Asked by: Marie Rimmer (Labour - St Helens South and Whiston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance his Department provides on allowing disability benefit assessors to provide feedback on mistakes or errors that occur during health assessments to improve the assessment process.
Answered by Sarah Newton
Where a Work Capability Assessment and Personal Independence Payment health professional’s report is examined by a Decision Maker that person will look to see if there are obvious flaws. For Example, if there are any contradictions or inconsistencies or omissions within that report. If that report is considered unacceptable or requires clarification the Decision Maker or Quality Assurance Manager will contact the assessment provider for clarification, advice or to return the report for re-work as unacceptable.
Asked by: Marie Rimmer (Labour - St Helens South and Whiston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what arrangements the Government has in place to inform claimants of the assessment criteria against which they are measured when they apply for a PIP or ESA reconsideration or appeal.
Answered by Sarah Newton
Claimants to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) receive a decision letter once their claim has been determined by a Departmental Case Manager. The decision letter sets out all the assessment activities, the relevant functional descriptor applicable to the individual for each activity and the points each descriptor carries. Where a claimant asks for a mandatory reconsideration they will receive a further decision letter which again sets out the assessment activities, the relevant functional descriptor applicable to the individual for each activity and the points each descriptor carries. The assessment activities and descriptors used in PIP can be found in part 2 of the PIP Assessment Guide available on www.gov.uk: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/665635/pip-assessment-guide-part-2-assessment-criteria.pdf
Claimants to Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) receive a decision letter once their claim has been determined by a Departmental Decision Maker. An entitlement decision letter sets out what the claimant needs to do next and which group the claimant has been placed in and a disallowance decision letter sets out the functional activities laid down in legislation and the justification for the number of points awarded. Following a Mandatory Reconsideration a new decision letter will be issued confirming either entitlement or disallowance; however no additional information is provided on the functional activities. The assessment activities and descriptors used in the Work Capability Assessment for ESA can be found in the ‘Employment and Support Allowance: the Work Capability Assessment: Detailed Guide’ and the ‘Work Capability Assessment Handbook’ both available on www.gov.uk: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/esa214-a-guide-to-employment-and-support-allowance-the-work-capability-assessment and https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/work-capability-assessment-handbook-for-healthcare-professionals.
Asked by: Marie Rimmer (Labour - St Helens South and Whiston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department has taken to ensure that benefit assessment and claim forms are offered in accessible formats.
Answered by Sarah Newton
Where our customers advise us that they need assistance to access our services and information, we make reasonable adjustments to meet their individual needs. This means the Department communicates with customers in a variety of different formats such as Braille, audio, large print, through third party interpreters or by arranging for a member of staff to visit the customer in their home.
Forms are available as a reasonable adjustment in electronic formats compatible with assistive software such as JAWS, Dragon, NVDA, Read & Write, and Zoomtext.
The Department is continuously working to improve its written customer communications products, including letters, forms and leaflets, so they are clear and accessible to as many of our customers as possible. We follow accessible design principles, including the use of plain language.
Asked by: Marie Rimmer (Labour - St Helens South and Whiston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of claims for (a) employment support allowance and (b) personal independence payments went to appeal in St Helens South and Whiston constituency in (a) 2015, (b) 2016 and (c) 2017.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The table below shows the proportion of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) decisions that went to appeal, by year of decision in the Parliamentary Constituency of St Helens South and Whiston.
Proportion of PIP decisions that went to appeal, by financial year of decision in the Parliamentary Constituency of St Helens South and Whiston.
Financial year of initial PIP decision | Proportion of PIP decisions that went to appeal |
2015/16 | 7% |
2016/17 | 6% |
Apr'17 to Oct'17 | 1% |
Latest available data to October 2017
The information for Employment Support Allowance (ESA) is not readily available and can only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Marie Rimmer (Labour - St Helens South and Whiston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many appeals for (a) ESA and (b) PIP in St Helens South and Whiston constituency resulted in an increase in the amount awarded in each of the last three years; and what the average value of each such increase was per week.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The Department only holds data on PIP awards changed and unchanged at appeal. Therefore the awards changed may include a very small number of appeals where the award may have reduced.
The table below shows the number of appeals against awards of Personal Independent Payment where the award was changed and unchanged at appeal for St Helens South and Whiston for the last three years.
Financial year of appeal outcome | Award changed at appeal | Award unchanged at appeal |
2015/16 | 60 | 30 |
2016/17 | 90 | 60 |
Apr'17 to Oct'17 | 60 | 30 |
Latest available data to October 2017
The information for Employment Support Allowance (ESA) is not readily available and can only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Marie Rimmer (Labour - St Helens South and Whiston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions the Joint Health and Work Unit has had with NHS England and NHS Digital on the Government's mandate to NHS England for its 2017-18 commitment to identify opportunities for regular collection of data relating to musculoskeletal conditions.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
Improving Lives - the Work, Health and Disability Green Paper set out Government’s commitment to work with NHS England to identify opportunities for regular collection of data about incidence, prevalence, clinical activity and outcomes of musculoskeletal conditions and services in England. The Government’s Mandate to NHS England reiterated this commitment. This is part of wider work to consider ways to improve health and employment services for people with musculoskeletal conditions.
Asked by: Marie Rimmer (Labour - St Helens South and Whiston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of the Health and Work Innovation Fund his Department plans to allocate to interventions for people with arthritis and musculoskeletal conditions; and what consideration his Department has given to launching a workplace-focussed information campaign on such conditions.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
We are currently considering responses to The Work, Health and Disability Green Paper Consultation to identify priority areas for investment that will help to build the evidence base. This includes consideration of approaches to improve support for people with musculoskeletal and other conditions, including the role that information campaigns might play.
Asked by: Marie Rimmer (Labour - St Helens South and Whiston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress his Department has made in fulfilling the recommendation of the Sayce report, published in June 2011, on disability employment support to transform the Access to Work scheme from the Government's best kept secret to a recognised passport to successful employment for disabled people.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
We have promoted Access to Work via the Disability Confident scheme, and will continue to do so. Disability Confident gives employers the tools and information they need to think differently about disability and to take action to recruit, retain and develop disabled workers.
After the election period we intend to undertake further marketing and promotion of the Access to Work programme. This includes working with stakeholders and partners and employer associations to raise awareness through communications to their customers and ensuring advisers who work with potential customers, including Jobcentre Plus, health professionals and advisory groups, have the information and tools to act as advocates.
This includes work with organisations which support or have an interest in people with musculoskeletal conditions, such as the Chartered Society of Physiotherapists, the British Association of Occupational Therapists, a number of Arthritis support organisations, health professionals, advisory groups and various employer associations.
The standards set in the national Workplace Wellbeing Charter include many elements which support the reduction of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), such as increasing physical activity and weight reduction. However, there is no MSD specific standard.
Local accreditation schemes, such as the Better Work Award, can enhance the national standards by adding a local MSD component if appropriate, based on local population needs.
In March 2017, Public Health England, Business in the Community and The Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance published a musculoskeletal toolkit for employers to address MSD issues at work. The toolkit builds on the existing best practice and considers the transferable learning between business sectors and businesses of different sizes. The toolkit has been downloaded over 1000 times since publication.
In our November 2016 Green Paper, the Government set out further proposals to support individuals with musculoskeletal conditions to find or to stay in work. The subsequent consultation drew considerable input from sufferers of musculoskeletal conditions (including arthritic conditions) and their representative groups. The consultation closed on 17th February 2017 and we are now carefully considering the submissions we received as we develop our policy options.
Asked by: Marie Rimmer (Labour - St Helens South and Whiston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the conclusion of 17 February 2017 of the Improving Lives disability employment consultation, what plans his Department has to increase awareness of the Access to Work scheme among people with musculoskeletal conditions; whether there are plans for Public Health England to publish a musculoskeletal component to the Workforce and Wellbeing Charter on best practice; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure the views of people with arthritis will be reflected in future government policy.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
We have promoted Access to Work via the Disability Confident scheme, and will continue to do so. Disability Confident gives employers the tools and information they need to think differently about disability and to take action to recruit, retain and develop disabled workers.
After the election period we intend to undertake further marketing and promotion of the Access to Work programme. This includes working with stakeholders and partners and employer associations to raise awareness through communications to their customers and ensuring advisers who work with potential customers, including Jobcentre Plus, health professionals and advisory groups, have the information and tools to act as advocates.
This includes work with organisations which support or have an interest in people with musculoskeletal conditions, such as the Chartered Society of Physiotherapists, the British Association of Occupational Therapists, a number of Arthritis support organisations, health professionals, advisory groups and various employer associations.
The standards set in the national Workplace Wellbeing Charter include many elements which support the reduction of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), such as increasing physical activity and weight reduction. However, there is no MSD specific standard.
Local accreditation schemes, such as the Better Work Award, can enhance the national standards by adding a local MSD component if appropriate, based on local population needs.
In March 2017, Public Health England, Business in the Community and The Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance published a musculoskeletal toolkit for employers to address MSD issues at work. The toolkit builds on the existing best practice and considers the transferable learning between business sectors and businesses of different sizes. The toolkit has been downloaded over 1000 times since publication.
In our November 2016 Green Paper, the Government set out further proposals to support individuals with musculoskeletal conditions to find or to stay in work. The subsequent consultation drew considerable input from sufferers of musculoskeletal conditions (including arthritic conditions) and their representative groups. The consultation closed on 17th February 2017 and we are now carefully considering the submissions we received as we develop our policy options.
Asked by: Marie Rimmer (Labour - St Helens South and Whiston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people with musculoskeletal conditions making the transition between disability living allowance and personal independence payments.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The latest available data on Personal Independence Payment (PIP) Reassessment Outcomes split by Disability Category and Outcome can be found at;
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-independence-payment-april-2013-to-october-2016