Asked by: Hugh Gaffney (Labour - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent discussions she has had with (a) the Prime Minister and (b) the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the length of the benefits freeze.
Answered by Will Quince
The Secretary of State announced on 4th November 2019 that the freeze to working age benefits will come to an end in April 2020. This was following her statutory annual review of benefit and pension rates to determine whether they have retained their value to the general level of prices and earnings. See written ministerial statement -
Asked by: Hugh Gaffney (Labour - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the affordability of the housing market in Scotland for families in receipt of benefits.
Answered by Will Quince
The proportion of Scottish private market rents that are at or below the LHA rate, by room entitlement, is set out below. This is based on rent officer data and the 2019/20 LHA rates published here https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-housing-allowance-lha-rates-applicable-from-april-2019-to-march-2020.
Shared room | 1 bedroom | 2 bedroom | 3 bedroom | 4+ bedroom |
14% | 22% | 17% | 18% | 17% |
Asked by: Hugh Gaffney (Labour - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
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 ensure that cohabiting couples with children can apply for bereavement support payments.
Answered by Will Quince
Primary legislation provides that Bereavement Support Payment can only be paid to, and for the benefit of, a surviving spouse or civil partner. The Department is ensuring that Bereavement Support Payment is being paid in accordance with that law, as it is required to do.
Asked by: Hugh Gaffney (Labour - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
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 reduce the number of complaints made against independent personal independence payment assessment providers.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
We are committed to ensuring that all claimants receive a fair, objective and accurate assessment as well as a quality service at all stages of a claim.
In 2017 and 2018, complaint volumes for Assessment Providers equated to less than 1% of the total number of assessments carried out that year. However, the Department is continually working alongside the PIP Assessment Providers to further improve the quality of assessments.
Assessment Providers engage with medical experts, charities and relevant Stakeholders to strengthen, review and update their training programmes. Alongside this, the Departments clinicians have been observing PIP assessments to provide further assurance of the face-to face assessment process and suggest areas for improvement.
The Department ensures a high standard is always maintained by having an Independent Audit function that continually monitors the performance and provides feedback to our Providers. Improvements have been supported by two Independent Reviews of the PIP assessment process, and we take on board recommendations from the Select Committee Enquiry. This ensures that our Providers consistently exceed the Customer Satisfaction target of 90%.
Asked by: Hugh Gaffney (Labour - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate her Department has made of the number of personal independence payment claims which have been rejected in Scotland in the latest period for which figures are available.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The latest available data on Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claims cleared by type of decision (e.g. awarded, disallowed or withdrawn) can be found in the ‘PIP clearances’ table at https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/. The statistics provide monthly breakdowns up until the end of July 2019, the latest available data, and can also be broken down by region; England, Wales and Scotland.
Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/index.html
Asked by: Hugh Gaffney (Labour - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
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 ensure that information relating to Pension Credit eligibility is accessible to people who are classed as being digitally excluded.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
There are over 1.6 million people already claiming £5.4 billion in Pension Credit but the Government wants to ensure that all pensioners eligible can claim the Pension Credit to which they are rightly entitled.
The DWP uses a wide range of channels, in addition to www.gov.uk, to communicate information about benefits to potential claimants. We target activity on engaging with people who may be eligible to benefits at pivotal stages, such as when they claim State Pension, Attendance Allowance or when they report a change in their circumstances which could result in them becoming eligible for Pension Credit. Staff in Pension Centres and Jobcentres as well as DWP visiting officers are able to provide help and advice about entitlement to benefits including Pension Credit either to individuals or community groups. Staff in Local Authorities who administer Housing Benefit also provide information about Pension Credit
For general enquiries about Pension Credit, potential customers can telephone the freephone Pension Service helpline on 08007310469 and the easiest way to make a claim is via the freephone claim line 0800991234. Anyone wishing to make a claim by post can request a paper application form.
The Government wants to make sure that all older people receive the support they are entitled to and we therefore also welcome and encourage initiatives to promote take up of Pension Credit by national and local organisations who may often be the first place people turn to for information and help.
Asked by: Hugh Gaffney (Labour - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the effect of the time taken for universal credit payments to be made to claimants on trends in the level of food bank use in Scotland.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department does not keep official statistics on food bank use, so no such assessment has been completed. Some food aid providers produce statistics on the number of food parcels distributed, but the Government has no plans to require individual food banks to keep records as this would place a significant burden on charitable and voluntary organisations.
We have listened to feedback on how we can improve Universal Credit to support our claimants and acted quickly, making improvements such as extending advances, removing waiting days, and introducing housing benefit run on. These changes are giving support to vulnerable people who need it most, whilst at the same time helping people get into work faster.
Furthermore, in Scotland, the Department delivers Universal Credit Scottish choices on behalf of the Scottish Government, providing the option of Universal Credit being paid twice a month rather than monthly, and having Universal Credit housing element being paid directly to landlords.
Asked by: Hugh Gaffney (Labour - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the effect on food poverty levels of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The Government has been clear that leaving the EU with a deal is its preferred option.
The Government has put in place contingency plans for a range of exit scenarios. These contingencies ensure that DWP can continue to provide our vital services and that individuals will continue to be able to access DWP benefits and services on the same basis as they do now.
The Government is committed to providing a strong safety-net through the welfare system. We continue to spend over £95 billion a year on benefits for people of working age. DWP continues to monitor the effects of EU exit on the economy. Rates of benefits continue to be reviewed in line with the relevant legislation for uprating.
Asked by: Hugh Gaffney (Labour - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the effect of the benefits freeze on the wellbeing of universal credit claimants.
Answered by Will Quince
An Impact Assessment of the benefit freeze was published in 2015, this is available in the link below.
https://www.parliament.uk/documents/impact-assessments/IA15-006C.pdf
Asked by: Hugh Gaffney (Labour - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
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 effect of the benefit cap on single parent households with dependent children in Scotland.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The table below shows the number of households in Scotland that have had their Housing Benefit or Universal Credit capped between the introduction of cap and May 2019 (‘cumulative caseload’), and latest capped caseload in May 2019 (‘point in time caseload’), for all capped households and lone parents.
Benefit cap caseload in Scotland | Housing Benefit | Universal Credit | ||
Total | Lone parents | Total | Lone parents | |
Cumulative capped caseload (up to May 2016) | 12,500 | 6,200 | 1,100 | 600 |
% of which are lone parents | - | 50% | - | 53% |
Point-in-time capped caseload (May 2019) | 2,700 | 1,800 | 600 | 400 |
% of which are lone parents | - | 67% | - | 64% |
Source: DWP benefit cap official statistics up to May 2019, August 2019 publication
Notes:
1) All figures are rounded to the nearest 100 households.
2) Lone parents are defined are single person households with dependent children.
3) For Housing Benefit claimants, the cumulative capped caseload is the number of households that have had their Housing Benefit capped between the introduction of the benefit cap on 15 April 2013 to May 2019.
4) For Universal Credit claimants, the cumulative capped caseload is the number of households that had their Universal Credit capped between October 2016 and May 2019. Universal Credit benefit cap data is only available from October 2016 onwards.
The average weekly cap amount under Housing Benefit for lone parents in Scotland in May 2019 was £60, compared to an average of £55 for all households in Great Britain. We do not currently publish the average cap amount for Universal Credit capped households, by family type, but are planning to publish this information for the first time on the DWP Stat-Xplore portal during the w/c 9th September.