Asked by: Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to paragraph 4.10 of his Department's response to its consultation on aids and appliances and the daily living component of personal independence payment, published in March 2016, if he will publish the raw data referred to in that paragraph; and whether that data was subject to peer review.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
As confirmed by my right honourable friend the Secretary of State in his statement to the House on 21 March, the proposed changes to PIP will not be going ahead.
We spend around £50bn every year on benefits alone to support people with disabilities or health conditions, with spending on Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) having increased by more than £3 billion since 2010. The government is committed to talking to disabled people, their representatives, healthcare professionals and employers to ensure the welfare system works better with the health and social care systems and provides help and support to those who need it most.
Asked by: Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will publish (a) the criteria used to select organisations invited to attend and (b) the organisations that attended personal independence payments consultation stakeholder events in January 2016.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department held stakeholder events in Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Leeds and London. These were public meetings open to anyone who wished to attend; this was publicised on Gov.uk. Representatives of the following organisations requested to do so:
Aberdeen City Council
Action for Blind People
The Action Group
Carers Support (Bexley)
Cheshire Centre for Independent Living
Citizens Advice Bureau
Coventry Law Centre
Child Poverty Action Group Scotland
Community Navigator Services
Crohn’s and Colitis UK
Deaf Sector Partnership/Scottish Council on Deafness
DeafBlind Scotland
DeafBlind UK
Deafconnect
Elcena Jeffers Foundation
Enable Scotland
Enfield Disability Action
Gateway Housing
Glasgow City Council
Housing Options Scotland
Inclusion Scotland
Lothian Centre for Inclusive Living
Macmillan Cancer Support
Maggie’s Centres
Motor Neurone Disease Association
Multiple Sclerosis Scotland
Multiple Sclerosis Society
National AIDS Trust
Royal National Institute of Blind People
Scope
The Scottish Government
Sense
South Lanarkshire Council
Spinal Injuries Association
Social Security Advisory Committee
Swansea Council
Welfare Benefits Unit
Welsh Government
West Lothian Council
Wolverhampton City Council
Departmental officials also held one-to-one meetings with Scope, RNIB, Disability Rights UK, the Disability Benefits Consortium (an umbrella group of over 60 organisations), and Scottish and Welsh government officials. A meeting was also held specifically for members of the PIP Implementation Stakeholder Forum Working Group. Meetings were also held with both assessment providers, Atos and Capita, to discuss the impact of any policy change on the delivery of assessments.
Asked by: Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions his Department has had with Compact Voice about the duration of the formal personal independent payment consultation.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The time period for the consultation was decided in line with the Government’s consultation principles guidance. This advises that consultations should typically run for between 2 and 12 weeks, but that “the timing and length of a consultation should be decided on a case-by-case basis; there is no set formula for establishing the right length”.
As we were consulting on the specific and discrete issue of how aids and appliances are accounted for when determining eligibility to the daily living component, 6 weeks was felt to be an appropriate length.
As the consultation ran over Christmas this period was extended by 8 days, which is why the consultation ran for 7 weeks and one day. The length of the consultation was determined by the Government, as is standard practice. There have been no discussions with Compact Voice on this issue.
Asked by: Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Department's consultation on aids and appliances and the daily living component of personal independence payments, Cm 9171, if he will publish the impact assessment prepared for the five options in that consultation.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
As confirmed by my right honourable friend the Secretary of State in his statement to the House on 21 March, the proposed changes to PIP will not be going ahead.
We spend around £50bn every year on benefits alone to support people with disabilities or health conditions, with spending on Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) having increased by more than £3 billion since 2010. The government is committed to talking to disabled people, their representatives, healthcare professionals and employers to ensure the welfare system works better with the health and social care systems and provides help and support to those who need it most.
Asked by: Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have had their motability cars withdrawn due to changes in disability benefits in each of the last five years.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department does not hold this information. Motability is an independent charitable organisation that is wholly responsible for the administration of the Motability scheme, including collating its own management information and client statistics. Whilst the Department meets regularly with Motability to discuss scheme performance, questions relating to the details of the scheme’s operation should be directed to Motability itself.
Personal Independence Payment (PIP) began replacing Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for claimants of working age in April 2013. We recognise that the transition from Disability Living Allowance to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) can be challenging for individuals, which is why the Department worked closely with Motability as we developed our plans for the introduction of PIP. The Motability charity provides a one-off package of transitional support and advice to support customers who no longer meet the eligibility criteria for the Motability scheme. For most of these customers who entered into their first lease agreement with Motability before January 2013, Motability will provide transitional support of £2,000. This will enable many former Scheme customers to continue to meet their mobility needs by purchasing a used car.
For customers who entered into their first lease agreement with the scheme after January 2013 and up to December 2013, Motability will supply transitional support of £1,000 to assist with mobility costs. Motability is also providing help with the cost of adaptations made to non-scheme vehicles and information on non-scheme motoring and insurance. The Scheme also offers customers an opportunity to purchase their vehicle after the end of the lease.
Asked by: Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Labour - Life peer)
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 effect of abolition of attendance allowance on people living in rural communities.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Later this year, the Government will consult on giving more responsibility to support older people with care needs to Local Authorities in England and to Wales, including people who, under the current system, would be supported through Attendance Allowance. Work is progressing across government towards this consultation; as part of this process the Government will engage with a wide variety of stakeholders, including claimants and their representatives, to understand the implications of change across a number of issues.