Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when the Government expects to complete its review of claimants who were previously disallowed personal independent payments.
Answered by Sarah Newton
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 2 February 2018 to Question UIN 125608.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
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 explain to applicants at jobcentres the difference between (a) contribution-based and (b) income-based jobseekers allowance and employment and support allowance.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
The Department has recently re-launched instructions to all staff, including those who work in jobcentres, to help them support customers in determining which benefits they are able to claim. This includes information about contributory benefits.
There are many sources of advice and information available about this issue for claimants. The Employment and Support Allowance and Jobseeker’s Allowance pages on Gov.UK include information about contributory based benefits. The content of these pages has recently been reviewed and improved and can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/employment-support-allowance
https://www.gov.uk/jobseekers-allowance
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons an explanation and breakdown of allowances is not provided to people by his Department when the amount of their employment and support allowance is changed.
Answered by Sarah Newton
DWP Employment and Support Allowance issues an award notice detailing the amount of benefit an individual will receive when any change to the amount of benefit is made. In the case of a change in award this is done automatically.
Where the claim has been terminated a letter is issued in place of the award notice with additional information ensuring we inform the individual of their options and right of appeal.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of assessments for (a) employment and support allowance and (b) personal independence payments went to appeal in Bethnal Green and Bow constituency in each year since 2010.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The table below shows the proportion of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) decisions that went to appeal, by year of decision since the introduction of PIP in the Parliamentary Constituency of Bethnal Green and Bow.
Proportion of PIP decisions that went to appeal, by financial year of decision, in the Parliamentary Constituency of Bethnal Green and Bow.
Financial year of initial PIP decision | Proportion of PIP decisions that went to appeal |
2013/14 | 0% |
2014/15 | 3% |
2015/16 | 7% |
2016/17 | 8% |
Apr'17 to Oct'17 | 4% |
Latest available data to October 2017.
The information for Employment Support Allowance (ESA) is not readily available and can only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies on benefits eligibility of the conclusion in the University of Hull report, entitled Mapping hunger, published in April 2016, that food bank use is highest in areas with people in skilled manual work or where more people are unable to work due to long-term sickness or disability.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
This government is determined to move to a higher wage society, introducing the new National Living Wage that will benefit over 1 million workers directly this year, and spending £80 billion on working age benefits to ensure a strong safety net for those who need it most. We are also committed to supporting people with disabilities and currently spend a record £50 billion a year doing so.
There are no plans to amend our reforms that are ensuring that work always pays and are restoring fairness for hardworking taxpayers. As the All-Party Parliamentary Inquiry into Hunger noted, the reasons why people use food banks can be complex and are frequently overlapping. Their use cannot be attributed to a single cause.
Our welfare system provides a strong safety net to those who need extra support.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to monitor the provision and use of food banks.
Answered by Priti Patel
There are no plans for my Department to monitor the use of food banks. This is because as the All-Party Parliamentary Inquiry into Hunger noted that the reasons why people use food banks can be complex and are frequently overlapping. Their use cannot be attributed to a single cause.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the average proportion of income spent by parents on childcare in (a) the UK and (b) London in each of the last five years.
Answered by Priti Patel
No estimate has been made of the average proportion of income spent by parents on childcare in the UK and London in each of the last five years.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many jobseekers have been sanctioned in Bethnal Green and Bow constituency in each of the last six years.
Answered by Priti Patel
The information requested is published 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: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he consulted the Children's Commissioner for England on the redefinition of measures of child poverty.
Answered by Priti Patel
On November 2012, the Coalition Government published Measuring Child Poverty: A consultation on better measures of child poverty. The public consultation launched on 15 November 2012 and closed on 15 February 2013. The Children’s Commissioner for England responded to the consultation.
Additionally, the Secretary of State met with the Children’s Commissioner for England in 2012/13 to discuss child poverty.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many times he has met the Children's Commissioner for England in each year since his initial appointment as Secretary of State.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Details of meetings with external organisations held by DWP Ministers are published quarterly on Gov.UK.
The Secretary of State has met once with the Children’s Commissioner in 2012/13.