Asked by: David Linden (Scottish National Party - Glasgow East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 15 April 2024 to Question 20383 on State Retirement Pensions: Women, whether his Department received the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman's provisional views on injustice and remedy experienced due to maladministration in communication about the 1995 Pensions Act in November 2023.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP received the PHSO’s provisional views for comment in November 2023.
Asked by: David Linden (Scottish National Party - Glasgow East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the most common reasons cited on split payment applications are; and what assessment his Department has made of the (a) suitability and (b) effectiveness of the application process in the light of those reasons.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department does not collect the information requested.
Asked by: David Linden (Scottish National Party - Glasgow East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has undertaken any (a) research and (b) planning for a potential compensation scheme following the publication of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman's provisional views on injustice and remedy experienced due to maladministration in communication about the 1995 Pensions Act in November 2023.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Ombudsman did not publish his provisional views in November 2023 or at any other time. The Ombudsman published his final views on 21st March 2024.
Asked by: David Linden (Scottish National Party - Glasgow East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will publish his Department's (a) communications and (b) minutes relating to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman's provisional views on injustice and remedy experienced due to maladministration in communication about the 1995 Pensions Act which were set out in the report published in November 2023.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Ombudsman did not publish his provisional views in November 2023 or at any other time. The Ombudsman published his final views on 21st March 2024.
Asked by: David Linden (Scottish National Party - Glasgow East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will publish his Department's assessment of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman's provisional views on injustice and remedy experienced due to maladministration in communication about the 1995 Pensions Act which were set out in the report published in November 2023.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Ombudsman did not publish his provisional views in November 2023 or at any other time. The Ombudsman published his final views on 21st March 2024.
Asked by: David Linden (Scottish National Party - Glasgow East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the amount of deductions made under the Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy to (a) Housing Benefit and (b) Universal Credit claimants in each year since 2013.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Information on the Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy (RSRS) sufficient to produce such an estimate can be found on Stat-Xplore. Stat-Xplore includes the mean of RSRS reduction, the number subject to the RSRS and the number of spare rooms for both Housing Benefit and Universal Credit Housing Element Claimants.
Stat-Xplore can be found here.
Asked by: David Linden (Scottish National Party - Glasgow East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average time taken was for his Department to respond to enquiries about Personal Independence Payments in the period between June 2023 and September 2023.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Enquiries relating to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) can come through various channels and relate to many different areas of work. An enquiry could be made for a range of reasons and could involve several contacts or multiple requests. For these reasons we are unable to provide an average response time.
For telephony enquiries we operate a service where most enquiries are handled at the point of contact in real time by our Case Workers on the PIP enquiry line. Some enquiries will be forwarded (transferred) to more experienced colleagues or specialists, and in a very small number of cases a call back may be needed.
Asked by: David Linden (Scottish National Party - Glasgow East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what percentage of payband SCS2 civil servants in his Department on full-time equivalent contracts are women as of 18 October 2023.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP Paid Staff Only September 2023 data
Full-time SCS2 that are Female is 35%
DWP encourages temporary promotion opportunities (known as Temporary Duties Allowance in DWP) to be filled fairly and transparently. Temporary promotions for a duration of more than one month require authorisation from an HR Business Partner and a leader of an appropriate senior grade.
Temporary promotions (known as Temporary Duties Allowance in DWP) for a duration of more than 6 months from the outset should be decided through a formal selection exercise, either through a fair and transparent Expressions of Interest exercise or advertised on Civil Service Jobs.
Asked by: David Linden (Scottish National Party - Glasgow East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what percentage of civil servants in his Department on temporary contracts are women as of 18 October 2023.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP Paid Staff Only September 2023 data.
There was a total of 345 Temporary contracts of those 48% were women.
The department is committed to increase the diversity of our workforce. Recruitment guidance encourages vacancy holders to advertise widely and all DWP’s vacancies are advertised on VERCIDA an inclusive jobs platform, that specifically promotes our diversity networks activities, inclusive culture and employer awards. These are also promoted our Civil Service Careers Website page.
DWP uses a name-blind approach at application and sift stage as standard including at SCS level where feasible. Guidance encourages the use gender-neutral language and online tools to check readability and inclusive language in job adverts and other recruitment materials. In SCS recruitment the department takes proactive steps to improve the diversity of candidates progressed to interview including readvertising on occasion to increase the diversity and gender balance of shortlists.
Our recruitment guidance is clear that restricted working patterns can only be advertised when supported by justifiable business objectives. For some roles we run engagement sessions where candidates can ask questions about working patterns and flexibility at the earliest stages. DWP is also a Career Confident Ambassador and has achieved level 3, the highest level of accreditation.
Roles are designed against the full range of Success Profiles. As such all elements are valued equally, and candidates can succeed in our recruitment and selection processes in the absence of formal qualifications.
DWP workforce diversity statistics are monitored and published internally each quarter. Annual Diversity statistics are monitored and published in the Department for Work and Pensions Annual report and Accounts.
Asked by: David Linden (Scottish National Party - Glasgow East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 23 May to Question 185338 on Department for Work and Pensions: Artificial Intelligence, which (a) services and (b) processes are automated in his Department.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
A number of DWP processes use automation which comes under the scope of Art 22(1) UK-GDPR for some decisions. These processes form part of the following DWP services:
Artificial Intelligence is not used in any of these processes.