Asked by: Greg Mulholland (Liberal Democrat - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to his letter of 9 September 2015 to the hon. Member for Leeds North West, what additional training and guidance has been given to staff administering disability living allowance.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
Between July and October 2015, training was delivered to all DLA Child decision makers on the award duration in progressive neurological conditions with special reference to Batten Disease. Guidance has also been updated to reflect the training.Asked by: Greg Mulholland (Liberal Democrat - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what training is given to staff in his Department's Personal Independence Payment Directorate on dealing sensitively with disabled people; and what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of that training.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The Department is committed to dealing with disabled claimants sensitively, adjusting to individual needs where appropriate. All frontline DWP staff are provided with Disability Awareness training on induction into DWP. This includes Equality and Diversity Essentials, Introduction to Mental Health Conditions and Supporting Vulnerable People, with some courses being tailored to Telephony staff. All staff can also access dedicated internal web pages that provide further guidance and details of additional training and support for working with vulnerable claimants. Following training, there is a consolidation process to ensure that it has been successful and a robust quality checking regime in place.
Additional training and consolidation on dealing with claims from disabled people is provided to staff processing Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claims within the benefit specific training modules. Including dedicated learning on Special Rules for Terminally Ill including the dedicated SRTI claims line. All these build on the skills developed in the previous learning, supported by access to medical advice where needed.
Asked by: Greg Mulholland (Liberal Democrat - Leeds North West)
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 effectiveness of anonymising job applications in tackling discrimination in the jobs market.
Answered by Priti Patel - Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs
The department has made no specific assessment of the effectiveness of anonymising job applications in tackling discrimination in the jobs market.
Early discussions are currently taking place between DWP and large employers through employer roundtables about the scope for reforming recruitment policy through anonymised applications.
Asked by: Greg Mulholland (Liberal Democrat - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his most recent estimate is of the number of children living in poverty; and if he will publish such data for each region and parliamentary constituency.
Answered by Priti Patel - Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs
Estimates of the number and proportion of children in relative and absolute low-income are published in the National Statistics Households Below Average Income (HBAI) series.
Due to small sample sizes figures for constituency level are not available as robust estimates cannot be produced for local level geographies. However, HBAI does provide 3-year average estimates of the number and proportion of children in relative and absolute low-income for each region in the UK. Analysis by region is presented as three-year averages as single-year estimates are considered too volatile. Figures are presented in financial year estimates and are available up to 2013/14
The latest publication is available at the link below: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/households-below-average-income-19941995-to-20132014
Asked by: Greg Mulholland (Liberal Democrat - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to paragraph 1.153 of the Summer Budget 2015, what estimate he has made of the proportion of the £800 million each local authority will receive.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
Local Authorities have overall responsibility for how Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) are administered and paid, considering each case on its own merits. The Department publishes a DHP guidance manual and good practice guide to help Local Authorities identify those outline claimants who may require a DHP .
No decisions have been made on allocations to local authorities for 2016/2017 and beyond. We consider the allocation of Discretionary Housing Payments each year, based on each local authority’s Housing Benefit expenditure and the local impact of reforms.
Asked by: Greg Mulholland (Liberal Democrat - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to paragraph 1.153 of the Summer Budget 2015, if he will publish the criteria to decide who the most vulnerable housing benefit claimants are.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
Local Authorities have overall responsibility for how Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) are administered and paid, considering each case on its own merits. The Department publishes a DHP guidance manual and good practice guide to help Local Authorities identify those outline claimants who may require a DHP .
No decisions have been made on allocations to local authorities for 2016/2017 and beyond. We consider the allocation of Discretionary Housing Payments each year, based on each local authority’s Housing Benefit expenditure and the local impact of reforms.
Asked by: Greg Mulholland (Liberal Democrat - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to paragraph 2.111 of the Summer Budget 2015, who the vulnerable groups are; and what criteria he uses to decide those groups are vulnerable.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
To prevent young people slipping straight into a life on benefits, from April 2017 the Government will remove the automatic entitlement to housing support for new claims in Universal Credit from 18-21 year olds who are out of work. This will ensure young people in the benefits system face the same choices as young people who work and who may not be able to afford to leave home.
We will ensure that vulnerable young people who are in need of support for their housing needs continue to receive it. Government will consider the impact in line with our legal obligations as part of that process.