Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will bring forward proposals to amend the definition of statutory sick pay to ensure that people with endometriosis which can result in intermittent rather than continual symptoms are eligible for that support.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) provides a minimum level of income for employees when they are sick or incapable of work. For SSP purposes, any periods of sickness which last for four or more days in a row, and are less than 8 weeks apart, are treated as linked and therefore count as one period of sickness. Once waiting days have been served, SSP is paid for all days of work missed because of sickness in any linked periods. The current definition supports employees who have fluctuating conditions who may take frequent, shorter absences from work as part of managing their health condition, such as endometriosis.
The government recently published a consultation in which we sought views on a range of proposals to reform SSP. Reform to SSP forms part of a wider package of proposals which seek to reduce ill-health related job loss and support disabled people and people with health conditions to stay in and thrive in work.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
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 effect of the three year limit in respect of continuous periods of sickness for statutory sick pay on people with endometriosis.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is payable for up to 28 weeks per sickness absence. Sickness absences which are less than 8 weeks apart count as the same period of sickness. This supports employees who have fluctuating conditions, such as endometriosis, who may take frequent, shorter absences from work as part of managing their health condition. Individuals will no longer be eligible for SSP after a continuous series of linked periods which lasts more than 3 years. In a new period of sickness, employees are eligible for 28 weeks of SSP.
Where an individual’s SSP entitlement has ended, they may be able to claim Universal Credit and new style Employment and Support Allowance when their SSP ends, depending on individual circumstances.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2020 to Question 19986 on social security benefits: endometriosis, what proportion of healthcare professionals employed by the Centre for Health and Disability Assessment have undertaken the learning module on endometriosis as part of their Continuous Professional Development.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Currently, while preparing to undertake an assessment, Healthcare Professionals can access a wide range of clinical resources to research any conditions presented. This includes a learning module on chronic pain that contains a section on endometriosis. Current guidance enables Healthcare Professionals to have a satisfactory understanding of endometriosis and how it can affect an individual’s ability to work. Experienced clinicians can also support them in assessing individuals with conditions that they may not be familiar with.
As previously advised, Centre for Health and Disability Assessments (CHDA) plans to develop and deliver a learning module on endometriosis as part of their upcoming Continuous Professional Development schedule. As agreed with the department, this training module is scheduled for delivery in July 2021. Once delivered all Healthcare Professionals will be expected to complete the module as part of their Continuing Medical Education (CME) programme
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will review the guidance provided for disability benefits assessors on how endometriosis can affect an individual’s ability to work.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Currently, while preparing to undertake an assessment, Healthcare Professionals can access a wide range of clinical resources to research any conditions presented. This includes a learning module on chronic pain that contains a section on endometriosis. Current guidance enables Healthcare Professionals to have a satisfactory understanding of endometriosis and how it can affect an individual’s ability to work. Experienced clinicians can also support them in assessing individuals with conditions that they may not be familiar with.
As previously advised, Centre for Health and Disability Assessments (CHDA) plans to develop and deliver a learning module on endometriosis as part of their upcoming Continuous Professional Development schedule. As agreed with the department, this training module is scheduled for delivery in July 2021. Once delivered all Healthcare Professionals will be expected to complete the module as part of their Continuing Medical Education (CME) programme
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
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 barriers people with endometriosis face when trying to access (a) personal independence payments and (b) universal credit.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Personal Independence Payment (PIP), and the level at which it can be paid, is based on the daily living and mobility needs arising from a long-term health condition or disability, rather than being based on the condition or disability itself. People with endometriosis are able to access PIP in the same way as other people with long-term health conditions or disabilities.
Universal Credit (UC) claimants with endometriosis are able to access UC in the same way as other people with long-term health conditions or disabilities.
A Work Capability Assessment is used to determine someone’s capacity to work or engage in work-related activity, rather than their specific health condition
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many yearly applications have been made for personal independence payments which cite endometriosis as the reason for application in the last five years; and what proportion of those applications were successful.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
In the PIP application process, claimants’ main disabling condition is only recorded for collation by the Department at assessment. It is not recorded at the point of application. The Department does not therefore hold data on the number of applicants to PIP with particular conditions. Only those who have a disability assessment determination decision will have a main disabling condition recorded for them.
In respect of the second part of your question, I would like to refer you to the detailed statistics for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) that can be found in Stat-Xplore: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/.
We collect data on the main disability condition for those who have had a PIP clearance. This includes those awarded and disallowed at assessment and can be broken down by disability. ‘Endometriosis’ is found under ‘Diseases of the ovary, uterus, cervix, vagina and vulva’ which is under the main disability group of ‘Genitourinary disease’
Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/index.html.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many yearly applications have been made of universal credit which cite endometriosis as the reason for application in the last five years; and what proportion of those applications were successful.
Answered by Will Quince
The specific information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
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 capacity of Job Centre Plus to continue to provide services with (a) increased demand and (b) pressures on staff as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Between the 16th March and the end of April, we received over 1.8 million claims for Universal Credit. Overall, that is six times the volume that we would typically experience, and in one week we had a tenfold increase. DWP is standing up to this challenge and payment timeliness for Universal Credit remains high.
We have re-deployed around 10,000 staff to critical frontline services and made important changes to processes.
The Department is continually impacting and assessing the service being offered to customers and we continue to keep staff numbers under review as part of our response to the impact of COVID-19 on the labour market.
Throughout this period, we have collected insight from DWP colleagues on their experiences. We have also refreshed and developed a wide range of wellbeing resources to support our people and will continue to do so.
The Department is continually assessing the service being offered to customers and we continue to keep staff numbers under review as part of our response to the impact of COVID-19 on the labour market. We have already committed to increasing the number of Work Coaches and Case Managers and recruitment is already underway.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
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 effect on household incomes of the temporary change to the five-week wait for universal credit during the covid-19 outbreak; and if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of permanently removing the five-week wait for universal credit.
Answered by Will Quince
There has not been a temporary change to the length of the Initial Assessment Period during the COVID-19 outbreak.
The Universal Credit assessment period and payment structure are fundamental parts of the design. The assessment period runs for a full calendar month from the date of entitlement and the Universal Credit pay date will be within seven calendar days after the end of the initial assessment period. Subsequent pay dates will be the same each month. It is not possible to award a Universal Credit payment as soon as a claim is made, as the assessment period must run its course before the award of Universal Credit can be calculated.
No claimant in need of support has to wait 5 weeks for payment under Universal Credit. New Claim Advances of up to 100% of a claimant’s estimated award are available within a few days if claimants need support during their first assessment period.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
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 for disabled people of the temporary pause to (a) sanctions and (b) face-to-face assessments for disability benefits; and if she will publish a strategy outlining how her Department plans to build on the temporary changes during the covid-19 outbreak to make permanent improvements to the system.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
These pauses were brought in to safeguard the public and staff and because we recognised the need for our staff to focus on the processing of new claims.
We are currently reviewing these measures in light of the latest public health advice and will confirm next steps as soon as possible.