Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
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 effect of delaying part of the grant which funds the Discretionary Housing Payment for 2020-21 until October 2021 on local authorities' ability to administer that payment effectively.
Answered by Will Quince
There has been no delay to Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP) funding.
DHP funding for 2021/22 is a total of £140m, which will be allocated in two parts. £100m initial allocation at the start of the financial year, followed by £40m at mid-year which will be allocated based on the most up to date information available on each LAs individual needs; this approach aims to ensure that DHPs are targeted to areas with the greatest need.
We have been closely monitoring the DHP spend and we will continue to do this throughout 2021/22.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason rapid response funding does not cover retraining for those who have been made redundant.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Rapid Response Service can fund training on a case by case basis in supporting people serving their notice period, whether from compulsory redundancy or other workforce measures such as an early release scheme. They can access:
Those who don’t find alternative employment before losing their job can access the same support as those under notice of redundancy for a period of 13 weeks. This is whether they make a claim for benefit or not.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
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 the proposal of Scope for an emergency support package to protect disabled people, published on 18 January 2021.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave on 09 February to question number 149299.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans she has to implement alternative arrangements for face-to-face assessments for employment and support allowance.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We continue to complete paper based assessments where possible and are now carrying out telephone Work Capability Assessments from which all outcomes are available. We are also trialling video assessments. Once completed the trial will be evaluated and a decision made on the feasibility to roll-out wider.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support she is putting in place for people (a) awaiting a face-to-face assessment for employment and support allowance, (b) whose contributory employment and support allowance is due to expire and (c) who earn above the threshold eligible for universal credit.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The health and safety of our claimants and staff is our key priority. We suspended all face-to-face assessments for sickness and disability benefits in March 2020. This temporary suspension, brought in to protect people from unnecessary risk of coronavirus at the outset of the pandemic, remains in place, and is being kept under review in line with the latest public health guidance. Any re-introduction of face-to-face assessments would involve stringent Covid-19 related safety measures, supported by guidance for claimants and assessment providers to ensure compliance with the relevant public health guidance.
However, throughout the pandemic we have continued to assess people on paper evidence, using this route whenever possible. We also introduced telephone assessments, providing limited outcomes, in June 2020. We have continued building our capacity and capability since June enabling us to provide the full range of outcomes at volume from this February. This action will ensure that claimants receive their correct benefit entitlement as quickly as possible and reduce the time claimants who may be entitled to a higher award are waiting for their assessment.
Where an individual’s contributory ESA ends if they require further financial support they may be eligible for Universal Credit, depending on their personal circumstances.
For people who are ineligible for Universal Credit they may be eligible for other assistance such as Discretionary Housing Payments provided by their Local Authority, which helps the most vulnerable and supports renters with housing costs in the private and social rented sectors.
In addition, the Government has introduced a raft of temporary measures to support those hardest hit:
In addition, there is a Flexible Support Fund, which has been increased by £150 million, to support customers facing redundancy.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to provide increased support to employment and support allowance claimants awaiting face-to-face assessments for higher rate benefits.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The health and safety of our claimants and staff is our key priority. We suspended all face-to-face assessments for sickness and disability benefits in March 2020. This temporary suspension, brought in to protect people from unnecessary risk of coronavirus at the outset of the pandemic, remains in place, and is being kept under review in line with the latest public health guidance. Any re-introduction of face-to-face assessments would involve stringent Covid-19 related safety measures, supported by guidance for claimants and assessment providers to ensure compliance with the relevant public health guidance.
Eligible Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) claimants will receive the Assessment Rate of benefit for the first 13 weeks (this rate will increase by 0.5% in April in line with the Consumer Price Index). At present, claimants may stay on this rate for longer than usual.
However, throughout the pandemic we have continued to assess people on paper evidence, using this route whenever possible. We also introduced telephone assessments providing limited outcomes in June 2020, building capacity and capability since then which has enabled us to provide the full range of outcomes from the beginning of February. By doing this, we will ensure that claimants receive their correct benefit entitlement as quickly as possible and reduce the time claimants who may be entitled to a higher award having to wait for their assessment.
Therefore, if a claimant qualifies for an additional amount following their Work Capability Assessment (WCA), it will be backdated to the 14th week to ensure no long-term loss.
Where an individual’s contributory ESA ends, if they require further financial support, they may be able to claim Universal Credit, depending on their personal circumstances.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many staff the Health and Safety Executive (a) employed in 2019-20 and (b) employs in 20202-21; and how many of those staff were dedicated to working in Scotland in each of those years.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
On 31st March 2020 HSE employed 2343 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff, 222 of whom were based in Scotland, and a further 28 contingent labour staff [1].
On 31st December 2020 HSE employed 2345 FTE staff, 211 of whom were based in Scotland, and a further 133(p) contingent labour staff.
HSE is a national regulator and regulatory effort is not necessarily confined by geographical region. HSE has specialists who work across geographical regions such as those regulating major hazard sectors. Regions are also able to draw on the support of HSE’s Science Directorate to assist investigations and to support important health and safety research and HSE’s Engagement and Policy Division who develop regulatory policy and design communications strategy.
[1] ‘Contingent labour’ is defined as temporary staff not on HSE’s payroll, which may include agency workers, specialist contractors, interim managers etc.
(p) Provisional - due to the early reporting of this figure final reconciliation of contingent labour staff is still ongoing and may be subject to change once this is complete.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
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 effect of the decision not to extend the covid-19 emergency £20 funding for universal credit claimants to those on legacy benefits.
Answered by Will Quince
As part of the Government’s strategy to support people affected by COVID 19, DWP has made a number of changes to make sure people can self-isolate, and to ensure people who need financial help have access to the benefit system. We have announced measures that benefit those experiencing the most financial disruption and which can be quickly and effectively operationalised, these include:
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
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 adequacy of personal independence payment evaluation criteria for evaluating (a) chronic fatigue syndrome, (b) fibromyalgia and (c) other chronic illnesses.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
All health professionals carrying out assessments are clinically qualified and registered practitioners in their own field. DWP requires health professionals to have a broad training in disability analysis as well as awareness training in specific conditions, which includes chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia and other chronic illness.
The PIP consultation is not a medical assessment requiring the health professional to diagnose a condition or its severity and recommend treatment options. Instead it requires the assessor to look at the impact of conditions and impairments on an individual’s daily life. This helps ensure that assessment reports are fit for purpose, clinically justified and sound, and provide sufficient information for the department to make a reasonable decision on entitlement to benefit.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 12 February to Question 15027, whether her Department collects data on the correlation between the number of people borrowing from loan sharks and the roll-out of universal credit in an area.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department does not collect data about the use of loan sharks.
The Government is creating a Breathing Space scheme to help people experiencing problem debt. Breathing Space will be implemented in early 2021 and provide access to advice and allow people the time and space to fully engage with professional support, helping them identify a sustainable solution to their debts. The scheme will cover a broad range of debts, including not only financial services debts but also arrears owed to utility companies and to central and local government.