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Written Question
Access to Work Scheme: Musculoskeletal Disorders
Wednesday 20th March 2024

Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)

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 effectiveness of the Access to Work scheme for people with a musculoskeletal condition.

Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department does collect information on Access to Work recipient's primary medical condition, however, we do not hold information to the level required to identify people with musculoskeletal conditions. Therefore, we cannot assess the effectiveness of Access to Work scheme for people with a musculoskeletal condition.

Information on Access to Work volumes and expenditure by primary medical condition are published annually in the official statistics: Access to Work statistics: April 2007 to March 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)


Written Question
Personal Independence Payment
Thursday 1st February 2024

Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the (a) numbers and (b) cost to the public purse of PIP claims from claimants with untreatable conditions who were successful at Tribunal; and what proportion of these were repeat Tribunal cases.

Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The information requested is not available.

Detailed statistics on PIP can be found on Stat-Xplore. The department holds data on a range of conditions. However, these are not collected in a way that allows them to be defined as untreatable. You can view the disability categories here.

Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here.


Written Question
Personal Independence Payment: ICT
Wednesday 25th October 2023

Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether all (a) claimant tribunal decisions are held on the Personal Independence Payment Computer System and (b) assessment provider health professionals have access to (i) those decisions and (ii) other relevant supporting evidence when making a recommendation on whether a benefit should continue to be awarded.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

In response to part (a), we can confirm that PIPCS does hold details of tribunal decisions. The decision itself is held as a digital image.

In response to part (b), providers would be able to see the outcome of the tribunal decision. They can view supporting evidence held, including documents sent in by a claimant to support an appeal. These would be scanned and held on PIPCS. Providers can also see information input by DWP Service Delivery colleagues in Decision Assist notes, as well as any ephemeral documents held on the system.

The tribunal decision and supporting information can be used by providers to support their recommendations.


Written Question
Support for Mortgage Interest
Friday 8th September 2023

Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made a comparative assessment of the effectiveness of the (a) Support for Mortgage Interest scheme and (b) pre-April 2018 scheme.

Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

We recently extended the support SMI provides by offering Universal Credit claimants a loan after three months, instead of nine, and extending to in-work UC claimants. These changes allow more UC claimants to access SMI, and therefore better protect against repossession, than when SMI was paid as a benefit.    

No comparative assessment has been made. Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) transitioned from a benefit to a loan in April 2018. The support provided as a loan is calculated at the same level as it was when it was a benefit, therefore it provides the same level of protection for individuals against repossession. Loans are only repayable from any available equity when the property is sold or the claimant dies.


Written Question
Support for Mortgage Interest
Friday 8th September 2023

Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)

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 effectiveness of the Support for Mortgage Interest scheme at supporting homeowners with rising mortgage costs.

Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

SMI provides reasonable support by making a contribution towards mortgage interest to protect claimants against the threat of repossession. The rate of SMI is based on the average mortgage rate published by the Bank of England and recently increased from 2.09% to 2.65% in May 2023. Any further changes will occur when the average mortgage rate differs by 0.5 percentage points or more from the rate in payment.

To support mortgage borrowers with rising interest rates, on 3 April 2023, we extended SMI by offering Universal Credit claimants a loan after three months, instead of nine and extended to in-work UC claimants.

No assessment has been made of the adequacy of Support for Mortgage interest (SMI) since interest rates have risen, although the Department continues to monitor the impact of our policies on an on-going basis.


Written Question
Carer's Allowance: Overpayments
Monday 27th February 2023

Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many FTE staff in his Department have been working on overpayments in respect of Carer’s Allowance and its earnings conditions in each of last 10 years; and whether he has made an assessment of the adequacy of those staffing numbers in supporting this function.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

Carers Allowance has a commitment to action any debt case once identified within 56 days. The resourcing of this work can vary in line with demand and competing priorities.


Written Question
Carer's Allowance: Overpayments
Monday 27th February 2023

Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average length of time is that overpayment debts in respect of earnings conditions of Carer’s Allowance have been outstanding providing figures for the last year available.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

Carers Allowance has a commitment to action any debt case once identified within 56 days. The resourcing of this work can vary in line with demand and competing priorities.


Written Question
Carer's Allowance and Universal Credit
Monday 27th February 2023

Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many carers (a) have earnings and are eligible for Carer’s Allowance but do not receive Universal Credit and (b) receive Carer’s Allowance and Universal Credit as of 1 February 2023.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

The department does not hold data on the number of carers eligible for Carer’s Allowance, but not receiving it.

The latest data the department holds on the number of carers receiving Carer’s Allowance and Universal Credit is from August 2022. As of August 2022, around 334,000 carers were receiving both Carer’s Allowance and Universal Credit.


Written Question
Carer's Allowance: Overpayments
Monday 27th February 2023

Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many overpayments of Carer’s Allowance there have been in the earnings brackets (a) £0.01 - £500, (b) £500.01 - £1,000, (c) £1,000.01 - £5,000, (d) £5,000.01 - £20,000 and (e) over £20,000 providing figures for the latest available year.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

Table 1 details the number of live Carer’s Allowance overpayments the department is seeking to recover, by the value brackets requested, as of 1st February 2023.

Overpayment Value

Volume of Overpayments

£0.01 - £500

55,010

£500.01 - £1,000

50,753

£1,000.01 - £5,000

27,761

£5,000.01 - £20,000

11,773

Over £20,000

270

Total

145,567

Table 1 - Note: Data is for England, Wales and Scotland only, and represents overpayments held with balances greater than £0.00.

Table 2 details the number of overpayments of Carer’s Allowance for the last available year (2022/23) where the reason for overpayment was recorded as earnings over the Carer’s Allowance limit. The actual amount of earnings received is not captured. The bandwidths used therefore relate to the amount overpaid.

Overpayment Value

Number of overpayments (2022/23)

£0.01 - £500

7,121

£500.01 - £1,000

7,271

£1,000.01 - £5,000

11,476

£5,000.01 - £20,000

835

Over £20,000

36

Total

26,739

Table 2 - Note: Data includes devolved overpayments from Scotland but excludes Northern Ireland.

Table 3 details the number of overpayments of Carer’s Allowance there have been in relation to the earnings conditions for the past 5 years.

Going further back, the data excludes overpayments fully repaid – details of which are archived after 14 months and fully deleted after 7 years, which does not allow for a true figure to be calculated. Data includes devolved overpayments from Scotland.

Financial Years

Volume of Overpayments

2018/19

25,761

2019/20

39,502

2020/21

19,742

2021/22

35,965

2022/23

26,739

Total

186,268

Table 3


Written Question
Carer's Allowance: Overpayments
Monday 27th February 2023

Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many overpayments of Carer’s Allowance there have been in relation to the earnings conditions in each of the last 10 years.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

Table 1 details the number of live Carer’s Allowance overpayments the department is seeking to recover, by the value brackets requested, as of 1st February 2023.

Overpayment Value

Volume of Overpayments

£0.01 - £500

55,010

£500.01 - £1,000

50,753

£1,000.01 - £5,000

27,761

£5,000.01 - £20,000

11,773

Over £20,000

270

Total

145,567

Table 1 - Note: Data is for England, Wales and Scotland only, and represents overpayments held with balances greater than £0.00.

Table 2 details the number of overpayments of Carer’s Allowance for the last available year (2022/23) where the reason for overpayment was recorded as earnings over the Carer’s Allowance limit. The actual amount of earnings received is not captured. The bandwidths used therefore relate to the amount overpaid.

Overpayment Value

Number of overpayments (2022/23)

£0.01 - £500

7,121

£500.01 - £1,000

7,271

£1,000.01 - £5,000

11,476

£5,000.01 - £20,000

835

Over £20,000

36

Total

26,739

Table 2 - Note: Data includes devolved overpayments from Scotland but excludes Northern Ireland.

Table 3 details the number of overpayments of Carer’s Allowance there have been in relation to the earnings conditions for the past 5 years.

Going further back, the data excludes overpayments fully repaid – details of which are archived after 14 months and fully deleted after 7 years, which does not allow for a true figure to be calculated. Data includes devolved overpayments from Scotland.

Financial Years

Volume of Overpayments

2018/19

25,761

2019/20

39,502

2020/21

19,742

2021/22

35,965

2022/23

26,739

Total

186,268

Table 3