Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of reintroducing the (a) Low Income Benefits, (b) Disability and (c) Pensioner Cost of Living payment.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Cost of Living Payments were intended to relieve the immediate financial pressures caused by the rapid rise in cost of living. There are no plans to reintroduce these payments.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
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 support (a) young cancer patients and (b) their families in into employment.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
NHS England is committed to ensuring that all cancer patients are offered Holistic Needs Assessment and Personalised Care and Support Planning, ensuring care is focused on what matters most to each person. This is being delivered in line with the NHS Comprehensive Model for Personalised Care, empowering people to manage their care and the impact of their cancer and maximise the potential of digital and community-based support.
The Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce will be relaunched in 2025 to identify ways to improve the experience and outcomes for children and young people with cancer. We will set out further details on next steps in due course.
Access to the right work and health support, in the right place, at the right time, is key to supporting a successful return to work. We, therefore, have a range of specialist initiatives including support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres and Access to Work grants, as well as joining up health and employment support around the individual.
Employers also play a key role in supporting people with health conditions to thrive as part of the workforce. Our support to employers includes increasing access to Occupational Health, Support with Employee Health and Disability service, a digital information service for employers, and the Disability Confident scheme.
The Department’s Youth Offer also provides individually tailored Work Coach support to young people aged 16 to 24 who are claiming Universal Credit. This support includes the Youth Employment Programme, Youth Employability Coaches for young people with additional barriers to finding work, and Youth Hubs across Great Britain.
To support unpaid carers to remain in work, DWP has launched Jobhelp, to provide advice and information, all in one place, to existing, new and potential unpaid carers to help them make informed decisions about combining work and care.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking through the welfare system to support children and young people diagnosed with cancer.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The extra costs disability benefits available to children and young people, Disability Living Allowance and Personal Independence Payment (PIP), provide a contribution towards the additional costs that may arise from a long-term disability or health condition. These benefits are assessed on the basis of needs arising and not on the condition itself, so are available to those with cancer and other conditions.
The extra costs benefits are non-contributory, non-means-tested and can be worth over £9,500 a year, tax free. Individuals or Parent/guardians for DLA child cases can choose how to use the benefit, in the light of their individual needs and preferences. The benefit also acts as a gateway to other financial support such as Carer’s Allowance, disability additions in Universal Credit, Motability Scheme, Blue Badge Scheme and exemption from the benefit cap.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman's report entitled Women’s State Pension age: our findings on injustice and associated issues, published on 21 March 2024, if she will make it her policy to implement the recommendations of that report in full.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Following careful consideration of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman’s report into how changes to the State Pension age were communicated, the Government has decided we will not be paying compensation. We have made our decision on the facts of the matter which we have set out in our detailed response and deposited in the House Library.