Asked by: Philip Boswell (Scottish National Party - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to extend the grace period for final decisions to be made on an appeal or mandatory reconsideration of a personal independence payment award for a Motability user in order to reduce the incidence of those claimants losing access to their vehicles.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The Government is always exploring new ways to support disabled people, including those making Personal Independence Payment (PIP) appeals and we continue to work closely with Motability.
Claimants are already allowed to keep their vehicle for up to seven weeks following an initial decision that they are not entitled to PIP, with Mandatory Reconsiderations normally completed well before this. Only a small proportion of PIP decisions are appealed and we are working closely with HM Courts and Tribunals Service to reduce appeals times, which continue to improve.
Asked by: Philip Boswell (Scottish National Party - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department provides employers who participate in the Work Programme with a financial subsidy for their participation.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The Department does not provide any financial subsidy to employers or organisations who offer work experience to participants on the Work Programme.
Asked by: Philip Boswell (Scottish National Party - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department takes an individual's physical and mental capacity into account when allocating a work placement under the Work Programme.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Each placement is tailored to the individual’s health and personal circumstances to ensure the work experience is appropriate. This includes any health condition or disability the participant may have.
Asked by: Philip Boswell (Scottish National Party - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether a system exists for participants in the Work Programme to report mistreatment or other poor employment practices by employers in the Programme.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Providers are required to have effective, accessible complaints procedures available to all participants that individuals may use if they are unhappy with any aspect of the service from Work Programme providers.
Individuals who feel they have not received adequate support or are otherwise dissatisfied with their provider, are asked to raise their complaint directly with the provider through their formal complaints process. If individuals have exhausted the provider’s complaint process and are still unhappy they can escalate the issue to the Independent Case Examiner.
Asked by: Philip Boswell (Scottish National Party - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department takes in the event that people claiming personal independence payments say that they have not received correspondence sent from the Department relating to personal independence payment (a) assessments and (b) awards.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
Where a claimant reports that correspondence has not been received, a further communication is often issued, dependent on the individual circumstances of the case.
Asked by: Philip Boswell (Scottish National Party - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much funding has been allocated to the Work Programme in relation to the retail sector in each year since 2011.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Departmental funds spent on the Work Programme are not allocated to specific sectors and therefore this information is not available.
Asked by: Philip Boswell (Scottish National Party - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much funding has been allocated to the Work Programme in each year since 2011.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The Work Programme spend for the years 2011/12 to 2015/16 is shown below.
Future funding (including 2016/17) is not available as budgets are subject to on-going review as part of the continuous planning process and are dependent on contract performance. Budgets can/will be subject to change as a result of balancing the Department’s overall expenditure within its allocated envelope.
| 2011/12 | 2012/13 | 2013/14 | 2014/15 | 2015/16 |
| Spend | Spend | Spend | Spend | Spend |
| £m | £m | £m | £m | £m |
Work Programme | 283.2 | 453.1 | 635.9 | 573.7 | 416.4 |
Asked by: Philip Boswell (Scottish National Party - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether employers who partake in the Work Programme pay national insurance contributions for participants in the programme.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Work experience undertaken through the Work Programme is unpaid. Participants will therefore remain on Jobseeker’s Allowance whilst participating on a work placement.
As the placements are unpaid, employers are not required to pay National Insurance contributions for participants.
Asked by: Philip Boswell (Scottish National Party - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the participants in the Work Programme receive a wage from employers in addition to their jobseeker's allowance payments during their placement.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Work experience undertaken through the Work Programme is unpaid. Participants will therefore remain on Jobseeker’s Allowance whilst participating on a work placement.
As the placements are unpaid, employers are not required to pay National Insurance contributions for participants.
Asked by: Philip Boswell (Scottish National Party - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether (a) employers and (b) his Department pays travel expenses for participants in the Work Programme.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
It is the responsibility of Work Programme providers to pay a participant’s travel costs as travel expenses are included within the funding received from DWP as part of the overall contract package. Before starting a work placement the provider should discuss with the participant the practical arrangements for getting to and from the employer, including reimbursement of travel expenses.