Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
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 restoring Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) to a means-tested benefits system in place of the current loan system.
Answered by David Rutley
No assessment has been made of changing Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) loans to a means-tested benefit system.
Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
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 potential merits of changing the Support for Mortgage Interest loan system to a means-tested benefit system.
Answered by David Rutley
No assessment has been made of changing Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) loans to a means-tested benefit system.
Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when she will make a decision on the potential classification of long covid as an occupational disease.
Answered by Chloe Smith
When deciding whether to prescribe new diseases or making any changes to the appropriate prescriptions under the Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit Scheme, Ministers are guided by the recommendations of the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council (“IIAC”), which is independent of Government. IIAC is investigating whether long-COVID can be prescribed as an occupational disease for the purposes of IIDB.
We will carefully consider any recommendations that IIAC may make with regards to COVID19 and the list of prescribed diseases.
Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the impact on levels of absolute poverty in (a) Birkenhead and (b) the Liverpool City Region of the anticipated increase in the energy price cap to £2,800 in the autumn of 2022.
Answered by David Rutley
No such assessment has been made.
We have announced a new £15 billion support package targeted at those most in need bringing the total cost of living support to £37 billion this year.
This package will benefit over 8 million households in receipt of means-tested benefits with the most vulnerable households getting one-off support worth £1,200 this year, including a new £650 cost of living payment.
Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department is taking to facilitate a phased return to work for claimants with long covid, beyond the usual four week phased return period.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The department is not involved in discussions regarding phased returns to work. This is a matter for the individual and their employer.
Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of requiring jobseekers to accept any job within one month of making a claim for support on people with special educational needs and mental ill-health.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The Way to Work campaign is a move to help job-ready claimants into work more quickly, utilising strong relationships with employers to help fill the hundreds of thousands of vacancies in the economy. As has previously been the case, Work Coaches have discretion to allow those claimants who have previously carried out work of a particular nature, or at a particular level of remuneration to search for roles within that same area of work. The period within which they can limit their search in this way is known as the ‘permitted period’. The changes we have made will mean that claimants now have a reduced “permitted period” in which to search for a job in their preferred sector, from 3 months to a maximum of 4 weeks. Claimants will be expected to broaden their job search activity to include any suitable job that they are capable of that can support them whilst they consider their longer-term career options. We have easements in place to protect people with health conditions and disabilities from being asked to consider work in sectors which do not fit their capabilities. This means that the hours of the job a claimant is expected to look for, and the location and type of job should be appropriate and reflect the claimant’s capabilities and impacts of any mental health condition. Claimants who are supplying a fit note in advance of their work capability assessment are not required to start work.
The expectations of a claimant are agreed with them and clearly set out in their Claimant Commitment at the beginning of their UC claim. This includes both mandatory and voluntary actions the claimant has agreed to undertake. Any work-related requirements are set in discussion with the claimant and will always be tailored to an individual claimant’s capability and circumstances, making them realistic and achievable. Claimants with health-related support requirements will undertake a Work Capability Assessment and, where specific needs are identified, will receive support through the Work and Health Programme.