Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the number of people using the Household Support Fund to pay off debts to energy companies; and what assessment he has made of trends in the level of people using the Household Support Fund to pay off those debts.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Household Support Fund is a discretionary scheme run by Upper Tier Local Authorities in England to provide support to the most vulnerable households. The Household Support Fund is primarily used to meet immediate need including energy and water bills, food, as well as wider related essentials. It is for Local Authorities to decide how they distribute their funding within the parameters of the scheme’s guidance and grant determination.
The Government collects high level data on the broad categories of the support provided by the scheme in order to ensure that funded activities are within the scope of guidance. The Household Support Fund data does not provide sufficient information to allow for an analysis of trends in the level of people using the Household Support Fund to pay off debt to energy companies.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support for pension tracing she is providing to people who are (a) about to retire and (b) unaware of the details of the employers they have worked for the purposes of ensuring that they have access to their full pension entitlement.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government has existing provision to assist people in finding contact details of schemes they may have pensions with. ‘Find pension contact details’ is a customer-facing, self-service system on GOV.UK. This service will trace the administrator of a specific pension scheme and provide contact details to the individual so they can contact that scheme to help reconnect with a pension pot. There is also a DWP agent service, the Pension Tracing Service, which provides the same information via the telephone for individuals who are unable to use the ‘Find Pensions Contact Details’ service.
Furthermore, when parliamentary time allows, regulations to introduce pensions dashboards will be laid before Parliament, with dashboards subsequently launching to the public in the coming years. Pensions dashboards will make it easy for people to see their pensions information, including their State Pension, in one place online at the touch of a smartphone, laptop, or computer at home. This will put people in control and reconnect them with their lost pension pots, transforming how they think and plan for retirement.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of people who have been affected by the underpayment of benefits following their transition from incapacity benefit to employment support allowance in (a) West Bromwich East, (b) West Bromwich West and (iii) Halesowen and Rowley Regis.
Answered by Chloe Smith
I refer the Rt hon. Member to the answer I gave on 19th January to question number 104377.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of people who have been affected by the underpayment of benefits after transitioning from Incapacity Benefit to Employment Support Allowance in (a) Walsall South constituency, (b) Walsall North constituency and (iii) Aldridge Brownhills constituency.
Answered by Chloe Smith
I refer the Rt hon. Member to the answer I gave on 19th January to question number 104377.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of people who have been affected by the underpayment of benefits after transitioning from Incapacity Benefit to Employment Support Allowance in (a) Wolverhampton South West and (b) Wolverhampton North East to date.
Answered by Chloe Smith
I refer the Rt hon. Member to the answer I gave on 19th January to question number 104377.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of people who have been affected by the underpayment of benefits after transitioning from incapacity benefit to employment support allowance in (i) Walsall South, (ii) Walsall North and (iii) Aldridge Brownhills constituency.
Answered by Chloe Smith
I refer the Rt hon. Member to the answer I gave on 19th January to question number 104377.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has deprioritised any Statutory Instruments in relation to the UK leaving the EU; and if she will publish the criteria her Department uses to deprioritise those Instruments.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
The Department has not deprioritised any statutory instruments as part of the UK preparations to leave the EU. The Department for Work and Pension continues to work closely with the Department for Exiting the European Union and other Government Departments and preparations have been undertaken by staff as part of their regular duties.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to end the requirement for re-assessments for those with long-term medical conditions who are receiving personal independence payments.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
Personal Independence Payment (PIP) already recognises that for the most severely disabled claimants, the award review process could seem unnecessarily intrusive. The length of a PIP award is based on an individual’s circumstances and can vary from nine months to an on-going award with a light touch review at the 10 year point. As such, existing PIP claimants with the most severe, lifetime disabilities, whose functional ability has remained the same, are more likely to have their evidence reviewed by a DWP Decision-Maker and will not need to have another face-to-face assessment with a healthcare professional. Regular reviews for PIP claimants are a key feature of the benefit, and ensure that benefit payments accurately match the current needs of claimants.
We will continue to engage with stakeholders to improve the service we provide. We are committed to ensuring that the review process works effectively across the spectrum of disabilities and health conditions.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department plans to continue payment of benefits through the Post Office Card Account for the next five years.
Answered by Priti Patel
Post Office Card Accounts provide a useful service to many people and there are no plans to change provision.
The Department recognises, however, that working age claimants may also be receiving wages. As the account does not receive wages or allow for direct debit or standing order facilities, Post Office Card Accounts are not suitable for all of their needs. Those claimants are therefore being encouraged to open main stream bank accounts including credit union accounts.
The Post Office Card Account contract was awarded from 01 December 2014 and expires on 30 November 2021 and there are no plans to amend that term.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department plans to change provision of the Post Office Card Account.
Answered by Priti Patel
Post Office Card Accounts provide a useful service to many people and there are no plans to change provision.
The Department recognises, however, that working age claimants may also be receiving wages. As the account does not receive wages or allow for direct debit or standing order facilities, Post Office Card Accounts are not suitable for all of their needs. Those claimants are therefore being encouraged to open main stream bank accounts including credit union accounts.
The Post Office Card Account contract was awarded from 01 December 2014 and expires on 30 November 2021 and there are no plans to amend that term.