Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants who transferred from (a) severe disability premium and (b) enhanced disability premium payments to universal credit are waiting for their payments to be (i) reinstated and (ii) backdated.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Disabled people are some of the biggest beneficiaries of Universal Credit, with around 1 million disabled households having on average around £100 a month more on Universal Credit than they would have had on the legacy benefits. When designing Universal Credit, a choice was made not to replicate every aspect of the disability provision in the previous system, including the Enhanced Disability Premium.
The Severe Disability Premium (SDP) gateway has been in place for over a year to prevent those claimants entitled to the SDP as part of their legacy benefit from claiming Universal Credit. We have successfully identified eligible former SDP claimants who have already moved to Universal Credit due to a change in circumstances, providing them with monthly payments and a lump sum in arrears, where appropriate.
As of 17 January 2020, 15,397 claims have been paid an SDP transitional payment. The median value of the lump sum payments is £2,280. To date, over £51.5m has been disbursed to support former SDP claimants, including the recurring payments that have now commenced.
Positive progress has been made and caseload growth has now slowed, however, in the event a new case is discovered payments will be in place quickly. It is not possible to estimate when we will have paid everyone who is entitled as some people become entitled to these payments retrospectively, and therefore the caseload is not a fixed number.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the timescale is for all universal credit claimants who previously received (a) severe disability premium and (b) enhanced disability premium to (i) have their payments reinstated and (ii) receive backdated payments.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Disabled people are some of the biggest beneficiaries of Universal Credit, with around 1 million disabled households having on average around £100 a month more on Universal Credit than they would have had on the legacy benefits. When designing Universal Credit, a choice was made not to replicate every aspect of the disability provision in the previous system, including the Enhanced Disability Premium.
The Severe Disability Premium (SDP) gateway has been in place for over a year to prevent those claimants entitled to the SDP as part of their legacy benefit from claiming Universal Credit. We have successfully identified eligible former SDP claimants who have already moved to Universal Credit due to a change in circumstances, providing them with monthly payments and a lump sum in arrears, where appropriate.
As of 17 January 2020, 15,397 claims have been paid an SDP transitional payment. The median value of the lump sum payments is £2,280. To date, over £51.5m has been disbursed to support former SDP claimants, including the recurring payments that have now commenced.
Positive progress has been made and caseload growth has now slowed, however, in the event a new case is discovered payments will be in place quickly. It is not possible to estimate when we will have paid everyone who is entitled as some people become entitled to these payments retrospectively, and therefore the caseload is not a fixed number.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
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 improve support in the workplace for sufferers of rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We are committed to improving employment outcomes for disabled people and people with health conditions like rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. We have seen almost 950,000 more disabled people in work over the five years to the first quarter of 2019.
Access to Work offers disabled workers practical advice and a discretionary grant of up to £59,200 per year for in-work support. Access to Work does not record arthritis as a primary medical condition category, as the scheme uses the same categories as the Labour Force Survey. However, last year Access to Work paid over £13 million to individuals who listed ‘arms or hands, 'legs or feet' and 'back or neck' as their primary medical conditions, and many of these will be people living with rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. That represents over 10% of the total Access to Work spend and a 2% increase, in real terms, on the previous year.
In addition, DWP is engaging with employers through the Disability Confident scheme - supporting them to feel more confident about both employing disabled people, including people with arthritis, and supporting disabled employees to realise their potential. Over 12,000 employers have signed up to the scheme so far.
Looking forward, DWP is working in partnership with Department of Health and Social Care to publish a consultation on how employers can best support disabled people and people with long-term health conditions like arthritis, to stay and thrive in work. The proposals included in the consultation not only seek to benefit disabled people, but all employees who experience or are at risk of a long term sickness absence.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people asked for a mandatory reconsideration of their personal independence payment application in 2018; and how many of those reconsiderations led to a different outcome.
Answered by Sarah Newton
I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave on 16th January 2019.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people asked for a mandatory reconsideration of their universal credit application in 2018; and how many of those reconsiderations led to a different outcome.
Answered by Sarah Newton
I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave on 16th January 2019.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people requested a mandatory reconsideration for (a) universal credit and (b) PIP in 2018; and how many of those mandatory reconsiderations resulted in changed outcomes.
Answered by Sarah Newton
DWP collect data about Mandatory Reconsiderations for Universal Credit, and have published some of this specifically in relation to sanctions in Universal Credit Live Service, available on Stat-Xplore here:
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.html
However, to carry out the necessary quality assurance in order to publish information across all decisions subject to a mandatory reconsideration on Universal Credit Live Service and Full Service would incur disproportionate cost.
Statistics on the number of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) Mandatory Reconsiderations registered and clearances by type are published in Tables 7a and 7b of the quarterly statistical publication “Personal Independence Payment: April 2013 to October 2018”, available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-independence-payment-april-2013-to-october-2018
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans his Department has to review the adequacy of the element of the Funeral Expenses Payment that is used to pay funeral directors, coffins and flowers to cover those costs.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Social Fund Funeral Expenses Payments provides a significant contribution towards funeral costs, covering burials, cremations and £700 towards coffins, flowers and other costs. It continues to meet the necessary costs of a cremation or burial for claimants on certain income based benefits or tax credits. Average payments have increased year-on-year to meet these necessary costs, by some 28% over the past ten years.
We have also made interest-free Social Fund Budgeting Loans available for funeral costs in addition to Funeral Expenses Payments. Whilst we are keeping the level of funeral expenses payments under review, we do need to ensure that we have a system that is both fair for taxpayers, while assisting the most vulnerable with funeral expenses.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the average cost of a funeral in each year since 2003.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department for Work and Pensions does not produce estimates for the average cost of a funeral.
The average Funeral Expenses Payment (FEP) made in each year is published in the Social Fund Annual Report. Table 1 below provides the average FEP made in each year since 2003/04. Figures are rounded to the nearest £1.
Table 1: Average FEP award, 2003/04 – 2017/18
Year | Average FEP award |
2003/04 | £1,019 |
2004/05 | £1,051 |
2005/06 | £1,081 |
2006/07 | £1,117 |
2007/08 | £1,162 |
2008/09 | £1,194 |
2009/10 | £1,208 |
2010/11 | £1,217 |
2011/12 | £1,241 |
2012/13 | £1,225 |
2013/14 | £1,347 |
2014/15 | £1,375 |
2015/16 | £1,410 |
2016/17 | £1,427 |
2017/18 | £1,461 |
Source: Social Fund Annual Reports 2003/04 – 2016/17, Social Fund Policy Budget and Management Information System
Notes
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average Funeral Expenses Payment was in each year since 2003.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department for Work and Pensions does not produce estimates for the average cost of a funeral.
The average Funeral Expenses Payment (FEP) made in each year is published in the Social Fund Annual Report. Table 1 below provides the average FEP made in each year since 2003/04. Figures are rounded to the nearest £1.
Table 1: Average FEP award, 2003/04 – 2017/18
Year | Average FEP award |
2003/04 | £1,019 |
2004/05 | £1,051 |
2005/06 | £1,081 |
2006/07 | £1,117 |
2007/08 | £1,162 |
2008/09 | £1,194 |
2009/10 | £1,208 |
2010/11 | £1,217 |
2011/12 | £1,241 |
2012/13 | £1,225 |
2013/14 | £1,347 |
2014/15 | £1,375 |
2015/16 | £1,410 |
2016/17 | £1,427 |
2017/18 | £1,461 |
Source: Social Fund Annual Reports 2003/04 – 2016/17, Social Fund Policy Budget and Management Information System
Notes
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder who were unsuccessful in their application for personal independence payment have had that decision overturned on appeal.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The number of claimants with autism spectrum disorder listed as the main health condition, who were originally awarded no benefit and then had that decision overturned at appeal, since the introduction of PIP, is as follows:
Financial Year of Initial Decision | Overturned at Appeal |
2013/14 | 20 |
2014/15 | 220 |
2015/16 | 790 |
2016/17 | 1,480 |
April 2017 – December 2017 | 210 |
The total number of decisions made against claimants who had autism spectrum disorder listed as the main health condition, but may or may not have been awarded some level of benefit, and the number of appeals for the same time frame is as follows:
Claim Financial Year | Number of Decisions | Number of Appeals | Appeal Rate |
2013/14 | 720 | 30 | 4% |
2014/15 | 11,100 | 370 | 3% |
2015/16 | 18,760 | 1,190 | 6% |
2016/17 | 29,590 | 2,150 | 7% |
April 2017 – December 2018 | 22,740 | 320 | 1% |
Autism Spectrum Disorder includes the main health conditions of Rett syndrome, Asperger’s syndrome and autism.
It is important to note that some of the more recent claims may not have had the chance to progress through the claimant journey to appeal.
Data has been rounded to the nearest 10.
Appeals data is up to December 2017.
PIP data includes normal rules and special rules for the terminally ill claimants, and is for both new claims and DLA reassessment claims.
Appeals data taken from the DWP PIP computer system’s management information. Therefore this appeal 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.
Appeals data may include some cases where the initial decision was changed at Mandatory Reconsideration.
Data is based on primary disabling condition as recorded on the PIP computer systems. Claimants may often have multiple disabling conditions upon which the decision is based but only the primary condition is shown in these statistics.
The number of claimants with autism spectrum disorder listed as the main health condition, who were originally awarded no benefit and then had that decision overturned at appeal, since the introduction of PIP, is as follows:
Financial Year of Initial Decision | Overturned at Appeal |
2013/14 | 20 |
2014/15 | 220 |
2015/16 | 790 |
2016/17 | 1,480 |
April 2017 – December 2017 | 210 |
The total number of decisions made against claimants who had autism spectrum disorder listed as the main health condition, but may or may not have been awarded some level of benefit, and the number of appeals for the same time frame is as follows:
Claim Financial Year | Number of Decisions | Number of Appeals | Appeal Rate |
2013/14 | 720 | 30 | 4% |
2014/15 | 11,100 | 370 | 3% |
2015/16 | 18,760 | 1,190 | 6% |
2016/17 | 29,590 | 2,150 | 7% |
April 2017 – December 2018 | 22,740 | 320 | 1% |
Autism Spectrum Disorder includes the main health conditions of Rett syndrome, Asperger’s syndrome and autism.
It is important to note that some of the more recent claims may not have had the chance to progress through the claimant journey to appeal.
Data has been rounded to the nearest 10.
Appeals data is up to December 2017.
PIP data includes normal rules and special rules for the terminally ill claimants, and is for both new claims and DLA reassessment claims.
Appeals data taken from the DWP PIP computer system’s management information. Therefore this appeal 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.
Appeals data may include some cases where the initial decision was changed at Mandatory Reconsideration.
Data is based on primary disabling condition as recorded on the PIP computer systems. Claimants may often have multiple disabling conditions upon which the decision is based but only the primary condition is shown in these statistics.