Asked by: Marion Fellows (Scottish National Party - Motherwell and Wishaw)
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 ensure the access to work programme facilitates flexible working.
Answered by Chloe Smith
Working with disabled people, Access to Work has developed a flexible offer to enable disabled people to take up flexible working arrangements. The Access to Work flexible offer contains a blended package of support, that complements standard adjustments and offers a tailored package of support to enable work in the workplace, at home, or a combination of both.
Asked by: Marion Fellows (Scottish National Party - Motherwell and Wishaw)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans her Department has to support legacy benefit recipients who have been financially impacted by the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Since the start of the pandemic, DWP has spent over £11.9bn to help families by investing in additional welfare and employment support. From 24 March, the COVID-19 provisions in the Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) regulations will end. There are no other remaining legacy benefit provisions relating to COVID-19, but a wide range of benefits and other support is available to people who are receiving legacy benefits, subject to the normal conditions of entitlement.
The Government is committed to supporting families most in need, spending billions more on welfare and planning a long-term route out of poverty, by helping people to increase their hours in employment or to find new work through our Plan for Jobs and the new Way to Work campaign.
Asked by: Marion Fellows (Scottish National Party - Motherwell and Wishaw)
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 ensure that disabled people on legacy benefits do not fall in to poverty as the cost of living increases.
Answered by Chloe Smith
Personal Independence Payments are available to help with the extra costs of living faced by disabled people, while people may also be entitled to additional financial support through Universal Credit or Employment and Support Allowance. Claimants on legacy benefits who need additional financial assistance may be eligible for Universal Credit and can voluntarily apply if they believe that they will be better off. Disability benefits can provide a gateway or passport to a wide range of additional support or help.
There are a range of DWP initiatives that support disabled people and people with health conditions to live independent lives and start, stay and succeed in employment. These include the Intensive Personalised Employment Support programme, Access to Work, Disability Confident and support in partnership with the health system, including Employment Advisers in NHS Improving Access to Psychological Therapy services.
Asked by: Marion Fellows (Scottish National Party - Motherwell and Wishaw)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Government's response of December 2021 to further recommendations made by the UNCRPD in 2016 on the UK's implementation of that convention, what steps she is taking to protect the rights of disabled people.
Answered by Chloe Smith
We are fully committed to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which we ratified in 2009, and the progressive realisation of rights for disabled people that it sets out. The UK has some of the strongest equalities legislation in the world, including the Equality Act 2010, and we will continue to make sure that these rights are protected.
The UK has a proud record of furthering the rights of disabled people. The principles of the UN Convention are at the heart of our approach. We continue to reform and modernise our public services and welfare system to ensure that disabled people are able to participate in every aspect of society.
The UK’s 2021 report demonstrates our ongoing commitment across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to support disabled people, through legislation, policies and programmes that tackle the barriers faced by disabled people to realise their full participation and inclusion in society. The Government’s response was submitted to the UNCRPD Committee in 2021, and published on GOV.UK with accessible formats in December 2021 and can be found here.
The UK Government’s recently published National Disability Strategy has been a milestone in this respect, with over 100 practical commitments which are being delivered to improve the everyday lives of disabled people.
Asked by: Marion Fellows (Scottish National Party - Motherwell and Wishaw)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the NatCen Report, Uses of Health and Disability Benefits, published by the Work and Pensions Committee on 3 February 2022, what steps her Department will take to (a) improve Jobcentre staff understanding of health and disabilities and (b) ensure disabled people are treated with compassion and respect.
Answered by Chloe Smith
DWP is committed to providing the best possible support for all claimants, including those with health conditions and disabilities. We are continuously reviewing and improving the service to ensure that it is accessible and responsive to the needs of the customer.
We recognise the importance of understanding how a health condition or disability impacts someone’s ability to start, stay and succeed in work. Work Coaches undergo a comprehensive training programme designed to equip them with the skills and knowledge required to provide a high-quality service. Specific training and guidance is provided for working with different vulnerable groups and those with complex needs. Any work-related requirements are agreed in discussion with the claimant and will always be tailored in light of the impact of the claimant’s health condition, disability and circumstances, ensuring they are realistic and achievable and that the claimant is treated with compassion and respect.
Disability Employment Advisers work alongside Work Coaches, providing further upksilling, and specialising in finding the right support to help all customers that have a disability or health condition. Furthermore, our Disability Employment Advisers work with health and disability related organisations in the community to provide advice and guidance to support claimants with disabilities, including those with mental health issues
Asked by: Marion Fellows (Scottish National Party - Motherwell and Wishaw)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Work and Pensions Committee report, entitled Uses of Health and Disability Benefits, published 3 February 2022, what steps her Department is taking to improve information sharing between medical professionals and Job Centre Plus to mitigate the need for claimants to repeat details of their health conditions.
Answered by Chloe Smith
We remain committed to making changes to improve the current assessment processes. We are exploring how we support claimants to provide the correct evidence earlier in the process and to see if current processes can be improved to give the claimant a more positive experience.
The Department is currently considering responses to Shaping Future Support: the Health and Disability Green Paper, which will feed into a White Paper on this subject later this year.
Over the longer term, the Health Transformation Programme is developing the Health Assessment Service (HAS), which aims to provide an improved service, such as more efficient use of the information used to make decisions. This includes exploring data sharing to secure better medical evidence to increase the speed and quality of decision-making.
Asked by: Marion Fellows (Scottish National Party - Motherwell and Wishaw)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the report of the Work and Pensions Committee, entitled Uses of Health and Disability Benefits, published on 3 February 2022, what steps her Department is taking to provide social security information and signposting to those who are digitally excluded.
Answered by Chloe Smith
DWP targets communications with citizens who may be eligible to benefits at pivotal stages in their lives, such as when they claim State Pension or report a change in their circumstances. The Department uses a wide range of channels to communicate information about benefits to potential customers; including information on GOV.UK, in leaflets and by telephone.
DWP staff in Jobcentres provide support and advice about entitlement to benefits and will signpost citizens to appropriate information to help them. The Department provides telephone service lines which citizens can call to make their claims to benefit and to operate their claims as well as a visiting service which can help vulnerable customers with their claims.
Jobcentres have internet terminals which are available for use by the public, and staff will signpost citizens to other community resources (libraries and Citizens Advice) which can also provide advice and internet access points.
Where an out of work claimant of working age is engaging with a Work Coach to gain suitable employment the Work Coach can consider using the Flexible Support Fund to address the claimant’s barriers to employment. This includes providing devices and connections to get online.
Asked by: Marion Fellows (Scottish National Party - Motherwell and Wishaw)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in the context of the recent launch of the broadband voucher scheme for jobseekers, what additional steps her Department is taking to provide connectivity to other digitally excluded groups that fall within her Department's remit.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The cost of being connected online can be a barrier for low income households. DWP has worked with DCMS and Ofcom to influence broadband providers to support extending eligibility for new broadband social tariffs to low income households. As a result some broadband providers have made their new social tariffs available to all UC claimants and other means tested benefits. These social tariffs provide good speed, unlimited data and are available at a reduced price for those eligible. DWP is working with Ofcom to promote awareness of these social tariffs to our stakeholders and Work Coaches throughout our Jobcentre Plus network who can then signpost claimants to them.
Where an out of work claimant of working age is engaging with a Work Coach to gain suitable employment the Work Coach can consider using the Flexible Support Fund to address the claimants barriers to employment. This includes providing devices and connections to get online.
Jobcentre Plus Work Coaches can provide support to working age out of work claimants who are not online by procuring devices, and connections including 6 months broadband connection in the home for eligible jobseekers through the Flexible Support Fund, where the Work Coach assess that this barrier is stopping the claimant progressing in their labour market journey.
We continue to work with DCMS and Ofcom to influence the market to address barriers to digital exclusion.
Asked by: Marion Fellows (Scottish National Party - Motherwell and Wishaw)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in the context of the recent launch of the broadband voucher scheme for jobseekers, whether her Department has plans to expand that scheme for recipients of (a) personal independence payment, (b) employment support allowance and (c) other benefits.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The cost of being connected online can be a barrier for low income households. DWP has worked with DCMS and Ofcom to influence broadband providers to support extending eligibility for new broadband social tariffs to low income households. As a result some broadband providers have made their new social tariffs available to all UC claimants and other means tested benefits. These social tariffs provide good speed, unlimited data and are available at a reduced price for those eligible. DWP is working with Ofcom to promote awareness of these social tariffs to our stakeholders and Work Coaches throughout our Jobcentre Plus network who can then signpost claimants to them.
Where an out of work claimant of working age is engaging with a Work Coach to gain suitable employment the Work Coach can consider using the Flexible Support Fund to address the claimants barriers to employment. This includes providing devices and connections to get online.
Jobcentre Plus Work Coaches can provide support to working age out of work claimants who are not online by procuring devices, and connections including 6 months broadband connection in the home for eligible jobseekers through the Flexible Support Fund, where the Work Coach assess that this barrier is stopping the claimant progressing in their labour market journey.
We continue to work with DCMS and Ofcom to influence the market to address barriers to digital exclusion.
Asked by: Marion Fellows (Scottish National Party - Motherwell and Wishaw)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in have signed up to the joint broadband voucher scheme for jobseekers delivered by her Department and TalkTalk since its launch in (a) Motherwell and Wishaw constituency and (b) Scotland.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.