Asked by: Emma Dent Coad (Labour - Kensington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 16 October 2018 to Question 176686 on Independent Case Examiner, how much additional funding the Independent Case Examiner received in 2017-18 to reduce the waiting time for a decision.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The Independent Case Examiner’s Office received no additional funding in the 2017-18 reporting year however, the Office has received funding for additional staff in the current reporting year.
Asked by: Emma Dent Coad (Labour - Kensington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether complaints to the Independent Case Examiner that have been considered under the early resolution process can be referred directly to the Parliamentary Ombudsman.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The Independent Case Examiner’s Office routinely considers whether the complaints it accepts for examination can be resolved, to the complainant’s satisfaction, without the need for a full examination of the case. The resolution process will only succeed if the complainant is satisfied that their complaint has been addressed. Decisions on whether to refer a complaint to the Parliamentary Ombudsman’s Office, regardless of the stage at which it was concluded by the Independent Case Examiner’s Office, rest with individual Members of Parliament.
Asked by: Emma Dent Coad (Labour - Kensington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many complaints to the Independent Case Examiner were concluded by (a) the early resolution process, (b) settlement following a review of the evidence and (c) a full investigation in each month from January 2017 to October 2018 inclusive.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The table below provides details of the complaints concluded by the Independent Case Examiner’s Office in each month from January 2017 to October 2018, broken down by (a) resolution (b) settlement and (c) a full investigation.
Month | Concluded by Resolution | Concluded by Settlement | Concluded by ICE Report |
January 2017 | 12 | 6 | 54 |
February 2017 | 3 | 9 | 58 |
March 2017 | 5 | 26 | 78 |
April 2017 | 7 | 9 | 42 |
May 2017 | 5 | 14 | 65 |
June 2017 | 4 | 17 | 64 |
July 2017 | 9 | 13 | 61 |
August 2017 | 7 | 6 | 56 |
September 2017 | 7 | 18 | 46 |
October 2017 | 8 | 18 | 55 |
November 2017 | 5 | 7 | 64 |
December 2017 | 6 | 9 | 50 |
January 2018 | 10 | 8 | 67 |
February 2018 | 5 | 7 | 70 |
March 2018 | 10 | 15 | 58 |
April 2018 | 12 | 9 | 53 |
May 2018 | 8 | 10 | 69 |
June 2018 | 13 | 10 | 85 |
July 2018 | 14 | 16 | 61 |
August 2018 | 13 | 12 | 79 |
September 2018 | 16 | 14 | 61 |
October 2018 | 24 | 29 | 87 |
Asked by: Emma Dent Coad (Labour - Kensington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether local housing allowance rates for tenants in the private rented sector will be set at the 30th percentile of local market rents at the end of the freeze of those rates in March 2020.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
We are currently considering plans for Local Housing Allowance rates beyond March 2020.
Asked by: Emma Dent Coad (Labour - Kensington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has made an estimate of the cost to the public purse of reducing the age limit for the Shared Accommodation rate of Local Housing Allowance from 35 to 30 years old; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
No such estimate has been made. The shared accommodation rate applies to those individuals aged under 35, who are single, living on their own and renting privately, with exemptions for certain vulnerable groups.
Asked by: Emma Dent Coad (Labour - Kensington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 17 October 2018, to Question 176689 on Employment Support Allowance, what written evidence her Department holds on the British Medical Association and Royal College of General Practitioners agreement to the revised wording of the ESA65B letters sent to claimants’ GPs when they fail the work capability assessment.
Answered by Sarah Newton
There is no written evidence relating to the agreement obtained from the British Medical Association and the Royal College of General Practitioners on the revised wording of the ESA65B letter.
In accordance with the Answer of 30 May 2018 to Question 146987, agreement on the final wording of the ESA65B was obtained via the regular meetings DWP holds with both organisations.
Asked by: Emma Dent Coad (Labour - Kensington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what representations she has received on the effect of the universal credit minimum income floor on the amount of housing element support self-employed claimants are entitled to compared with their housing benefit entitlement under the legacy benefit system.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The Minimum Income Floor (MIF) is applied to the total maximum Universal Credit entitlement. Consequently, the issue of how it affects the housing element does not arise.
Asked by: Emma Dent Coad (Labour - Kensington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 3 July 2018 to Question 155402, if she will publish the written communication from the British Medical Association and Royal College of General Practitioners confirming that those organisations agreed to the revised wording of the ESA65B letters sent to claimants’ GPs when they fail the work capability assessment.
Answered by Sarah Newton
In accordance with the Answer of 3 July 2018 to Question 155402, the information is not available as there is no written minute of the meeting between officials from this Department and representatives from the British Medical Association and the Royal College of General Practitioners on the revised wording of the ESA65B letter.
Asked by: Emma Dent Coad (Labour - Kensington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of claimants affected by the Benefit Cap in each London borough are in receipt of (a) Job Seekers Allowance, (b) Employment Support Allowance, (c) Income Support, and (d) Universal Credit and (e) another benefit.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The number of households in each London borough that had their Housing Benefit capped in May 2018 in receipt of (a) Job Seekers Allowance, (b) Employment Support Allowance, (c) Income Support
London Borough | Total number of households that had their Housing Benefit capped | Number of households in receipt of: | ||
a) Jobseeker's Allowance | b) Employment and Support Allowance (Work-Related Activity Group and awaiting assessment) | c) Income Support | ||
Barking and Dagenham | 323 | 62 | 32 | 167 |
Barnet | 764 | 200 | 140 | 234 |
Bexley | 221 | 26 | 24 | 129 |
Brent | 1,200 | 420 | 205 | 309 |
Bromley | 206 | 25 | 15 | 133 |
Camden | 449 | 146 | 101 | 121 |
City of London | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Croydon | 300 | 36 | 26 | 180 |
Ealing | 1,100 | 330 | 122 | 408 |
Enfield | 968 | 133 | 139 | 500 |
Greenwich | 287 | 43 | 22 | 180 |
Hackney | 966 | 300 | 166 | 305 |
Hammersmith and Fulham | 235 | 56 | 34 | 108 |
Haringey | 631 | 111 | 108 | 276 |
Harrow | 286 | 54 | 22 | 125 |
Havering | 217 | 31 | 17 | 117 |
Hillingdon | 365 | 66 | 34 | 195 |
Hounslow | 183 | 22 | 8 | 97 |
Islington | 355 | 109 | 50 | 148 |
Kensington and Chelsea | 328 | 66 | 78 | 106 |
Kingston upon Thames | 165 | 46 | 31 | 64 |
Lambeth | 457 | 67 | 58 | 250 |
Lewisham | 476 | 74 | 72 | 282 |
Merton | 140 | 34 | 11 | 63 |
Newham | 711 | 165 | 87 | 290 |
Redbridge | 259 | 47 | 34 | 117 |
Richmond upon Thames | 141 | 21 | 25 | 69 |
Southwark | 301 | 22 | 36 | 189 |
Sutton | 62 | 8 | 6 | 34 |
Tower Hamlets | 608 | 145 | 68 | 283 |
Waltham Forest | 415 | 90 | 38 | 203 |
Wandsworth | 507 | 138 | 79 | 191 |
Westminster | 477 | 129 | 109 | 125 |
The total number of households that have their Housing Benefit capped have been randomly adjusted to avoid the release of confidential data. This is consistent with published statistics. More information on this can be found in Stat-Xplore, DWP’s online interactive tabulation tool. Stat-Xplore can be accessed here: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/
In the breakdowns by benefit figures less than 5 have been removed to avoid the release of confidential data.
The proportion of households in each London borough that had their Housing Benefit capped in May 2018 in receipt of (a) Job Seekers Allowance, (b) Employment Support Allowance, (c) Income Support
London Borough | Proportion of households in receipt of Housing Benefit that were in receipt of: | ||
a) Jobseeker's Allowance | b) Employment and Support Allowance (Work-Related Activity Group and awaiting assessment) | c) Income Support | |
Barking and Dagenham | 19% | 10% | 52% |
Barnet | 26% | 18% | 31% |
Bexley | 12% | 11% | 58% |
Brent | 35% | 17% | 26% |
Bromley | 12% | 7% | 65% |
Camden | 33% | 22% | 27% |
City of London | 0% | 0% | 0% |
Croydon | 12% | 9% | 60% |
Ealing | 30% | 11% | 37% |
Enfield | 14% | 14% | 52% |
Greenwich | 15% | 8% | 63% |
Hackney | 31% | 17% | 32% |
Hammersmith and Fulham | 24% | 14% | 46% |
Haringey | 18% | 17% | 44% |
Harrow | 19% | 8% | 44% |
Havering | 14% | 8% | 54% |
Hillingdon | 18% | 9% | 53% |
Hounslow | 12% | 4% | 53% |
Islington | 31% | 14% | 42% |
Kensington and Chelsea | 20% | 24% | 32% |
Kingston upon Thames | 28% | 19% | 39% |
Lambeth | 15% | 13% | 55% |
Lewisham | 16% | 15% | 59% |
Merton | 24% | 8% | 45% |
Newham | 23% | 12% | 41% |
Redbridge | 18% | 13% | 45% |
Richmond upon Thames | 15% | 18% | 49% |
Southwark | 7% | 12% | 63% |
Sutton | 13% | 10% | 55% |
Tower Hamlets | 24% | 11% | 47% |
Waltham Forest | 22% | 9% | 49% |
Wandsworth | 27% | 16% | 38% |
Westminster | 27% | 23% | 26% |
The number of households in each London borough that had their Universal Credit capped in May 2018 in receipt of (d) Universal Credit
London Borough | d) Universal Credit |
Barking and Dagenham | 10 |
Barnet | 20 |
Bexley | 0 |
Brent | 30 |
Bromley | 0 |
Camden | 10 |
City of London | 0 |
Croydon | 530 |
Ealing | 110 |
Enfield | 130 |
Greenwich | 0 |
Hackney | 10 |
Hammersmith and Fulham | 310 |
Haringey | 0 |
Harrow | 0 |
Havering | 0 |
Hillingdon | 20 |
Hounslow | 410 |
Islington | 0 |
Kensington and Chelsea | 160 |
Kingston upon Thames | 10 |
Lambeth | 70 |
Lewisham | 50 |
Merton | 70 |
Newham | 0 |
Redbridge | 0 |
Richmond upon Thames | 30 |
Southwark | 250 |
Sutton | 130 |
Tower Hamlets | 320 |
Waltham Forest | 0 |
Wandsworth | 70 |
Westminster | 20 |
Figures for the number of households that had their Universal Credit capped have been rounded to the nearest 10 and figures less than 5 have been removed to avoid the release of confidential data. This is consistent with published statistics.
All households that had their Universal Credit capped in May 2018 were in receipt of Universal Credit.
(e) All households that had their Housing Benefit capped in May 2018 were in receipt of Housing Benefit.
Figures for households that had Housing Benefit capped are presented separately to those that had their Universal Credit capped in line with the Benefit Cap official statistics.
Figures for the total number of households that had their Housing Benefit capped are consistent with published figures on Stat Xplore.
Asked by: Emma Dent Coad (Labour - Kensington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 26 June 2018 to Question 155403 on Independent Case Examiner: Complaints, if how much additional resource has been allocated to the Independent Case Examiner in 2018-19 to reduce the current 60 week waiting time for a decision.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The Independent Case Examiner’s Office has received funding to recruit thirteen addititonal staff in the 2018/19 reporting year.