Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people who did not receive housing benefit were in receipt of (a) the childcare element and (b) other elements of Working Tax Credit in Newport West constituency in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people claimed Universal Credit in Newport West constituency in each of the last four years.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Monthly statistics on the number of people who are on Universal Credit, by Westminster parliamentary constituency, from May 2013 to July 2022, can be found at:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/
Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent steps she has taken to encourage black and minority ethnic women into work in (a) Newport West constituency, (b) Wales and (c) the United Kingdom.
Answered by Julie Marson
We want everyone to be able to find a job, progress in work and thrive in the labour market, whoever they are and wherever they live.
The latest Office for National Statistics update for the first quarter of 2022 shows that there are 2 million more women in work compared to in 2010 and a record high 2.0 million ethnic minority women in work, a significant increase of 180,000 since the same quarter in 2021. The ethnic minority employment rate for women was 61.7%, a 1.1% increase since the same quarter in 2021.
Our Plan for Jobs is providing broad ranging support for all Jobseekers with our Sector Based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs), Job Entry Targeted Support (JETS) and Restart scheme. In Southeast Wales, our Jobcentres are working with Adult Learning Wales to deliver ‘Prepare for the Civil Service’ recruitment support sessions, supporting customers from groups with lower social mobility, including ethnic minority jobseekers, to apply for positions with Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs. We are extending this initiative to support more diverse recruitment in all other government departments in Wales.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people were in receipt of the Higher Rate Mobility Component of the Disability Living Allowance in Newport West constituency.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The latest quarterly statistics for the number of people who received the higher rate mobility component of Disability Living Allowance, by Westminster Parliamentary Constituency, are published on Stat-Xplore here:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk
Guidance for users is available at:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of claimants known to her Department who have died after registering a claim for personal independence payments and before receiving a decision on their claim; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Chloe Smith
Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is claimed by people with a range of health conditions and disabilities, many of which are degenerative or life limiting, and the Department treats the death of any claimant sympathetically. Claims made under Special Rules for End of Life (SREL) are fast tracked and are being cleared in 3 working days on average (as at the end of January 2022, the latest available published data).
32,510 people died whilst waiting for a decision on their PIP claim between 1st April 2013 and 31st January 2022, the latest date for which published data is available. For context, 6,440,520 claims were submitted for PIP over the same period.
Cause of death is determined by a doctor, or in certain circumstances by a coroner. Information on the cause of death of claimants to PIP is not collated centrally by the Department.
The Department conducts a detailed investigation, known as an Internal Process Review (IPR), in cases where:
Any serious, systemic issues identified during IPRs are considered, alongside evidence from other sources, at the Serious Case Panel. This is a quarterly meeting of the Department's Executive Team, plus independent members. The Panel agrees changes with the objective of reducing the incidences of such cases in future.
Notes:
Source: PIP ADS and Customer Information System
Under the Social Security (Notification of Deaths) Regulations 2012 and s125 of Social Security Administration Act 1992 date of death is provided to the Department for all registered deaths. Additionally, next of kin also provide information on the date of death of an individual and this information is used appropriately in the administration of Departmental benefits.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress she has made in reducing the disability employment gap in (a) Newport West constituency and (b) Wales in the last 12 months.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The figures for the disability employment gap for Wales and Newport West are available in the public domain here:
The data for Wales is available on a yearly basis in table 12. The data for Newport West is only available in 3-year periods, due to small sample sizes, and is available in table 13b.
The latest figures from the Annual Population Survey show that the disability employment gap in Wales was 32.9 percentage points in 2020/21. This is an increase of 1.1 percentage points from 2019/20 and a decrease of 1.3 percentage points from 2014/15. These changes were not statistically significant.
Figures for Newport West are only available in 3-year periods using the Annual Population Survey data. The disability employment gap for Newport West was 33.3 percentage points from 2017 to 2019 and 33.0 percentage points from 2014 to 2016. These changes were not statistically significant.
The Annual Population Survey shows that the disability employment gap in the UK was 27.9 percentage points in 2020/21. This is a decrease of 0.2 percentage points from 2019/20 and a decrease of 3.9 percentage points from 2014/15. The change from 2019/20 was not statistically significant, whilst the change from 2014/15 to 2020/21 was statistically significant.
The government has set a goal to see one million more disabled people in employment between 2017 and 2027. Previously published figures for Q1 2021 showed that, in the first four years of the goal (between Q1 2017 and Q1 2021), the number of disabled people in employment increased by 850,000. This an increase of 14,000 since year three.
In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, we have provided specialist employment support remotely and made programmes easier to access. A range of DWP initiatives are supporting disabled people to stay in and enter work. These include the Work and Health Programme, the Intensive Personalised Employment Support programme, Access to Work, Disability Confident and support in partnership with the health system, including Employment Advice in NHS Improving Access to Psychological Therapy services.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the resources needed to support pensioners in Newport West constituency with increases in the cost of living.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
This country has never paid our pensioners more. This year, we will spend over £129 billion on the State Pension and benefits for pensioners in Great Britain.
The Social Security (Up-rating of Benefits) Act 2020 raised the State Pension by 2.5% from April 2021 although CPI was 0.5% and earnings were negative. From April, the full yearly amount of the basic State Pension will be around £720 more in 2022/23 than if it had been up-rated by prices since 2010. That’s a rise of over £2,300 in cash terms.
In addition, around 1.4 million eligible pensioners across Great Britain receive around £5 billion annually in Pension Credit, which tops up their retirement income and act as a passport to other financial help, such as support with housing costs, council tax, heating bills and a free TV licence for those over 75.
Cold weather payments are payable to those in receipt of Pension Credit and the warm home discount - a rebate of £140 on a customer’s energy bill - is available to those in receipt of Pension Credit Guarantee Credit. From 2022/23 the eligibility criteria for the warm home discount scheme will be extended to a greater number of Pension Credit customers and the payment increased to £150.
Customers of State Pension age are also entitled to an annual Winter Fuel payment worth up to £300. This winter we will pay over 11m pensioners a winter fuel payment at an annual cost of £2bn which is a significant contribution to winter fuel bills.
The Chancellor’s announcement on 3 February of a package of support to help households with rising energy bills, worth £9.1 billion in 2022-23, will also be available to eligible pensioners.
Further support for pensioners includes free eye tests and NHS prescriptions worth around £900m every year and free bus passes worth £1bn every year.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of the planned uprating to benefits in April 2022 on levels of absolute poverty in Newport West constituency.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
No such assessment has been made. National Statistics on the number of individuals in absolute low income are published annually in the “Households Below Average Income” publication. Data for Newport West constituency is unavailable due to insufficient sample size.
The Secretary of State undertakes an annual review of benefits and pensions based on inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), for the year to September. All benefit up-rating since April 1987 has been based on the increase in the relevant price inflation index in the 12 months to the previous September, as happens now.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to support young people in Newport West constituency, who are out of work or unable to work, with the increase in the cost of living.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government has consistently said that the best way to support people’s living standards is through good work, better skills, and higher wages. That is why we have put in place the DWP Youth Offer to support young people claiming Universal Credit and searching for work, through intensive Work Coach support, Youth Employability coaches for those with additional barriers, and Youth Hubs across Great Britain.
Eligible young claimants who need financial support for initial up-front childcare costs, or for costs relating to starting work, can also apply for help from the Flexible Support Fund.
Vulnerable households, including young people, are now able to access a £500 million support fund to help them with essentials. The Household Support Fund provides £421 million to help vulnerable people in England with the cost of food, utilities and wider essentials. The Barnett Formula will apply in the usual way, with the devolved administrations receiving almost £80 million (£41m for the Scottish Government, £25m for the Welsh Government and £14m for the NI Executive), for a total of £500 million.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of people who have been affected by the underpayment of benefits after transitioning from incapacity benefit to employment and support allowance in Newport West constituency.
Answered by Chloe Smith
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 19th January to question number 104377.