Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if her Department will (a) review and (b) increase the support it offers to claimants with dyslexia.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
People whose capability for work is affected because they are disabled or have a health condition, including people who have dyslexia, may be eligible for New Style Employment and Support Allowance and/or Universal Credit, subject to satisfying their eligibility conditions. The Work Capability Assessment determines an individual’s capability for work. For people found to have limited capability for work, their Jobcentre work coach uses their discretion to set work-related activity, appropriate to the claimant's circumstances and capability, to help them prepare to start work when they are able. People who have limited capability for work and work-related activity are not required to carry out any work-related activity but can do so if they wish.
People who have dyslexia may also be eligible for Personal Independence Payment, to help meet the extra costs of living faced by disabled people and people with health conditions.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether it is her Department's Debt Management's policy to include full details of relevant debt in (a) email and (b) other written correspondence advising individuals of the debt.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
All benefit overpayments are notified to claimants. The notification sets out why the overpayment occurred, the amount overpaid and the period of overpayment, along with the debtor’s appeal rights. For other claimant liabilities, such as advances and loans, the amount to be paid and repayment terms are agreed in advance.
Once any debts or other liabilities are transferred to Debt Management for recovery, any notifications will typically show the current overall balance outstanding for all debts and liabilities, rather than listing individual debts.
We are currently developing an on-line service whereby individuals are able to go and view their outstanding balances. A number of claimants are already accessing this service.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing Statutory (a) Maternity and (b) Paternity Pay to the level of the real living wage as determined by the Living Wage Foundation.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) and Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP) are not, and have never been, intended to replace earnings completely. Both are reviewed annually, alongside state benefits, and are generally increased in line with the Consumer Prices Index (CPI). From April 2022 the standard rate of SMP and SPP increased to £156.66, in line with the September 2021 CPI rate of 3.1%.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to support vulnerable people to make claims for Universal Credit as part of the process of managed migration from legacy benefits.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are committed to fully complying with the Public Sector Equality Duty as we proceed with managed migration and will be regularly reviewing and updating our equality analysis as we progress through the discovery phase and iterate our approach.
We are currently reviewing our explicit consent process to make it easier for those who need the support but do not have or need an appointee to have someone to act on their behalf.
A variety of support is in place for those issued with migration notices, including for individuals with health conditions and disabilities. As we progress through the discovery phase, we are keen to understand what additional support is required for people to make their claim to UC.
Our current support consists of:
• A dedicated phoneline
• Further guidance on Gov.uk
• Specially trained staff in JCP’s and service centres who can identify local tailored support
• Support through Help to Claim
Our aim throughout remains to bring each legacy claimant across to Universal Credit.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment has she made of the mental health impact on individuals of managed migration from legacy benefits to Universal Credit.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government is committed to ensuring the final phase of Universal Credit is rolled out safely and is responsibly delivered by the end of 2024. We have considered additional needs for those with heath conditions including those with mental health conditions the current support consists of:
During our Discovery phase, we will continue to learn how best to support claimants successfully move to Universal Credit and adapt our approach as we learn.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department takes to ensure that at least one official from her Department is present during all (a) meetings and (b) phone calls relating to Government business between Ministers and third parties.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Ministers holding meetings or phone calls on government business are routinely accompanied by a Private Secretary or other official, in line with the expectations of paragraph 8.14 of the Ministerial Code.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what her Department’s process is for (a) recording and (b) keeping minutes of all meetings relating to Government business.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Formal, structured meetings are usually minuted, however, not all meetings need to be minuted. It is expected that the general guidance that departments give to their staff will help officials make judgements as to what meetings need to be minuted, noting their Civil Service Code obligation to ‘keep accurate official records’.
Specific procedures are in place for external meetings involving ministers. These are publicly available and can be found in the Guidance on the management of Private Office Papers.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many complaints have been received by her Department on the communication of changes to women's State Pension retirement age as at 18 October 2021.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
As of 18 October 2021, DWP received 9822 complaints in the period from August 2016 to September 2021.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress his Department has made on (a) extending Automatic Enrolment to workers under 22 and (b) removing the automatic enrolment lower earnings threshold by the mid-2020s.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We are committed to implementing the 2017 Automatic Enrolment Review ambitions in the mid-2020s, lowering the age for being automatically enrolled from 22 to 18 and abolishing the automatic enrolment lower earnings limit, so that contributions are payable from the first pound of earnings.
In this way we will expand coverage of the successful workplace pension reforms and increase the amounts being put into retirement savings by millions of workers, particularly younger people and lower earners.
The 2017 Review report was clear that implementation will be subject to learning from previous workplace pension contribution increases, discussions with employers and others on the right approach, and finding ways to make these changes affordable. We will do this in light of the impact of the pandemic and our overall support for economic recovery, while continuing to support long-term saving, balancing the needs of savers, employers and tax-payers.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
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 impact of the 3.2 per cent rise in inflation on the financial wellbeing of recipients of universal credit.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Chancellor announced a temporary six-month extension to Universal Credit uplift at the Budget on 3 March to support households affected by the economic shock of Covid-19. Universal Credit has provided a vital safety net for six million people during the pandemic, and the temporary uplift was part of a COVID support package worth a total of £407 billion in 2020-21 and 2021-22.
Separately to the Universal Credit Uplift, the Secretary of State completes an annual review of most benefit rates for people below State Pension age to determine whether they have retained their value in relation to the general level of prices. Where prices have increased relative to the value of those benefits, the Secretary of State will increase certain disability and carers’ benefits – such as Personal Independence Payments and Carer’s Allowance – at least in line with that increase. She may also decide to increase other benefits, such as the Universal Credit Standard Allowance. That decision is discretionary, but it is conventional that these rates are also increased in line with the increase in prices as measured by the Consumer Price Index. The up-rating review is conducted in the Autumn of each year, with the outcome announced in November and the new rates implemented the following April.