Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many personal independence payment (PIP) claimants in Scotland over the age of 65 have had their award (a) increased, (b) reduced and (c) unchanged under the PIP review process.
Answered by Sarah Newton
Once a claimant has been awarded Personal Independence Payment (PIP), which can be paid at one of eight rates, that award will be reviewed periodically. Reviews are a key part of the benefit and ensure that not only do awards remain correct where needs may change, including where needs become greater, but that we also maintain contact with the claimant. Importantly, the length of an award is based on an individual’s circumstances and can vary from nine months to an ongoing award, with a light touch review at the ten-year point.
Additionally, in August 2018, we introduced updated guidance for Case Managers which will ensure that those who receive the highest level of support under PIP, and where their needs are unlikely to change or may get worse, will now receive an ongoing award with a light touch review at the ten year point.
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 26 March 2018 to Question 134167, what the timescale is for bringing forward legislative proposals to bring into effect automatic split payments of universal credit.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
DWP has no current proposals to bring forward split payments.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 26 March 2018 to Question 134167 on Universal Credit: Scotland and with reference to the decision of the Scottish Parliament to amend the Social Security Bill to require the Scottish Government to bring forward regulations under s30 of the Scotland Act 2016 to give effect to automatic split payments, what work her Department plans to undertake to establish a timetable and cost its delivery.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
This is a complex area of policy with many issues for the Scottish government to resolve. There are also some preparatory activities that are required, which will allow a process for safe delivery of this change to be constructed.
As any IT solution is likely to require significant re-engineering of the payment system at the heart of Universal Credit, which supports claimants across the UK, any aspirations for progress will ultimately need to be weighed against the risks and other priorities for development of the system. As a result we are not yet in a position to agree a timetable for the implementation of this change.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 26 March 2018 to Question 134167 on Universal Credit: Scotland and with reference to the decision of the Scottish Parliament to amend the Social Security Bill to require the Scottish Government to bring forward regulations under s30 of the Scotland Act 2016 to give effect to automatic split payments, what the timetable is for that functionality to be provided.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
This is a complex area of policy with many issues for the Scottish government to resolve. There are also some preparatory activities that are required, which will allow a process for safe delivery of this change to be constructed.
As any IT solution is likely to require significant re-engineering of the payment system at the heart of Universal Credit, which supports claimants across the UK, any aspirations for progress will ultimately need to be weighed against the risks and other priorities for development of the system. As a result we are not yet in a position to agree a timetable for the implementation of this change.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 14 March 2018 to Question 131814, on Universal Credit: Scotland, on what date his Department held early discussions with the Scottish Government on the split payment policy for universal credit; whether these discussions took the form of a meeting; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
Officials from Scottish Government and DWP are in regular contact to successfully implement Universal Credit policy in Scotland. DWP and the Scottish Government have had early discussions about the Scottish Government’s split payment policy over the past year. The most recent meeting took place on 22 March.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 14 March 2018 to Question 131814, on Universal Credit: Scotland, what information the Scottish Government has provided to her Department on its split payment policy; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
DWP and Scottish Government continue to share information on split payment policy to ensure a successful implementation, equivalent to the close working relationship DWP and Scottish Government successfully established to implement Scottish Choices in 2017. As this is the subject of on-going policy development between DWP and the Scottish Government, the Department is not in a position to share information it has been provided with.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 14 March 2018 to Question 131814 on Universal Credit: Scotland, what the timetable is for the initial workshop on the Scottish Government's universal credit split payment policy; and what the topics to be considered will be at that workshop.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
The first workshop is planned for April and any future workshops will be organised in due course. The topics under consideration will include the results of stakeholder engagement, and the existing DWP policy and processes for split payments.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many households in Scotland receive a child element under universal credit.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
The available information on the number of households in receipt of additional Universal Credit support for parents is published and can be accessed at:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/.
Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:
https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many children are included on universal credit claims in Scotland.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
The information for all Universal Credit claims is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
However, I can inform the Hon. Member that as at June 2017, there were 51,000 households in Scotland on Universal Credit, of which 4,600 had child entitlement (these figures have been obtained from stat xplore, which can be accessed at
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/)
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh 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 the Scottish Government on the use of universal credit split payments; and if she has supplied the Scottish Government with indicative costs.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
DWP and the Scottish Government have had early discussions about the Scottish Government’s split payment policy and will be holding an initial workshop in the near future. Currently, Universal Credit Alternative Payment Arrangements for split payments are available for vulnerable claimants.
We are unable to provide indicative costs until the design has been agreed.