Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people with multiple sclerosis in Newcastle upon Tyne North are no longer eligible for the higher rate of mobility support as a result of the transition from disability living allowance to personal independence payments (PIP) in each year since PIP was introduced.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The table below shows the number and percentage of DLA (Disability Living Allowance) higher mobility award claimants with Multiple Sclerosis in the Newcastle upon Tyne North constituency by year of reassessment to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and PIP mobility award level.
Table 1: Number and percentage of DLA higher mobility award claimants with Multiple Sclerosis in the Newcastle upon Tyne North constituency by year of reassessment to PIP and PIP mobility award level.
- | Nil or Standard PIP Mobility | PIP Enhanced Mobility | Total |
2015 | # | # | # |
2016 | 10 (50%) | 10 (50%) | 20 |
2017 (to October 31st) | 10 (50%) | 10 (50%) | 20 |
Notes:
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 9 October 2018 to Question 174049, (a) what data is available on the number of people in receipt of Support for Mortgage Interest before April 2018 that continue to receive that benefit and (b) how her Department defines the term vulnerable in relation to that support.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Data on the number of people in receipt of Support for Mortgage Interest before April 2018 that continue to receive that benefit is not available.
For the purposes of Support for Mortgage Interest a vulnerable claimant is defined as a claimant who lacks the mental capacity to make a financial decision about whether or not to take the SMI Loan.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the effect of the 20 metre rule in personal independence payment criteria on the (a) level of support received by people living with multiple sclerosis and (b) costs to other Departments of providing related services.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The information requested to estimate the effect of the 20 metre rule in Personal Independence Payment (PIP) on the level of support received by people with multiple sclerosis is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost. 52 per cent of claimants whose main disabling condition is recorded as being multiple sclerosis receive the highest level of support under PIP, compared to just 39 per cent Disability Living Allowance.
The Department does not hold the data requested on the costs to other Departments of providing related services.
The 20 metre distance was introduced in PIP to distinguish those whose mobility is significantly more limited than others and who face even greater barriers on a day to day basis – those who have the highest need.
Individuals who can walk more than 20 metres can still receive the enhanced rate of the PIP mobility component, if they cannot do so safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly and in a reasonable time period.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of people with mental health needs that will be unable to move to universal credit because they do not understand the communication about that transition in (a) the North East and (b) the UK.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
We do not underestimate the challenge that managed migration represents, we are co-designing the process with stakeholders, making sure it works for everyone and building in safeguards to ensure that vulnerable claimants are fully supported.
We are not migrating everyone at once. Migration will begin with begin with small-scale testing (with up to 10,000 people being migrated in 2019) to ensure that the process works well, before the volume of migration increases.
The Managed Migration regulations, will come before Parliament in the autumn, provide the flexibility and fail-safes to protect vulnerable claimants. We are designing a process to ensure a smooth transition with continuous support.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in receipt of Support for Mortgage Interest before April 2018 continue to receive that benefit.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Support for Mortgage Interest was converted from a benefit into a loan from April 2018. A small number of vulnerable claimants continue to receive Support for Mortgage Interest benefit as transitional protection. Information on how many is not available.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average length of time is for a Support for Mortgage Interest payment to be transferred to a loan.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Before being offered an SMI loan, claimants are given information about how the SMI loan will work, about alternatives to the loan and organisations that may offer further information and support. This is followed up by telephone calls to explain the information and answer any questions. A leaflet containing Frequently Asked Questions is issued to support this informed discussion. Where a claimant expresses an interest in taking up the offer of an SMI loan they will be sent a loan agreement and charge form to complete and return. They also receive detailed guidance on how to complete these documents
The Department determines that a minimum of 6 weeks is given for claimants to make a decision whether to take up the offer of an SMI loan. The Department ask that the loan agreement and charge form are returned soon as reasonably possible to enable them to be processed efficiently. A reminder is sent out after six weeks if the documents have not been received. Claimants may change their mind whether to take or decline a loan at any time.
Returned forms are checked for accuracy, and if correctly completed we would expect that, in the majority of cases, SMI Loan payments would be authorised within two weeks.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
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 women (a) receiving jobseeker's allowance and (b) in rent arrears as a result of changes to the state pension age.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
Equalisation of the State Pension age affects all women born after 6th April 1950. Data on claimants in receipt of jobseekers allowance by age band and gender is available on NOMIS:
The data can be found by accessing the link and clicking ‘Query data’ followed by ‘Jobseeker’s Allowance’ and ‘Jobseeker’s Allowance by age and duration’. The gender and age bands of interest can then be selected and the data accessed by completing the selections desired and clicking ‘Download Data.’
The information requested regarding rent arrears is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 16 July 2018 to Question 162589 on WASPI, whether she plans to meet with representatives of the WASPI campaign in the future.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Secretary of State has no plans to meet with representatives of the WASPI campaign.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 21 June 2018 to Question 154700 on 21 June 2018 on Social Rented Housing, what information her Department holds on universal credit claimants in rent arrears.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We do not hold individual information on claimants with rent arrears. However, we do have research which shows more broadly that people come onto Universal Credit with existing rent arrears.
From April 2018, those on Housing Benefit will receive an additional two weeks housing benefit when they start their UC claim. This helps to prevent rent arrears as claimants move to the new monthly payment cycle.
We know that arrears are usually temporary and the majority of claimants do succeed in paying their rent, managing their monthly payments and clearing their arrears over time.
We are currently carrying out further analysis of this issue with a number of housing providers, to investigate and understand the true level of rent arrears for their tenants, what is causing them and any impacts Universal Credit may be having. It will be published when completed.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the implications are for her policies of the findings of the National Audit Office report entitled Rolling out Universal Credit, published on 15 June 2018.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
The NAO report was completed before the implementation of a range of recent policy changes which address many of the concerns raised in the report.
On 21 June the Secretary of State, Esther McVey, made an Oral Statement to the House about Universal Credit and recent welfare changes. Part of her statement referred to the recently published NAO Report. The recently published Universal Credit Business Case summary shows that UC is projected to help 200,000 people into work, adding £8 billion per annum to the economy when it is fully rolled-out. These are estimates based on analysis that has been signed off by the Treasury.
The Oral Statement can be accessed at: https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2018-06-21/debates/E234119F-DC84-4CB4-A814-69CC6A1441E8/UniversalCreditAndWelfareChanges
The Government will officially respond after the Public Accounts Committee hearing on 9 July.