Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the response by the Minister of State for Disabled People, Health and Work of 12 September 2017 to the letter from the hon. Member for Edinburgh East, on stopping of repeated work capability assessments for people who have lifelong, progressive, degenerative or incurable conditions, how that status will be determined; and whether people with such conditions who are already in receipt of employment and support allowance will be required to undergo a further work capability assessment to determine that status.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
We will consider whether a claimant meets the criteria for stopping routine assessments as part of our existing WCA process, which involves assessing individuals against a set of functional descriptors to determine how their illness or disability affects their ability to work. The criteria are being considered as part of a claimant’s initial or next WCA.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the response by the Minister of State for Disabled People, Health and Work of 12 September 2017 to the letter from the hon. Member for Edinburgh East, on stopping of repeated work capability assessments for people who have lifelong, progressive, degenerative or incurable conditions, how that status will be determined; and whether people with such conditions who are already in receipt of employment and support allowance will be required to undergo a further work capability assessment to determine that status.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
We will consider whether a claimant meets the criteria for stopping routine assessments as part of our existing WCA process, which involves assessing individuals against a set of functional descriptors to determine how their illness or disability affects their ability to work. The criteria are being considered as part of a claimant’s initial or next WCA.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many eligible disability living allowance (DLA) claimants have been invited to apply for personal independence payments since April 2016; and of those claimants invited to apply, how many have not applied within the time allowed and have had their DLA terminated as a result.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
A decision is made on a case-by-case basis on whether or not to cease DLA payments to claimants who do not register for PIP within the allowed time. Additional support is provided for those claimants identified as ‘vulnerable’ (i.e. mental health or learning disabilities) who do not respond to the PIP invite letter.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants living in Edinburgh East constituency are served by St Andrew Street job centre, Edinburgh; and how many of those are (a) disabled and (b) women.
Answered by Damian Hinds
Edinburgh City claimant count is currently shared with High Riggs Jobcentre and primarily split by age group as opposed to postcode.
The claimant count for High Riggs is 2245 of which 720 are female. This information is available from the following link: https://www.nomisweb.co.uk. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 5.
Guidance for users is available at:
https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/home/newuser.asp
These are UC and JSA claimants served by Edinburgh City and High Riggs Jobcentres. We are unable to identify disabled claimants, or provide exact figures of ESA and IS claimants, however the purpose of the equality analysis is to help establish how many people are likely to be affected by the proposal.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether a public consultation will take place on the proposal to close St Andrew Street job centre in Edinburgh.
Answered by Damian Hinds
There will be no public consultation on the proposal to close Edinburgh City Jobcentre as the proposed move to merge with High Riggs Jobcentre is 1.1 miles in distance. We have committed to a public consultation for offices over three miles and 20 minutes away by public transport.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, by what criteria St Andrew Street job centre, Edinburgh, has been selected for closure.
Answered by Damian Hinds
The Department has sought, where feasible, to merge sites in close proximity as part of its overall review of estate. Merging the staff and services from Edinburgh City into High Riggs Jobcentre optimises use of space, ensures value for money and enables effective delivery of services to the public. The merge in reverse was explored however this was deemed not viable due to the underutilisation of space.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of assessments for personal independence payments were (a) paper-based and (b) face-to-face in (i) 2014, (ii) 2015 and (iii) 2016 in (A) the UK and (B) Edinburgh East constituency.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
Great Britain
Period | Face-to-face Reviews (%) | Paper Based Reviews (%) |
1 Jan to 31 Dec 2014 | 80% | 20% |
1 Jan to 31 Dec 2015 | 81% | 19% |
1 Jan to 31 Oct 2016 | 83% | 17% |
Edinburgh East Constituency
Period | Face-to-face Reviews (%) | Paper Based Reviews (%) |
1 Jan to 31 Dec 2014 | 81% | 19% |
1 Jan to 31 Dec 2015 | 79% | 21% |
1 Jan to 31 Oct 2016 | 80% | 20% |
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people being transferred from disability living allowance to personal independence payment have had their benefits (a) stopped temporarily and (b) stopped permanently in each year since April 2013.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
Eligible Disability Living Allowance (DLA) claimants do not transfer to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) but are instead invited to claim PIP under a process of reassessment activity. DLA claimants invited to claim PIP have 28 days in which to do so, but may request additional time where that would be reasonably required. Where a DLA claimant fails to make a claim to PIP within the time allowed, payment of their DLA is suspended and they are advised that if they do not make a claim to PIP within a further period of 28 days their DLA will be terminated. Claimants may request further time to make their claim at that point if that would be reasonably required. Where a claimant does make a claim to PIP within the time allowed their DLA is reinstated from the point at which it was suspended. Where a claimant fails to make a claim to PIP within the time allowed their DLA is terminated from the point at which it was suspended.
Information on the number of suspensions and terminations in the above circumstances is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
DLA claimants who do claim PIP and subsequently comply with the requirements to provide information or evidence and attend a consultation where required continue to receive their DLA while their PIP claim is being assessed. Claimants also continue to receive their DLA for a further 28 days following the pay day which immediately follows the date of the PIP decision.