Asked by: Sandy Martin (Labour - Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants over the age of 60 in receipt of universal credit have been sanctioned in the last 12 months.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
Statistics on Universal Credit sanctions by age are published and can be found at:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/
Guidance for users is available at:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html
Asked by: Sandy Martin (Labour - Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of fairness of the decision by the Independent Case Examiner to close individual cases related to the state pension age for women on the basis that there is a judicial review of the way in which her Department handled those changes.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
When a department and independent bodies face a legal case, they have to review whether they continue to assess claims or await determination of the legal case. This has been the policy under all governments, Labour, Coalition, and Conservative, for decades.
The Independent Case Examiner (ICE) closed all live cases which concerned complaints about the state pension age for women (WASPI) when they became subject to legal proceedings, as is required under its governance contract. In the event the legal proceedings fall away or there is no determination on the matters which form the basis of the WASPI complaints, the ICE could consider reopening the cases at the request of the Department.
Asked by: Sandy Martin (Labour - Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential effect on benefit recipients of missed Child Maintenance Service payments where the level of benefit has been reduced due those payments being awarded.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
Child Maintenance payments are fully disregarded when assessing entitlement to benefits, as such there is no effect on a person’s benefit payments when Child Maintenance payments are not made.
Asked by: Sandy Martin (Labour - Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the cost to the public purse has been of work done so far by the Independent Case Examiner on individual cases brought on the grounds of unjust treatment of women approaching pension age which have now been closed in response to the current Judicial Review of her Department's handling of the changes to women's pension age.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Individual government departments have long established complaints procedures. That approach has not changed under Labour governments 1997-2010 or successive governments. The DWP has a two tier complaints process which considers formal complaints about our service. Once a complainant has exhausted the DWP complaint process they are signposted to the Independent Case Examiner’s Office if they are dissatisfied with the final response to their complaint. The Independent Case Examiner is independent.
The Independent Case Examiner’s Office cost per case, which is currently £2,374, covers the whole process from receipt to investigation conclusion. The information requested relating to the total cost of work done is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Sandy Martin (Labour - Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department plans to abolish (a) the £20 referral fee and (b) the 4 per cent collection fee charged to receiving parents who use the Child Maintenance Scheme collect and pay service.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
Fees and charges are intended to encourage separated parents to collaborate where possible to achieve the best outcome for their children. The application fee is a one-off payment of £20 and is waived for clients aged 18 or under, or those who have reported domestic abuse. The Direct Pay service does not incur any on-going collection charges. Collection charges only apply when a case is being managed in the Collect and Pay service. The four per cent charge for receiving parents is deducted only when maintenance is paid.
On 03 August 2017, we published the outcome of a review of the impact of fees and charges. The evidence available did not indicate that charges were preventing parents from making an application, and the majority of parents found the fee affordable. Roughly half of parents stated that charges influenced their decision to try a direct pay arrangement first.
We have no plans to abolish the application fee or charges, both of which remain central to our aim of encouraging collaboration and incentivising use of the Direct Pay service.
Asked by: Sandy Martin (Labour - Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to abolish the (a) £20 referral fee and (b) 4 per cent collect and pay charge for Child Maintenance Service payments.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
Fees and charges are intended to encourage separated parents to collaborate where possible to achieve the best outcome for their children. The application fee is a one-off payment of £20 and is waived for clients aged 18 or under, or those who have reported domestic abuse. The Direct Pay service does not incur any on-going collection charges. Collection charges only apply when a case is being managed in the Collect and Pay service. The four per cent charge for receiving parents is deducted only when maintenance is paid.
On 03 August 2017, we published the outcome of a review of the impact of fees and charges. The evidence available did not indicate that charges were preventing parents from making an application, and the majority of parents found the fee affordable. Roughly half of parents stated that charges influenced their decision to try a direct pay arrangement first.
We have no plans to abolish the application fee or charges, both of which remain central to our aim of encouraging collaboration and incentivising use of the Direct Pay service.
Asked by: Sandy Martin (Labour - Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the frequency with which receiving parents are required to pay the £20 referral fee or the four per cent collect and pay charge when Child Maintenance Payments have not been made.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
Fees and charges are intended to encourage separated parents to collaborate where possible to achieve the best outcome for their children. The application fee is a one-off payment of £20 and is waived for clients aged 18 or under, or those who have reported domestic abuse. The Direct Pay service does not incur any on-going collection charges. Collection charges only apply when a case is being managed in the Collect and Pay service. The four per cent charge for receiving parents is deducted only when maintenance is paid.
On 03 August 2017, we published the outcome of a review of the impact of fees and charges. The evidence available did not indicate that charges were preventing parents from making an application, and the majority of parents found the fee affordable. Roughly half of parents stated that charges influenced their decision to try a direct pay arrangement first.
We have no plans to abolish the application fee or charges, both of which remain central to our aim of encouraging collaboration and incentivising use of the Direct Pay service.
Asked by: Sandy Martin (Labour - Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of the £20 referral fee and four per cent collect and pay charge levied on people using the collect and pay service for Child Maintenance Service payments.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
Fees and charges are intended to encourage separated parents to collaborate where possible to achieve the best outcome for their children. The application fee is a one-off payment of £20 and is waived for clients aged 18 or under, or those who have reported domestic abuse. The Direct Pay service does not incur any on-going collection charges. Collection charges only apply when a case is being managed in the Collect and Pay service. The four per cent charge for receiving parents is deducted only when maintenance is paid.
On 03 August 2017, we published the outcome of a review of the impact of fees and charges. The evidence available did not indicate that charges were preventing parents from making an application, and the majority of parents found the fee affordable. Roughly half of parents stated that charges influenced their decision to try a direct pay arrangement first.
We have no plans to abolish the application fee or charges, both of which remain central to our aim of encouraging collaboration and incentivising use of the Direct Pay service.
Asked by: Sandy Martin (Labour - Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has taken steps to ensure that benefits claimants in financial hardship can obtain letters which are required to progress their claims from their GP without having to pay for such letters; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Sarah Newton
We advise claimants not to seek additional evidence in support of their claim which they may be charged for, such as from GPs. Where an assessment provider determines that additional medical evidence from a GP could prove helpful they will request that evidence from the GP directly.
GPs are obliged through their contract with NHS England to provide the assessment provider with medical evidence for Employment and Support Allowance free-of-charge. For Personal Independence Payment, we pay GPs a standard fee (currently £33.50) for completing a General Practitioner Factual Report.
In the Government’s response to the Work and Pensions Select Committee report on Personal Independence Payment and Employment and Support Allowance Assessments we set out our commitment to continue improving the customer experience for both, including opportunities for better data sharing.
Asked by: Sandy Martin (Labour - Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance is provided to Job Centre staff on the Equality Act 2010 duty to make reasonable adjustments to enable disabled people to progress their claims.
Answered by Sarah Newton
Comprehensive guidance for Jobcentre staff about the Equality Act 2010 is included on the Department’s intranet site ‘Equality and You – a guide for employees’. This includes advice for staff on understanding what reasonable adjustments are and why the Department has a duty to provide them for claimants who are disabled.
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.
Service delivery teams within Jobcentres provide a professional and supportive environment for our customers, providing digital coaching, helping claimants set up their claims and also maintaining them.
Claimants who require additional support to complete a claim form have the option to book a one to one appointment with a member of the Service Delivery team to receive assistance. In addition telephony support is in place for those vulnerable claimants who cannot ‘self-serve’ online and where a claimant is unable to manage their own affairs, an appointee can act on their behalf, taking responsibility for making and maintaining any benefit claim.