Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
What steps her Department is taking to ensure that single parents are treated equitably within the benefits system during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We’ve introduced an unprecedented package of support of over £6.5 billion to help all families to cope with the financial impact of Covid-19.
Single parents can benefit from the Flexible Support Fund and the increases to UC Standard Allowance, and Local Housing Allowance rates. Universal Credit is already more generous than legacy benefits, where people can claim up to 85% of childcare costs.
Our priority continues to be ensuring people get their benefit payments and providing support for those who need it the most.
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of allocating named caseworkers to complex cases undertaken by the Child Maintenance Service.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Child Maintenance Service caseworkers deliver a broad range of services’ across business lines, covering applications, case maintenance, arrears and enforcement. Child Maintenance Service caseworkers receive the skills to provide a service to customers in their specific line. In addition, the service also provides complex caseworkers, who can provide additional expert knowledge in that line. Flexing this resource, as and when complex matters arise, maximises the value they can add to delivering successful client outcomes.
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to make an assessment of the operating efficiency of the Child Maintenance Service.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
When measuring the efficiency of the Child Maintenance Service, we collect data on rate of compliance. These figures are published quarterly in table 9 of the Child Maintenance Service experimental statistics data tables, which can be found here:
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people with epilepsy have had their application for personal independence payment refused in each year since 2017.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The latest available data on Personal Independence Payment (PIP) clearances split by main disabling condition and by type of clearance (i.e. whether the claim was awarded, disallowed or withdrawn) for both new claims and reassessments from Disability Living Allowance (DLA) made from April 2013 – October 2019 can be found at https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/
Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/index.html.
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans she has to tackle the disparity of treatment between self-employed and employed people in relation to statutory maternity pay.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The differences in the parental benefits available to the self-employed reflect that this group generally have more flexibility over how to plan their workload and time off. This is reflected in the additional flexibility seen in Maternity Allowance (when compared to Statutory Maternity Pay).
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many non-resident parents have had their passports revoked following a failure to make Child Maintenance Service payments since the new provisions came into effect.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The number of passports revoked by Child maintenance Service is 4. This is clerically derived data, and therefore as with all clerically derived data, is subject to caveat.
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that non-maintenance-paying parents do not request mandatory reconsiderations from the Child Maintenance Service to continue to avoid making payments.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
All clients, regardless of their role within the scheme, have the right to request a decision be reconsidered by the Child Maintenance Service (CMS). Mandatory reconsideration rights only apply to decisions relating to child maintenance liability. The standard timescale in which a revision may be requested is within 30 days of the date of notification of the decision. Our policy is that a mandatory reconsideration will only happen once in respect of any particular decision, after which a client accrues the right to appeal to an independent tribunal.
If a client requests a mandatory reconsideration, their child maintenance liability will remain in place as usual until a decision is made. Where a mandatory reconsideration or appeal is ongoing, the Service will continue to attempt collection of any debt that is not covered by the appeal. The CMS may make a decision to suspend enforcement action on debt which is subject to an appeal, as this may result in reimbursement for the amount collected.
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many disabled people in Hampshire had their disability benefits stopped following an assessment in the last 12 months.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Such information as is available on Personal Independence Payment (PIP) clearances by type (e.g. awarded, disallowed or withdrawn) for both new claims and reassessed claims (for those previously in receipt of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) is available at Great Britain, Regional, Parliamentary Constituency and Local Authority level, and is published on Gov.UK: 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.
Further information on PIP statistics, including PIP award rates for both new claims and reassessed claims by geography, can also be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/personal-independence-payment-statistics.
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in Hampshire receive disability benefits.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Information on the number of people claiming (i.e. entitled to) Disability Living Allowance and Attendance Allowance, by geography is published and available at: http://tabulation-tool.dwp.gov.uk/100pc/tabtool.html
Guidance for users can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-tabulation-tool-guidance
Information on Personal Independence Payment (PIP) cases in payment, for both new claims and reassessed claims (for those previously in receipt of Disability Living Allowance (DLA)), by geography is published and available at: 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.