Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants of (a) personal independence payment and (b) employment and support allowance in Blaenau Gwent constituency were successful in appeals in relation to their entitlement in (i) 2017-18 and (ii) since April 2018.
Answered by Sarah Newton
Personal Independence Payment (PIP) appeals -
In the Blaenau Gwent constituency, (i) 130 claimants were successful in appeals in 2017-18 and (ii) 30 claimants were successful in appeals between April and June 2018, the latest date for which statistics have been published. These figures include all PIP appeals; so they will contain appeals where claimants appealed for a higher PIP award as well as those appeals against a disallowance decision. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10.
Appeals data taken from the DWP PIP computer system’s management information. Therefore this appeal data may differ from that held by Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service for various reasons such as delays in data recording and other methodological differences in collating and preparing statistics.
The Parliamentary Constituency geography relates to the origin of the claim (i.e. derived from claimant’s postcode) rather than the location of where the tribunal was.
Decisions overturned at appeal may include a number of appeals that have been lapsed (which is where DWP changed the decision after an appeal was lodged but before it was heard at Tribunal).
Since PIP was introduced, 3.5m decisions have been made nationally up to June 2018. Of these, 9% have been appealed and 4% have been overturned.
Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) appeals -
Information on appeal outcome by claim start date and Parliamentary Constituency is
available on Stat-Xplore under “ESA Work Capability Assessments”.
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/
Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here:
https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/index.html
Between April 2014 and March 2018, 3.5m ESA (post WCA) decisions have been made nationally, of these 8% have been appealed and 4% have been overturned.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress her Department has made on proposed verification and security measures for individual users of the proposed Pensions Dashboard.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
On Tuesday 4 September 2018, I published a written statement providing an update on pensions including the pensions dashboard. This statement can be found here: https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2018-09-04/HCWS933/
An industry-led Dashboard, facilitated by Government, will harness the best of industry innovation. We will continue to engage with industry, consumer groups and other stakeholders on this model and Government will protect pension savers and personal information by legislating where necessary.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the participation of pension schemes in the Pensions Dashboard will be compulsory.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
As set out in the Autumn Budget, DWP will consult on the detailed design for pensions dashboards, and on how an industry-led approach could harness innovation while protecting consumers. As part of the consultation, due to be published shortly, the Department will explore how to maximise the participation of pension schemes.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to enhance the (a) information-gathering and (b) anti-avoidance powers of the Pensions Regulator.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We have announced in the White Paper, Protecting Defined Benefit Pension Schemes, that we intend to introduce a stand-alone interview power and enhanced inspection powers to enable the Pensions Regulator to conduct its investigations in a more efficient way.
The Government’s recent consultation on a stronger Pensions Regulator asked for views on proposals to strengthen the Pensions Regulator’s powers, including specifically enhancing its anti-avoidance powers, which deal with moral hazard. We are considering the responses and hope to publish our conclusions shortly, with a view to taking forward any necessary legislation in due course.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to enhance the moral hazard powers of the Pensions Regulator.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We have announced in the White Paper, Protecting Defined Benefit Pension Schemes, that we intend to introduce a stand-alone interview power and enhanced inspection powers to enable the Pensions Regulator to conduct its investigations in a more efficient way.
The Government’s recent consultation on a stronger Pensions Regulator asked for views on proposals to strengthen the Pensions Regulator’s powers, including specifically enhancing its anti-avoidance powers, which deal with moral hazard. We are considering the responses and hope to publish our conclusions shortly, with a view to taking forward any necessary legislation in due course.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the the report Rough Justice, published by the Child Poverty Action Group on 6 August 2018, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of the recommendations on a monthly assessment of income.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
We are listening to stakeholders about payment cycles, and we will consider this important report carefully
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 27 July 2018 to Question 166475 on Universal Credit; whether her Department holds data on the number of enquiries received from universal credit (a) applicants and (b) claimants in relation to qualifying for a payment through the online journal system in each of the last 12 months.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
This information is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 27 July 2018 to Question 166475 on Universal Credit; whether her Department holds data on the number of enquiries received from universal credit (a) applicants and (b) claimants in relation to qualifying for a payment on the universal credit telephone helpline in each of the last 12 months.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
This information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the number of universal credit claimants who did not qualify for a payment as a result of receiving two wage payments during an assessment period in each of the last 12 months; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department plans to increase the level of compensation payable by the Pension Protection Fund.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Labour government set up the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) to pay a meaningful level of compensation to DB scheme members where the sponsoring employer becomes insolvent.
The PPF is fundamentally funded by a levy on eligible schemes. Therefore, any decision to increase either the level of compensation, or to provide inflation increases to pensions built up before April 1997, would result in significant increases to levy payers. It is not proposed to change the present law.