Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
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 implications for his policies of the findings of the February 2020 Joseph Rowntree Foundation report entitled UK Poverty 2019-2020 that 56 per cent of people living in poverty were also in a working household in 2018; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Will Quince
There is clear evidence about the importance of work in tackling poverty now and in the future. For example, a child growing up in a home where all adults are working is around 5 times less likely to be in poverty than a child in a household where nobody works. The majority of people in in-work poverty either work solely part-time, are the single earner in a couple, or are full-time self-employed.
Delivering a sustainable long-term solution to poverty means building a strong economy and ensuring that the benefit system works with the tax system and the labour market to support employment and higher pay. There are over 1 million fewer workless households compared with 2010, with around 730,000 fewer children in workless households, and over 3.8 million more people have entered work, averaging around 1,000 people a day. Around three-quarters of the growth in employment since 2010 has been in full-time work. Our unemployment rate is now less than half the Euro area average. Around three-quarters of the growth in employment since 2010 has been in full-time work, substantially reducing the risk of poverty.
Joseph Rowntree Foundation reported that Universal Credit is likely to help an extra 300,000 members of working families out of poverty.
Universal Credit is designed to help people move into work faster, stay in work longer and spend more time looking to increase their earnings. It provides more financial help with childcare costs (eligible claimants are able to claim up to 85 per cent of their childcare costs, compared to 70% on the legacy system), a dedicated Work Coach, and removes the 16-hour ‘cliff edge’ for those who are working. We are confident that, as UC reaches more working families, we will see more people working full-time and ultimately achieving independence from the State.
We will continue to reform the welfare system so that it promotes work as the most effective route out of poverty and is fairer towards those who receive it and the taxpayers who pay for it. We also want to identify opportunities to create a highly productive workforce, improving progression prospects for the lowest paid people so everyone has the right skills to meet the UK’s future demand. That is why we are delivering a significant programme of research and testing to build the evidence of how to overcome the obstacles that people face so that they can improve their earnings and career prospects.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of recording all calls from benefits claimants to ensure that complaints can be followed up.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department acknowledges the merit and does record inbound calls to DWP’s helplines in order to make improvements to service and follow-up on any complaints received.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the recent report by Macmillan Cancer Support, Cancer - A costly diagnosis? Stories of the financial impact of cancer, if she will take steps to help mitigate the financial effect of a cancer diagnosis on patients and their families.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The Department takes seriously the need to support vulnerable claimants. We are committed to ensuring that people who have cancer are treated with the utmost sensitivity and care when making a claim to Universal Credit. Overall we are spending £55 billion a year on benefits to support disabled people and people with health conditions. That’s a record high and up £10 billion in real terms since 2010.
For instance, in terms of the support we provide, the UC50 questionnaire incorporates a 'light touch' evidence gathering process for cancer patients, and makes clear that Clinical Nurse Specialists and consultants can provide information on the form, therefore making the claim and assessment process simpler for people with cancer. This ensures the Department can make accurate and timely payments of Universal Credit.
Staff delivering Universal Credit undergo a comprehensive learning journey designed to equip them with the tools, skills and behaviours required to provide a high quality service to all claimants, including those who have cancer and other serious health conditions. Colleagues receive on-going learning in their roles and have access to Universal Credit guidance which is refreshed at regular intervals.
It is important to ensure those affected by cancer receive the most appropriate support and we have worked closely with many representative organisations to improve the WCA process for those affected. From January 2013, the categories of cancer treatments under which a claimant can be treated as having limited capability for work-related activity (LCWRA) have been expanded to include individuals who are awaiting, receiving, or recovering from treatment by way of chemotherapy irrespective of route, and radiotherapy. Although there is no automatic award, in these cases, there is a presumption that the claimant has LCWRA, subject to suitable evidence being provided by a professional such as a GP, oncologist or clinical nurse specialist.
Work coaches personalise the support they provide for each claimant based on individual need and circumstance, including the offer of home visits or postal signing where appropriate. Local jobcentres have the flexibility to work alongside organisations to help meet the needs of their communities, helping our most vulnerable, at risk, claimants to access the support they need. We also work with organisations to produce guides on specific vulnerabilities.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many disability living allowance claimants who applied for personal independence payments after their 16th birthday were unsuccessful in their claims.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
There were 49,110 Disability Living Allowance (DLA) claimants who applied to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) after their 16th birthday and had their claim disallowed at initial decision. This is compared to 77,150 who had their claim awarded at initial decision. Both figures are for initial decisions made between the introduction of PIP in April 2013 and 31st January 2019.
Source: PIP ADS
Notes:
Data is for initial decisions only and do not take into account the results of Mandatory Reconsiderations or Appeals.
Disallowances are recorded under the following categories: “Disallowed Pre-referral to the AP”*, “Disallowed pre-referral to the AP – due to non-return of Part 2 within the time limit”*, Disallowed – Failed Assessment” and “Disallowed – Failed to Attend Assessment”.
Data does not include claimants who registered a claim but voluntarily withdrew their claim during the claim process.
PIP data includes normal rules and special rules for the terminally ill claimants.
Data has been rounded to the nearest 10.
Figures are for Great Britain only.
*AP = assessment provider
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which minister in her Department authorised the recent universal credit campaign in the Metro newspaper in May 2019.
Answered by Lord Sharma
We are the biggest Government Department with a day to day operation on which around 22 million citizens depend. We have a responsibility to advertise Universal Credit and have been doing so for some time. This helps ensure people understand the benefits they may be entitled to and that they have the information they need when it comes to making a claim.
The Department has a responsibility to ensure claimants do not miss out on their full entitlements and to encourage people to make their claim as quickly as possible.
To identify complaint cases concerning the Universal Credit campaign in the Metro newspaper would require every complaint case to be examined. So, this data could only be collated at a disproportionate cost to the Department.
In November 2018 Ministers agreed to the principle of national media partnership. The specific Metro campaign was taken forward by Departmental officials. Ministers agreed the content of the launch products.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to rectify any potentially misleading messages on universal credit published in the Metro newspaper in May 2019.
Answered by Lord Sharma
We are the biggest Government Department with a day to day operation on which around 22 million citizens depend. We have a responsibility to advertise Universal Credit and have been doing so for some time. This helps ensure people understand the benefits they may be entitled to and that they have the information they need when it comes to making a claim.
The Department has a responsibility to ensure claimants do not miss out on their full entitlements and to encourage people to make their claim as quickly as possible.
To identify complaint cases concerning the Universal Credit campaign in the Metro newspaper would require every complaint case to be examined. So, this data could only be collated at a disproportionate cost to the Department.
In November 2018 Ministers agreed to the principle of national media partnership. The specific Metro campaign was taken forward by Departmental officials. Ministers agreed the content of the launch products.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many ESA65B letters her Department sent to GPs in Yorkshire and the Humber in 2018.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The Department does not hold information on the number of ESA65B letters sent to GPs.
The ESA65B letter is normally automatically issued to GPs by the Department’s IT system in every case where an Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) claimant has been found ‘fit for work’ following a Work Capability Assessment (WCA).
If a claimant states that they do not agree to information about the determination of their WCA being shared with their GP, the claim will be maintained clerically and the papers noted that the letter is not to be issued.
The latest ESA statistics, which show the number of claimants found fit for work, can be found here: