Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average waiting time was from application to a decision being made for young people with cancer who applied for personal independence payments over the last 12 months.
Answered by Sarah Newton
Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claimants with cancer aged 16 to 24 assessed under Normal Rules, waited an average (median) of 11 and 14 calendar weeks from the point of registration to a decision being made for new claims and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) reassessments respectively. For claimants with cancer aged 16 to 24 assessed under Special Rules for the Terminally Ill, the average (median) was 6 and 7 working days for new claims and DLA reassessment claims respectively. This data includes cases on which a decision was made between 1st February 2017 and 31st January 2018, the latest full year for which data is available.
Information on clearance times split by Normal Rules and Special Rules claims and new claim or DLA reassessment claims can be found in the data tables, “Personal Independence Payment: Official Statistics to January 2018” within tables 5A-B here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-independence-payment-april-2013-to-january-2018.
Source: PIP Computer System claimant records.
Notes:
1. “Cancer” is defined here by claimants recorded on the PIP Computer System with “Neoplasms (C00 - D48)” in the ICD summary code. ICD summary codes are based on the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, published by the World Health Organisation. For reporting purposes, the disability conditions as recorded on the PIP IT system have been mapped to reflect as closely as possible the appropriate ICD10 code.
2. Figures have been rounded to the nearest whole number of weeks for Normal Rules and working days for Special Rules for the Terminally Ill.
3. Data includes normal rules and special rules as recorded at the point of the DWP decision, in accordance with the measure. It is possible for claims to transition between Normal/Special Rules and new claims/reassessments during the course of the claimant journey.
4. Figures for reassessments include Rising 16s. (Individuals previously on child DLA who are reassessed for PIP upon reaching the age of 16).
5. The figures are the average (median) clearance time of claims cleared between 1st February 2017 and 31st January 2018.
6. The median time is the middle value if you were to order all the times within the distribution from lowest value to highest value. The median is presented here instead of the mean because the mean can be unduly affected by outlying cases (e.g. cases were the person has been hard to reach due to being in prison, hospital, failed to attend the assessment on numerous occasions etc.)
7. The 'Registration to DWP decision (end to end)' clearance time is measured as the average time between the date of registration of the claim and the date of the DWP decision to either award or disallow the claim. It does not include claims that were withdrawn by the claimant or claims that were disallowed by DWP pre-referral to the Assessment Providers (e.g. for failure to meet basic eligibility criteria or failure to return the Part 2 form within the time limit).
8. A claimant may have multiple disabling conditions but only the primary condition is recorded on PIP systems.
9. This is unpublished data and it should be used with caution and it may be subject to future revision.
10. Claimants are aged 16 to 24 (i.e. aged 16 and over and under 25) at the time of the decision. This is in line with CLIC Sargent’s definition of “young people”. https://www.clicsargent.org.uk/content/cancer-facts-and-figures.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 27 March 2018 to Question 133913, on Personal Independence Payment: Visual Impairment, for what reason the Certificate of Visual Impairment is deemed not to provide sufficient information for a comprehensive assessment of functional visual ability.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The assessment for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) looks at an individual’s ability to carry out a series of key everyday activities which are fundamental to living an independent life. These activities include their ability to prepare, cook and eat food, dress and undress, make budgeting decisions, manage and monitor their health condition, engage with other people, and plan and follow journeys. The Certificate of Visual Impairment provides information on visual ability but is insufficient for a comprehensive assessment of the extent to which a claimant is capable of carrying out the various PIP activities independently.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if she will take steps to ensure that claimants need not undergo personal independent payment assessments when they have a Certificate of Visual Impairment.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The assessment for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is not designed to capture someone’s condition. Instead it is designed to assess how a claimant’s condition affects their functional ability. The Department therefore encourages claimants to provide as much relevant evidence as necessary to support their claim. The Certificate of Visual Impairment forms part of this suite of evidence but on its own does not provide sufficient information for a comprehensive assessment of functional ability.
Further information on the assessment process and sources of evidence can be found in Part 1 of the PIP Assessment Guide: Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessment guide for assessment providers - GOV.UK
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was awarded to staff of her Department in bonuses in each of the last three financial years.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
In 2014/15, 2015/16 and 2016/17 DWP headcount was 89805, 84698 and 83851 respectively. In addition to annual salaries our staff were paid an annual, non-consolidated, performance-related bonus. For the majority of our most junior grades, AA to EO, the amounts were, on average in each year £463.
Total payments were:
| in-year non-consolidated award | end of year non-consolidated award | Total |
2014/2015 | £3,991,001 | £38,141,345 | £42,132,346 |
2015/2016 | £4,095,000 | £35,979,154 | £40,074,154 |
2016/2017 | £5,341,766 | £36,017,851 | £41,359,617 |
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance she has issued to her Department's Director General of Operations on the timescales for responding to correspondence from Members of Parliament on constituency casework.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Department has a 15 working day target for MP to Director General Correspondence and this timescale is in line with Cabinet Office directives.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to her Department's guidance, Advice for decision-making: staff guide, updated on 15 February 2018, what assessment she has made of whether work-related activity includes (a) considering referrals to professional services, (b) researching local self-help centres and support groups appropriate to a claimant’s health condition and (c) looking at the Expert Patient Programme online and listing reasons on how it could benefit a claimant.
Answered by Sarah Newton
There has been no assessment made on whether work-related activity includes (a) considering referrals to professional services, (b) researching local self-help centres and support groups appropriate to a claimant’s health condition and (c) looking at the Expert Patient Programme online and listing reasons on how it could benefit a claimant.
Requirements agreed between work coaches and claimants are specifically designed to help the claimants engage with work, in whatever way might be appropriate for that individual. The requirements must be reasonable and they are tailored to the claimant’s individual needs. For many of our claimants work preparation activity involves addressing their particular challenges, which can include managing their health condition. We would not ask a claimant to carry out an activity which would carry a risk to the health of the claimant, nor would we ask for a claimant to undergo medical treatment as part of their requirements. We work hard to build supportive and open relationships with our claimants so that we can agree support tailored in the most effective possible way.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what discussions her Department has had with the Department for Health and Social Care on the potential links between mental health and welfare sanctions.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
I refer the Honourable Member to the answer I provided to Question 121885 on 19 January 2018.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to mitigate the effect of welfare sanctions on people with mental health problems.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
I refer the Honourable Member to the answer I provided to Question 123884 on 26 January 2018.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if the Government will review of its approach to the work capability assessment process.
Answered by Sarah Newton
We are committed to assessing people with health conditions and disabilities fairly and accurately, helping people to access the right support. We recognise the importance of getting reform in this area right. We therefore intend to focus on testing new approaches to build our evidence base for future reform. In the Improving Lives: The Future of health, Work and Disability command paper we committed to work with external stakeholders to inform future changes to the Work Capability Assessment.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if his Department is required to consider all evidence in support of an individual's application for Personal Independence Payment if that evidence is submitted before the Department's stated deadline for the application.
Answered by Sarah Newton
When making their decision, case managers will look at all the available evidence to determine eligibility for PIP. Additional evidence can be submitted at any point up to where the case manager makes a decision. It’s a requirement that the PIP 2 questionnaire is returned within the deadline given, although rules and procedures allow claimants additional time to complete the form where that is reasonably required.