Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
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 all pensioners claim all of the pension credit they are entitled to.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The Government is committed to ensuring that older people receive the support they are entitled to and the DWP targets activity on engaging with people who may be eligible to benefits at pivotal stages, such as when they claim State Pension or report a change in their circumstances. The DWP uses a wide range of channels to communicate information about benefits to potential customers; including information on https://gov.uk/, in leaflets and by telephone. DWP staff in Pension Centres and Jobcentres including visiting officers are able to provide help and advice about entitlement to benefits, as are staff in Local Authorities who administer Housing Benefit.
Potential customers can use the Pension Credit https://www.gov.uk/pension-credit-calculator to check if they are likely to be eligible and get an estimate of what they may receive. People wishing to claim Pension Credit can do so by calling 0800 99 1234.
One of the best ways to reach eligible customers is through trusted stakeholder working in the community and we have developed the Pension Credit toolkit, as an on-line tool for agencies and welfare rights organisations to use in order to encourage Pension Credit take-up. It can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pension-credit-toolkit
The toolkit contains resources for anyone working with pensioners and includes guides to Pension Credit. It also contains publicity material and guidance designed to help older people understand how they could get Pension Credit and help organisations support someone applying for Pension Credit as well as ideas for encouraging take-up. The toolkit also provides links to information about disability and carers benefits.
Most recently we have provided to relevant stakeholders a fact sheet about Pension Credit and the changes introduced on 15 May for mixed age couples to ensure that accurate information is available in the places where people are most likely to seek information.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the number of military veterans claiming universal credit that have been sanctioned.
Answered by Lord Sharma
The Department has not made an estimate of the number of military veterans claiming universal credit that have been sanctioned because this information is not held.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
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 adequacy of training for fit-to-work assessors for military veterans.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
Military Veterans who claim Employment and Support Allowance/Universal Credit are likely to have a variety of health conditions both physical and mental health related. Healthcare Professionals undertaking work capability assessments are equipped to identify the impact of these conditions as part of the existing assessment process.
All Healthcare Professionals carrying out work capability assessments are medically qualified and highly-trained practitioners in their own field. They are subject to a rigorous recruitment process followed by a comprehensive training programme in disability assessment. The assessment is not a medical assessment requiring the Healthcare Professional to diagnose a condition and recommend treatment options. The focus is on ensuring Healthcare Professionals are experts in disability analysis, drawing on evidence supplied by the individual and their GP or specialist clinical team, with knowledge of the likely functional effects of a wide range of health conditions.
While preparing to undertake an assessment, Healthcare Professionals can access a wide range of clinical resources to research any conditions presented. This includes evidence based protocols, e-learning modules or case studies as well as keeping knowledge up to date through Continuous Professional Development.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the number of people in employment that live in poverty.
Answered by Will Quince
National statistics on the number of working-age adults, in a family with at least one adult in work, in low income can be calculated from figures published in the annual "Households Below Average Income" publication.
In 2017/18 there were 2.9m working-age adults in absolute low income (before housing costs) in families with at least one adult in work. However, over 80% of these are from families where at least one adult is not in full-time employment. The majority of those in in-work poverty are in families with part-time work only, single earner couples, or are self-employed.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
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 adequacy of training for fit-to-work assessors to assess a person's mental health.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
All Healthcare Professionals receive training on how to assess the impact of mental health conditions on individuals. This is followed by on-going professional training and support which continues for the duration of their employment in the role. In addition, Mental Health Function Champions support Healthcare Professionals by providing additional expertise about mental health, cognitive, developmental and learning disabilities and can be referred to at any time during the assessment process.
Health Assessment Providers frequently engage with medical experts, charities and relevant stakeholders to strengthen, review and update training programmes for all their assessment staff.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people in the West Midlands on zero-hour contracts.
Answered by Lord Sharma
Data from the independent Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that in 2018 75,000 people in the West Midlands are employed on zero hours’ contracts – representing just 2.7% of people employed in the West Midlands.
In the UK in 2018 the ONS estimate that 844,000 people were employed on zero hours’ contracts – 2.6% of all people employed.
A record number of people (32.7 million) in the UK are employed. Since 2010 nearly 80% of the growth in employment has been in full-time work and over 75% has come from permanent employment’. Average wages have grown faster than inflation for 15 consecutive months.