Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
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 of increasing the state pension age on access to benefits; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Labour Government 1997-2010, the Coalition 2010-2015 and the Conservative Government of 1992-1997 have taken a similar approach to raising State Pension age. Successive Governments have taken care to give proper consideration to the impact of the proposals made in the Pensions Acts of 1995, 2007 and 2011, which each made changes to the State Pension age. The exact form of the assessments has changed over time as the requirements on Government to carry out standardised impact assessments have changed.
The Pensions Act 1995 legislated to equalise men and women’s State Pension age at 65, over a 10 year period between 2010 and 2020. Standardised impact assessments had not been introduced at the time, but an overview of the options and evidence considered when developing the policy is provided in the 1993 white paper ‘Equality in State Pension age’. (See attached)
The Pensions Act 2007 legislated to introduce a timetable for the increase of State Pension age to 66, 67 and 68.
The impact assessment for the Pensions Act 2007 can be found here:
The Pensions Act 2011 brought forward the equalisation of the male and female State Pension age at 65 by 18 months, so that it had taken place by November 2018 rather than April 2020. It also brought forward the increase from 65 to 66 by five and a half years, so that it takes place by October 2020 rather than March 2026.
The impact assessment for the Pensions Act 2011 can be found here:
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much his Department has spent from the public purse on ensuring its representation at personal independence payment appeals in the last 12 months.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The information requested is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much his Department has spent on representation at personal independent payment appeals in the last six years for which figures are available.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The information requested is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, at what proportion of personal independence payment appeals his Department is represented.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The Department is in the process of recruiting, training and deploying approximately 150 Presenting Officers at Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Employment Support Allowance Tribunals in order to present the Secretary of State’s case and support the First tier Tribunal in arriving at the right decision.
According to internal data, from April 2017 to date, the PIP Presenting Officers have attended approximately 23 per cent of PIP appeals at the First tier Tribunal. The aim is for the PIP Presenting Officers to attend approximately 50 per cent of all PIP Tribunal hearings.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, at what proportion of personal independence payment appeals his Department is represented by barristers.
Answered by Sarah Newton
It is not common practice for the Department to be represented by barristers at the First-tier Tribunal. The Secretary of State’s representative would normally be a Presenting Officer. A number of the current Presenting Officer team may hold qualifications or work experience in the legal profession; however, this is not a requirement for the job role.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what changes have been made in the criteria for assessment of the mobility component of personal independence payment for those with mental health benefits.
Answered by Sarah Newton
DWP has made no changes to its policy for assessment of the mobility component of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) for those experiencing mental health issues. In 2016, a legal judgment altered the way PIP Mobility Activity 1 was interpreted. As a result, the 2017 amending regulations were introduced in order to clarify the criteria and restore the original aim of the policy. In November 2017 the PIP Assessment Guide (the guide used by the Assessment Provider’s Health Professionals), was also updated to clarify this policy following a recommendation by the Social Security Advisory Committee.