Written Question
Tuesday 26th June 2018
Asked by:
Martin Whitfield (Labour - East Lothian)
Question
to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the value is of outstanding benefit (a) over-payments and (b) fraud debts to be transferred to the Scottish government when social security powers are devolved to that government.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Current data shows that the total value of outstanding benefit overpayments to be devolved to the Scottish Government is £29.3m. Of this total, £5.4m has been classified as fraud. The actual amounts devolved to the Scottish Government will be subject to the value at the point of transfer and accounting agreements between the two governments.
Written Question
Tuesday 26th June 2018
Asked by:
Martin Whitfield (Labour - East Lothian)
Question
to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants in Scotland have an outstanding benefit (a) overpayment or (b) fraud debt to be recovered by her Department.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Current data shows that in Scotland there are approximately 121,000 claimants with an outstanding benefit overpayment. Of this total, approximately 8,000 are classified as fraud related overpayments.
Written Question
Monday 25th June 2018
Asked by:
Martin Whitfield (Labour - East Lothian)
Question
to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the total value is of outstanding benefit (a) overpayments and (b) fraud debts owed by claimants in Scotland that are due to be recovered by her Department.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Current data shows that the total value of outstanding benefit overpayments for claimants living in Scotland is £278m. Of this total, £41m is for debts classified as fraud.
Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 18 Jun 2018
Accessibility Challenges: Invisible Disabilities
"It is an honour to stand in Parliament tonight to raise the important matter of the accessibility challenges faced by those in society who have invisible disabilities.
The World Health Organisation estimates that 1 billion people across the world carry a disability in some form, which is a telling statistic. …..."Martin Whitfield - View Speech
View all Martin Whitfield (Lab - East Lothian) contributions to the debate on: Accessibility Challenges: Invisible Disabilities
Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 18 Jun 2018
Accessibility Challenges: Invisible Disabilities
"I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his intervention. It is true that the fact that something is not visible does not mean it is not there. Indeed, it was the absence of anything visible that seemed to upset the people who saw Grace standing outside the accessible toilets.
…..."Martin Whitfield - View Speech
View all Martin Whitfield (Lab - East Lothian) contributions to the debate on: Accessibility Challenges: Invisible Disabilities
Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 18 Jun 2018
Accessibility Challenges: Invisible Disabilities
"I thank my hon. Friend. I was listening to the previous debate, which mentioned the stigma of an acquired brain injury and the fact that it is hidden and not obvious—someone behaves in a way that others immediately think of as irrational or drunk. That is so wrong. People should …..."Martin Whitfield - View Speech
View all Martin Whitfield (Lab - East Lothian) contributions to the debate on: Accessibility Challenges: Invisible Disabilities
Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 18 Jun 2018
Accessibility Challenges: Invisible Disabilities
"I am very grateful to my hon. Friend for that intervention. The stigma of a hidden disability, and the very word disability itself, does no justice to the individuals who suffer day in, day out. They suffer because of the ignorance of society around them. What I take from knowing …..."Martin Whitfield - View Speech
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Written Question
Monday 5th March 2018
Asked by:
Martin Whitfield (Labour - East Lothian)
Question
to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the personal independence payments application process is accessible to people with sight loss.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The initial part of a Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claim is generally made over the telephone. We also have a variety of reasonable adjustments. Someone can telephone on behalf of the claimant but the claimant must be present when the call is made.
Where our customers advise us that they need assistance to access our services and information, we make reasonable adjustments to meet their individual needs. This means the Department communicates with customers in a variety of different formats such as Braille, audio, large print, through third party interpreters or by arranging for a member of staff to visit the customer in their home.
Forms are available as a reasonable adjustment in electronic formats compatible with assistive software such as JAWS, Dragon, NVDA, Read & Write, and Zoomtext.
Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 14 Dec 2017
Pension Equality for Women
"It is a great pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Norwich South (Clive Lewis), who so eloquently described the problems in his area. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Easington (Grahame Morris) on securing this debate. I especially thank all the WASPI women up and …..."Martin Whitfield - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Wed 29 Nov 2017
State Pension Age: Women
"It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Chelmsford (Vicky Ford). The WASPI situation is a stain on this country. Were it not for the decisions made by others, these women would perhaps never have thought of turning to politics or of organising, lobbying, shouting and screaming. People …..."Martin Whitfield - View Speech
View all Martin Whitfield (Lab - East Lothian) contributions to the debate on: State Pension Age: Women