Asked by: Jacob Collier (Labour - Burton and Uttoxeter)
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 effectiveness of the Restart Scheme.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department undertook a mixed-method, multi-strand evaluation of the Restart Scheme, delivered by external research providers Learning and Work Institute (L&W) and Ipsos. The research comprised three strands: a longitudinal cohort study, a survey of Restart Scheme providers, and case study research of 12 geographic areas. The report was published in May 2024 and can found on gov.uk here The Evaluation of the Restart Scheme - GOV.UK.
Official Statistics on the Restart Scheme are published bi-annually and can be found on gov.uk here Restart Scheme statistics - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Jacob Collier (Labour - Burton and Uttoxeter)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether people not in receipt of the Personal Independence Payment daily living component will lose their entitlement to the health element of Universal Credit after the abolition of the work capability assessment.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Our Pathways to Work Green Paper set out why we are scrapping the Work Capability Assessment (WCA). We want to end the binary categorisation of groups and labelling as either ‘can or can’t work’. Instead, any extra financial support for health conditions in UC will be assessed via a single assessment – the PIP assessment – and be based on the impact of disability on daily living, not on capacity to work. This will de-couple access to the health element in UC (current LCWRA rate referred to as UC health throughout) from work status, so people can be confident that the act of taking steps towards and into employment will not put their benefit entitlement at risk.
We are considering how any change of this kind could affect individuals who currently meet limited capability for work and work-related activity (LCWRA) criteria due to non-functional special circumstances; for example, those affected by cancer treatment, people with short term conditions that get better, women with a high-risk pregnancy and those currently classed as having substantial risk. Individuals in these categories may not be eligible for PIP, and therefore the UC health element, in the reformed system.
In the reformed system these groups will still be eligible for UC and for the proposed new higher rate Unemployment Insurance if they meet relevant eligibility criteria. Individuals who are nearing the end of their life with 12 months or less to live will continue to be able to access PIP through the existing fast track route (Special Rules for End of Life (SREL) to ensure we protect those who are nearing the end of their life, irrespective of the duration of their illness.
Further details on these changes will be set out in a White Paper in the Autumn.
Asked by: Jacob Collier (Labour - Burton and Uttoxeter)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information her Department holds on how many and what proportion of Universal Credit claimants under the age of 25 (a) live outside of their family home and (b) do not receive financial support from their families.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.