Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much her Department (a) has spent and (b) plans to spend in the next three months on a public information campaign to prepare people for the potential effects of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
The Government has a duty to inform citizens and businesses about how leaving the EU might affect them, and to advise on the steps they may need to take to prepare for EU Exit.
We have developed a cross-departmental public information campaign to help achieve this. Over the coming weeks, we will be using a range of channels to direct UK citizens, businesses, EU citizens living in the UK and UK nationals living in the EU to a dedicated area on GOV.UK at Gov.uk/euexit.
Information on the costs associated with this campaign will be released in due course as part of normal data transparency releases.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how long people have waited on average to receive the elements of universal credit that are paid on the basis of health conditions or disabilities by condition in the most recent period for which figures are available; and what comparative assessment she has made of that waiting time with the average waiting time for standard allowance.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The requested information is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in receipt of universal credit have a (a) health condition (b) disability) and (c) a diagnosis of cancer.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The requested information is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average waiting time is for a claimant of universal credit to receive a UC50 form as part of their work capability assessment as a result of a (a) health condition and (b) disability for each of those conditions and disabilities.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
The information requested is not available. The Capability for Work questionnaire UC50 and covering letter is issued to the claimant by first class mail the day after they are referred for a Work Capability Assessment. They have a period of four weeks in which to return the completed questionnaire, and are issued a further reminder letter if they have not replied within three weeks.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the efficacy of the Independent Case Examiner in investigating complaints from women affected by state pension age equalisation measures.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The approach of successive governments has been consistent. The Independent Case Examiner is independent. She is appointed under contract to adjudicate on escalated complaints about the DWP, and its contracted service providers, in cases where the complainant has exhausted the relevant internal complaints process and remains dissatisfied. If a complainant is dissatisfied with the outcome of an Independent Case Examiner investigation (or the service provided by the Independent Case Examiner) they can ask their Member of Parliament to escalate their complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
Ministers have no role in assessing the efficacy of the Independent Case Examiner in investigating complaints from women affected by State Pension age equalisation measures.
The Independent Case Examiner resources are reviewed on an annual basis. Since October 2017, the Independent Case Examiner has experienced increased levels of referrals associated with legislative changes to State Pension age for women. The Independent Case Examiner responded by dedicating a team of three investigation case managers.
The Independent Case Examiner aims to complete any investigation within 20 weeks of starting work on a case. The Independent Case Examiner reports related to legislative changes to State Pension age for women that have been concluded to date have been completed within an average of 9.75 weeks. To date, the Independent Case Examiner had not upheld any case specific complaints that the DWP failed to provide adequate and timely information relating to the increase in State Pension age. All final Independent Case Examiner reports explain how the complainant can escalate their complaint to the Parliamentary Ombudsman’s Office. The Parliamentary Health and Service Ombudsman make final decisions on complaints that have not been resolved by UK Government Departments. This was set up in 1967 under the then Labour Government.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the Independent Case Examiner's progress in dealing with complaints made by women affected by the state pension age equalisation measures.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The approach of successive governments has been consistent. The Independent Case Examiner is independent. She is appointed under contract to adjudicate on escalated complaints about the DWP, and its contracted service providers, in cases where the complainant has exhausted the relevant internal complaints process and remains dissatisfied. If a complainant is dissatisfied with the outcome of an Independent Case Examiner investigation (or the service provided by the Independent Case Examiner) they can ask their Member of Parliament to escalate their complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
Ministers have no role in assessing the efficacy of the Independent Case Examiner in investigating complaints from women affected by State Pension age equalisation measures.
The Independent Case Examiner resources are reviewed on an annual basis. Since October 2017, the Independent Case Examiner has experienced increased levels of referrals associated with legislative changes to State Pension age for women. The Independent Case Examiner responded by dedicating a team of three investigation case managers.
The Independent Case Examiner aims to complete any investigation within 20 weeks of starting work on a case. The Independent Case Examiner reports related to legislative changes to State Pension age for women that have been concluded to date have been completed within an average of 9.75 weeks. To date, the Independent Case Examiner had not upheld any case specific complaints that the DWP failed to provide adequate and timely information relating to the increase in State Pension age. All final Independent Case Examiner reports explain how the complainant can escalate their complaint to the Parliamentary Ombudsman’s Office. The Parliamentary Health and Service Ombudsman make final decisions on complaints that have not been resolved by UK Government Departments. This was set up in 1967 under the then Labour Government.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to issue backdated payments as a result of the High Court judgement on the Social Security (Personal Independence Payment) (Amendment) Regulations 2017.
Answered by Sarah Newton
I refer the Hon. Member to the statement made by myself, Official Report, 30 January 2018, Column 703.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 13 July 2017 to Question 3475 on Employment and Support Allowance: Motor Neurone Disease, if he will publish the process required for the 600 people with motor neurone disease who were in the support group for Employment and Support Allowance on 29 September when the severe conditions exemption commenced and are due a reassessment; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Sarah Newton
It is important to ensure that decisions on whether someone meets the severe conditions criteria are based on a Work Capability Assessment. This way the claimant has the best opportunity to share with us the most up to date information about the functional impacts of their health condition.
Guidance used by Healthcare Professionals, who undertake the Assessments, has been designed to have the least possible impact on claimants. We will ask claimants to complete a new health questionnaire, and where appropriate we will ask their General Practitioner or Specialist Healthcare Professional for further, supporting evidence, so that in the vast majority of cases we should be able to make a decision on whether someone meets the criteria without the need for a face to face assessment.
I am meeting the Motor Neurone Disease Association in February to discuss the implications of the introduction of the severe condition criteria.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
If he will review the implementation of the new state pension ages for women born in the 1950s; and if he will compensate those affected by that change.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
During the passage of the Pensions Act 2011, the Government made a concession worth more than £1bn that benefited more than a quarter of a million women, and limited the increase in any individual’s pension age to 18 months (when compared with the previous timetables)