Asked by: Heidi Allen (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of people with multiple sclerosis who scored 12 points under PIP mobility activity 2 moving around descriptor (e) can stand and then move more than 1 metre but no more than 20 metres, either aided or unaided were (a) new claimants and (b) reassessments in the latest period for which figures are available.
Answered by Sarah Newton
Of all Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claims cleared between April 2013 and 30th April 2018 from claimants with multiple sclerosis who scored 12 points under PIP the ‘moving around’ mobility activity descriptor (e) can stand and then move more than 1 metre but no more than 20 metres, either aided or unaided, (a) 14% were new claimants and (b) 86% were Disability Living Allowance to PIP reassessment claimants.
Asked by: Heidi Allen (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of claimants of disability living allowance with multiple sclerosis received the higher rate of mobility support as a result of being unable or virtually unable to walk because of a physical disability in the 12 months before the roll-out of personal independence payment.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
The available information on the number of individuals in receipt of Disability Living Allowance payments by medical condition and date is published and can be found at:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk
Guidance for users is available at:
https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html
Asked by: Heidi Allen (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of universal credit claimants received their full payment on time for the most recent period for which information is available.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
This information can be found in the ad-hoc statistics release published on 9 July 2018 at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/length-of-payment-delays-for-new-claims-to-universal-credit.
This ad hoc release provides statistics on timeliness of payment for new claims to Universal Credit due a payment in February 2018. It also contains results for the number of new claims – due a first payment in February 2018 – that received their first payment on time.
Asked by: Heidi Allen (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of universal credit claimants received their full payment on time in each of the last 12 months.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
We plan to publish regular national statistics on Universal Credit, including payment timeliness, in the future. This data is currently going through quality assurance clearance procedures in line with the National Statistics and Official Statistics publication standard.
Asked by: Heidi Allen (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if his Department will bring forward legislative proposals to apply in England provisions equivalent to those of the British Sign Language (Scotland) Act 2015 .
Answered by Sarah Newton
Existing equality legislation already means employers, service providers and public bodies have to provide services in BSL and other formats when it is reasonable to do so. The Public Sector Equality Duty requires public bodies to have due regard to the needs of all those with protected characteristics, We don’t think new legislation would add to that. However, we are looking at developments in Scotland and will learn lessons in order to inform our thinking for England and Wales.
Asked by: Heidi Allen (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Universal Credit split payment arrangement related to domestic violence cases, whether non-requesting partners are able to reverse a request via (a) their online account or (b) Jobcentre Plus.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
A non-requesting partner cannot reverse a split payment arrangement. The arrangement can be reviewed if the applicant and/or their partner provide further information via their online account, face to face with a Work Coach or over the phone. However, the arrangement will only be reversed if the Secretary of State is satisfied that it is in the best interest of the household.
To help ensure people requesting reviews are acting in the interests of their household, Universal Credit agents will collect as much information as possible from the claimants. This information will include details of the mismanagement of welfare support, its effect on individual members of the household and reasons for no longer making split payments.
Asked by: Heidi Allen (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he expects the universal credit landlord portal to be available in areas with full digital universal credit service.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Following successful pilots of the ‘Trusted Partner’ scheme and the ‘Landlord Portal Service’, DWP are rolling out both initiatives together. We are enrolling more landlords in stages, in tandem with the expansion of the Universal Credit Full Service. We have started with the largest landlord groups, in order to ensure the highest possible number of tenants are able to benefit from the schemes, as early as possible. This means that all Trusted Partner landlords have access to the Landlord Portal. We have also already introduced this to the landlords involved in our Trusted Partner pilot.
The Trusted Partner scheme allows social landlords to play a key role in engaging with their tenants who are Universal Credit claimants, helping those who can’t manage their housing payments to access the support available. The Landlord Portal provides social landlords with the ability to submit information directly to the Universal Credit online system, which supports timely and accurate payment of housing costs to Universal Credit claimants.
Asked by: Heidi Allen (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department has taken to reduce waiting times on the universal credit telephone line in advance of a potential increase in the volume as calls arising from full service rollout.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The Universal Credit Full Service was expanded to an additional 29 Jobcentre sites in July and rollout will continue this month, with new claims and changes of circumstance reported online in the vast majority of all cases. All customers have an online account, online statement and journal for interacting with their dedicated Case Manager and Work Coach.
We endeavour to resolve all enquiries from our customers at the point of contact, whether that be face-to-face, online, or on the phone. The percentage of calls being received as a proportion of our total caseload has been steadily falling this year, as customers interact more online, and we will continue to invest to make more functionality available online – for example, customers can now update their Claimant Commitments online before and after their meetings with the Work Coach, helping record job search as customers take the next steps forward into work.
Every week we match the required capacity and resources to our telephony forecast to ensure we meet demand and deliver a good service across our channels. This capacity is organised to scale up in line with new claims as the service expands further to ensure a good customer service and experience.
Asked by: Heidi Allen (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will bring forward the introduction of the online booking system for universal credit jobcentre appointments so that new claimants in October do not incur costs for calling the helpline.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
DWP is currently running a tender process to identify a strategic appointment booking provider. In accordance with the minimum timescales set out in the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 we expect to complete this process in January 2018.
Once a strategic appointment booking provider is identified, we will need to undertake further work to build the required functionality to link the booking system to the Universal Credit Full Service.
Asked by: Heidi Allen (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what training his Department has provided to jobcentre work coaches to help claimants adapt to the new universal credit benefit since that benefit was introduced.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
We have in place a substantial programme of learning and ongoing support for work coaches to enable them to support all customers, whatever their needs. Work coaches receive a blend of face-to-face and online learning, which focuses on both the technical delivery steps and importantly the transformational change, as well as consolidation of training post-completion.
Accreditation is also core to establishing our Work Coaches as an externally recognised professional workforce, and is central to our commitment to their continuous professional development. The learning and accreditation for Work Coaches reflects the critical role they play in the successful delivery of Universal Credit. However, we are not complacent and are investing in our people at all levels to give them the skills, knowledge and tools to deliver.
The Universal Credit Full Service has a training feature that allows our staff to experience the system. Feedback from staff on the training has been positive, particularly the ability to experience the system before their jobcentre goes live with the full service.