Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to exempt people who were diagnosed with lifelong conditions at birth from personal independence payment reassessments.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
PIP awards are not condition-based as individuals can be impacted by their health condition(s) in different ways and those impacts can vary over time. However, we recognise that assessments and reviews are not always suitable for our claimants, including those with lifelong or long-term conditions and disabilities.
We announced in the Shaping Future Support: Health and Disability White Paper that we will test a new Severe Disability Group in PIP to reduce unnecessary applications and assessments.
The first light-touch reviews at the 10 year point for those with ongoing awards, started in August. These are primarily for those with long-term conditions on the highest level of support or whose conditions are stable. The design draws on discussions with charities and other organisations and involves a short form to check whether anything has changed, adjust the award if needed, and confirm we hold up-to-date information.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 17 July 2023 to Question 193236 on Personal Independence Payment: Medical Examinations, what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that personal independence payment reassessments registered in 2022 are reviewed as quickly as possible.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
We are committed to ensuring people can access financial support through Personal Independence Payment (PIP) in a timely manner. We prioritise new claims, while ensuring
claimants awaiting award reviews remain in payment until we can make a decision.
We always aim to make an award review decision as quickly as possible, considering the need to review all available evidence, including that from the claimant.
In addition, and in order to improve the service across all PIP activities, we are also:
Claimants are asked to contact us if their condition changes so their review can be looked at more quickly.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department is taking steps to improve how it communicates changes to the eligibility criteria for benefits.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The government’s benefit eligibility checker details the support available to individuals in a user friendly and clear way and can be found here. The benefits checker tool is a primary call to action for the Help for Households campaign which has been marketed extensively since July 2022 in order to promote the 40 schemes available to support with the cost of living.
Since the tool launched in June 2022, it has been used over 2.4 million times.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to extend Guaranteed Minimum Pension protections to pensions accrued before 1988.
Answered by Laura Trott - Shadow Secretary of State for Education
For people reaching State Pension age before 6 April 2016, in some circumstances, the additional State Pension can have the effect of price protection on Guaranteed Minimum Pensions (GMPs) accrued between 6 April 1978 and 5 April 1988.
The additional State Pension, and with it in-effect indexation, was replaced by the new State Pension for people reaching State Pension age from 6 April 2016. The transitional rules of new State Pension can be beneficial to people who have been contracted out and further information about this can be found here [[link]] Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP) and the effect of the new State Pension - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
There are no plans to change these arrangements.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many PIP reassessments from 2022 are outstanding.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
On 30th April 2023, there were 220,000 Personal Independence Payment (PIP) Award Reviews registered in 2022 that were awaiting a decision.
Claimants awaiting an assessment to review their PIP will continue to be paid until the review is complete. Should a claimant have a change in their circumstances, they are advised to notify the department and their award will be prioritised for review.
We always aim to make an award decision as quickly as possible, considering the need to review all available evidence, including that from the claimant. Where possible, we are making decisions without referral to the assessment providers and maintaining awards for those undergoing a review.
Source: PIP Atomic Data Store (ADS)
Notes:
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 10 May 2023 to Question 183797 on Universal Credit, for what reason have the capital limits for Universal Credit not been adjusted to account for inflation.
Answered by Guy Opperman
There are no plans to change Universal Credit capital limits.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
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 impact of inflation on capital limits for savings of Universal Credit claimants.
Answered by Guy Opperman
No such assessment has been made.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make the eligibility criteria for Universal Credit the same as for Housing Benefit.
Answered by Guy Opperman
There are no plans to amend the Universal Credit eligibility criteria at this time.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department plans to take steps to (a) expedite and (b) simplify the pension claiming process for people diagnosed with terminal illnesses.
Answered by Laura Trott - Shadow Secretary of State for Education
For those at the end of their life, the Government’s priority is providing financial support quickly and compassionately. The main way that the Department does this is through special benefit rules, sometimes referred to as “the Special Rules”. These enable people who are nearing the end of their lives to get faster, easier access to certain benefits, without needing to attend a medical assessment, serve waiting periods and in most cases, receive the highest rate of benefit. For many years, the Special Rules have applied to people who have 6 months or less to live and now they are being changed so they apply to people who have 12 months or less to live.
There are no plans to change how the State Pension claiming process operates.