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 plans her Department has to publish its responses to recommendations made by the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The Industrial Injuries Advisory Council (IIAC) is a non-Departmental public body of independent experts, representatives of employers and employees, whose primary role is to make recommendations about which diseases should be included in the list of diseases covered by Industrial Injuries Scheme. On matters relating to Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB), the Secretary of State is advised by IIAC to consider any recommendations to improve the scheme and any changes to prescription and guidance. We carefully consider each of the recommendations made by the Council, taking into account the feasibility of implementation and the estimated cost and timing of delivery. If legislative change is required, we must also draft and lay regulations in Parliament. We do not hold information on the average time taken to implement recommendations from the IIAC.
However, we are aware of two outstanding recommendations which IIAC has made. The first of which is a recommendation that guidance to medical assessors and decision makers be changed where a case exists for recognising prescribed disease D11 in a coalminer with primary lung cancer. More recently, IIAC recommended that malignant melanoma in pilots and cabin crew be added to the list of prescribed diseases for which benefit is payable. Due to considerable constraints on departmental resources, the Department has not yet been able to take these recommendations forward. My officials are aware of the outstanding recommendations and are carefully considering the recommendations made by the Council and will continue to progress them forward as soon as possible.
More details and updates from IIAC, including their recommendations to the Department of Work and Pensions can be found on the GOV.UK site: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/industrial-injuries-advisory-council
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 include coal miners in the prescription and guidance for D11 primary carcinoma of the lung where there is accompanying silicosis.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
On matters relating to Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB), the Secretary of State is advised by the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council (IIAC) to consider any recommendations to improve the scheme and any changes to prescription and guidance. The Council can only recommend prescription where there is good scientific and epidemiological evidence to establish the link between the disease and the occupation.
In June 2018, the IIAC published a position paper 41 “Coal Mining, Silicosis and Lung Cancer” recommending eligibility of coal miners for PD D11 due to an inherent part of their jobs involving tunnelling.
IIAC has recommended that there should be a change to the technical guidance. Due to considerable constraints on departmental resources, this has not yet been actioned, and as a result of Covid-19 other priorities have taken precedence over the last year. My officials are aware of the IIAC recommendation and will be carefully considering the recommendations made by the Council. We will take this forward as soon as possible.
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, if her Department will provide an email facility to allow support information for (a) children's disability living allowance, (b) mandatory reconsideration and (c) other benefits applications to be submitted electronically.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The Department is looking into alternative methods for submitting evidence. E-mail is one of the considerations. However, a robust solution that properly safeguards customer information is yet to be identified.
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 comparative assessment her Department has made of the the level of emergency food parcels provided by food banks in the weeks of March 2020 with same period in 2019.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department does not keep official statistics on food bank use, so no such assessment has been completed.
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 plans his Department has for an emergency food voucher referral system due to (a) the closure of referral agencies due to staff self-isolation or sickness relating to the covid-19 outbreak and (b) increased need for food banks due to the economic effects of that outbreak.
Answered by Will Quince
Food banks are independent charitable organisations and, as such, are best placed to decide on the most appropriate arrangements for supporting people who use them. As both the Prime Minister and the Chancellor have made clear, the Government will do whatever it takes to support people affected by COVID 19 and we have been clear in our intention that no one should be penalised for doing the right thing. These are rapidly developing circumstances, we continue to keep the situation under review and will keep Parliament updated accordingly.
I also refer the honourable member to the response given by the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in response to an oral question made on 19 March:
[Additionally announcements were made at the Prime Minister’s daily briefings on 21 and 22 March in relation to food supply]
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 he is taking to prevent low-paid workers from being pressured to work when Government guidance suggests they should self-isolate.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
As both the Prime Minister and Chancellor have made clear, the Government will do whatever it takes to support people affected by COVID 19 and we have been clear in our intention that no one should be penalised for doing the right thing. These are rapidly developing circumstances, we continue to keep the situation under review and will keep Parliament updated accordingly.
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 and what proportion of appeals of a personal independence payment assessment were successful in 2019.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The table below provides information on the number of initial decisions following a Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessment where the decision was overturned at a tribunal hearing.
Appeals cleared January to September 2019 | Number |
Overturned | 28,160 |
Upheld | 10,930 |
Percentage of appeals cleared at a hearing where the decision | 72 |
These figures cover appeals cleared in January 2019 to September 2019 against initial decisions following a PIP assessment. They do not include appeals relating to decisions prior to an assessment being completed (disallowances due to failure of basic eligibility criteria or non-return of the Part 2 form within the time limit and have not been marked as requiring additional support, or disallowances following the claimant failing to attend the assessment without good reason). Nor do they include appeals against decisions made at an Award Review or Change of Circumstance.
Since PIP was introduced 3.4 million initial decisions following an assessment have been made up to June 2019, and 9% have been appealed and 5% have been overturned at a tribunal hearing.
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, when her Department plans to start its review of the effect of the six-month rule which prevents terminally ill people who are expected to live longer than six months from having their benefits claims fast-tracked.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The Department is taking forward as a priority its evaluation of how the benefits system supports people nearing the end of their life and those with severe conditions. We have made progress on all areas of this work and will be continuing to engage with clinicians and claimants to ensure their views are heard.
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 terminally people have died while waiting for a decision on their personal independence payment claim in each year since 2009.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
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 Terminal Illness (SRTI) are fast tracked and are currently being cleared within 6 working days.
The cause of death of claimants to PIP is not collated centrally by the Department.
Between the introduction of PIP in April 2013 and 31st October 2019, the latest date for which published data is available, 143,030 decisions were made on claims which had been registered under SRTI. Of these, 5,470 claimants died prior to a decision being made on their case.
Table: Number of claimants who registered under SRTI and died prior to a decision being made on their case.
Claimant’s year of death | Number of claimants under SRTI who died prior to decision |
2013 | 760 |
2014 | 1,040 |
2015 | 840 |
2016 | 840 |
2017 | 680 |
2018 | 780 |
2019 (to October 31st) | 540 |
Total | 5,470 |
Notes:
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 longest time period was from initial claim to the first payment for universal credit in 2019.
Answered by Will Quince
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Measuring the longest time includes complex issues such as claims with a sanction, the process of habitual residency tests, outstanding evidence etc. which could mean a minority of claims wait longer than the average and would require analysis of multiple datasets and individual claimant records.