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Written Question
Access to Work Programme: Icarus Theatre Collective
Monday 18th March 2024

Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department plans to take to settle Access to Work payments owed to Icarus Theatre Collective in Southwark to support a disabled actor.

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

We are unable to comment on individual cases.

Claims for Access to Work payments can be submitted via our online portal or through the post and this is clearly explained in customer letters. Approved claims submitted through the proper channels are typically processed within 10 days.


Written Question
Work Capability Assessment
Wednesday 22nd November 2023

Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if his Department will conduct analysis on the potential impact on NHS costs of proposed changes to the work capability assessment.

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

The WCA activities and descriptors consultation closed on Monday 30 October and received over 1300 responses.

The department does not intend to make an assessment of the potential impact on the NHS.

We are committed to ensuring our welfare system encourages and supports people into work, while providing a vital safety net for those who need it most. Working can help promote recovery, lead to better health outcomes, reduce long-term incapacity, and promote participation in society.


Written Question
Access to Work Programme: Waiting Lists
Tuesday 21st November 2023

Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to reduce waiting times on Access to Work applications.

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

Access to Work has continued to improve wait times for customers applying to the service. During the summer wait times have been halved.

Access to Work has received a significant increase in demand and applications over the last year. To address this and to reduce waiting times we have recruited new staff in the year and continue to redeploy staff to reduce decision times. Our latest cohort of redeployed staff started in November. We are now consolidating their learning, which will grow capability and build additional available resource into the next quarter.


Written Question
Disability
Monday 20th November 2023

Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps to establish a long-term disability strategy from 2024.

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

The Government set out its long-term disability strategy in the National Disability Strategy published in 2021. The National Disability Strategy sets out our ambition to improve the lives of all disabled people.

In addition, the Government has recently completed a consultation on the Disability Action Plan, which will set out the immediate action the Government is taking this year and in 2024 to improve disabled people’s lives, as well as laying the foundations for longer term change.


Written Question
Employment: Arthritis
Thursday 11th May 2023

Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of placing work advisors in community musculoskeletal services on employment levels of people with arthritis.

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

No such assessment has been made.


Written Question
Employment: Musculoskeletal Disorders
Thursday 11th May 2023

Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to help support people with musculoskeletal issues into work.

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

The Government is taking several steps to help support people with musculoskeletal (MSK) issues into work.

In the spring Budget the Government set out a package of measures to provide an extra £406 million over the next five years to tackle the leading health-related causes keeping people out of work, which includes investment targeted at services for MSK conditions.

As part of this, the Government will pilot integrating vocational advice within MSK services to ensure people can access holistic support locally, scale up MSK Hubs in the community and ensure digital resources, such as apps for management of MSK conditions, are readily available, so that more people can easily and quickly access the support that is right for them.

We also have a new online service, which is currently in live national testing, offering tailored guidance to help employers better support disabled people and those with health conditions in the workplace: Support with Employee Health and Disability service.

In October 2022, we published the Musculoskeletal (MSK) Health Toolkit for employers and further education institutions, which encourages employers to support adolescents and young adults with MSK conditions. The Musculoskeletal health toolkit for employers was developed in partnership with Business in the Community and provides practical information for employers of all sizes to address MSK conditions in the workplace for the working age population.


Written Question
Access to Work Programme
Thursday 11th May 2023

Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to help reduce waiting times for access to work assessments.

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

Access to Work has received a significant increase in applications over the last year and have recruited new staff to meet the increased demand and reduce the time it takes to make decisions. Customers making new applications where they are starting work within the next 4 weeks, or have a grant coming to an end that requires renewal, are prioritised to ensure customers are able to enter and remain in the labour market. We are also streamlining and transforming the Access to Work service through increased digitalisation, that will make the service more efficient, will make the application process easier, and improve the time taken from application through to decision.


Written Question
Household Support Fund
Wednesday 3rd May 2023

Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department required local authorities to work closely with GPs on the allocation of the Household Support Fund.

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

The Department for Work and Pensions does not proactively gather data on the involvement of schools or GPs in the distribution of the Household Support Fund.

The Household Support Fund is a discretionary scheme allocated to Local Authorities to provide support those most in need towards the cost of essentials. It is for each local council to decide how to distribute their funding, within the parameters of the Fund’s terms and conditions.

Authorities have the flexibility to design and deliver the scheme through a variety of routes and are encouraged, but not required, where necessary and appropriate to work with third parties, which could include schools and GPs among other groups.


Written Question
Household Support Fund
Wednesday 3rd May 2023

Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department took to monitor the involvement of schools and GPs in the distribution of the Household Support Fund.

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

The Department for Work and Pensions does not proactively gather data on the involvement of schools or GPs in the distribution of the Household Support Fund.

The Household Support Fund is a discretionary scheme allocated to Local Authorities to provide support those most in need towards the cost of essentials. It is for each local council to decide how to distribute their funding, within the parameters of the Fund’s terms and conditions.

Authorities have the flexibility to design and deliver the scheme through a variety of routes and are encouraged, but not required, where necessary and appropriate to work with third parties, which could include schools and GPs among other groups.


Written Question
Cost of Living: Finance
Tuesday 28th February 2023

Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to open an alternative cost-of-living fund for people who are eligible for Universal Credit but are sanctioned during the month in question and receive nil award.

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

The Government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living and is taking action to help through the Cost of Living Payments and through a wider package of support.

We will be delivering the up to £900 cost of living payment for eligible means-tested benefit claimants in three separate payments over 2023/24, which reduces the chance of households with fluctuating incomes missing out altogether. The first payment of £301 will be made from spring 2023, the second payment of £300 from autumn 2023 and the third payment of £299 from spring 2024. Individuals in receipt of eligible disability benefits will receive a £150 payment in summer 2023.

Sanctions on UC only apply if claimants fail to meet their agreed requirements without good reason or refuse to take up or stay in employment without good reason. The majority of sanctions can be resolved quickly by claimants rebooking and attending their next appointment. We have a well-established system of hardship payments, available as a safeguard if a claimant demonstrates that they cannot meet their immediate and most essential needs as a result of a sanction. People who are receiving a hardship payment would also qualify for a Cost of Living Payment.

For those who require additional support the Government is providing an additional £1 billion of funding, including Barnett impact, to enable a further extension to the Household Support Fund in England. In England, this will run from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, backed by £842m. Local Authorities use the Fund to help households with the cost of essentials, and they are expected to help households in the most need, particularly those who may not be eligible for the other support the government has recently made available. The guidance makes specific reference to people with fluctuating incomes. It can be found here: 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024: Household Support Fund guidance for county councils and unitary authorities in England - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

It will be for the devolved administrations to decide how to allocate their additional Barnett funding.