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Written Question
Brain: Injuries
Monday 14th November 2022

Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)

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 implications for his Department’s policies of the US National Institutes of Health's decision to acknowledge a causal link between repeated blows to the head and chronic traumatic encephalopathy; and whether the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council has plans to look into this issue.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

The Industrial Injuries Advisory Council (IIAC) is a scientific advisory body which provides advice and recommendations to DWP Ministers about the Industrial Injuries Scheme (IIS), of which Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB) is a part. IIAC has recently launched an investigation into the potential occupational link between neurodegenerative diseases and professional sportspeople. The DWP will consider any recommendations from IIAC when they are available.


Written Question
Disability: Playgrounds
Wednesday 19th October 2022

Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 16 September 2022 to Question 45528 on Disability: Playgrounds, what steps (a) her Department and (b) Ministerial Disability Champions are taking to track progress on increasing the accessibility of playgrounds; and how that progress is being measured.

Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero

I refer my right honourable friend to my answer to question 45528. The Secretary of State for DWP, Chloe Smith, and I remain committed to improving disabled people’s lives and continue to meet colleagues across government to push work in this space forward.


Written Question
Employment: Disability
Tuesday 18th October 2022

Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of disability employment rates.

Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero

The disability employment rate is 53.0% for the quarter April-June 2022, up 0.6 percentage points from the same quarter in 2021. This rate has steadily risen since 2013, when comparable data collection began, with an overall increase of 9.4 percentage points since 2013.


Written Question
Personal Independence Payment: Work Capability Assessment
Tuesday 18th October 2022

Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of allowing claimants who are applying for both Personal Independence Payment and work capability assessment to re-use evidence already provided for one of those claims for the other application.

Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero

We recognise that there is scope to improve the way we deliver our disability benefit assessment services. In ‘Shaping Future Support - The Health and Disability Green Paper’, we proposed ways that could make our services easier to access and make our processes simpler, to improve the experience of people using the health and disability benefits system, including ways of offering greater flexibility and simplicity in the way that assessments are delivered. We will respond to the Green Paper consultation with a White Paper later this year.

The Health Transformation Programme (HTP) is modernising Health and Disability benefit services. It is procuring new Functional Assessment Service (FAS) contracts, which will bring together current Health and Disability Assessment Services and Personal Independence Payment assessments under single geographic contracts and provide the foundation for a new integrated Health Assessment Service.

The new claimant-focussed service will provide the opportunity to join up the process by re-using information to improve the claimant experience and reduce the time it takes to make a claim.


Written Question
Jobcentres: Standards
Tuesday 18th October 2022

Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department monitors or reviews the quality of entries made by work coaches in a Universal Credit claimant's journal.

Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General

Our Jobcentre teams are committed to delivering a quality service to ensure all claimants receive the best possible support to meet their individual circumstances. As part of our service delivery framework, Jobcentre Team Leaders are responsible for monitoring and assuring the quality of services provided to individual claimants through a combination of observation of interviews, feedback, coaching and appraisal. This can include a quality check of any Universal Credit journal messages written by the Work Coach undergoing the observation, as well as other channels of communication with our claimants.

Work Coaches undergo a comprehensive learning journey designed to equip them with the tools, skills and behaviours required to provide a high quality, efficient service. They receive on-going learning in their roles and have access to guidance that explains how to ensure that messages left on a claimant’s journal are clear, easy to understand and meet the right standards.


Written Question
Disability: Playgrounds
Friday 16th September 2022

Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the policy paper entitled National Disability Strategy: Part One: practical steps now to improve disabled people's everyday lives, published on 28 July 2021, what recent progress her Department has made on making playgrounds more inclusive as part of widening access to arts, culture, sport and the great outdoors.

Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General

Ensuring that playgrounds are accessible is an important part of driving forward inclusion for disabled children. The National Disability Strategy included an action to publish a new National Model Design code, supported by guidance, to stress the importance of providing accessible and inclusive play spaces and equipment for all. The new Code was published by the government in July 2021.

It is vitally important for all local authorities to consider their duties and legal obligations under the Equalities Act of 2010 and ensure that new and refurbished play areas are accessible and inclusive.

I have continued to meet regularly with Ministerial Disability Champions across government to drive progress on priority areas for disabled people, including on accessible playgrounds.


Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 08 Sep 2022
Social Security (Special Rules for End of Life) Bill [Lords]

Speech Link

View all Justin Tomlinson (Con - North Swindon) contributions to the debate on: Social Security (Special Rules for End of Life) Bill [Lords]

Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 08 Sep 2022
Social Security (Special Rules for End of Life) Bill [Lords]

Speech Link

View all Justin Tomlinson (Con - North Swindon) contributions to the debate on: Social Security (Special Rules for End of Life) Bill [Lords]

Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 08 Sep 2022
Social Security (Special Rules for End of Life) Bill [Lords]

Speech Link

View all Justin Tomlinson (Con - North Swindon) contributions to the debate on: Social Security (Special Rules for End of Life) Bill [Lords]

Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 08 Sep 2022
Social Security (Special Rules for End of Life) Bill [Lords]

Speech Link

View all Justin Tomlinson (Con - North Swindon) contributions to the debate on: Social Security (Special Rules for End of Life) Bill [Lords]