Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps are taken to ensure that claimants receive the correct benefit award after their assessment, rather than requiring a mandatory reconsideration or tribunal.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The Department’s aim is to make the right decision as early as possible in the claim journey. We have made improvements to our decision making processes to ensure that people get the support they are entitled to as quickly as possible, because decision makers can better gather relevant additional evidence earlier in the process.
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the impact on the finances of personal independence payment and employment support allowance claimants who are required to wait for a tribunal in order to receive their correct benefits award.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The Department understands the potential effect of waiting for a tribunal hearing which is why our aim is to make the right decision as early as possible in the claim journey. Recent improvements to our decision-making processes mean that Decision Makers can better gather relevant additional evidence. This helps to ensure that people get the support they are entitled to as quickly as possible, without the need for a tribunal appeal.
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many of her Department's ministers have been exempted from quarantine in a hotel after returning to the UK from a covid-19 red list country to which they have travelled for the purposes of conducting official business.
Answered by Guy Opperman
None of the Department’s ministers have travelled to a ‘red list’ country and therefore no exemptions have been required.
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate she has made of the number of companies that are signed up to the Disability Confident Scheme; and what assessment she has made of the effect of that scheme on employment rates for disabled people.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
As of 31st March 2021, over 20,000 employers had signed up to the Disability Confident (DC) scheme covering over 11 million employees. Disability Confident is a learning journey that provides employers with the knowledge, skills and confidence they need to attract, recruit, retain and progress disabled people in the workplace. Employers are encouraged to publically report on disability employment and mental health using the Voluntary Reporting Framework (VRF), but are not required to provide government with this data.
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate she has made of the number of employees with epilepsy working in Government departments.
Answered by Guy Opperman
We do not hold information for other Government departments and can only answer in relation to the Department for Work and Pension’s staff.
I refer the Right Honourable Member to the answer given to the Honourable Member for East Renfrewshire to Question 132962 on 11 January 2021. https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2020-12-30/132962
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies on benefit sanctions of the report by the Children's Society, The cost of being care free, published in June 2016.
Answered by Damian Hinds
We are grateful for this report focusing on care leavers from The Children’s Society, and for their recommendations, which we will consider as part of our continuous review of sanctions policy to ensure the process functions effectively and fairly.
I can assure you that where we identify an issue, we act to put it right.
For care leavers, as with other claimants, the sanctions process encourages them to prepare for or find work, by meeting their agreed commitments based on their individual circumstances and capabilities, as set out in their Claimant Commitment. This includes both mandatory and voluntary actions care leavers have agreed to undertake. The consequences and implications of not meeting any agreed requirement are clearly set out and explained to them.
A decision to apply a sanction is not taken lightly, and claimants are given the opportunity to provide a good reason for not complying before the decision is made.
Our primary goal is to help care leavers get into work wherever possible and they receive tailored, locally-appropriate employment support at the earliest opportunity to achieve this.
Care leavers, like all claimants, take ownership of planning how they will meet their requirements and ultimately secure employment. They will be supported by their Work Coach who will assist them in meeting their requirements through providing encouragement and direction, using a range of communication methods. Work Coaches support all claimants who require additional support to ensure that they fully understand what they have been asked to do to enable them to access DWP benefits and use our services.
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether UK citizens will have automatic right to mutual recognition of pension contributions in EU countries in the event of the UK leaving the EU and prior to the completion of exit negotiations under Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty.
Answered by Stephen Crabb
At the February European Council, the Government negotiated a new settlement, giving the United Kingdom a special status in a reformed European Union. The Government's position is that the UK will be stronger, safer and better off remaining in a reformed EU. If the result of the referendum is a decision to leave, the Government would have two years under the Article 50 process to seek to negotiate the terms, including those concerning pensions, of the UK’s exit, with the possibility of extending this time frame with the agreement of the other 27 Member States.
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his most recent forecast is of how many jobcentres will have universal credit available to all parents, both in and out of work, in April 2016.
Answered by Lord Harper
I refer the Rt. Hon. Member to the Oral answer Secretary of State gave to the House on 9 March 2015, UIN90716.
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of parents expected to claim universal credit once that benefit is fully rolled out.
Answered by Lord Harper
The department published planning projections of the Universal Credit in the publication 'Universal Credit at Work' published on 22 October 2014. The publication can be found at the below link. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-at-work
The Department is not setting targets for numbers in receipt of Universal Credit at various points in time.
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much his Department spent on the purchase of televisions in (a) 2013 and (b) 2014 to date.
Answered by Steve Webb
Since 1998 the Department for Work and Pensions occupies the majority of its accommodation under a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) known as the PRIME Contract.
Under the terms of this PFI, the Department leases back fully serviced accommodation from its private sector partner Telereal Trillium. We pay an all-inclusive unitary price, known as the Facility Price (FP), for all our furniture, fixtures, equipment and services provided, including televisions.
There were however, televisions supplied to the Department which fell outside the scope of the contract price; the costs of which are detailed below:
(a) 2013 - two televisions at a cost of £487;
(b) 2014 to date - four televisions at cost of £1,076.