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Written Question
Employment and Support Allowance: National Insurance Contributions
Thursday 26th October 2023

Asked by: Ian Blackford (Scottish National Party - Ross, Skye and Lochaber)

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 of New Style Employment Support Allowance were refused assistance because of insufficient National Insurance contributions during the covid-19 pandemic; and if he will make it his policy to reduce the requirement for National Insurance contributions in that period.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

As part of the Government's strategy to support people affected by the Coronavirus, we made a number of changes to ensure people who needed financial help could have access to the benefit system. People who were unable to claim New Style ESA due to insufficient National Insurance credits could alternatively make a claim for Universal Credit, which is a means tested benefit. There are no plans to change the New Style ESA contribution conditions for this period of the Coronavirus pandemic.


Written Question
Football: Injuries
Thursday 7th September 2023

Asked by: Ian Blackford (Scottish National Party - Ross, Skye and Lochaber)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of implications for his policies of the second set of findings from the FOCUS study commissioned by the Football Association and the Professional Footballers’ Association and undertaken by University of Nottingham, published on 17 July 2023.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

The department is advised by the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council (IIAC), an independent scientific body, on changes to the list of occupational diseases for which Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB) can be paid.

IIAC is carefully considering any connection between neurodegenerative diseases and the possible effects of repeated head injuries or blows to the head sustained during a career as a professional sportsperson. The Council has begun exploring the scientific literature covering various neurodegenerative diseases, which may include chronic traumatic encephalopathy and dementia. IIAC will publish its findings when the investigation is complete.

It would be premature to speculate on how the Council’s investigation will progress or whether there is enough evidence of a link between neurodegenerative diseases and professional sportspeople to meet the threshold for a new ‘prescribed disease’ to be recommended by IIAC for the purpose of IIDB entitlement.

A disease can only be recommended for prescription by IIAC if:

a) the risk to workers in a certain occupation is substantially greater than the risk to the general population, and

b) the link between the disease and the occupation can be established or presumed with reasonable certainty.

If recommendations are made by IIAC on this matter, they will be carefully considered by the department.


Written Question
Sports: Injuries
Thursday 7th September 2023

Asked by: Ian Blackford (Scottish National Party - Ross, Skye and Lochaber)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions his Department has had with the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council on assessment of the connection between repeated head injuries or blows to the head sustained during a career as a professional sportsperson and (a) chronic traumatic encephalopathy, (b) dementia and (c) other neurodegenerative diseases.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

The department is advised by the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council (IIAC), an independent scientific body, on changes to the list of occupational diseases for which Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB) can be paid.

IIAC is carefully considering any connection between neurodegenerative diseases and the possible effects of repeated head injuries or blows to the head sustained during a career as a professional sportsperson. The Council has begun exploring the scientific literature covering various neurodegenerative diseases, which may include chronic traumatic encephalopathy and dementia. IIAC will publish its findings when the investigation is complete.

It would be premature to speculate on how the Council’s investigation will progress or whether there is enough evidence of a link between neurodegenerative diseases and professional sportspeople to meet the threshold for a new ‘prescribed disease’ to be recommended by IIAC for the purpose of IIDB entitlement.

A disease can only be recommended for prescription by IIAC if:

a) the risk to workers in a certain occupation is substantially greater than the risk to the general population, and

b) the link between the disease and the occupation can be established or presumed with reasonable certainty.

If recommendations are made by IIAC on this matter, they will be carefully considered by the department.


Written Question
Department for Work and Pensions: Complaints
Monday 14th November 2022

Asked by: Ian Blackford (Scottish National Party - Ross, Skye and Lochaber)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the waiting time for processing complaints; and if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of his Department's adherence to the Independent Case Examiner guidance on dealing with a backlog of complaints.

Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

Our aim is to deal with complaints as quickly as we can and we will contact customers within 15 working days to resolve their complaint or agree on next steps if that is not possible. We always inform customers if there may be a delay in answering their complaint and give priority to vulnerable customers who may be at risk, and those with benefit payment issues.

We value the service the Independent Case Examiner (ICE) provides for our customers, and whilst they are independent of the department and don’t have specific guidance on dealing with backlogs, we do work collaboratively to improve the overall customer journey.


Written Question
State Retirement Pensions
Wednesday 17th November 2021

Asked by: Ian Blackford (Scottish National Party - Ross, Skye and Lochaber)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what her timetable is for clearing the backlog of new State Pension claims where applicants have submitted all necessary documentation.

Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

All outstanding claims have been cleared subject to receipt of any necessary documentation within usual operating procedures.


Written Question
Universal Credit: Self-employment Income Support Scheme
Wednesday 9th December 2020

Asked by: Ian Blackford (Scottish National Party - Ross, Skye and Lochaber)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will overturn benefit reductions taken from some universal credit recipients whose payments have been adversely affected by receiving a small grant from the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme which covers individual months but due to being paid quarterly has resulted in recipients losing money.

Answered by Will Quince

SEISS payments are treated as self-employed earnings for Universal Credit, which are taken into account in the month that they are received. We will not therefore readjust previous months’ awards.


Written Question
Social Security Benefits: Coronavirus
Tuesday 8th September 2020

Asked by: Ian Blackford (Scottish National Party - Ross, Skye and Lochaber)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will increase the standard rate of (a) employment support allowance and (b) jobseekers allowance in line with the increases applied to (i) universal credit and (ii) working tax credit to help support claimants who are not entitled to other extra cost benefits.

Answered by Will Quince

Employment and Support Allowance, Jobseeker’s Allowance and Income Support were increased by 1.7% in April 2020 following the Government’s announcement to end the benefit freeze.

It has always been the case that claimants on legacy benefits can make a claim for Universal Credit (UC) if they believe that they will be better off. There are special arrangements for those in receipt of the Severe Disability Premium, who will be able to make a new claim to Universal Credit from January 2021.

Claimants should check their eligibility before applying to UC as legacy benefits will end when they submit their claim and they will not be able to return to them in the future. For this reason, prospective claimants are signposted to independent benefits calculators on GOV.UK. Neither DWP nor HMRC can advise individual claimants whether they would be better off moving to UC or remaining on legacy benefits.

From 22 July 2020, a two-week run on of Income Support, Employment and Support Allowance (IR) and Jobseeker’s Allowance (IB) is available for all claimants whose claim to UC ends entitlement to these benefits, to provide additional support for claimants moving to UC.


Written Question
Work Capability Assessment
Monday 8th April 2019

Asked by: Ian Blackford (Scottish National Party - Ross, Skye and Lochaber)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons her Department does not undertake a single capability for work assessment for benefit claimants instead of multiple assessments when claimants are applying for more than one benefit.

Answered by Justin Tomlinson

We are committed to assessing people with health conditions and disabilities fairly and accurately, helping people to access the right support.

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)/Universal Credit (UC) are paid for different purposes with different assessment criteria. PIP is designed to help people with long-term health conditions or disabilities to live independently, whereas ESA/UC is to support people with health conditions or disabilities who are not able to work, and support them towards work where possible. Therefore, we have separate assessments in place, but only the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) in ESA/UC is used to assess capability for work.

The Secretary of State recently announced our intention to test the feasibility of using a single assessment to determine eligibility for ESA/UC and PIP where claims have been made for both benefits. We want to establish if its introduction would improve the customer experience and to ensure it delivers high quality, accurate outcomes.


Written Question
State Retirement Pensions: Automated Credit Transfer
Monday 8th April 2019

Asked by: Ian Blackford (Scottish National Party - Ross, Skye and Lochaber)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his policy is on paying state pensions into a bank account held at a local post office.

Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

Since January 2017, 99% of banks personal customers are able to withdraw cash, deposit cash and cheques, and make balance enquiries free of charge at a Post Office counter via its network of 11,600 branches.

The Government is committed to helping more people move towards, and benefit from, mainstream banking. The DWPs standard Method of Payment is to pay electronically into a bank account, building society account, credit union account, internet based account or a basic bank account of the customer’s choice. This provides a safe, modern and reliable method of payment, which gives customers greater choice about where and when they collect their money.

For people who do not have access to a mainstream account, the Department currently offers two exception payment methods and this includes Post Office card account which enables payment of benefit and pension into an account which is held at a local post office.


Written Question
Employment and Support Allowance: Ross, Skye and Lochaber
Thursday 25th October 2018

Asked by: Ian Blackford (Scottish National Party - Ross, Skye and Lochaber)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in Ross, Skye and Lochaber constituency in receipt of employment and support allowance have been affected by her Department's errors in the calculations of benefits.

Answered by Sarah Newton

We are not able to make robust estimates of the numbers of cases likely to be due arrears as part of the exercise to correct underpayments of Employment and Support Allowance, at regional or parliamentary constituency level. All estimated numbers and amounts are available at national level only.

We are focusing our efforts on contacting all potentially affected individuals to ensure they are paid as quickly as possible.

A Written Statement and Frequently Asked Question document was deposited in the House of Commons Library on Wednesday 17th October which can be found at http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/business-papers/commons/deposited-papers/. Ad hoc statistics can also be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/esa-underpayments-forecast-numbers-affected-forecast-expenditure-and-progress-on-checking.