Asked by: Lesley Laird (Labour - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many employment and support allowance claimants have been successful on appeal at tribunal against decisions to reject a claim in (a) Scotland and (b) Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath constituency in the last year.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The available information on waiting times and appeals in Scotland can be found in the ESA Outcomes of Work Capability Assessments quarterly statistics published here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/esa-outcomes-of-work-capability-assessments-including-mandatory-reconsiderations-and-appeals-june-2018
This information is not readily available at constituency level and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Lesley Laird (Labour - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants of personal independence payment have been successful on appeal at tribunal in (a) Scotland and (b) the Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath constituency in the last year.
Answered by Sarah Newton
For Personal Independence Payment (PIP) decisions made in 2016/17 (the most recent period available to allow for most appeals to have been completed), the number of appeals in the Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath constituency and Scotland were as follows:
| Decision Maintained | Decision Overturned | Total Appeals | Total Decisions |
Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath | 60 | 100 | 160 | 2150 |
Scotland | 3,460 | 5,194 | 8,660 | 105,890 |
To put these figures into context 7% of PIP decisions in Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath were appealed and 5% were overturned. For Scotland as a whole the figures were 8% and 5%.
Notes:
Asked by: Lesley Laird (Labour - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many former claimants of disability living allowance in Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath constituency are (a) in receipt of Personal Independence Payments and (b) not receiving a replacement benefit.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The number of people who are in receipt of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and who previously received Disability Living Allowance (DLA) can be found in Stat-Xplore under the PIP claims in payment table: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/. These statistics provide a breakdown by parliamentary constituency and reassessment indicator of the number of PIP claims in payment each month since PIP was introduced in April 2013.
It should be noted that the PIP claims in payment table gives the number of people in receipt of PIP at the end of the chosen month.
Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here:
https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/index.html.
The number of disallowances for PIP for claimants who previously had a DLA award can also be found under the PIP clearances table in Stat Xplore and can be broken down by parliamentary constituency. This data shows the initial DWP decision only. Replacement benefits could include PIP and Attendance Allowance (AA) for those who are eligible.
Asked by: Lesley Laird (Labour - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how health assessments are prioritised for people moving from disability living allowance to personal independence payments in (a) the Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath constituency and (b) Scotland.
Answered by Sarah Newton
Other than for claims being made under the special rules for people who are terminally ill, claims to Personal Independence Payment, including assessments, are not subject to a prioritisation process.
Asked by: Lesley Laird (Labour - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department has taken since 2011 to publicise eligibility for Specified Adult Childcare Credits to (a) grandparents and (b) other family members that care for a child under 12 years old while the (i) parent or (ii) main carer is working.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Since Specified Adult Childcare credits were introduced by the Coalition Government on 6 April 2011, HMRC management information shows more than 19,000 people providing childcare to a related child have benefitted from a transferred child benefit credit.
A communications campaign to raise awareness began when the credits were introduced. The Department also provided information to stakeholder organisations to encourage wider awareness raising. Gov.uk contains full details of Specified Adult Childcare credits and how to apply for them. This information is signposted to individuals when they request a State Pension forecast at the Check your State Pension service, https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension. Since February 2016 over 9 million visits have been made to this service.
These credits can be backdated until 6 April 2011 and the Government encourages everyone who is eligible to apply.
Asked by: Lesley Laird (Labour - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has plans to publicise eligibility for Specified Adult Childcare Credits to (a) grandparents and (b) other family members who care for a child under 12 when the (a) parent or (b) main carer is at work.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Since Specified Adult Childcare credits were introduced by the Coalition Government on 6 April 2011, HMRC management information shows more than 19,000 people providing childcare to a related child have benefitted from a transferred child benefit credit.
A communications campaign to raise awareness began when the credits were introduced. The Department also provided information to stakeholder organisations to encourage wider awareness raising. Gov.uk contains full details of Specified Adult Childcare credits and how to apply for them. This information is signposted to individuals when they request a State Pension forecast at the Check your State Pension service, https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension. Since February 2016 over 9 million visits have been made to this service.
These credits can be backdated until 6 April 2011 and the Government encourages everyone who is eligible to apply.
Asked by: Lesley Laird (Labour - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people with autism or dyspraxia who were receiving disability living allowance are (a) receiving personal independence payments and (b) no longer receiving any form of replacement benefit.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The number of people who are in receipt of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and who previously received Disability Living Allowance (DLA) can be found in Stat-Xplore under the PIP claims in payment table: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/. These statistics provide a breakdown by disabling condition and reassessment indicator of the number of PIP claims in payment each month since PIP was introduced in April 2013.
It should be noted that the PIP claims in payment table gives the number of people in receipt of PIP at the end of the chosen month.
Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here:
https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/index.html.
Please note data on Stat-Xplore is based on primary disabling condition as recorded on the PIP computer system. Claimants may often have multiple disabling conditions upon which the decision is based but only the primary condition is shown in the PIP claims in payment statistics. The status of claims as 'new claim/reassessment' is the most recent known status for each claim.
It is not possible to calculate how many DLA to PIP reassessment claimants with particular conditions are no longer receiving PIP or a replacement benefit because lower level disabling conditions are recorded differently on the PIP and DLA computer systems. Replacement benefits could also include PIP and Attendance Allowance for those who are eligible.
Asked by: Lesley Laird (Labour - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 15 May 2018 to Question 141381, what the longest time taken by the Independent Case Examiners Office has been (a) to allocate a case manager and (b) for a case manager to complete an investigation.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
We have interpreted this as a question concerning complaints from women affected by changes to state pension age. To date, the longest time taken by the Independent Case Examiner’s Office to: (a) allocate a complaint from this group for investigation was 58.57 weeks; and (b) complete an investigation of this type was 24.77 weeks. ICE aim to reslove complaints within 20 weeks of starting an investigation. The time it takes to allocate and complete an investigation has been impacted by the WASPI campaign which actively encourages women to make a complaint and which has more than doubled their caseloads.
Asked by: Lesley Laird (Labour - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many complaints from women affected by the changes in the state pension age have been investigated and closed by the Independent Case Examiners Office in (a) the UK and (b) Scotland.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
As at 22 May 2018, the Independent Case Examiner’s Office had concluded 86 investigations into complaints from women affected by the changes in state pension age, 86 lived in the UK (including Scotland); and 13 lived in Scotland.
Asked by: Lesley Laird (Labour - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many complaints from women affected by the changes in the state pension age made to the Independent Case Examiners Office are outstanding in (a) the UK and (b) Scotland.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
As at 22 May 2018 the Independent Case Examiner’s Office had 2,878 live complaints from women affected by changes in state pension age, at various stages of its process. It is not possible to break this down between Scotland and the remainder of the UK without incurring disproportionate cost.