Asked by: David Lammy (Labour - Tottenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of mandatory health and work conversations on the health and wellbeing of disabled claimants which take place after the roll-out of universal credit.
Answered by Sarah Newton
We have rolled out the Health and Work Conversation (HWC) to Employment and Support Allowance claimants. Whilst taking part in the HWC will be mandatory for the majority of individuals there are extensive safeguards in place. There are clear exemptions for claimants where it would be inappropriate for them to attend. Work coaches also have the flexibility to defer the HWC if the claimant cannot attend due to temporary circumstances.
All Universal Credit claimants are expected to attend mandatory interviews prior to the work capability assessment where it is reasonable to do so. From late Autumn work coaches will use the Health and Work Conversation techniques to support claimants in discussions with claimants.
Asked by: David Lammy (Labour - Tottenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect of the abolition of lifetime awards of disability living allowance on the health and wellbeing of claimants.
Answered by Sarah Newton
DWP and our Assessment Providers are committed to providing a quality, sensitive and respectful service by conducting fair, accurate and objective assessments, not all of which have to be carried out face-to-face where sufficient evidence exists. Where a face-to-face assessment is required claimants are given the opportunity to alert their Assessment Provider of any additional requirements they may have and the providers will meet any such reasonable requests. Claimants are also encouraged to bring someone with them to their consultation where they would find that helpful for example, to reassure them or to help them during the consultation. The PIP Assessment Guide, which is regularly updated, provides comprehensive guidance for Health Professionals regarding all aspects of the assessment process, including how health professionals conduct themselves during face-to-face consultations.
Awards of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) can be at one of eight possible rates of payment. Reviews of PIP are therefore a key part of the benefit and ensure that not only awards remain correct where needs may change but that we also maintain contact with the claimant, both features missing from its predecessor Disability Living Allowance. The length of an award is based on an individual’s circumstances and can vary from nine months to an on-going award with a light touch review at the ten year point. Award reviews can also be instigated where a claimant reports that their needs have improved or got worse. PIP already recognises that for the most severely disabled claimants, the award review process could seem unnecessarily intrusive. Existing PIP claimants with the most severe, lifetime disabilities, whose functional ability has remained the same, are more likely to have their evidence reviewed by a DWP Decision-Maker and will not need to have another face-to-face assessment with a healthcare professional.
We will continue to closely monitor developments across the health and disability landscape and engage with stakeholders to improve the service we provide. We are committed to ensuring that the PIP reassessment process works effectively across the spectrum of disabilities and health conditions, including mental health conditions, cognitive impairments and physical disabilities.
The Department has interpreted your costs request to mean the DWP costs associated with PIP award reviews. The yearly operating costs are shown in the table below:
| 2014/15 | 2015/16 | 2016/17 | 2017/18 |
PIP Award Reviews | £167,408 | £1,867,455 | £8,019,582 | £5,958,376 |
Notes
The data above is shown in financial years (01st April – 31st March) with the exception of 2017/18 which is 01st April – 30th September
The costs associated with Award Reviews have risen each year due to the staged roll-out of the PIP benefit.
Source
Activity Based Management Model – L1 Operating Costs
Asked by: David Lammy (Labour - Tottenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect of long-term sick and disabled personal independence payment (PIP) claimants taking repeated PIP tests and assessments of the health and wellbeing of claimants; and what the cost to the public purse has been of such repeat tests and assessments since they were instituted.
Answered by Sarah Newton
DWP and our Assessment Providers are committed to providing a quality, sensitive and respectful service by conducting fair, accurate and objective assessments, not all of which have to be carried out face-to-face where sufficient evidence exists. Where a face-to-face assessment is required claimants are given the opportunity to alert their Assessment Provider of any additional requirements they may have and the providers will meet any such reasonable requests. Claimants are also encouraged to bring someone with them to their consultation where they would find that helpful for example, to reassure them or to help them during the consultation. The PIP Assessment Guide, which is regularly updated, provides comprehensive guidance for Health Professionals regarding all aspects of the assessment process, including how health professionals conduct themselves during face-to-face consultations.
Awards of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) can be at one of eight possible rates of payment. Reviews of PIP are therefore a key part of the benefit and ensure that not only awards remain correct where needs may change but that we also maintain contact with the claimant, both features missing from its predecessor Disability Living Allowance. The length of an award is based on an individual’s circumstances and can vary from nine months to an on-going award with a light touch review at the ten year point. Award reviews can also be instigated where a claimant reports that their needs have improved or got worse. PIP already recognises that for the most severely disabled claimants, the award review process could seem unnecessarily intrusive. Existing PIP claimants with the most severe, lifetime disabilities, whose functional ability has remained the same, are more likely to have their evidence reviewed by a DWP Decision-Maker and will not need to have another face-to-face assessment with a healthcare professional.
We will continue to closely monitor developments across the health and disability landscape and engage with stakeholders to improve the service we provide. We are committed to ensuring that the PIP reassessment process works effectively across the spectrum of disabilities and health conditions, including mental health conditions, cognitive impairments and physical disabilities.
The Department has interpreted your costs request to mean the DWP costs associated with PIP award reviews. The yearly operating costs are shown in the table below:
| 2014/15 | 2015/16 | 2016/17 | 2017/18 |
PIP Award Reviews | £167,408 | £1,867,455 | £8,019,582 | £5,958,376 |
Notes
The data above is shown in financial years (01st April – 31st March) with the exception of 2017/18 which is 01st April – 30th September
The costs associated with Award Reviews have risen each year due to the staged roll-out of the PIP benefit.
Source
Activity Based Management Model – L1 Operating Costs
Asked by: David Lammy (Labour - Tottenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the personal independence payment process on the health and wellbeing of claimants.
Answered by Sarah Newton
DWP and our Assessment Providers are committed to providing a quality, sensitive and respectful service by conducting fair, accurate and objective assessments, not all of which have to be carried out face-to-face where sufficient evidence exists. Where a face-to-face assessment is required claimants are given the opportunity to alert their Assessment Provider of any additional requirements they may have and the providers will meet any such reasonable requests. Claimants are also encouraged to bring someone with them to their consultation where they would find that helpful for example, to reassure them or to help them during the consultation. The PIP Assessment Guide, which is regularly updated, provides comprehensive guidance for Health Professionals regarding all aspects of the assessment process, including how health professionals conduct themselves during face-to-face consultations.
Awards of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) can be at one of eight possible rates of payment. Reviews of PIP are therefore a key part of the benefit and ensure that not only awards remain correct where needs may change but that we also maintain contact with the claimant, both features missing from its predecessor Disability Living Allowance. The length of an award is based on an individual’s circumstances and can vary from nine months to an on-going award with a light touch review at the ten year point. Award reviews can also be instigated where a claimant reports that their needs have improved or got worse. PIP already recognises that for the most severely disabled claimants, the award review process could seem unnecessarily intrusive. Existing PIP claimants with the most severe, lifetime disabilities, whose functional ability has remained the same, are more likely to have their evidence reviewed by a DWP Decision-Maker and will not need to have another face-to-face assessment with a healthcare professional.
We will continue to closely monitor developments across the health and disability landscape and engage with stakeholders to improve the service we provide. We are committed to ensuring that the PIP reassessment process works effectively across the spectrum of disabilities and health conditions, including mental health conditions, cognitive impairments and physical disabilities.
The Department has interpreted your costs request to mean the DWP costs associated with PIP award reviews. The yearly operating costs are shown in the table below:
| 2014/15 | 2015/16 | 2016/17 | 2017/18 |
PIP Award Reviews | £167,408 | £1,867,455 | £8,019,582 | £5,958,376 |
Notes
The data above is shown in financial years (01st April – 31st March) with the exception of 2017/18 which is 01st April – 30th September
The costs associated with Award Reviews have risen each year due to the staged roll-out of the PIP benefit.
Source
Activity Based Management Model – L1 Operating Costs
Asked by: David Lammy (Labour - Tottenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the personal independence payment process complaints system.
Answered by Sarah Newton
PIP complaints are handled as part of the overall Departmental Two Tier complaints process and are not specifically differentiated. The complaints process is kept under constant review to ensure a consistent service to our customers.
Asked by: David Lammy (Labour - Tottenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many personal independence payment (PIP) claimants with terminal illnesses and life-shortening diseases (a) were declared ineligible for PIP following assessment (b) appealed that decision successfully at tribunal.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
The Department records a claimant’s main disability but does not record whether this disability is or is not life-shortening. The latest available data on the number of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claims cleared by type (e.g. awarded, disallowed or withdrawn), split by normal rules and special rules for the terminally ill and by primary disabling condition can be found in Stat-Xplore: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/. Stat Xplore shows that over 99% of PIP claims made under special rules for the terminally ill are awarded PIP, excluding withdrawn claims.
Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here:
https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/index.html.
Asked by: David Lammy (Labour - Tottenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the freeze on local housing allowance on levels of homelessness.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
We have made no assessment of the impact of the policy to freeze Local Housing Allowance rates upon levels of homelessness.
There is currently no clear evidence to suggest that the policy is contributing to increased homelessness. Further, the latest statistics show that the number of homelessness acceptances in England has decreased slightly over the past year and the figures are very similar to the homelessness acceptances when the freeze commenced.
Asked by: David Lammy (Labour - Tottenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of freezing local housing allowance on the number of households (a) falling into rental arrears and (b) living in poverty.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The information requested is not available.
Asked by: David Lammy (Labour - Tottenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of the Civil Service workforce in his Department dedicated to planning for (a) the UK leaving the EU and (b) projects relating to the UK leaving the EU.
Answered by Damian Hinds
EU Exit is an all-of-government operation. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is working closely with the Department for Exiting the European Union to support the UK’s exit from the EU. Staff within the EU and International Affairs Division in DWP lead on providing advice to Ministers on EU Exit and exit-related issues, but other members of staff across the Department also provide advice and analysis on EU Exit issues as required. Given the interactions between EU Exit work and the Department’s other priorities, it would not be possible to provide an accurate figure for the information requested.
Asked by: David Lammy (Labour - Tottenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 11 September 2017 to Question 8560, what steps the Government is taking to reduce (a) the total sum of housing benefit being paid to private landlords and (b) the total sum of housing benefit being paid to private landlords providing unsafe and unsuitable accommodation.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
Reform to housing benefit is a central part of this Government’s plan to create a welfare system that supports the most vulnerable and is fair to taxpayers. In order to limit HB expenditure in the private rent sector, Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates were frozen for 4 years from April 2016. This means rates are either frozen at April 2015 levels or are set at the 30th percentile of local rents if lower. In line with the ‘freeze’ to LHA rates, the LHA national caps (which no individual rate can exceed) are also frozen at April 2015 levels.
Local authorities have strong and effective powers under the Housing Act 2004 to deal with poor quality and unsafe accommodation in the private rented sector, including mandatory/additional licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs), selective licensing of other privately rented properties and the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) to assess the health and safety risks in all residential properties. We have further strengthened these measures through the Housing and Planning Act 2016, introducing civil penalties of up to £30,000 and Rent Repayment Orders for a wider range of offences.