Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average length of wait time is for appeals against a work capability assessment decision in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The median clearance time for Employment and Support Allowance Work Capability Assessment (WCA) appeals completed in the period January – March 2022 was 108 calendar days.
The clearance time is the difference between the dates an appeal is lodged and its clearance, as recorded as occurring on DWP computer systems. Appeal clearance events may include a tribunal hearing decision, the appeal being lapsed (where DWP change the decision in favour of the claimant after an appeal was lodged but before it was heard at tribunal) or the appeal being withdrawn or struck out.
This information is based on data taken from DWP computer system’s management information. Therefore this data may differ from that held by Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service for various reasons such as delays in data recording and other methodological differences in collating and preparing statistics.
There are currently no Official Statistics on number and outcomes of Work Capability Assessments for Universal Credit, and no plans to publish at this time.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of appeals against a work capability assessment decisions are (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Chloe Smith
Statistics on Employment and Support Allowance Work Capability Assessment (WCA) outcomes are published quarterly. The latest figures covering the outcome of completed initial and repeat WCAs, including appeals decisions, can be found at:
Additional breakdowns of these figures are available on Stat-Xplore:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/
Guidance for users is available at:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html
There are currently no Official Statistics on number and outcomes of Work Capability Assessments for Universal Credit, and no plans to publish at this time.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in Barnsley East constituency have been recipient to Universal Credit in each month since May 2021.
Answered by David Rutley
Monthly statistics on the number of people who are on Universal Credit, by parliamentary constituency, are published and 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: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley South)
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 help ensure that departmental staff assessing applications for veteran benefits are aware of the consequences of both mental and physical injury and illness.
Answered by David Rutley
DWP itself does not provide any exclusively "veterans benefits". Instead disabled veterans have access to the usual range of extra cost disability benefits (such as Personal Independence Payment) and means tested benefits (such as Universal Credit). These benefits are designed to help with the costs of living and the additional costs that disabled people might face because of their disability. DWP staff receive training to help them understand the circumstances of veterans and the challenges they may face, including with their physical or mental health, with our Armed Forces Champions having a particular responsibility to build capability and awareness within DWP. More generally DWP has put in place a number of specific provisions to support veterans, ranging from voluntary early entry to the Work and Health Programme to using Service Medical Board evidence to help assess claims where we can.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley South)
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 help ensure that benefit assessments for veterans focus on the increased costs of living for disabled people in addition to an individual's ability to secure and maintain employment.
Answered by David Rutley
DWP itself does not provide any exclusively "veterans benefits". Instead disabled veterans have access to the usual range of extra cost disability benefits (such as Personal Independence Payment) and means tested benefits (such as Universal Credit). These benefits are designed to help with the costs of living and the additional costs that disabled people might face because of their disability. DWP staff receive training to help them understand the circumstances of veterans and the challenges they may face, including with their physical or mental health, with our Armed Forces Champions having a particular responsibility to build capability and awareness within DWP. More generally DWP has put in place a number of specific provisions to support veterans, ranging from voluntary early entry to the Work and Health Programme to using Service Medical Board evidence to help assess claims where we can.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder have (a) had a claim for Personal Independence Payments rejected at assessment and (b) have subsequently had decisions overturned on review in the latest period for which figures are available.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley South)
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 number of people in Barnsley East constituency who have been affected by the underpayment of benefits after transitioning from incapacity benefit to employment and support allowance.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The Department published an update on the exercise to correct past ESA underpayments on Gov.uk on 8 July 2021. This reported that as of 1 June 2021, of the 600,000 cases checked, 118,000 arrears payments have been made totalling £613 million. This report showed the numbers of cases paid arrears at a national level only as the data was not available at sub-national level at that time. The Department is investigating the feasibility of providing this analysis at a constituency level.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has made an assessment of the potential effect of increasing statutory sick pay on compliance with self-isolation measures.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The government has put in place support to help individuals to comply with public health advice on self-isolation.
This includes extending Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) to those who are sick or self-isolating due to coronavirus. SSP is also now payable from the first day of absence, rather than the fourth, where an employee is sick or self-isolating due to coronavirus.
Alongside this, to ease financial barriers to self-isolating, we are providing the £500 Test and Trace Support Payment. This policy has been extended until the end of March 2022
SSP is just one part of our welfare safety net and our wider government offer to support people in times of need. Where an individual’s income is reduced while off work sick and they require further financial support they may be able to claim Universal Credit and new style Employment and Support Allowance, depending on their personal circumstances.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley South)
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 proportion of workers who are not eligible for statutory sick pay.
Answered by Chloe Smith
There are around two million employees earning below the Lower Earnings Limit (LEL) and who are therefore ineligible for Statutory Sick Pay (SSP).