Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
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 (a) amount of time and (b) resources that his Department allocated to the production of impact assessments on the UK leaving the EU; and on what date work on those impact assessments started.
Answered by Lord Sharma
The Government is carrying out an ongoing programme of assessment work since the Referendum. This will inform our negotiating position with the EU, to define our deep and special partnership and inform our understanding of how EU exit will affect the UK’s domestic policies and frameworks. The Department for Work and Pensions is working in close coordination with the Department for Exiting the European Union, to ensure the delivery of a holistic programme.
The Department’s EU exit work is being centrally co-ordinated, but the breadth of issues to be considered, and the interactions between EU exit work and the Department’s other priorities, mean that it is not possible to provide an estimate of staff numbers, or time spent, on work in this area.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to tackle the requirement within the universal credit system for people whose assessment period falls at the end of the month to reapply for that credit every three months.
Answered by Damian Hinds
Claimants will only need to reapply for Universal Credit if their Universal Credit award stops. If this is the case a claimant’s statement in their on-line account will show a zero payment and a written notification in their journal will also explain the reclaim process. The notification informs the claimant that they can reclaim and the service automatically offers a reclaim to claimants who are eligible.
The reclaim process (if nothing has changed in the claimant circumstances) is less than 10 minutes. Where there has been a change in the claimant circumstances they only have to update the change. Claimants whose claims are closed through earnings can reclaim within 6 months.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people with a mental illness living in supported housing are in receipt of housing benefit.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The information requested is not available.
Developing a workable and sustainable funding model for supported housing is a priority for the Government. We will set out further details on the Government’s plans in the autumn.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to review the effectiveness of the assessment criteria for personal independence payments; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
Since its inception, the system of assessing claimants’ eligibility for PIP has been continually reviewed and refined in order to improve its efficiency and effectiveness. We continue to work extensively with PIP assessment providers and disability representatives to make improvements to guidance, training and audit procedures in order to ensure a quality service is maintained.
Furthermore, we introduced two comprehensive, statutory, independent reviews of the PIP Assessment. The second of Paul Grays Independent Reviews was published on 30 March 2017. We are considering the review’s recommendations carefully and will respond later this year.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what (a) training and (b) guidance personal independence payment assessors receive in the social model of disability.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
During the assessment the health professional focuses on the functional impairment an individual faces in their environment.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how the Government monitors whether the assessment criteria for personal independence payments are being accurately and fairly applied.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
We are committed to ensuring that all Personal Independence Payment claimants receive high-quality and accurate assessments.
The Department robustly monitors the performance of contracted suppliers and assessments are independently audited to ensure that assessment quality is accurate and fair. The audit supports this by confirming that independent health professional advice complies with the required standards and that it is clear and medically reasonable. It also provides assurance that advice provided to the Department's decision makers is of suitable quality, is fully explained and is justified.