Asked by: Gordon Marsden (Labour - Blackpool South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of people who have a neurological condition applying for assessment for (a) personal independence payment and (b) employment and support allowance who are assessed by an appropriate health care professional for that neurological condition in each year for which information is available.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The information requested is not available.
Medical condition data is collected from the point of claim on Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) from claimants’ fit notes, and at Work Capability Assessments (WCA). DWP statistics on the number of applications for ESA are grouped into medical conditions based on the International Classification of Diseases 10th Revision (ICD10) published by the World Health Organisation and do not include a specific group of neurological conditions. Information on the number of initial ESA WCA applications by available groups of medical conditions are available at: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk. The Departments’ choice of system for recording groups of medical conditions does not affect the correct administration the benefits individual recipients are entitled to.
In the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) application process, claimants’ main disabling condition is only recorded for collation by the Department at assessment. It is not recorded at the point of application. The Department does not therefore hold data on the number of applicants to PIP with particular conditions. Only those who have a disability assessment determination decision will have a main disabling condition recorded for them. Information on the number of initial decisions made by disabling condition for claimants who had an assessment is published in the PIP clearances table and available at: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk. PIP main disabling conditions are recorded using a different system to ESA.
Guidance for users of Stat Xplore is available at:
https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html
All assessments of claimants to ESA and PIP are carried out by appropriate Health Professionals. They are functional assessments which focus not on a claimant’s condition but on the functional effects of that condition. All Health Professionals have passed strict recruitment and experience criteria and are registered with a relevant regulatory body.
Healthcare Professionals carrying out assessments for PIP and WCAs for ESA must have 2 years of clinical experience (or less than 2 years post full registration experience by individual agreement with the Department) and are trained to undertake functional assessments. In addition, they complete training on neurological conditions and have access to a range of relevant resources.
Health Professionals can engage with claimants’ specialists where necessary to gather supporting medical evidence.
Asked by: Gordon Marsden (Labour - Blackpool South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the waiting time from registration for personal independence payment to appeal is in Blackpool.
Answered by Sarah Newton
Information on the clearance time from registration of a Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claim to appeal in Blackpool could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Information is available on the median clearance time from a PIP claim being cleared (when a DWP decision maker has determined whether the claimant should or should not be awarded PIP) to an appeal being cleared for people living in Blackpool Local Authority in April to September 2018 and was 53 weeks.
Asked by: Gordon Marsden (Labour - Blackpool South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many personal independence payment assessments where a claimant had a diagnosis of a mental health disorder have resulted in no award in Blackpool; and how many of those assessments were overturned at a mandatory reconsideration or appeal.
Answered by Sarah Newton
Since Personal Independence Payment (PIP) has been introduced, 1,670 people living in Blackpool Local Authority, whose main condition was a psychiatric disorder, have been disallowed after their case was referred to the Assessment Provider. The data the Department holds is up to September 2018. Of the 1,670 cases, 90 decisions resulted in awards being changed at the Mandatory Reconsideration (MR) stage, and 130 at appeal.
Since PIP was introduced 3.7m decisions have been made in Great Britain for all health conditions up to September 2018, of these 10% have been appealed and 5% have been overturned.
The data has been rounded to the nearest 10.
PIP data includes normal rules and special rules for the terminally ill claimants, and covers new claims and DLA reassessment claims.
Data is based on primary disabling condition as recorded on the PIP computer systems. Claimants may often have multiple disabling conditions upon which the decision is based but only the primary condition is shown in these statistics.
The appeals may include decisions which are changed at MR, and where the claimant continues to appeal for a higher PIP award, are then changed again at tribunal appeal.
Claimants who have received benefit decisions more recently may not yet have had time to complete the claimant journey and progress to appeal.
Asked by: Gordon Marsden (Labour - Blackpool South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 6 June 2018 to Question 148620 on State Retirement Pensions: Terminal Illnesses, if she will take steps to enable people with confirmed (a) life-limiting conditions and (b) terminal illness to draw their state pensions early.
Answered by Guy Opperman
In 2016 John Cridland was appointed to conduct an independent review of State Pension age. This independent review was informed by consultation with a number of organisations, including on the subject of alternatives to a universal State Pension age. These organisations included dozens of charities and third sector organisations, which contributed to a written consultation and attended stakeholder events. A full list of contributors can be found at page 114 of the review, Smoothing the Transition, which is available on www.gov.uk.
John Cridland’s conclusion was that there should not be early withdrawal of State Pension.
The Government agrees with this recommendation. However, it is not the case that individuals will be left without support when they need it most. Anyone experiencing hardship, including problems such as unemployment, disability, and coping with caring responsibilities, can claim support from the welfare system.
The welfare system provides a safety-net for those experiencing hardship, with a range of benefits tailored to individual circumstances.
The Government is committed to supporting the vulnerable and spends around £50 billion a year on benefits to support disabled people and people with health conditions. There are special rules that apply to people diagnosed with a terminal illness, where as a consequence of that disease, their life expectancy is reasonably believed to be six months or less. They apply across Attendance Allowance (AA), Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Universal Credit, and provide a guaranteed entitlement to benefit, with claims dealt with sensitively, without a face-to-face assessment and under a fast track process.
Asked by: Gordon Marsden (Labour - Blackpool South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant the Answer of 6 June 2018 to Question 148621 on State Retirement Pensions: Terminal Illnesses, whether she has had discussions with charitable organisations for people with terminal-illnesses on the potential merits of enabling those people to draw their state pension early.
Answered by Guy Opperman
In 2016 John Cridland was appointed to conduct an independent review of State Pension age. This independent review was informed by consultation with a number of organisations, including on the subject of alternatives to a universal State Pension age. These organisations included dozens of charities and third sector organisations, which contributed to a written consultation and attended stakeholder events. A full list of contributors can be found at page 114 of the review, Smoothing the Transition, which is available on www.gov.uk.
John Cridland’s conclusion was that there should not be early withdrawal of State Pension.
The Government agrees with this recommendation. However, it is not the case that individuals will be left without support when they need it most. Anyone experiencing hardship, including problems such as unemployment, disability, and coping with caring responsibilities, can claim support from the welfare system.
The welfare system provides a safety-net for those experiencing hardship, with a range of benefits tailored to individual circumstances.
The Government is committed to supporting the vulnerable and spends around £50 billion a year on benefits to support disabled people and people with health conditions. There are special rules that apply to people diagnosed with a terminal illness, where as a consequence of that disease, their life expectancy is reasonably believed to be six months or less. They apply across Attendance Allowance (AA), Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Universal Credit, and provide a guaranteed entitlement to benefit, with claims dealt with sensitively, without a face-to-face assessment and under a fast track process.
Asked by: Gordon Marsden (Labour - Blackpool South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions she has had with charitable organisations for people with terminal-illnesses on enabling those people to draw their state-pension early.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The Government agrees with the independent reviewer of State Pension age, John Cridland, that the strengths of maintaining a universal State Pension age are the simplicity and clarity it provides both for individual and public planning purposes.
The welfare system provides a safety-net for those experiencing hardship, with a range of benefits tailored to individual circumstances. This system is designed to support people who are unemployed, have health conditions or disabilities, or have caring responsibilities, and therefore are most in need in the run up to their State Pension age.
John Cridland’s independent review of State Pension age was informed by consultation with a number of organisations, including on the subject of alternatives to a universal State Pension age. These organisations included several charities, which contributed to a written consultation and attended stakeholder events. A full list of contributors can be found at page 114 of John Cridland’s independent review of the State Pension age, ‘Smoothing the Transition’, which is available on www.gov.uk.
Asked by: Gordon Marsden (Labour - Blackpool South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of enabling people with life-limiting conditions to draw their state pension early.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The Government agrees with the independent reviewer of State Pension age, John Cridland, that the strengths of maintaining a universal State Pension age are the simplicity and clarity it provides both for individual and public planning purposes.
The welfare system provides a safety-net for those experiencing hardship, with a range of benefits tailored to individual circumstances. This system is designed to support people who are unemployed, have health conditions or disabilities, or have caring responsibilities, and therefore are most in need in the run up to their State Pension age.
John Cridland’s independent review of State Pension age was informed by consultation with a number of organisations, including on the subject of alternatives to a universal State Pension age. These organisations included several charities, which contributed to a written consultation and attended stakeholder events. A full list of contributors can be found at page 114 of John Cridland’s independent review of the State Pension age, ‘Smoothing the Transition’, which is available on www.gov.uk.
Asked by: Gordon Marsden (Labour - Blackpool South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many employees of her Department have applied for redeployment after medical evidence was produced that use of display screen equipment and on-line computer work was damaging their health since 2012; and how many of those employees were (a) given alternative work in her Department, (b) made redundant on medical grounds and (c) were not given alternative work but are still employed in her Department.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Department for Work and Pensions has well-established Display Screen Equipment (DSE) procedure in place for mitigating concerns that can arise from the use of DSE.
Due to the numerous requests and personal manner in which reasonable adjustments can be applied by line management we do not record how many staff have been affected in the manner that you are requesting.
Asked by: Gordon Marsden (Labour - Blackpool South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will publish the current (a) procedures and (b) safeguards her Department operates for employees who (a) have and (b) are developing disabilities.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
In DWP, the physical health, safety and mental wellbeing of our people is a top priority. The Department has a duty of care to all its people to ensure that they are supported to deliver the best services to our customers. This includes role modelling as the Department responsible for the Disability Confident scheme, which encourages employers to make the most of the talents that disabled people bring to the workplace.
DWP strives to achieve an inclusive culture for all our employees, we have a wide range of policies and procedures that are in place to provide support and assistance. Our Working Well Together strategy is an extensive education, prevention and support programme for all our employees. It covers the priority areas of mental wellbeing, healthy lifestyle, financial wellbeing, physical safety, musculoskeletal conditions, chronic health conditions and social connectivity.
Resources we provide include:
Where our employees join us with existing ill-health or if they develop a condition while they are in our employment, where needed we also provide referrals to Occupational Health to obtain expert advice on how best to support with workplace adjustments. These can be temporary or permanent, physical or soft and are aimed at helping an employee undertake their role. This can be through providing specialist equipment, changing working patterns, adjustments to their work objectives or consideration given in the attendance management process, for example, if a colleague has an underlying condition that requires them to take higher than average sickness absences.
We also give our line managers discretion to consider special leave which can be given in the form of disability leave, for example in relation to non-routine appointments and treatment such as fitting a prosthesis, counselling or treatment for facial disfigurement. In addition, employees also have access to physiotherapy support, including face to face physiotherapy sessions where poor physical health has led to musculoskeletal problems.