Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
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 impact of plans to reform the fit note process on people with mental ill health.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Good work is good for health. We know that good work can positively impact people’s physical and mental health and wellbeing. We also know that tailored work and health support can help break down the kinds of barriers that can make finding and staying in a job more difficult for those with mental health conditions.
In 2023, 24% of fit note episodes had a known diagnosis and of those, 33% are for mental and behavioural disorders. We are reforming the fit note process so that it starts with an assessment of what someone can do with the right support, rather than what they cannot. This builds on the £795m investment we made at Autumn Statement for additional funding over five years for mental health services to help support people with mental ill health to gain and/or retain employment, as well as our successful Employment Advisers in NHS Talking Therapies programme, which is now being rolled out across England.
Our ambition is to bring together preventative healthcare and employment systems to support people who are at risk of falling out of work or who have already fallen out of work due to ill health. We continue to work with stakeholders including mental health organisations and those with lived experience, to co-develop this policy, this includes seeking insight and evidence via a public call for evidence.
This work is an essential part of the Government’s ambition to improve health outcomes, and help people get access to the support they need to return to, remain and thrive in work.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an estimate of the cost to the public purse of the assessment of lead ammunition restrictions by the Health and Safety Executive between March 2021 and 2024.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
For the period 1 March 2021 to 31 March 2024 the Health and Safety Executive full economic cost estimate is £500,000 which includes the costs of both HSE and independent scientific experts engaged in this work but excludes work undertaken by the Environment Agency.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the (a) suitability and (b) availability of remote working jobs for disabled benefit claimants.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In consulting on the Work Capability Assessment and setting out changes to the assessment from 2025, the department has considered the increase in the broad range of hybrid and home working opportunities over the last decade, alongside better employer understanding of the needs of disabled people and people with health conditions. Responses to the consultation, including from people with health conditions and disabilities and the organisations that support them, highlighted barriers in accessing employment and flexible jobs for disabled people. Our enhanced employment and support offer will help disabled people and people with health conditions to start, stay and succeed in work.
Analysis published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that having a disability has little effect on levels of home working. Disabled workers reported similar levels of homeworking only (18%) compared with those without a disability (16%).
Sources: Characteristics of homeworkers, Great Britain - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk) and Is hybrid working here to stay? - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to reduce delays affecting Access to Work applications and claims.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Access to Work has had a significant increase in applications over the last year. New staff have been recruited and we are also doing more recruitment in the next 3 months. This will support the increased demand and reduce the time it takes to make decisions. Customers making new applications, where they are starting work within the next 4 weeks, or have a grant coming to an end that requires renewal, are prioritised to ensure customers are able to enter and remain in the labour market. We are also transforming the Access to Work service through increased digitalisation. This will make the service more efficient, the application process easier and improve the time taken from application through to decision.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
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 potential merits of bringing forward the next review of the level of the benefit cap in the context of the rising cost of living.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Under section 96A of the Welfare Reform Act 2012, the Secretary of State must, at least once every five years review the benefit cap levels to determine, whether it is appropriate to change them, and this will happen at the appropriate time.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions her Department has had with representatives of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman on when they plan to publish the stage two report on complaints about communication of changes to women’s State Pension age.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The publication of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) stage 2 report is a matter for the Ombudsman.
It would not be appropriate to comment whilst the investigation is ongoing; and section 7(2) of the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967 states that Ombudsman investigations “shall be conducted in private”.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Carers Allowance applications are awaiting a decision as of 26 May 2022; and what the average waiting time is for someone who has applied for Carers Allowance to receive a decision about their claim in the latest period for which that information is available.
Answered by Chloe Smith
As of 23 May 2022 (latest data available) there were 39,071 Carer’s Allowance claims awaiting a decision.
The current average clearance time for a Carer’s Allowance claim decision to be made is 37 working days.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of people who have been affected by the underpayment of benefits after transitioning from incapacity benefit to employment and support allowance in (a) Filton and Bradley Stoke, (b) Kingswood, (c) North East Somerset, (d) North Somerset, (e) Thornbury and Yate, (f) Wells and (g) Weston-super-Mare constituency.
Answered by Chloe Smith
I refer the Honourable Member to the answer I gave on 19th January to question number 104377.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of people who have been affected by the underpayment of benefits after transitioning from incapacity benefit to employment and support allowance in Bristol East constituency.
Answered by Chloe Smith
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 19th January to question number 104377.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
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 the effect of universal credit benefit caps on people who are in receipt of statutory sick pay.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The benefit cap will not apply if total household earnings, which include Statutory Sick Pay, in each assessment period are at least £604 and households may be exempt for a period of nine-months if they have a sustained work history.
Claimants can approach their local authority for a Discretionary Housing Payment if they need additional support to meet rental costs.