Asked by: Jonathan Reynolds (Labour (Co-op) - Stalybridge and Hyde)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have successfully moved into secure employment after taking part in the Restart scheme as of 21 October 2021.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested is currently unavailable. Detailed statistics on Restart, including moves into employment, are currently under development. For figures on referrals and starts to the scheme please see PQ 59705/59706.
Asked by: Jonathan Reynolds (Labour (Co-op) - Stalybridge and Hyde)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will publish data on the size of deductions being made from claimants' universal credit entitlements as a result of debts to the public purse by (a) gross sum and (b) percentage of the claimants' standard allowance as of 21 October 2021.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
For Universal Credit claims with a payment due during May 2021, £139,400,000 was deducted towards an Advance or Government debt. On average, claimants with these deductions paid 15% of their Standard Allowance.
New claimants with new claim and benefit transfer advances now have the option to spread twenty-five Universal Credit payments over twenty-four months.
Customers can contact the Department if they are experiencing financial hardship to discuss a reduction in their rate of repayment, depending on their financial circumstances, whilst work coaches can also signpost claimants to other financial support.
1) Data for May 2021 has been provided in line with the latest available UC Household Statistics.
2) Government debt includes: DWP Benefit Overpayment (fraud and non-fraud), Tax Credit Overpayment (fraud and non-fraud), Housing Benefit Overpayment (fraud and non-fraud), Social Fund Loan, Recoverable Hardship Payment, Administrative Penalty, Civil Penalty, Eligible Loan Deductions, Integration Loan.
3) Figures are provisional and are subject to retrospective change as later data becomes available.
4) Amount deducted rounded to the nearest £100,000 and percentage rounded to the nearest percentage.
Asked by: Jonathan Reynolds (Labour (Co-op) - Stalybridge and Hyde)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many households are facing deductions to their universal credit award as a result of debts owed to the public purse as of 21 October 2021.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
For Universal Credit claims with a payment due during May 2021, 2,070,000 had a deduction towards an Advance or Government debt.
1) Data for May 2021 has been provided in line with the latest available UC Household Statistics.
2) Government debt includes: DWP Benefit Overpayment (fraud and non-fraud), Tax Credit Overpayment (fraud and non-fraud), Housing Benefit Overpayment (fraud and non-fraud), Social Fund Loan,Recoverable Hardship Payment, Administrative Penalty, Civil Penalty, Eligible Loan Deductions, Integration Loan.
3) Figures are provisional and are subject to retrospective change as later data becomes available.
4) Number of claims rounded to the nearest 1,000.
Asked by: Jonathan Reynolds (Labour (Co-op) - Stalybridge and Hyde)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether a claimant's ability to travel and receive the covid-19 vaccine has been used by her Department as evidence when assessing a person under activity 11 of the Personal Independent Payment assessment.
Answered by Chloe Smith
Personal Independence Payment Activity 11 – planning and following journeys considers a claimant’s ability to plan the route of a journey in advance, their ability to leave the home and embark on a journey and their ability to follow the intended route once they leave the home.
Health Professionals are expected to consider in the round the ability of an individual to carry out the activity safely, to an acceptable standard, reliably and repeatedly using their clinical expertise, the evidence provided and their observations of the claimant’s functional ability.
Guidance does not specifically direct Health Professionals to consider a claimant’s ability to travel to receive a vaccine and the information requested about specific cases is not available.
Asked by: Jonathan Reynolds (Labour (Co-op) - Stalybridge and Hyde)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the eligibility criteria are for a claimant to receive their payments through her Department's Payment Exception Service when Post Office card accounts end.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Payment Exception Service has been designed for customers who cannot open or manage a basic bank or standard accounts and enables them to obtain cash payments via the PayPoint network or from their Post Office.
Asked by: Jonathan Reynolds (Labour (Co-op) - Stalybridge and Hyde)
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 help ensure that when rectifying the underpayment of the State Pension, the women affected are contacted by an appropriate means that caters to any disabilities or impairments they may have.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
DWP is committed to ensuring our services are accessible to all. This includes making reasonable adjustments to meet the needs of all our customers who have a disability as defined by the Equality Act 2010, as well as supporting customers who may be deemed to need additional support.
DWP ensures that communications with anyone who has been underpaid State Pension meet an individual’s requirements by using the information we have recorded on our systems at the claims stage. This includes the adoption of communications aids such as: Audio / British Sign Language, Induction Loop, Type-talk, Braille and large print letters.
Regular monitoring of telephone calls and written correspondence ensures that we maintain service standards and meet each individual’s specific communication requirements.
Asked by: Jonathan Reynolds (Labour (Co-op) - Stalybridge and Hyde)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason her Department has decided to end the New Enterprise Allowance scheme.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The contract for the New Enterprise Allowance (NEA) was due to end in March 2021, but was extended by nine months to support claimants through the unprecedented challenges that arose due to the pandemic. As the economy opens up, it is right that we focus our resources on getting jobseekers into work and progressing with support underpinned by our Plan For Jobs. Furthermore, while referrals to the NEA end on 31 December 2021, participants on the programme will receive support until October 2023.
The NEA is just one form of provision available to the self-employed. Those self-employed or those wishing to become self-employed can access support from the Small Business Helpline in England, Business Wales and Fair Start Scotland. Additionally, the Start Up Loans scheme, run by the British Business Bank, delivers support to many people that may have otherwise struggled to obtain it through a commercial bank loan. The scheme provides mentoring to those starting their business, and offers support to women entrepreneurs, entrepreneurs from ethnic minority backgrounds and the previously unemployed. Where Jobcentres identify claimants with additional support requirements not met elsewhere, they may use Flexible Support Fund to commission additional localised support.
Support for the self-employed is built into Universal Credit, so claimants can receive financial support to supplement their earnings and they can receive regular support from Self-Employment Work Coaches, who will signpost entrepreneurs to tools and resources to develop the skills and experience they need. Claimants on legacy benefits who become self-employed may migrate to Universal Credit and receive a start-up period of up to one year, which includes 1-2-1 Work Coach support to develop their business.
Asked by: Jonathan Reynolds (Labour (Co-op) - Stalybridge and Hyde)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 28 June 2021 to Question 21211 on Social Security Benefits, if she will provide the dates of incidents of death or serious harm that have triggered internal process reviews by her Department since July 2019.
Answered by Chloe Smith
In order to comply with the provisions of Section 123 of the Social Security Administration Act 1992, it would not be appropriate to release the dates of specific benefit claimant incidents that have caused us to conduct internal process reviews.
Asked by: Jonathan Reynolds (Labour (Co-op) - Stalybridge and Hyde)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether all assessors at each stage of (a) a personal independence payment assessment and (b) subsequent appeals have access to insight condition reports for fetal valproate spectrum disorder as recommended in the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review report.
Answered by Chloe Smith
Both Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessment providers have a Condition Insight Report (CIR) on Fetal Valproate Spectrum Disorder, which all their Health Professionals (HPs) have access to during the course of the PIP assessment process.
The CIR on Fetal Valproate Spectrum Disorder is a product specifically developed for HPs. It is therefore not shared with DWP Case Managers, who make decisions on entitlement and mandatory reconsiderations, or Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS), who handle appeals.
DWP Case Managers use the content within the assessment report provided by the HP, and any other available evidence, to make a decision for each claimant. However, HP advice is available throughout the process if a DWP Case Manager requires input following the initial assessment.
Asked by: Jonathan Reynolds (Labour (Co-op) - Stalybridge and Hyde)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she has taken to improve her Department's processes in response to the completion of internal process reviews in the last three years.
Answered by Chloe Smith
Recommendations from IPRs are a critical source of insight and learning.
Improvements the Department has made in response to the completion of following IPRs in the last three years include: