Asked by: Ged Killen (Labour (Co-op) - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 8 February 2019 to Question 217138, what designation has been assigned to those complaints.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
I refer the honourable gentlemen to the answer previously given in response to Question 217138. The Independent Case Examiner closed all live complaints concerning changes to women’s State Pension age 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 this group of complaints, the Independent Case Examiner could consider reopening the cases at the request of the Department. The Department cannot evaluate the potential merits of making such a request until the legal proceedings have been concluded.
Asked by: Ged Killen (Labour (Co-op) - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 8 February 2019 to Question 217138, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of her Department instructing the Independent Case Examiner to reopen complaints relating to the equalisation of the state pension age cases in the event that legal proceedings fall away.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
I refer the honourable gentlemen to the answer previously given in response to Question 217138. The Independent Case Examiner closed all live complaints concerning changes to women’s State Pension age 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 this group of complaints, the Independent Case Examiner could consider reopening the cases at the request of the Department. The Department cannot evaluate the potential merits of making such a request until the legal proceedings have been concluded.
Asked by: Ged Killen (Labour (Co-op) - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 4 February 2019 to Question 214627 on State Retirement Pensions: Females, whether she plans to instruct her Department to re-open complaints relating to the equalisation of the state pension age in the event that (a) the matter is no longer the subject of legal proceedings and (b) there has been no legal determination on the issues which form the basis of the complaint to the Independent Case Examiner as set out in that Answer.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Independent Case Examiner closed all live complaints concerning changes to women’s State Pension age 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 forms the basis of this group of complaint, the Independent Case Examiner could consider reopening the cases at the request of the Department.
Asked by: Ged Killen (Labour (Co-op) - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether as a result of the ongoing judicial review into complaints in relation to the equalisation of state pension age, women that have lodged complaints that are being processed will have their complaints (a) paused or (b) closed until the judicial review is complete.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
This government and the various other bodies are acting no differently to all previous governments subject to a legal challenge on such an issue.
Following the High Court’s decision on 30 November 2018 to grant the claimants permission to proceed to a full judicial review hearing on the changes to State Pension age, the department has reviewed its handling of such complaints.
The department has concluded that the issue in the Judicial Review does impact on the ongoing complaints. Therefore, the DWP has decided to temporarily suspend action on current and future complaints on State Pension age matters until the final court decision in the judicial review. We do not think it is appropriate for the DWP to investigate a matter that is currently being considered by the High Court. An update explaining this will be added to the gov.uk website, and anyone who has an affected complaint we will notify. Matters that are unrelated to the judicial review will be progressed as normal under DWP’s complaints procedure.
This approach is consistent with the decision taken by the Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman. Following the decision of the High Court to grant permission for a judicial review to go ahead on the changes to State Pension age, the Parliamentary and Health Ombudsman’s office has confirmed that they will be taking no further action on current and future complaints they receive on changes to State Pension age until the court proceedings conclude.
The Independent Case Examiner provides an independent review of complaints which remain unresolved following a final response from the DWP. As such, the Independent Case Examiner has also considered its position in light of the High Court decision. The Independent Case Examiner Office has no role to play in matters which are, or have been, the subject of legal proceedings. As a result, following the High Court decision, the Independent Case Examiners’ Office took action to close all live State Pension age complaints, in line with its agreed operational parameters.
The table provides information on the number of cases closed at the Independent Case Examiner relating to State Pension age changes, and the rationale for closing them. The number rejected (b) may increase (complaints cannot currently be accepted due to the judicial review).
Reason for complaint closure | Number |
(a) Independent Case Examiner investigation report issued | 192 |
(b) Rejected (the complaint failed to meet the Independent Case Examiner acceptance criteria) | 1,598 |
(c) Withdrawn by complainant | 1 |
(d) Closed following the High Court decision to grant permission for a judicial review of the Department’s handling of the change to women’s State Pension age – it is not within the Independent Case Examiner remit to consider issues which are, or have been, subject to legal proceedings. | 2,505 |
In the event that the High Court makes no legal determination in respect of the complaint regarding State Pension age change, the Department will review its position once more and consider lifting the suspension.
At this point the Independent Case Examiner Office could, at the request of the Department, also re-open those complaints closed as a result of the judicial review. This would be on the understanding that: (a) the matter is no longer the subject of legal proceedings and (b) there has been no legal determination on the issues which form the basis of the complaint to the Independent Case Examiner.
Asked by: Ged Killen (Labour (Co-op) - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has plans to revise the payment dates for universal credit payments over Christmas and new year to allow claimants whose specified payment date is on or after 25 December 2018 to be paid more than one working day in advance of 25 December 2018.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
The Department has extensive experience of paying claimants over holiday periods and we have also paid Universal Credit to significant numbers of claimants over previous Christmas periods.
The Department will advance the timing of all payments for people affected by bank holidays, to make sure they have money over the festive period.
Universal Credit payments due to be received on 24, 25 and 26 December will be paid no later than 21 December.
Universal Credit payments due to be received on 30, 31 December and 1 January will receive payment no later than 31 December.
This information is available at: https://www.gov.uk/how-to-have-your-benefits-paid
Asked by: Ged Killen (Labour (Co-op) - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will publish the guidance issued by her Department on the thresholds for (a) financial hardship when a universal credit claimant applies for an advanced payment and (b) exceptional circumstances when a universal credit claimant with an advance payment applies for repayments to be delayed for up to three months.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
Universal Credit guidance is published in the House of Commons Library and the Department is committed to refreshing the information on a regular basis.
New claimants to Universal Credit have always been able to apply for a Universal Credit Advance in their first month if they need financial support until their first regular payment of Universal Credit is made.
We have previously increased the maximum amount available for advances from 50 per cent to 100 per cent of the total award, and increased the repayment period from 6 months to 12 months. Last month’s Autumn Budget 2018 extended - from October 2021 - the maximum period over which an advance can be recovered, from 12 to 16 months. From October 2019, we will also reduce the maximum rate at which deductions can be made from a Universal Credit award from 40% to 30% of the standard allowance
If during the recovery of an advance the claimant experiences an unforeseen expense that would cause them or their family genuine hardship if they were required to continue to repay the advance, then they can be offered a deferral period of the repayment of the advance of up to 3 months for a new claim, benefit transfer or change of circumstance advance and up to 6 months for a budgeting advance.
In addition Personal Budgeting Support (PBS) is also offered to Universal Credit claimants from the outset of their claim. PBS helps claimants as they transition to Universal Credit and adapt to the financial changes that Universal Credit brings. PBS can be online, telephone or face to face support. Face to face support is currently delivered through local authorities via Universal Support.
Asked by: Ged Killen (Labour (Co-op) - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to universal credit, what estimate she has made of the (a) proportion of claimants who apply for an advanced payment that are successful, (b) number of claimants who seek a deferred payment of three months when repaying an advanced payment and (c) proportion of claimants who receive an advanced payment and apply successfully for a deferred payment.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
I refer the hon Member to the reply to Question 176262 on 11 October.
Asked by: Ged Killen (Labour (Co-op) - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 1 November 2018 to Question 185131 on Independent Case Examiner, if she will publish that same information for complaints by women on the equalisation of the state pension age.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Individual departments have set up complaints procedures. That approach has not changed under Labour 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, and discusses complaints. The Independent Case Examiner 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 I 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.
The table below provides details of the number of complaints concerning the equalisation of women’s state pension age, that have been (a) received; (b) accepted for investigation and (c) resolved by the Independent Case Examiner in each month since January 2017 (we have interpreted (c) as a request for the number of concluded complaint examinations).
At the end of October 2018, there were 865 such cases awaiting a decision on whether the complaint could be accepted for investigation, which explains the drop in the number of cases accepted for investigation since April 2018.
Month | Complaints received | Complaints accepted for investigation | Concluded complaint examinations |
January 2017 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
February 2017 | 26 | 5 | 0 |
March 2017 | 211 | 187 | 0 |
April 2017 | 172 | 157 | 0 |
May 2017 | 171 | 148 | 0 |
June 2017 | 144 | 124 | 1 |
July 2017 | 222 | 185 | 0 |
August 2017 | 290 | 243 | 0 |
September 2017 | 297 | 232 | 0 |
October 2017 | 418 | 338 | 3 |
November 2017 | 320 | 265 | 6 |
December 2017 | 222 | 177 | 4 |
January 2018 | 314 | 254 | 11 |
February 2018 | 240 | 210 | 28 |
March 2018 | 171 | 132 | 16 |
April 2018 | 196 | 2 | 11 |
May 2018 | 159 | 2 | 15 |
June 2018 | 147 | 2 | 30 |
July 2018 | 131 | 0 | 13 |
August 2018 | 108 | 5 | 14 |
September 2018 | 101 | 1 | 15 |
October 2018 | 119 | 0 | 14 |
Asked by: Ged Killen (Labour (Co-op) - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many complaints have been (a) received, (b) accepted for investigation and (c) resolved by the Independent Case Examiner in each month since January 2017 for which information is available.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The table below provides details of the number of complaints (a) received; (b) accepted for investigation and (c) resolved by the Independent Case Examiner in each month since January 2017 (we have interpreted (c) as a request for the number of concluded complaint examinations).
Month | Complaints received | Complaints accepted for investigation | Concluded complaint examinations |
January 2017 | 283 | 121 | 72 |
February 2017 | 250 | 92 | 70 |
March 2017 | 448 | 140 | 109 |
April 2017 | 380 | 244 | 58 |
May 2017 | 445 | 252 | 84 |
June 2017 | 391 | 226 | 85 |
July 2017 | 491 | 304 | 83 |
August 2017 | 507 | 336 | 69 |
September 2017 | 512 | 326 | 71 |
October 2017 | 664 | 428 | 81 |
November 2017 | 556 | 373 | 76 |
December 2017 | 358 | 66 | 65 |
January 2018 | 585 | 130 | 85 |
February 2018 | 517 | 82 | 82 |
March 2018 | 451 | 17 | 83 |
April 2018 | 479 | 177 | 74 |
May 2018 | 430 | 147 | 87 |
June 2018 | 444 | 309 | 108 |
July 2018 | 415 | 370 | 91 |
August 2018 | 442 | 238 | 104 |
September 2018 | 373 | 116 | 91 |
Asked by: Ged Killen (Labour (Co-op) - Rutherglen and Hamilton 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 number of instances where universal credit claimants have not received universal credit payments due to being paid every four weeks rather than per calendar month.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
The amount of Universal Credit paid reflects, as closely as possible, the actual circumstances of a household during each monthly assessment period, including any earnings reported by the employer during that assessment period, regardless of when they were paid. Monthly assessment is aligned to the way the majority of employees are paid and also allows Universal Credit to be adjusted each month. This means that if a claimant’s income falls, they will not have to wait several months for a rise in their Universal Credit.
Some claimants are paid in differing patterns, including four-weekly, fortnightly, weekly or on a variable day every month, which may mean that for some months these claimants receive two or more sets of earnings during one Universal Credit assessment period (AP). This may reduce, or in some cases completely reduce the Universal Credit award the claimant receives that month.
We have produced guidance to help ensure claimants, staff and representatives are aware of the importance of reporting accurate dates and the impact on payment cycles: this is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-different-earning-patterns-and-your-payments/universal-credit-different-earning-patterns-and-your-payments-payment-cycles.