reviewing their approach to the weighing of evidence, including taking a more considerative view of existing evidence. Changes have also been made to how decisions are being explained to claimants and in the paperwork prepared for appeal tribunals. Further, it has fed into our new approach for PIP cases where we contact claimants, where appropriate, to see if there is information that would enable us to change the decision ourselves at Mandatory Reconsideration or at the appeal stage.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson grouped question UIN 272897 question first answered 08/07/2019 15:39:36 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4505 label Biography information for Peter Kyle

1136559

registered interest
date	03/07/2019
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, what account is taken of income from compensation payments under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme in disability benefit calculations.
tabling member constituency	Rotherham
tabling member printed	Sarah Champion
uin	272845
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/07/2019 answer text <p><strong> </strong></p><p>The disability benefits (Attendance Allowance, Personal independence Payment and Disability Living Allowance) are non–contributory and are not means–tested. No account is taken of income from compensation payments or any other income when assessing entitlement to a disability benefit.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 12/07/2019 13:57:42 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4267 label Biography information for Sarah Champion

1136577

registered interest
date	03/07/2019
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, pursuant to the Answer of 2 July 2019 to Question 270341 on Personal Independence Payment, what improvements to processing mandatory reconsiderations have been made since her Department adopted the quality-driven approach.
tabling member constituency	Easington
tabling member printed	Grahame Morris
uin	272815
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/07/2019 answer text <p>We have been engaging with stakeholders to explore how we can improve the Mandatory Reconsideration process. We have also recently implemented a new operational approach in PIP where we are proactively contacting claimants, where appropriate, to see if there is information that would enable us to change the decision. Early indications are that this is helping decision makers.</p><p> </p><p>Further to this we have already been working on reviewing cases at the appeal stage and where new evidence is provided that changes the decision we are lapsing cases so that claimants don’t need to wait for a hearing.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 08/07/2019 15:32:23 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	3973 label Biography information for Grahame Morris