Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to increase the (a) basic and (b) new state pension by at least the September 2023 rate of increase in average earnings.
Answered by Laura Trott - Shadow Secretary of State for Education
The outcome of the Secretary of State’s review of benefits rates, including the State Pension, for 2023 will be announced in the coming weeks. Following his review, the new rates will come into force from April 2024. We cannot pre-empt this review.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what data his Department holds on the average actual clearance times for Personal Independence Payment claims in Rhondda Cynon Taf in each of the last ten years.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
Table (a) shows the average actual clearance times for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) normal rules new claims and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) to PIP reassessments in Rhondda Cynon Taf in each of the last 10 financial years (from 2013/14 to 2022/23), calculated as the median number of weeks from registration to DWP decision.
Processing time | ||
Financial Year | New Claim | Reassessment |
2013/14 | 26 | - |
2014/15 | 25 | 24 |
2015/16 | 11 | 11 |
2016/17 | 11 | 12 |
2017/18 | 14 | 14 |
2018/19 | 14 | 17 |
2019/20 | 16 | 18 |
2020/21 | 14 | 21 |
2021/22 | 19 | 21 |
2022/23 | 14 | 17 |
Table (b) shows the average actual clearance times for PIP Special Rules for End of Life (SREL) claims in Rhondda Cynon Taf in each of the last 10 financial years (from 2013/14 to 2022/23), calculated as the median number of working days from registration to DWP decision.
Processing time | ||
Financial Year | New Claim | Reassessment |
2013/14 | 13 | - |
2014/15 | 6 | - |
2015/16 | 6 | - |
2016/17 | 6 | - |
2017/18 | 5 | - |
2018/19 | 6 | - |
2019/20 | 5 | - |
2020/21 | 4 | - |
2021/22 | 4 | - |
2022/23 | 4 | - |
Source: PIP Atomic Data Store (ADS)
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what data his Department holds on the number of Personal Independence Payment (a) claims and (b) awards made in Rhondda Cynon Taff in each of the last ten years.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
Data on Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claims and awards can be found on Stat-Xplore. The requested data on claims can be found on the ‘PIP Registrations’ dataset by going to ‘Geography’, ‘National – Regional – LAs – OAs’, ‘DWP Policy Ownership’ and then following the drop downs to Wales and then to Rhondda Cynon Taff. The same filtering can be done on the ‘PIP Clearances’ dataset, while additionally choosing ‘Awarded’ from ‘Clearance Type Detail’ to pick out awards made.
You can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest user and, if needed, you can access guidance on how to extract the information required.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information his Department holds on what the longest clearance time was for a Personal Independence Payment claim where a decision was reached in Rhondda Cynon Taf in each of the last ten years.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The longest clearance times for a Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claim in Rhondda Cynon Taf for each year cannot be provided due to risk of statistical disclosure whereby an individual claimant can be identified.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what training his Department provides to Jobcentre Plus staff on the communication needs of autistic people.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The DWP is committed to providing the best possible support for all customers to meet their individual circumstances.
Work Coaches undergo a comprehensive learning journey when they join the DWP. The learning provides staff with the knowledge and skills to enable them to treat each claimant as an individual regardless of additional or complex needs.
In addition to this, DWP offer a learning product specific to Autistic awareness which is available to all work coaches on an ‘at point of need’ basis. The product includes:
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of Jobcentre Plus staff have received training on the communication needs of autistic people.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The DWP is committed to providing the best possible support for all customers to meet their individual circumstances.
Since the national roll-out of Universal Credit (2016) all DWP Work Coaches undergo a comprehensive learning journey. The learning provides staff with the knowledge and skills to enable them to treat each customer as an individual regardless of additional or complex needs.
In addition to this, DWP offer a learning product specific to autistic awareness, which is available to all work coaches on an ‘at point of need’ basis. The product includes:
We do not keep information on how many work coaches have used this particular product.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of Employment and Support Allowance and Personal Independence Payment assessment staff have received training on the needs of autistic people across the spectrum.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The department and its assessment providers (APs) are fully committed to supporting those with mental health conditions. All health professionals (HPs) receive comprehensive training in the functional assessment of disability and mental health conditions, including Autism. APs also provide their HPs with condition specific information on Autism, which has been externally quality assured by relevant experts.
In addition, mental health function champions support HPs by providing additional expertise on mental health, cognitive, developmental, and learning disabilities, and can be consulted at any time during the assessment process.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what training his Department provides to Employment and Support Allowance and Personal Independence Payment assessment staff on the needs of autistic people across the spectrum.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The department and its assessment providers (APs) are fully committed to supporting those with mental health conditions. All health professionals (HPs) receive comprehensive training in the functional assessment of disability and mental health conditions, including Autism. APs also provide their HPs with condition specific information on Autism, which has been externally quality assured by relevant experts.
In addition, mental health function champions support HPs by providing additional expertise on mental health, cognitive, developmental, and learning disabilities, and can be consulted at any time during the assessment process.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department offers autistic people exemption from repeated assessment.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
Repeat assessments serve an important role, as they ensure that claimants are receiving the amount of benefit that correctly reflects the extent of the impact that their disability or health condition has on their functional ability. However, we recognise that some people have severe conditions that are unlikely to change.
As outlined in the Health & Disability White Paper, we are testing a Severe Disability Group so those with severe and lifelong conditions that are unlikely to improve can benefit from a simplified process without ever needing to complete a detailed application form or go through a face-to-face assessment or frequent re-assessments. It is being tested on a small scale across a range of health conditions to make sure it works as intended.
We have also made changes to reduce unnecessary reassessments. For instance, the Severe Conditions Criteria (SCC) were introduced in 2017 and are applied during the Work Capability Assessment (WCA). They identify claimants who have severe disabling lifelong conditions that will never improve, and whose level of function would always mean that they are unlikely ever to be able to move into work. Claimants who meet the SCC will not be routinely reassessed.
For Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claimants, we have ensured that people whose needs will not improve and most people over State Pension age, receive an ongoing PIP award with a ‘light touch’ review at the 10-year point. Ongoing awards can be applied to any level or combination of award outcome, so long as the person’s needs are unlikely to change. A review can take place sooner if a person’s needs change.
We are committed to supporting people with autism to access the right benefits and the right support. This is why all assessors conducting WCAs and Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessments receive training on assessing people with Autistic Spectrum Disorders.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 26 April 2023 to Question 182089 on Social Security Benefits: Disability, whether his Department is taking steps to reduce the average waiting time for calls to the Universal Credit helpline.
Answered by Guy Opperman
DWP plans resourcing according to forecasted telephony demand in an effort to keep wait times down. Wait time performance and forecasted demand is frequently reviewed, and DWP is continually working to improve the service that it delivers.