Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when her Department plans to review the uplift to universal credit.
Answered by Will Quince
On 20 March the Government announced a temporary increase to the Universal Credit standard allowance of £20 per week. Legislation allows this measure to continue for the 20/21 tax year.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when her Department plans to review the suspension of the requirement to attend Jobcentre appointments during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
We made the decision to temporarily suspend the requirement for face-to-face Jobcentre Plus appointments for all claimants in Universal Credit, New Style Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) and Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), old-style JSA and ESA, and Income Support.
Arrangements after the 30th June will be communicated in due course.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when her Department plans to review the suspension of face-to-face (a) work capability and (b) personal independence payment assessments during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
Our priority throughout this health emergency continues to be to protect the public and staff, while ensuring people get the benefits they are entitled to quickly and safely. Face to face assessments remain suspended while we review what activity we can gradually start reintroducing in line with the latest public health advice. We will confirm next steps as soon as possible.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many work capability assessments have been completed in each month since 1 February 2020.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
Statistics on Employment and Support Allowance Work Capability Assessment (WCA) outcomes are published quarterly. The latest figures covering the number and outcome of completed initial and repeat WCAs, by month of completed assessment up to December 2019, can be found at:
Additional breakdowns of the ESA WCA figures can be found at:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/
Guidance for users is available at:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html
The statistics for completed assessments to March 2020 and June 2020 will be published in September and December 2020 respectively.
Statistics on Work Capability Assessments for Universal Credit claimants are intended for publication in the near future as Official Statistics.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will take steps to introduce an escalation route for complex benefits cases referred to her Department by Macmillan Cancer Support and other advice services so that urgent benefits cases can be resolved more swiftly.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
We already have escalation routes in place. We have had assurance from Area Directors that escalation routes are open and working and have sufficient capacity. We are exploring alternatives to further refine the process.
We have previously advised Macmillan if they could provide specific examples of where a Jobcentre has not been able to support them or has not had capacity, that these could be shared with their National Account Manager within National Employer & Partnership Team in DWP.
In addition, we have now mobilised 10 senior safeguarding leaders who between them will cover all our regions, these roles are temporary and will be reviewed in 3 months. These leaders don’t replace any of our existing routes into DWP where there is a concern about a customer, but they are there to be the region’s escalation point if a solution cannot be found locally, or it is a serious and complex case. These leaders will also be active members of multi-agency boards in their geography.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people aged 100 years old and over receive the state pension in each country outside the UK.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The table below provides how many people aged 100 years old and over, who receive the State Pension in each country outside the UK.
| Caseload |
Abroad not known | 20 |
Alderney | - |
Australia | 340 |
Austria | - |
Bangladesh | - |
Barbados | 10 |
Belgium | - |
Benin | - |
Bermuda | - |
Brazil | - |
Canada | 190 |
Cayman Islands | - |
Chile | - |
Cyprus | 10 |
Denmark | - |
Djibouti | - |
Equatorial Guinea | - |
France | 30 |
Germany | 10 |
Greece | - |
Guernsey | 10 |
Hong Kong | - |
India | - |
Israel | 10 |
Italy | 20 |
Jamaica | 70 |
Jersey | 10 |
Kenya | - |
Latvia | - |
Lithuania | - |
Luxembourg | - |
Monaco | - |
Montserrat | - |
New Zealand | 150 |
Norway | - |
Not known | 20 |
Pakistan | 20 |
Poland | - |
Portugal | - |
Republic of Ireland | 100 |
Republic of Yemen | 10 |
Sierra Leone | - |
Somalia | - |
South Africa | 30 |
Spain | 50 |
St Kitts and Nevis | - |
St Lucia | - |
St Vincent and The Grenadines | - |
Sweden | - |
Switzerland | - |
Thailand | - |
The Netherlands | - |
Trinidad and Tobago | - |
United Arab Emirates | - |
USA | 210 |
Zimbabwe | - |
|
|
Total | 1,390 |
Source: DWP Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study, August 2019.
Caseload figures have been rounded to the nearest 10.
Caseloads identified with ‘-‘ are negligible, but non-zero.
Caseloads exclude suspended cases.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will meet with the WASPI campaign group once the Court of Appeal proceedings are over.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The government won on all grounds in the High Court action of this matter - defending the actions of the Coalition government 2010-2015, the labour government 1997-2010 and the Conservative government 1992-1997; the department does not comment on live litigation.