Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what training personal independence payment assessors receive on mental illness and the disabilities that result from them.
Answered by Sarah Newton
Health Care Professionals (HCPs) undertaking PIP assessments must have at least 2 years post full registration experience (this refers to either UK registration or equivalent overseas registration for non-UK HPs) or less than 2 years post full registration experience by individual, prior, written agreement with the Department. Requests by providers to employ Health Professionals with less than 2 years post full registration experience is rare and exceptional.
All HCPs receive training on how to identify the impact of mental health conditions on claimants. This is followed by on-going professional training and support which continues for the duration of their employment in the role.
In addition, Mental Health Champions support HCPs by providing additional expertise about mental health, cognitive, developmental and learning disabilities and can be referred to at any time during the assessment process.
HCPs make every attempt to obtain the best evidence available to assist them in undertaking the assessment. This includes accessing evidence from Community Mental Health Teams, psychologists, psychiatrists and other medical professionals. Health Assessment Providers frequently engage with medical experts, charities and relevant stakeholders to strengthen review and update training programmes for all their assessment staff.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which mental health conditions will be included in the new Personal Independence Payment guidelines.
Answered by Sarah Newton
Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is not awarded on the basis of an individual’s diagnosis. It is a needs based assessment which looks at how an individual’s condition(s) affects their ability to do everyday tasks.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress has her Department has made on writing new guidelines for personal independence payments that take account of the effect of mental health conditions on an person's mobility.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The Department is now working to implement the MH Upper Tribunal judgment, which changes how overwhelming psychological distress should be considered in assessing a person’s ability to plan and follow a journey under Mobility Activity 1 of Personal Independence Payment (PIP). We are currently engaging with a range of stakeholder on changes to Departmental guidance. We are committed to taking this work forward at pace over the coming months, and will publish new guidance in due course.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he expects new guidelines on mental illness and personal independence payments (PIP) to be issued to PIP assessors.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The Department is now working to implement the MH Upper Tribunal judgment, which changes how overwhelming psychological distress should be considered in assessing a person’s ability to plan and follow a journey under Mobility Activity 1 of Personal Independence Payment (PIP). We are currently engaging with a range of stakeholder on changes to Departmental guidance. We are committed to taking this work forward at pace over the coming months, and will publish new guidance in due course.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if her Department will make an assessment of the financial effect on people who move from the Support for Mortgage Interest benefit to the Support for Mortgage Interest loan.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
All existing claimants will be offered a support for mortgage interest loan paid at the same rate that is currently available as part of their benefit entitlement. The new loans-based support for mortgage interest will only affect claimants’ financial situation on the sale or transfer of the property, when the loan will be recovered from any available equity.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many couples receiving universal credit (a) with dependent children and (b) with no children have (i) one partner in work and (ii) both partners in work.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
The available information on the number of couples, (a) with dependent children who are in receipt of the childcare element of Universal Credit, and (b) with no children, is published and can be accessed at: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/.
Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:
https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many couples receiving universal credit have a child under the age of three in their household.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Statistics on the number of children aged 0-4 years in out-of-work Universal Credit households on 31 May 2016, can be found in the Children in Out-of-work Benefit Household official statistics published in November 2017 available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-in-out-of-work-benefit-households-31-may-2016
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many couples receiving universal credit have nominated one partner as being responsible for a child; and how many of those so nominated are (a) female and (b) male.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the evidential basis was for the decision to pay couples claiming universal credit in a single payment.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
When couples make a joint claim to Universal Credit, both are responsible for servicing the claim, and both benefit from the claim. A single payment of Universal Credit enables a household to clearly see the effect of their decisions about work on total household income. The Government believes that people within a household are best placed to make the money management choices that are most appropriate for them and a single payment enables them to do just that.
Additionally, Universal Credit is designed to mirror work so that when claimants enter work there are only a minimal number of changes for claimants to undergo. As employers pay employees and do not divide salary payments amongst households, the UC payment arrangements mirror that.
Research carried out for the Department for Work and Pensions suggest that only 2 per cent of married couples and 7 per cent of cohabiting couples keep their finances completely separate, so these arrangements fit with how the majority of people organise their lives. In exceptional circumstances, if a couple do not agree on an account into which their Universal Credit is to be paid, a decision maker in the Department will nominate a person in the household. This is to ensure protection for the welfare of the family.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons the decision was taken to pay universal credit claims to a single bank account in a household.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
When couples make a joint claim to Universal Credit, both are responsible for servicing the claim, and both benefit from the claim. A single payment of Universal Credit enables a household to clearly see the effect of their decisions about work on total household income. The Government believes that people within a household are best placed to make the money management choices that are most appropriate for them and a single payment enables them to do just that.
Additionally, Universal Credit is designed to mirror work so that when claimants enter work there are only a minimal number of changes for claimants to undergo. As employers pay employees and do not divide salary payments amongst households, the UC payment arrangements mirror that.
Research carried out for the Department for Work and Pensions suggest that only 2 per cent of married couples and 7 per cent of cohabiting couples keep their finances completely separate, so these arrangements fit with how the majority of people organise their lives. In exceptional circumstances, if a couple do not agree on an account into which their Universal Credit is to be paid, a decision maker in the Department will nominate a person in the household. This is to ensure protection for the welfare of the family.