Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average call duration is of a universal credit telephone enquiry.
Answered by Lord Sharma
This summer we introduced a new routed telephony service for Universal Credit Full Service claims where claimants with an existing claim are connected directly to the person or team who are dealing with their case. Of the calls offered via the 0800 328 5644 (Universal Credit Full Service) number during September 2018, the average call duration was 6 minutes and 54 seconds and the average call waiting time was 1 minute and 6 seconds.
We also provide a free national enquiry service for calls from people who do not yet have a processed claim. For the month of September the average call duration of a telephone enquiry to the Universal Credit Full Service enquiry line was 6 minutes and 15 seconds and the average call waiting time was 6 minutes and 10 seconds.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many British Sign Language interpreters are available to support hearing impaired people in using public services.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The Government does not collect information on numbers of British Sign Language interpreters.
The National Registers of Communication Professionals working with Deaf and Deafblind People (NRCDP), the Association of Sign Language interpreters (ASLI) and the Scottish Association of Sign Language Interpreters (SASLI) are the registration bodies for interpreters in England Wales and Scotland.
The British Deaf Association published numbers of British Sign Language Interpreters in October 2015 available at https://bda.org.uk/help-resources/
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many British Sign Language interpreters are available to support hearing impaired people in using public services.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The Government does not collect information on numbers of British Sign Language interpreters.
The National Registers of Communication Professionals working with Deaf and Deafblind People (NRCDP), the Association of Sign Language interpreters (ASLI) and the Scottish Association of Sign Language Interpreters (SASLI) are the registration bodies for interpreters in England Wales and Scotland.
The British Deaf Association published numbers of British Sign Language Interpreters in October 2015 available at https://bda.org.uk/help-resources/
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
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 potential merits of a system of automatic transfers for individuals who have multiple jobs during their working life.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The Government’s priority for private pension savers in 2018 remains the successful roll-out of automatic enrolment. Automatic enrolment has led to more than 9.4 million employees being automatically enrolled in a workplace pension, with more than 1.1 million employers meeting their duties, as of the end of February 2018.
Industry shares this priority. With 94% of eligible jobholders automatically enrolled in an occupational defined contribution scheme enrolled in a Master Trust, scheme managers and trustees are focused on preparing for compliance with the authorisation and supervision regime introduced by the Pension Schemes Act 2017.
These reforms increase the number of people saving into workplace pensions and ensure confidence in the system. Government, providers, employers and members should focus on these changes. It is therefore not the right time to implement automatic transfers.
All those with a defined contribution pension pot have a statutory right to transfer to another pension scheme of their choice and can use the Pension Tracing Service to identify pension pots they have accumulated with former employers. Members could also benefit from the introduction of the pensions dashboard, which should make it easier to see all their pots in one place when they choose to do so. This would enable them to feel in control and take ownership of their pensions. We are currently conducting a feasibility study and aim to publish our findings later in spring 2018.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people who have personal independence payment claims initially refused are successful at appeal.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
In the 52 months between April 2013 and July 2017, the latest dates for which data is available, 57,910 Personal Independence Payment (PIP) decisions which were initially disallowed, and where this decision was upheld at mandatory reconsideration (MR), were overturned at appeal. This represents 2% of all PIP decisions in this time.
Period covered: April 2013 – July 2017 (latest available data).
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average cost to the public purse was of processing an individual employment and support allowance claim in the last 12 months.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
For April 2016 to March 2017, the average unit cost to DWP of processing an Employment and Support Allowance claim was £22.16.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of employment and support allowance claims were refused by his Department in the last 12 months.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
The latest available information on the proportion of initial Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) claimants found fit for work at their Work Capability Assessment can be found in the first 5 tables of the ESA Outcomes of Work Capability Assessments quarterly statistics published in September 2017 here:
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what repayment support is given to claimants who take out a hardship payment.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
I have interpreted your question to refer to Universal Credit Hardship Payments, which are made on the understanding that they are recoverable from the customer. Repayment support is available in several ways when a hardship payment is made.
Recovery of a Universal Credit Recoverable Hardship Payment can only start when the claimant’s award is not subject to a sanction or fraud penalty reduction.
There are established processes to consider hardship if the proposed rate of repayment cannot be afforded. The claimant will be asked to provide evidence to support their position, for example, bank statements, and details of their income and expenditure. Their financial circumstances can then be taken into account and a possible reduction in repayment considered. Suspension of repayment may also be considered under certain circumstances such as unexpected extra expenditure.
As a means to support claimants into work, recovery of a Hardship Payment is suspended for any Assessment Period where the claimant’s earnings at least equal their individual Conditionality Earnings Threshold.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants in Southampton have taken out a hardship payment.
Answered by Damian Hinds
The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what review of the universal credit policy has been undertaken since its implementation; and what assessment that review made of the effectiveness of that policy at reducing the number of workless households.
Answered by Damian Hinds
Universal Credit is still in its implementation phase. However evidence shows that it is effective in reducing worklessness.
In Universal Credit more people are finding work than under Jobseeker’s Allowance. They are spending more time looking for work and moving into work faster. Additionally, in Universal Credit more people are actively looking to increase their earnings whilst they are in work.