Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Minister will take to ensure that the Timms Review adequately takes account of the needs of those living with arthritis and other musculoskeletal conditions.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
For the Timms Review to be a success, lived experience must be at the heart of its work. To do this, we are co-producing the Review with disabled people, the organisations that represent them, clinicians, experts, MPs, and other stakeholders.
In October last year, I published the revised Terms of Reference on GOV.UK setting out further details about the Review’s scope. I also announced I will co-chair the Review alongside Sharon Brennan and Dr Clenton Farquharson CBE. We will oversee a steering group responsible for leading the co-production process, setting the Review’s strategic direction and will determine how it runs and what it recommends.
To recruit the steering group, we ran an open and accessible expression of interest from 30 October to 30 November. I will provide an update on its membership in the coming days, ahead of its first meeting later this week. The steering group will not work alone, once in place, it will shape a programme of participation that brings together the full range of views and voices.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what action is being taken to reduce the waiting times for a decision on Access to Work claims.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department is committed to reducing the Access to Work waiting times. We have increased the number of staff working in this area by 27% and we have continued to streamline delivery practices. To protect employment opportunities, case managers prioritise Access to Work applications where the customer is due to start a job within four weeks, or cases that are up for renewal.
In the Pathways to Work Green Paper, we consulted on the future of Access to Work and how to improve the scheme so that it helps more disabled people in work. We will be reviewing all aspects of the Scheme now that the consultation has closed. We are continuing to work closely with stakeholders, and in particular disabled people and their representatives, on all aspects of our proposals.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make and assessment of the adequacy of funding for the voluntary sector through the Crisis Resilience Fund.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No assessment has been made on the adequacy of funding for the voluntary sector through the Crisis Resilience Fund. The Government is providing £842 million per year (£1 billion including Barnett consequential) to reform crisis support, which represents the first ever multi-year settlement for locally delivered crisis support. Whilst funding will be going directly to local authorities, the voluntary and community sector will play a pivotal role in delivery of the fund
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
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 help reduce Child Maintenance Service (a) response and (b) decision times.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) has made significant strides through its Service Modernisation and Digital Transformation Programmes, improving response times and expanding online services for separated parents. It has optimised digital channels and self-service options, reducing caseworker involvement in many processes and speeding up outcomes for customers. Staff support has also improved through upgraded training and operational guidance. Communication with customers is quicker and clearer thanks to greater use of SMS, email, and simplified letters.
As the demand for the service continues to grow, CMS is actively reviewing resources and recruiting to meet future needs. It regularly gathers feedback through the Customer Experience Survey and uses this insight to identify areas for improvement. Its focus remains on delivering efficient, accessible services while continuing to review, evaluate, and enhance tools, processes, and customer experience as part of the ongoing Service Modernisation Programme.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
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 ensure the Child Maintenance Service provides proof, if requested, of calculations of collection fees.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department is committed to ensuring transparency in the operation of the Child Maintenance Service (CMS).
The CMS provides two service types: Direct Pay, where parents arrange payments between themselves, and Collect and Pay, where the CMS calculates the liability and manages the transfer of funds. Collection fees only apply to the Collect and Pay service. A fee of 20% is added to what the paying parent needs to pay, while 4% is deducted from maintenance paid to receiving parents.
For cases on the Collect and Pay service, details of what collection fees apply and how they are calculated are included in notifications sent to customers whenever there is a change to their child maintenance calculation. Customers can also view additional information about their payments and child maintenance calculation by accessing their online Child Maintenance account.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
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 ensure that the Child Maintenance Service do not send arrears letters to people who pay on time.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Robust processes are in place to ensure correspondence issued by the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) is accurate and reflects each customer’s payment status. CMS systems monitor compliance of expected payments and where payments are not made in full and on time, arrears or missed payment notifications will be issued. Where a payment has been made in full and on time, no arrears letter should be sent.
The CMS are committed to modernising and regularly reviews processes and updates guidance to staff to minimise errors and improve accuracy.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will consider how people with life-long disabilities caused by receiving sodium valproate in utero will be affected by welfare reforms when planning those reforms.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In our Pathways to Work Green Paper, we set out plans to remove the WCA and move to using the PIP assessment as the single assessment for additional financial support for disabled people and people with long-term health conditions in England and Wales. To ensure that PIP and the PIP assessment are fair and fit for the future, we have launched the Timms Review.
The Review will look at PIP, the assessment criteria, and the wider role the assessment could play in providing access to the right support at the right level. To ensure lived experience is at the heart of its work, the Review will be co-produced with disabled people, the organisations that represent them, and other experts.
It will be for the Review’s leadership group – building from the Terms of Reference – to set its strategic direction, priorities and workplan. It will also oversee a programme of participation and engagement that brings together the full range of views and voices.
PIP assessments and Work Capability Assessments are not medical consultations and do not require Healthcare Professionals (HP) to diagnose conditions or recommend treatment. Instead, they are functional assessments designed to evaluate how an individual’s health conditions or impairments - including those caused by receiving sodium valproate in utero - affect their ability to carry out daily living activities and/or their capability for work
HPs conducting assessments are trained specialists in disability analysis. Their focus is on understanding the functional impact of a claimant’s condition, rather than its clinical diagnosis. All HPs receive specific training on assessing the effects of physical and mental health conditions.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of (a) increasing the housing benefit earnings disregard and (b) aligning the taper rate with Universal Credit.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We acknowledge there is a challenge arising from the interaction between Universal Credit and Housing Benefit, particularly for working age customers living in supported and temporary accommodation. This issue is a complex one, and eradicating the financial cliff edge some individuals face as they incrementally increase their earnings could not be achieved by simply aligning the taper rates within the two benefits.
We are considering options to improve work incentives for residents of supported housing and temporary accommodation, while taking into account the views of stakeholders. As funding is required to allow a change, any future decisions will take account of the current fiscal context.
It remains the department’s priority to ensure that those who can work are supported to enter the labour market and to sustain employment.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
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 potential merits of reviewing the universal credit taper to help more young people into work.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Extended periods of unemployment at a young age can have long-lasting consequences, including limiting of future employment prospects and reduced lifetime earnings. Early intervention is therefore critical. That is why our plan to Get Britain Working includes a new Youth Guarantee for all young people aged 18-21 to ensure that they can access quality training opportunities, an apprenticeship or help to find work. Eight Youth Guarantee Trailblazers were launched earlier this year, and the insights gained will inform the future design and delivery of the Youth Guarantee.
Universal Credit is designed to top-up earnings from employment and to make work pay, so a household’s Universal Credit is withdrawn at a steady rate as their net earnings increase.
Some customers will also benefit from a work allowance which is the amount someone can earn before their Universal Credit award starts to reduce.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he will take through the benefit system to incentivise young people to work additional hours.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Extended periods of unemployment at a young age can have long-lasting consequences, including limiting of future employment prospects and reduced lifetime earnings. Early intervention is therefore critical. That is why our plan to Get Britain Working includes a new Youth Guarantee for all young people aged 18-21 to ensure that they can access quality training opportunities, an apprenticeship or help to find work. Eight Youth Guarantee Trailblazers were launched earlier this year, and the insights gained will inform the future design and delivery of the Youth Guarantee.
Universal Credit is designed to top-up earnings from employment and to make work pay, so a household’s Universal Credit is withdrawn at a steady rate as their net earnings increase.
Some customers will also benefit from a work allowance which is the amount someone can earn before their Universal Credit award starts to reduce.