Asked by: Christina Rees (Labour (Co-op) - Neath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to inform Employment and Support Allowance claimants who are approaching retirement age that their benefit is coming to an end and that they must prepare to make a new claim for state pension.
Answered by Sarah Newton
Provided the Department has their up-to-date address, it will send ESA claimants a letter four months before they reach State Pension age telling them they can now claim State Pension; and another letter telling them that their ESA payments will soon stop and advising them to claim State Pension instead. Claimants will also get help and guidance from their work coach and Benefit Centre staff, should they need it.
This gives ESA claimants every opportunity to claim in time to ensure that there are no delays or disruptions between their final benefit payment and their first State Pension payment.
More than one-third of people now choose to claim their State Pension online. People can also claim by phone or in writing ensuring all customers can access their Pension via whichever method suits their needs. It has never been easier to claim your State Pension.
Asked by: Christina Rees (Labour (Co-op) - Neath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what arrangements are in place to ensure that there are no delays or disruptions between final ESA payment and and the first state pension payment for people reaching state pension age.
Answered by Sarah Newton
Provided the Department has their up-to-date address, it will send ESA claimants a letter four months before they reach State Pension age telling them they can now claim State Pension; and another letter telling them that their ESA payments will soon stop and advising them to claim State Pension instead. Claimants will also get help and guidance from their work coach and Benefit Centre staff, should they need it.
This gives ESA claimants every opportunity to claim in time to ensure that there are no delays or disruptions between their final benefit payment and their first State Pension payment.
More than one-third of people now choose to claim their State Pension online. People can also claim by phone or in writing ensuring all customers can access their Pension via whichever method suits their needs. It has never been easier to claim your State Pension.
Asked by: Christina Rees (Labour (Co-op) - Neath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the number and proportion is of people in Neath constituency who were categorised as lifelong recipients of disability living allowance and who were subsequently judged ineligible to receive personal independence payments in each year for which data is available.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Christina Rees (Labour (Co-op) - Neath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the number and proportion is of constituents in Neath who had their original decision on claiming personal independence payments overturned as a result of (a) mandatory reconsideration and (b) an appeal hearing in each year for which data is available.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
The latest available data on personal independence payment (PIP) clearances split by type of clearance (i.e. whether the claim was awarded, disallowed or withdrawn) can be found 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
The table below shows the number of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) Mandatory Reconsideration decisions and appeal decisions where the award was changed by year of each decision since the introduction of PIP in the Parliamentary Constituencies of Cardiff Central, Swansea East, Ogmore, Wrexham and Neath
Number of Initial decisions and Mandatory Reconsiderations decisions where the award changed by year of decision.
Year of Mandatory Reconsideration | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 (to April) | Total |
Number of Awards Changed at Mandatory Reconsideration | ||||||
Cardiff Central | # | 40 | 70 | 50 | 20 | 180 |
Swansea East | # | 40 | 90 | 230 | 40 | 390 |
Ogmore | # | 30 | 90 | 70 | 30 | 230 |
Wrexham | # | 20 | 70 | 190 | 30 | 300 |
Neath | # | 30 | 100 | 180 | 60 | 360 |
Year of Appeal Decision | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 (to April) | Total |
Number of Awards Changed at Appeal | ||||||
Cardiff Central | # | 10 | 70 | 60 | 20 | 160 |
Swansea East | # | 10 | 120 | 150 | 130 | 400 |
Ogmore | # | # | 100 | 90 | 20 | 210 |
Wrexham | # | # | 20 | 70 | 50 | 140 |
Neath | # | 10 | 100 | 140 | 100 | 350 |
# is used for instances where there are less than 5 cases to avoid the release of confidential data.