Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, (a) in the last five years, how many people with Huntington's disease (i) made a claim for Personal Independence Payment, (ii) were refused and (iii) were successful on appeal; (b) what was the cost of those successful appeals; (c) in the last five years, how many people with Huntington's disease in receipt of Personal Independence Payment (i) were reassessed, (ii) were declined and (iii) were successful on appeal; and (d) what was the cost of those reapplications and successful appeals.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
a) Based on initial decisions made in the last five years (01 July 2017 to 30 June 2022), for claimants whose primary disabling condition at initial assessment is Huntington’s disease:
i) 1,900 claimants made a claim for Personal Independence Payment (PIP);
ii) Of these, 330 claimants were disallowed post assessment; and
iii) Of these who had their decision initially disallowed, 50 claimants had an appeal lapsed or overturned at tribunal.
b) The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
c) Based on initial decisions made in the last five years (01 July 2017 to 30 June 2022), for claimants whose primary disabling condition at initial assessment is Huntington’s disease:
i) 700 claimants had their PIP award reviewed because of a planned award review or change of circumstance;
ii) Of these, 30 claimants were disallowed post assessment; and
iii) Of these who had their decision initially disallowed, 10 claimants had an appeal lapsed or overturned at tribunal.
d) The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Please note:
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of parents in (a) England and (b) the UK were claiming both (i) Universal Credit and (ii) child allowances because a 16-19 year-old was is full-time further education in each of the last three years.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the cost has been of child allowances within Universal Credit paid to parents with 16-19 year-olds in full-time further education in (a) England and (b) the UK in each of the last three years.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment the potential financial impact of the freeze on the state pensions for British people living abroad on people receiving a UK pension in (a) Canada, (b) Australia and (c) India.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
DWP does not make such an assessment. The UK State Pension is payable worldwide to those who meet the qualifying conditions. Entitlement is based on an individual’s national insurance record. The policy on up-rating UK State Pensions overseas is long-standing and has been supported by successive post-war Governments for over 70 years. We continue to up-rate UK State Pensions abroad where there is a legal requirement to do so – for example where there is a reciprocal agreement that provides for up-rating. There are no plans to change this policy.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he has considered the potential merits of making the Cost of Living Payment available to households that are receiving state pension but are not eligible for pension credit.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Cost of Living Payment is deliberately targeted at low-income households in receipt of a qualifying means tested benefit. For people above State Pension age, this is those in receipt of Pension Credit. Non-means tested benefits, such as the State Pension are not eligible benefits for the Cost of Living Payment in their own right because people receiving these benefits may have other financial resources available to them. Pension Credit claimants are eligible for the Cost of Living Payment if they are entitled to Pension Credit at the time of the qualifying period, even if entitlement was determined after this. We urge pensioners to check their eligibility for Pension Credit, using the GOV.UK online calculator or by calling the freephone claim line.
The qualifying period for the second £324 Cost of Living Payment is 26 August to the 25 September 2022. Pension Credit can be backdated for up to 3 months from the date of claim, for those who are eligible, so it is not too late to make a claim and qualify for the second Cost of Living Payment. The last date for making a successful backdated application to qualify for the second Cost of Living payment is 18 December.
For pensioners not eligible for the Cost of Living Payment, or for those that need more support, government is providing a range of help. Pensioners who are entitled to a Winter Fuel Payment for winter 2022 to 2023 will get an extra £300 for their household paid with their normal payment from November. That means over 8 million pensioner households across the UK will receive an increased Winter Fuel Payment of £500/£600 this winter, depending on age, and this will be paid on top of any other one-off support a pensioner household is entitled to.
Pensioners are also being supported through the Energy Price Guarantee and the Energy Bills Support scheme, and government is providing an additional £500 million to help households with the cost of essentials through the Household Support Fund, bringing the total funding for this support to £1.5 billion.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will review the eligibility criteria for means-tested benefits to ensure that people with small work pensions can access support.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
A person with a small work pension can still access support from the welfare system but the amount of benefit they may get will depend on the amount of their pension income.
Within Universal Credit, the general principle is that income, other than earnings, used to meet everyday living costs is taken into account pound for pound in the calculation of an award. As occupational and private pensions are paid to provide support to help people meet their living costs, they are taken fully into account, as unearned income.
In common with the means-tested legacy benefits it replaces, Universal Credit takes into account money available from other sources which allow a claimant to support themselves, allowing a fair balance to be struck between those in the greatest financial need and taxpayers who fund the welfare system. There are no plans to review this approach.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to increase the number of British Sign Language trained interpreters; and what assessment she has made of the potential merits of reducing the costs of training courses for those interpreters.
Answered by Chloe Smith
There are a range of British Sign Language qualifications currently approved for government funding. This include qualifications linked to interpreting which are approved for delivery in Advanced Learner Loans (ALLs) – such as The IBSL Level 6 Diploma in Sign Language Interpreting Studies, IBSL Level 6 Diploma in British Sign Language Studies, Signature Level 6 Diploma in Sign Language Translation and Signature Level 6 NVQ Diploma in Sign Language Interpreting. These qualifications also are approved by NRCPD for interpreters.
Students are encouraged to seek an institution that may offer loans-funded study for one of the qualifications listed above. Students in receipt of an ALL for one of these courses may also seek support from the ALLs Bursary Fund from their institution to help with course related costs.
Advanced Learner Loans provide extensive coverage of a range of regulated qualifications at Level 3 to Level 6, helping to pay the up-front tuition fees and removing one of the main barriers to adult learning.
Work is also underway with subject experts and exam boards to develop a BSL GCSE.
British Sign Language courses delivered by private organisations are widely available but funding, delivery and regulation of these is not a DfE matter.
The British Sign Language Act 2022 was brought forward to help promote and facilitate the use of British Sign Language by providing legal recognition of BSL. It gained Royal Assent in April 2022. Alongside the Act, the government committed to a package of policy measures, including how the government might help to increase the numbers of properly accredited BSL interpreters and how this might be increased. This could include an assessment of costs to individuals in attaining BSL interpretation accreditation.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to increase benefits rates in line with inflation from April 2022.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Secretary of State undertakes an annual review of benefits and pensions based on the Consumer Prices Index (CPI), which measures inflation in the year to September.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of maintaining the state pension triple lock for the year 2022-23; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is committed to applying the Triple Lock from 2023/24, for the remainder of Parliament. The decision in 2021 was by reason of statistical anomaly. In 2020 the Government raised State Pension by 2.5%.
Parliament has voted for State Pensions to increase by the Consumer Price Index. This has been the case under successive governments of all Political Parties since the 1970s.
From April, the full yearly amount of the basic State Pension will be around £720 more in 2022/23 than if it had been up-rated by prices since 2010. That’s a rise of over £2,300 in cash terms.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
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 tackle the backlog in work capability assessments.
Answered by Chloe Smith
Ensuring claimants are assessed at the earliest opportunity and reducing customer processing times are a priority for the department. As part of the Covid-19 response we introduced telephone and video assessments alongside existing paper-based assessments.
We resumed face to face Work Capability Assessments (WCA) in May 2021, initially for claimants we were unable to assess by telephone. We continue to work with the assessment provider, Centre for Health and Disability Assessments (CHDA), to maximise the number of WCAs completed.
We have assessed or scheduled for a face to face assessment over 99% of customers who were unable to be assessed remotely, or who were assessed by telephone but for whom a recommendation could not be made.