Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to enable special circumstances to be taken into account when making the decision to withhold pension credit to people who are away from their homes for a period of more than four weeks.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
It is the intention to amend the Pension Credit temporary absence from Great Britain rules from April 2016. The temporary absence rules allow entitlement to Pension Credit to continue where under normal conditions it would not do so.
We are planning for a general rule which will allow Pension Credit to remain payable for absences not exceeding four weeks. We intend to have exceptions to the general rule to cater for bereavement or medical treatment. Where the absence from Great Britain is in connection with a bereavement concerning a partner or close relative then entitlement to Pension Credit may continue for absences not exceeding eight weeks. Where the absence from Great Britain is in order to receive medical treatment then entitlement to Pension Credit may continue for absences not exceeding 26 weeks.
These changes do not affect the Pension Credit rules covering absences from home within Great Britain.
Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to enable special circumstances to be taken into account when making the decision to withhold housing benefit from people who are away from their homes for a period of more than four weeks.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The temporary absence rules allow Housing Benefit to continue where under the normal conditions of entitlement it would not do so. They are therefore extensions of entitlement rather than withdrawals of it.
It is the intention from April 2016, that Housing Benefit claimants who leave Great Britain for longer than 4 weeks will no longer be able to get Housing Benefit while they are away. This aligns the Housing Benefit rules with other benefits including Universal Credit.
We intend that the period of 4 weeks could be extended in exceptional circumstances (for example, if their reason for being abroad is due to the death of a family member).
Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how long the average wait for an assessment for a personal independence payment was on the latest date for which figures are available.
Answered by Lord Harper
The wait for an assessment faced by some claimants is unacceptable. We are committed to putting that right by clearing backlogs and improving processing times.
We intend to publish statistics on the time taken to clear cases in the near future and my analysts are considering what information the publication will include. We will pre-announce the publication in due course, in line with the UK Statistics Authority code of practice.