Asked by: Jo Churchill (Conservative - Bury St Edmunds)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of constituents in Bury St Edmunds constituency have had their personal independence payments overturned as a result of (a) mandatory reconsideration and (b) an appeal hearing in each year for which data is available.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The latest available data on personal independence payment (PIP) clearances split by type of clearance (i.e. whether the claim was awarded, disallowed or withdrawn) can be found at https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/.
Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here: https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/index.html
Table 1 below shows the number of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) Mandatory Reconsideration decisions where the award was changed by year since the introduction of PIP in the Parliamentary Constituency of Bury St Edmunds.
Table 1 - Number of Mandatory Reconsiderations decisions where the award changed by financial year of decision.
Year of Mandatory Reconsideration | 2013/14 | 2014/ 15 | 2015/ 16 | 2016/ 17 | 2017/18 (April 17 only) | Total |
Bury St Edmunds | Less than 5 | 20 | 50 | 50 | 10 | 120 |
Table 2 below shows the Number of appeals found in favour of appellant by financial year, data from Ministry of Justice.
Table 2
Bury St Edmunds constituency1 |
| Number Found in Favour of Appellant | Percentage Found in Favour of Appellant (at hearing)2 |
2013-141 | PIP2 | 0 | 0% |
2014-151 | PIP2 | 14 | 40% |
2015-161 | PIP2 | 141 | 55% |
2016-171 | PIP2 | 227 | 68% |
|
|
|
|
1 By financial year - from April to March.
2 PIP replaced Disability Living Allowance for people aged 16 to 64 and rolled out from 8 April 2013. As such, appeal volumes in HM Courts & Tribunals Service in the Year 2013-2014 are low.
Asked by: Jo Churchill (Conservative - Bury St Edmunds)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applicants moving from disability living allowance to personal independence payment have been awarded less than they were receiving through disability living allowance in (a) Bury St Edmunds constituency, (b) Suffolk and (c) England and Wales in each year since April 2013.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The table below shows the number of applicants moving from disability living allowance to personal independence payment who were awarded less than they were receiving through disability living allowance between April 2013 and October 2016, the latest date for which figures are available.
Table – Decreased awards following reassessment for PIP in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk and England & Wales.
| Bury St Edmunds | Suffolk | England & Wales |
Jan to Dec 2013 | # | # | # |
Jan to Dec 2014 | # | 300 | 15,200 |
Jan to Dec 2015 | 200 | 1,300 | 58,700 |
Jan to Oct 2016 | 100 | 900 | 135,300 |
Total | 300 | 2,400 | 209,300 |
Asked by: Jo Churchill (Conservative - Bury St Edmunds)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of personal independence payment claimants has the original decision on their application overturned as a result of (a) mandatory reconsideration, (b) the lodging of an appeal, without that appeal being heard and (c) an appeal hearing in each month for which data is available.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The latest available data on personal independence payment (PIP) clearances split by type of clearance (i.e. whether the claim was awarded, disallowed or withdrawn) can be found at https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/. Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here: https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/index.html
a) Statistics on outcomes of Mandatory Reconsiderations split by month can be found in published statistics in tables 7B of: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/personal-independence-payment-statistics
These statistics relate to normal rules claims (i.e. excluding special rules cases for the terminally ill).
b) The following table gives the number of decisions overturned by DWP after an appeal had been lodged, but before the appeal was heard by the tribunal for the period Apr13-Mar17.
Month/Year | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 |
Jan |
| # | 200 | 300 | 800 |
Feb |
| # | 300 | 200 | 700 |
Mar |
| # | 400 | 200 | 900 |
Apr | 0 | # | 300 | 300 |
|
May | 0 | # | 400 | 400 |
|
Jun | 0 | # | 400 | 300 |
|
Jul | 0 | 100 | 300 | 300 |
|
Aug | 0 | 100 | 200 | 400 |
|
Sep | 0 | 100 | 200 | 400 |
|
Oct | # | 100 | 200 | 500 |
|
Nov | # | 200 | 300 | 600 |
|
Dec | # | 200 | 200 | 500 |
|
Total | 0 | 900 | 3400 | 4300 | 2500 |
‘#’ Fewer than 50 claims in this category
Between April 2013 and March 2017 11,000 cases were settled by the Department after the Mandatory reconsideration had taken place and an appeal been lodged, but before the tribunal hearing.
c) Quarterly statistics on overturned cases at appeal can be found in published statistics from the Ministry of Justice in table SSCS.3 of: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics#history
Asked by: Jo Churchill (Conservative - Bury St Edmunds)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of research by Oxford University, published by The Trussell Trust in October 2017, on the effect of benefit sanctions on food insecurity and food bank usage.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The report, which was published on 27 October 2016, does not provide evidence of a causal link between benefit sanctions and the use of food banks. In the year to September 2016 the number of JSA sanctions has halved.
We know the most effective route out of poverty is work. That is why we are determined to help people find employment through a wide range of support targeted to each individual’s personal circumstances.
Asked by: Jo Churchill (Conservative - Bury St Edmunds)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his Department's policy to (a) collect data on the number of people subject to a benefit sanction who have used food banks at any time over the duration of that sanction and (b) publish that data.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The Department does not make direct referrals to food banks; therefore no data are collected. There are no plans to change this approach.
Asked by: Jo Churchill (Conservative - Bury St Edmunds)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the total amount levied in health and safety fines on businesses since 2014; and what amount has been levied in each business sector.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
Statistics published by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in November 2016 show that, in 2014/15 and 2015/16, prosecutions in Great Britain instituted by HSE for health and safety offences (or referred to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service in Scotland) led to fines totalling £56.3 million. The figures include fines imposed on individuals and all types of organisation. The table below provides a breakdown by year and industrial sector. The data does not include fines resulting from health and safety prosecutions taken by other enforcing organisations such as the Crown Prosecution Service, Office of Road and Rail, or the Office for Nuclear Regulation.
Total fines for prosecution cases instituted by HSE1 in Great Britain2, by industrial sector 2014/153 & 2015/16p | ||
Industrial sector4 | 2014/15 | 2015/16p |
All Industries | £18,072,811 | £38,266,663 |
Agriculture | £823,944 | £612,720 |
Mining and Quarrying | £473,015 | £4,164,120 |
Manufacturing | £4,673,116 | £12,105,301 |
Utility Supply | £51,135 | £4,512,000 |
Water Supply/Waste Management | £2,056,270 | £1,840,445 |
Construction | £4,258,992 | £7,805,975 |
Distribution, Hotels and Restaurants | £367,611 | £603,202 |
Transportation and Storage | £1,062,698 | £3,335,515 |
Communications, Business Services and Finance | £1,702,070 | £1,228,875 |
Public Administration | £312,120 | £350,515 |
Education | £160,125 | £304,115 |
Human Health and Social Work activities | £1,167,000 | £967,120 |
Arts, Entertainment and Recreation; Other Service activities | £964,715 | £436,760 |
Notes | ||
1 HSE does not hold published statistics for the same period that show the level of fines arising from prosecutions instituted by local authorities. | ||
2 In Scotland, HSE investigate potential offences but cannot institute legal proceedings. HSE send a report to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS). COPFS makes the final decision whether to institute legal proceedings and which offences are taken. | ||
3 Year of prosecution is based on when a result has been secured i.e. the prosecution has been completed. The year is from the beginning of April to the end of March. | ||
4 Industrial sector is defined by Section level of the UK Standard Industrial Classification 2007 (SIC2007). | ||
p= provisional | ||
Asked by: Jo Churchill (Conservative - Bury St Edmunds)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in Bury St Edmunds constituency are in receipt of the new enterprise allowance.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Statistics published on 29 June 2016 show from April 2011 to March 2016, 210 participants started the mentoring phase of NEA, of which 120 have started a business with support from the scheme in the constituency of Bury St Edmunds.
The most recent NEA statistics can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/new-enterprise-allowance-apr-2011-to-mar-2016
Asked by: Jo Churchill (Conservative - Bury St Edmunds)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many families accessed support from the Child Support Agency in (a) Bury St Edmunds constituency, (b) the East of England and (c) England and Wales in each of the last five years.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
We do not have information on the number of families who accessed support. Information has been provided in the table on the caseload at the end of the year, which will differ from the number of families supported as multiple cases may be linked to the same family.
| Dec-11 | Dec-12 | Dec-13 | Dec-14 | Dec-15 |
Bury St Edmunds | 1,580 | 1,690 | 2,090 | 1,980 | 1,850 |
East of England | 94,800 | 94,600 | 115,700 | 111,400 | 104,900 |
England and Wales | 1,035,500 | 1,010,600 | 1,231,900 | 1,185,200 | 1,111,500 |
Notes:
Asked by: Jo Churchill (Conservative - Bury St Edmunds)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many universal credit claimants there were in Bury St Edmunds constituency in (a) June 2015, (b) December 2015 and (c) the latest month for which figures are available.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The information requested is available in the official Universal Credit statistics: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/universal-credit-statistics.
Asked by: Jo Churchill (Conservative - Bury St Edmunds)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people with cancer who were awarded the daily living component of personal independence payment scored all of their points due to aid and appliances.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
For cancer, the number of individuals awarded the Daily Living component of PIP who scored all of their points due to aids and appliances is 2,630.
This data relates to the period April 2013 to 30th September 2015, and includes Normal Rules awards only.
DWP are currently running a consultation to seek views on how support can best be provided to help meet the costs of disability which are faced by people who are currently awarded points due to aids and appliances. The department is keen to hear views from all interested parties, especially disabled people and disability organisations.