Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 28 September 2020 to Question 93723 on Pension Credit, what the comparative rate of successful applications was (a) during the course of the Pension Credit awareness raising campaign and (b) in 2019.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The information requested could only be provided at disproportionate cost to the department.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 28 September 2020 to Question 93723, what comparative assessment she has made of the rate of successful applications for pension credit made through the (a) new online application service and (b) telephone service.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The information requested could only be provided at disproportionate cost to the department.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will review the Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981 to strengthen the provisions protecting mental health within existing legislation and enshrine parity of esteem for mental health in law.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
I refer the hon. Member to my previous response to question 53549.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) pension credit claims and (b) successful pension credit claims there were in each of the last 12 months for which data is available.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The number of Pension Credit Claims Received in the last 12 months is shown in table below.
We do not hold the information requested in part (b) of your question.
| Aug-19 | Sep-19 | Oct-19 | Nov-19 | Dec-19 | Jan-20 | Feb-20 | Mar-20 | Apr-20 | May-20 | Jun-20 | Jul-20 |
Pension Credit Claims Received | 7487 | 7873 | 10645 | 8318 | 6615 | 8540 | 9574 | 12557 | 9567 | 8613 | 9004 | 17087 |
Source: DWP internal data
Please note that the data supplied is derived from unpublished management information which was collected for internal Departmental use only and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. The data should therefore be treated with caution.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to remove barriers to disabled people returning to work after the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
Recognising the challenges Covid-19 may present, DWP has introduced a number of measures to support disabled people whether they are working from home, or returning to work at their workplaces.
The Access to Work offers disabled people practical in-work support above the level of statutory reasonable adjustments, including a discretionary grant of up to £60,700 per year. The scheme’s new Blended Offer complements support provided by employers and contains a flexible mix of support, including support to work from more than one location, a package of home working support which can be blended with workplace support, mental health support for people returning to work after a period of furlough or shielding, travel-to-work support where the individual’s disability means social distancing on public transport is too risky and the prioritisation of applications from disabled people in the Clinically Extremely Vulnerable Group.
During the pandemic Access to Work introduced a number of measures to enable disabled people to move into or retain employment, the measures included:
Disabled people who have lost their job and require more intensive employment support still have access to both the Work and Health Programme and Intensive Personalised Employment Support. Providers are making use of digital channels to provide one to one support, including regular health and wellbeing conversations with our most vulnerable claimants.
In addition, Disability Confident provides employers with the knowledge, skills and confidence they need to attract, recruit, retain and develop disabled people in the workplace
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when the Government plans to publish its National Strategy for Disabled People.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
Due to Covid 19 impacts, a slower timetable for publication of the National Strategy for Disabled People is inevitable. This is to ensure that we are able to meaningfully engage with stakeholders and strengthen our evidence base to deliver the ambitious strategy that the Prime Minister has called for. We are aiming to publish in Spring 2021.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of increasing the level of the state pension as a result of the financial difficulties faced by pensioners during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The Government remains committed to providing dignity and security in retirement to all pensioners. In April 2020, full amounts of the basic and new State Pensions increased by 3.9%, in line with average earnings growth. This was the highest increase since 2012.
The full yearly amount of the basic State Pension is worth around £700 more in 2020/21 than if it had been uprated by earnings since 2010. That is over £1,900 in cash terms.
Pension Credit provides a safety net for people of State Pension age most in need. It provides a top up for people with a weekly income below £173.75 (for single people) or £265.20 (for couples). On 6th May we introduced an online claim process for Pension Credit in addition to the existing ways of claiming by telephone and by post, making it quicker and easier for people to apply.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people claiming universal credit since the start of the covid-19 outbreak will receive the child element of that benefit.
Answered by Will Quince
Between March 16th and March 29th, 180,000 open claims (26% of open claims) received the Child Element in their first assessment period.