Asked by: Richard Arkless (Scottish National Party - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the policy implications for his Department of the UK leaving the EU.
Answered by Damian Hinds
We are currently preparing for a smooth and orderly exit from the EU and are confident we will be able to secure a deal that works in the mutual interests of both the UK and the rest of the European Union. We are considering various policy options and it would be wrong to set out further positions at this stage.
Asked by: Richard Arkless (Scottish National Party - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which terminal illnesses will be exempted from the reassessment process for benefits.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
Terminally ill people claiming Attendance Allowance, Disability Living Allowance, Personal Independence Payment, Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and Universal Credit (UC) via the fast track procedure rather than the normal assessment process, will be reassessed depending on when it is considered most appropriate for the claimant to have their next contact with the Department.
As announced on 1 October, we will stop requiring people with the most severe, lifetime conditions to be repeatedly assessed for ESA and UC. Over the coming months we will work with our health assessment provider, medical professionals and other stakeholders to develop a set of criteria to switch off re-assessments for people with the most severe health conditions or disabilities.
Asked by: Richard Arkless (Scottish National Party - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which terminal illnesses he plans to make exempt from benefits assessments.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
Terminally ill people can already claim Attendance Allowance, Disability Living Allowance, Personal Independence Payment, Employment and Support Allowance and Universal Credit using a fast track procedure rather than the normal assessment process.
Asked by: Richard Arkless (Scottish National Party - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when his Department plans to publish its review into supported accommodation; and whether it has carried out an impact assessment on the extension of the Local Housing Allowance cap.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
I refer the Honourable Member to the Written Statement made today by the Secretary of State:
Full impact and equality impact assessments will be undertaken in due course.
Asked by: Richard Arkless (Scottish National Party - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if his Department will exempt crisis, refuge and homeless accommodation from any extension to the Local Housing Allowance cap.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
I refer the Honourable Member to the Written Statement made today by the Secretary of State:
Asked by: Richard Arkless (Scottish National Party - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many benefits claimants in Dumfries and Galloway were sanctioned between the months of October and December for each year from 2010 until the most recent date for which figures are available.
Answered by Priti Patel - Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs
The information requested, up to 30 June 2015, is published and available 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---SuperWEB2.html
Asked by: Richard Arkless (Scottish National Party - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the usability of the Stat-Xplore website.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
Stat-Xplore forms part of the package which is used within the Department when publishing Official Statistics. It is used in conjunction with a Statistical First Release and set of summary statistical tables, with Stat-Xplore allowing users to construct their own bespoke statistical tables at very detailed level.
Stat-Xplore was updated in May 2015 to include new features and improvements, based on feedback from users.
A comprehensive user guide is available within the Stat-Xplore system which guides users through all the features of Stat-Xplore. In addition, a dedicated Stat-Xplore e-mail address allows users to send queries or requests for help in relation to Stat-Xplore.
Over 3,100 people have registered to use Stat-Xplore, and over 40,000 tables have been produced and downloaded by users since Stat-Xplore was launched in April 2013.