Asked by: Norman Lamb (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, who is responsible for digitisation in her Department; and what mechanisms the that person uses to champion digitisation.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Service transformation is one of the Department for Work and Pensions’ strategic objectives. Accountability is shared between the Director General for Digital and the Director General for Service Excellence. It is coordinated through the Service Transformation Board which provides governance for service improvements as well as the strategic approach to the digitalisation of the Department’s services. The work is championed across the Department, including via Transformation Portfolio Managers and Digital product owners.
Asked by: Norman Lamb (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many meetings she had with her Department’s Chief Scientific Adviser from 1 June to 31 August 2019.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
There were no meetings between the Secretary of State and her Departments Chief Scientific Officer from 1 June to 31 August 2019.
Asked by: Norman Lamb (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how the new cross-departmental strategy for disability will reflect the needs of people with neurodevelopmental conditions.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
On Tuesday 25 June the Government launched a new cross-government approach on disability which is guided by a vision that recognises the contributions that disabled people make and where disabled people can participate fully in society.
To drive forward this approach, government will establish a new cross-departmental disability team in the Cabinet Office and the Office for Disability Issues will be incorporated into the team. This move recognises that disabled people, including those with neurodevelopmental conditions, face barriers across a wide range of aspects of their lives and across the whole of the life course, and that coordinated cross-government action is therefore vital.
The new disability team in the Cabinet Office will sit in the new Equalities Hub alongside the Government Equalities Office and the Race Disparity Unit. Together they will be better equipped to drive meaningful progress on equality and to tackle intersectional issues.
The team will work closely with disabled people, disabled people’s organisations and charities to take forward this new approach to disability, with their views and experiences at the forefront of any new policy.
Asked by: Norman Lamb (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many meetings she has held with her Department’s Chief Scientific Adviser between 1 March 2019 and 31 May 2019.
Answered by Will Quince
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions held no meetings with the Department’s Chief Scientific Advisor between 1 March 2019 and 31 May 2019.
Asked by: Norman Lamb (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when her Department plans to launch the proposed public consultation on improving occupational health.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The DWP and DHSC Joint Work and Health Unit plans to consult later this year on measures to encourage and support all employers to play their part in retaining and reintegrating employees who are struggling with their health or who are off sick. This includes measures to improve access to cost effective and high quality occupational health services.
Asked by: Norman Lamb (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many meetings she had with her Department’s Chief Scientific Adviser between 1 December 2018 and 28 February 2019.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Secretary of State had no meetings with the Department’s Chief Scientific Adviser between 1 December 2018 and 28 February 2019; however, she did meet the Chief Scientific Adviser on 27th November 2018 as one of her first meetings in the Department. Baroness Buscombe meets with the Chief Scientific Adviser on a regular basis in her role as Minister in Charge of Research and Trialling.
Asked by: Norman Lamb (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many meetings (a) she and (b) her predecessor had with her Department’s Chief Scientific Adviser between 1 September and 30 November 2018.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has met with the Department’s Chief Scientific Adviser on the 30 November 2018 and her predecessor met on one occasion on the 1 September 2018.
Asked by: Norman Lamb (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans she has in place to communicate to key stakeholders in Government and the public and private sectors the outcome of her rapid review of the Allied Health Professions Advisory Fitness for Work Report which clarified that the report can be used to provide medical evidence for the purpose of statutory sick pay.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The Statutory Sick Pay (Medical Evidence) Regulations 1985 already allow for other forms of medical information to be used in place of a fit note as long as there is an agreement between employer and employee that the other option, which can include an Allied Health Professions Advisory Fitness for Work Report, is acceptable. The regulations do not however name a particular alternative as being the most suitable replacement.
In November 2017, The Government Command paper “Improving Lives: The Future of Work, Health and Disability” committed to investigating the feasibility of using the AHP Advisory Fitness for Work Report for the purposes of Statutory Sick Pay (SSP). The Paper can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/improving-lives-the-future-of-work-health-and-disability
A rapid review was held in February 2018 involving extensive work by the Royal College of Occupational Therapists (RCOT) with its fellow organisations under the Allied Health Professions Federation and the Joint Department for Health and Social Care and Department for Work and Pensions Work and Health Unit. Following this, the RCOT and Chartered Society of Physiotherapists released a statement advising their members that the Allied Health Professions report can be used to provide evidence for the purposes of SSP and encouraging them to increase their use of this document within their professional remits.
The link to statement can be found here: https://www.rcot.co.uk/news/ahp-advisory-fitness-work-report-admissible-evidence-statutory-sick-pay
Asked by: Norman Lamb (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many meetings she had with her Department’s Chief Scientific Adviser between 1 January and 31 March 2018.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has met the Chief Scientific Advisor to the Department of Work and Pensions on one occasion between 1 January and 31 March 2018.
Asked by: Norman Lamb (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
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 amount paid out by his Department in benefits to people with fetal anti-convulsant syndrome as a result of the mother being prescribed sodium valproate during pregnancy.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.