Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of Personal Independence Payment assessments were carried out (a) face-to-face, (b) remotely and (c) on paper in each month since 1 September 2022.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The number and proportion of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessments carried out (a) face to face (b) remotely (this includes telephone and video) and (c) paper based can be found in the tables below.
For the months from September 2022 to May 2023 (the latest month figures are available) the number of assessments per channel are:
Month | Face-to-Face | Remote | Paper-Based |
Sep-22 | 6,440 | 62,530 | 15,540 |
Oct-22 | 7,080 | 65,380 | 15,990 |
Nov-22 | 7,540 | 71,150 | 18,340 |
Dec-22 | 5,260 | 52,530 | 13,810 |
Jan-23 | 6,150 | 72,800 | 17,750 |
Feb-23 | 6,880 | 65,810 | 17,420 |
Mar-23 | 7,210 | 78,130 | 20,200 |
Apr-23 | 6,610 | 59,680 | 16,260 |
May-23 | 7,290 | 68,460 | 18,600 |
The channel proportion is:
Month | Face-to-Face | Remote | Paper-Based |
Sep-22 | 7.6% | 74.0% | 18.4% |
Oct-22 | 8.0% | 73.9% | 18.1% |
Nov-22 | 7.8% | 73.3% | 18.9% |
Dec-22 | 7.3% | 73.4% | 19.3% |
Jan-23 | 6.4% | 75.3% | 18.4% |
Feb-23 | 7.6% | 73.0% | 19.3% |
Mar-23 | 6.8% | 74.0% | 19.1% |
Apr-23 | 8.0% | 72.3% | 19.7% |
May-23 | 7.7% | 72.6% | 19.7% |
Please note:
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average length of the suspension period was for benefit claimants who had their benefits suspended and then reinstated by the Risk Review team.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
Individual data is not captured on average suspension periods and would be disproportionate in cost to identify this information.
The Risk Review Team (RRT) complete a review of eligibility and entitlement ; we engage with customers to request evidence to determine entitlement. The length of time it takes to review the case to allow the claim to be reinstated will depend on the cooperation from the claimant engaging with RRT and providing accurate documentation.
We have a process in place, where we make three attempts via telephone to engage with the customer, giving 48 hours’ notice between calls, these calls are booked in advance via the customers Universal Credit account . If there is no engagement from the customer, a claim can be closed after 30 plus 1 day from RRT starting their review.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 on basic safety training requirements for (a) self-employed and (b) directly employed staff working in the offshore (i) oil and gas and (ii) wind sectors.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
Both the Oil & Gas and Wind Sectors require mandatory training for directly and self-employed personnel working in these sectors. This training comprises of BOSIET (Basic Offshore Safety Induction and Emergency Training) and GWO (Global Wind Organisation) courses where completion information is recorded in a national industry database which provides a record of an individual’s training status.
HSE retain oversight of non-mandatory training associated with an individual’s competence to undertake their role via inspection activities across both sectors.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps to increase the qualifying period for future cost of living payments to help fluctuating earners; and if he will make it his policy to backdate cost of living payments for fluctuating earners who did not qualify for these payments due to usually high income in the original qualifying period.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
In determining eligibility for 2022/23 Cost of Living Payments, the qualifying periods have been chosen to reflect the nature of the passporting benefits and have remained simple to ensure these payments can be made to those who qualify and at scale to support millions of people on low incomes. We have no plans to consider making backdated payments for those who have fluctuating earnings and did not qualify for payments due to unusually high income in the original qualifying period.
Qualifying periods related to the 23/24 cost of living payments will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Government’s proposals on net-zero transition plans, whether it is her policy that pension schemes will be required to publish transition plans.
Answered by Guy Opperman
Yes.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has plans to review (a) support and (b) processes for applicants who require large print versions of state pensions forms in a paper format.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The online State Pension new claims service, Get your State Pension (GySP) is an accessible service so citizens have the option to manually enlarge the text on screen if required. The invitation letter sent to all citizens to invite a new claim to State Pension (SP) has the opening paragraph: If you would like Braille, British Sign Language, a hearing loop, translations, large print, audio or something else, please phone 0800 731 0469 or textphone 0800 731 7339. Additionally, during the claims process, the citizen is also asked if they have any alternative format requirements, such as Large Print. If the citizen selects ‘yes’, this triggers the central computer system to be updated to show they want letters in large print and the letters they receive will automatically be in large print.
A paper claim form, for State Pension (BR1) including large print and Braille versions, is readily available upon request. The form has recently been adapted to meet a RNIB request for accessibility. By contacting telephone 0800 731 0469 or textphone 0800 731 7339 the citizen will be asked if an alternative format [such as Large print] is required. Again, the computer system is updated to show they want letters in large print and the letters they receive will automatically be in large print.
The BR1 claim form is also available for printing on GOV.UK . This is for old rules citizens (men born before 6 April 1951 and women born before 6 April 1953). When printing the BR1 form, the citizen can choose to change the paper size - to print the BR1 form on A3 size paper if required. The new State Pension BR1 form was removed from GOV.UK in 2021 as part of the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) review. This was due to the availability of an accessible on-line claiming service.
The Pension Service continually tries to improve its services to customers and ensures processes are kept under review as necessary.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to tackle the increase in levels of unpaid child maintenance.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) take rigorous action to collect unpaid maintenance, combining robust negotiation activity with the highly effective use of its extensive range of enforcement powers. This approach is driven by the Payment Compliance Strategy increasing CMG compliance influencing activities with paying parents to tackle non-paying cases and challenge non-compliant behaviours.
CMS have worked in partnership with Courts and Enforcement Agents following the restrictions on enforcement activity during the initial phase of the pandemic in 2020 to quickly return to normal operating practice.
There has been a consistent downward trend in the proportion of unpaid maintenance as a proportion of maintenance arranged since 2017, falling from 12.5% in 2017 to 8.5% in September 2021 (Source – National Tables - table six ‘ how much maintenance CMS has arranged March 2015 to September 2021).
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
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 ability of the Child Maintenance Service to safeguard applicants who are survivors of domestic abuse.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) has robust procedures in place to support parents who have experienced domestic abuse.
The £20 application fee is waived for survivors of abuse and a programme of domestic abuse training is delivered to all CMS caseworkers.
Safeguards are built into the system such as non-traceable payment methods to keep parents’ locations hidden and the CMS ensures there is no unwanted contact between parents. The Service can also signpost customers to external organisations such as charities and support groups.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure the Child Maintenance Service follows Government guidance on the referral of a case to the Financial Investigation Unit.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The Financial Investigation Unit (FIU) are a component part of the Child Maintenance Service (CMS). The CMS has clear guidance around the criteria for raising FIU referrals which forms part of caseworker training and instructions.
In addition, the department undertakes regular upskilling and awareness sessions to ensure that all caseworkers are aware of how to spot potential fraud and when to make referrals to FIU.