Asked by: Richard Graham (Conservative - Gloucester)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress has been made in supporting people with disabilities into work since May 2015.
Answered by Sarah Newton
This Government is committed to supporting disabled people and those with health conditions to reach their potential. Since 2015 there has been a steady increase in the number of disabled people in work. From April-June 2015 to April-June 2017 (the latest period for which the Office for National Statistics has published estimates without ‘health warnings’), the number of disabled people in work increased by 235,000 from 3.3 million to 3.5 million. The disability employment rate in this period increased by 3.3 percentage points, from 45.9% to 49.2%.
Universal Credit helps people with a disability or health condition who are already in work, to remain and progress in work. It is specifically designed so that we can engage with and support people early in and throughout their claim, to give them advice and support – and not to lose contact with them. All work coaches delivering Universal Credit will receive training on supporting claimants with health conditions.
On 30 November 2017, we published ‘Improving Lives: the Future of Work, Health and Disability’, which sets out actions we’re taking in the welfare system, in the workplace and in health services to realise our commitment to see one million more disabled people in work by 2027.
Our programme is supported by a wide range of ‘test and learn’ activity designed to build the evidence about what works to support disabled people and those with health conditions to get into and stay in work. Projects worth up to around £1 billion have been launched, including:
We have also recently introduced the new Tech Fund in Access to Work, offering employers significant support with the cost of assistive technology; and we’re continuing to build our engagement with employers through Disability Confident, which is growing strongly and now has over 6,800 employers signed up.
Asked by: Richard Graham (Conservative - Gloucester)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that employers are encouraged to recruit and retain disabled people.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
‘Improving Lives – the Work, Health and Disability Green Paper’ sets out the Government’s proposals for improving work and health outcomes for disabled people and people with long-term health conditions, including how we can further drive and support employer action.
Through the Green Paper we are asking about the barriers preventing employers from recruiting and retaining disabled people and people with health conditions, and what measures would help them in doing so.
We are also taking practical steps to promote the benefits of employing disabled people through our Disability Confident campaign which includes promotion of other sources of support such as the DWP’s Access to Work Scheme and its associated Mental Health Support Service for Employees.
Asked by: Richard Graham (Conservative - Gloucester)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he plans to publish the White Paper on supporting people with health conditions and disabilities to get into work.
Answered by Priti Patel
As announced in the Spending Review, the Government will publish a White Paper in 2016 that will set out reforms to improve support for people with health conditions and disabilities.
Asked by: Richard Graham (Conservative - Gloucester)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his Department's current targets are for processing benefit payments.
Answered by Priti Patel
The Performance of the processing of benefit payments is regularly monitored internally against a set of planning assumptions but there are no published targets
Asked by: Richard Graham (Conservative - Gloucester)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many delays to benefit payments there were in (a) Gloucester, (b) the South West and (c) England in each of the last five years.
Answered by Priti Patel
The information requested is not available.
Asked by: Richard Graham (Conservative - Gloucester)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of levels of youth unemployment.
Answered by Esther McVey - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
Youth unemployment has fallen nearly a quarter of a million over the last year – the second largest annual fall on record – down to 737,000.
Asked by: Richard Graham (Conservative - Gloucester)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average waiting time was for a personal independent payment assessment by Atos in (a) England, (b) the South West and (c) Gloucester over the last 12 months.
Answered by Mark Harper - Secretary of State for Transport
Statistics on the time taken to clear cases are intended for future publication and the Department's analysts are currently considering what information will be included in the release.
Asked by: Richard Graham (Conservative - Gloucester)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what process is in place for the transition from Atos to another provider for work capability assessments; how will this be communicated to employment and support allowance claimants; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Mark Harper - Secretary of State for Transport
The Department will work very closely with the new provider and Atos during the transition period to ensure a smooth and effective handover of services, including the staff and infrastructure that will move from Atos to the new provider. The process for claimants will remain the same during the transition and so claimants should continue to attend their assessments. We are considering the communications to claimants as part of the transition plan.
Asked by: Richard Graham (Conservative - Gloucester)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many medically qualified staff have been employed by Atos in (a) Gloucestershire and (b) Gloucester in each of the last five years.
Answered by Mark Harper - Secretary of State for Transport
Atos Healthcare has an Assessment Centre in Gloucester undertaking ESA/IBR assessments for those claimants living in Gloucestershire.
Whilst there are a small number of medically qualified personnel permanently based at Gloucester Assessment Centre, other medically qualified personnel also regularly complete assessments at this site.
The number of medically qualified personnel undertaking ESA / IBR assessments at Gloucester Assessment Centre in each of the last five years is as follows:-
Sept 09 to Aug 10 - 24
Sept 10 to Aug 11 – 41
Sept 11 to Aug 12 – 24
Sept 12 to Aug 13 – 25
Sept 13 to Aug 14 – 16
The reason the number of medically qualified personnel undertaking ESA/IBR assessments at Gloucester Assessment Centre in each of the last five years has reduced is due to there now being a regular team of 4 practitioners based in Gloucester, which has meant fewer practitioners travelling from other Centres to conduct assessments in Gloucester.
Asked by: Richard Graham (Conservative - Gloucester)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what performance targets his Department has set for Atos's contract under the work capability assessment; and whether such targets have been met.
Answered by Mark Harper - Secretary of State for Transport
The Performance of Atos is measured across a range of service level agreements setting out the Department's expectation for service delivery.
The Department has given Atos Healthcare a clearance target that we expect them to achieve by the end of the contract. We are closely monitoring their performance and currently Atos Healthcare are consistently achieving our monthly clearance expectations.
We are working closely with Atos Healthcare to continually improve their performance and have put in place changes to better manage the flow of work between the Department, all designed to reduce waiting times for claimants. These measures are taking effect and the backlog of cases has continued to fall over the past few months.