Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield Heeley)
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 effect on tax credit claimants of the closure of the interface with HMRC on tax credit debt.
Answered by Will Quince
As part of our initial response to the Covid-19 pandemic we suspended recovery of all overpayment deductions as well as pausing notification of any new overpayments. The transfer of Tax Credit debts from HMRC to DWP was temporarily suspended as part of this approach.
Recovery of existing Tax Credit overpayments from Universal Credit has now resumed, along with the transfer of new Tax Credit debt to DWP.
There have been several discussions with HMRC, who own the Tax Credit Debt, to ensure that both the action of stopping tax credit collection and restarting has taken into account the customer perspective.
We want to ensure that repayment of all debt owed to the Department is sustainable and takes into account the customer’s ability to pay. Claimants are encouraged to contact DWP if they are unable to afford the rate of recovery. The recovery rate of Tax Credit overpayments can be reduced where a claimant is experiencing financial hardship.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield Heeley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make the assessment period for universal credit coterminous with HMRC deadlines.
Answered by Will Quince
Entitlement to Universal Credit is calculated and paid monthly in arrears, in a single payment.
Assessment periods allow Universal Credit awards to be adjusted on a monthly basis, to reflect as closely as possible the actual circumstances of a household during that period. This helps to ensure that if a claimant’s income changes, they do not have to wait several months for a corresponding change in their Universal Credit award.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield Heeley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will issue guidance to ensure that claimants of benefits are aware that they have the right to record work capability assessments.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The letter that is sent to claimants advising when they need to attend a face-to-face assessment (known as an AL1C) makes it clear that claimants can request audio recording.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield Heeley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how hearing is tested in assessments for personal independence payment.
Answered by Sarah Newton
There is no hearing examination within the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessment and the PIP Assessment Guide reflects this.
However, someone with a hearing impairment may still need to attend an assessment and they may have other health conditions. An interpreter in British Sign Language can be arranged for the assessment if a claimant contacts the Assessment Provider to request one when the appointment letter arrives.
The assessment is a functional assessment and not a diagnostic assessment so Assessment Providers do not determine if someone is deaf. It would be up to the claimant to state if they are deaf (if they chose to) and provide any supporting evidence or request an interpreter (again if they chose to).
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield Heeley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of welfare and benefits fraud committed by serious and organised criminals in the last three years.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The requested information is not readily available and can only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield Heeley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, (a) how many and (b) for what reason personal independence payments were not paid on time in (i) June 2018 and (ii) July 2018.
Answered by Sarah Newton
There were 2 Northern Ireland Personal Independent Payments (PIP) that could have been classed as late in July, around the Battle of the Boyne Bank Holiday. Upon investigation it was found that the customers had recently changed address from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, around the time payments were being advanced which caused the delay. Changes to the system were made on these cases to prevent any future payment issues occurring.
No other PIP payments have been notified as late in June or July 2018.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield Heeley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his policy is on requiring jobseeker's allowance claimants to conduct job searches when they have been offered work and are waiting for a start date.
Answered by Damian Hinds
Claimants with a job to start are still required to be available for and actively seeking work as there may be instances where the job start is delayed, or even falls through completely, and it is important to ensure claimants do not miss out on the opportunity to find alternative work. They would need to look for jobs which are appropriate to their situation - so in cases where they have a job start date in the future it may be appropriate for them to look for temporary work. It may also be appropriate for the individual to continue to seek work before a start date if the job they have been offered is part-time when they are able to work full time.
This is common and Work Coaches are familiar with and responsive to this type of scenario.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield Heeley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, who is approved to carry out assessments for complex neurological conditions in work capability assessments.
Answered by Sarah Newton
All Healthcare Professionals undertaking Work Capability Assessments are highly-trained practitioners in their own field. They must be registered practitioners who have at least two years post-registration experience.
Doctors and Physiotherapists are approved by DWP to undertake complex neurological Work Capability Assessments. Neurological training is already a core component of their professional education; this ensures that they have the relevant skills and knowledge to be able to undertake these assessments.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield Heeley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what targets his Department has for processing online applications for the state pension.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) does not maintain average processing times relating to online State Pension applications and does not have a target to process online State Pension claims. Customers can claim their State Pension up to four months in advance of reaching pension age by making a clerical, telephone or online application. The Department measures processing times for all claims and monitors the percentage of applications processed by claim date.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield Heeley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average length of time his Department takes to process online applications for the state pension is.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) does not maintain average processing times relating to online State Pension applications and does not have a target to process online State Pension claims. Customers can claim their State Pension up to four months in advance of reaching pension age by making a clerical, telephone or online application. The Department measures processing times for all claims and monitors the percentage of applications processed by claim date.