Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the shortest wait time was between a person submitting an Access to Work application and receiving initial contact from his Department in the last (a) six and (b) 12 months.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
In response to what the shortest wait time was between an individual submitting an Access to Work application and receiving initial contact from the Department in the last (a) six and (b) twelve months, the shortest time for both periods is one day.
Customers making new applications where they are starting work within the next 4 weeks or have a grant coming to an end that requires renewal are prioritised to ensure customers can enter, make changes or move within the labour market.
Please note that the data supplied is derived from unpublished management information, which was collected for internal Departmental use only, and have not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. They should therefore be treated with caution.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have requested communication support in job interviews through the access to work scheme in each of the last five years.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
In each of the last five years the following number of applications have been received for communication support in job interviews through the access to work scheme:
2019-20 = Not available (info not collected)
2020-21 = 448
2021-22 = 708
2022-23 = 718
2023-24 = 599
Please note that the data supplied is derived from unpublished management information, which was collected for internal Departmental use only, and have not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. They should therefore be treated with caution.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average wait time is between an individual submitting an Access to Work application and receiving initial contact from his Department.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The average wait time between an individual submitting an Access to Work application and receiving initial contact for the financial year 2023/24 was 36.5 days.
For April 2024 the average time between an individual submitting an Access to Work application and receiving initial contact was 36.9 days.
Please note that the data supplied is derived from unpublished management information, which was collected for internal Departmental use only, and have not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. They should therefore be treated with caution.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Department's publication entitled Modernising support for independent living: the health and disability green paper, published on 29 April 2024, if his Department will make an assessment of the adequacy of the existing mandatory reconsideration process as part of its potential reforms.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
Modernising Support for Independent Living: The Health and Disability Green Paper explores changes that the government could make to the current PIP system to ensure support is targeted where it is most needed. These options include:
Mandatory reconsideration does not feature in the Green Paper.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 7 May 2024 to Question 24267 on Universal Support: Disability, when in May she expects the figures to be made available.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The next release of published statistics for the Work and Health Programme (WHP) is planned for 30 May 2024. This was announced in the latest Work and Health statistics release.
This release will include statistics on starts, referrals and individual referrals to WHP Pioneer, which is part of the first phase of Universal Support (US). Statistics on job outcomes and first earnings from employment will be released in later publications.
The Secretary of State has also committed to the publication of data for the Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care (IPSPC) provision as part of the first phase of US. This will be pre-announced prior to publication.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Department's publication entitled Modernising support for independent living: the health and disability green paper, published on 29 April 2024, how the outcome of the Personal Independence Payment consultation will interact with the reforms proposed in Transforming Support: The Health and Disability White Paper, published 16 March 2023.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The Government is removing the Work Capability Assessment because it is committed to doing everything it can to help disabled people and people with long-term health conditions start, stay and succeed in work.
The consultation, Modernising Support for Independent Living: The Health and Disability Green Paper, considers potential changes to the welfare system. Currently, no decisions have been taken on potential changes.
As we develop any proposals, we will consider the interactions with the removal of the Work Capability Assessment. This will be carefully worked through before we consider introducing any changes.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Department's publication entitled Modernising support for independent living: the health and disability green paper, published on 29 April 2024, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of the potential options for reform on benefits spending.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
We are looking at different options to reshape the current welfare system so that we can provide better targeted support to those who need it most. We are considering some of these options through our 12-week consultation which was published on Monday 29 April and will close on Monday 22 July at 11:59pm.
We encourage everyone to respond to the consultation which can be found here, so that we are able to hear from as many disabled people, people with health conditions, their representatives, and local stakeholders as possible on these important issues.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people living with a musculoskeletal condition have (a) applied for and (b) been successful with an Access to Work application in the last 12 months.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The Department does collect information on Access to Work applicant’s primary medical condition, however we do not hold information to the level required to identify people with the specific conditions requested. Therefore, we are not able to make an estimate of the number of people that have applied for, or been approved, for support through the Access to Work scheme.
Information on Access to Work volumes for approvals and recipients by primary medical condition are published annually in the official statistics found here.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people living with rheumatoid arthritis have (a) applied for and (b) been successful with an Access to Work application in the last 12 months.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The Department does collect information on Access to Work applicant’s primary medical condition, however we do not hold information to the level required to identify people with the specific conditions requested. Therefore, we are not able to make an estimate of the number of people that have applied for, or been approved, for support through the Access to Work scheme.
Information on Access to Work volumes for approvals and recipients by primary medical condition are published annually in the official statistics found here.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people living with osteoarthritis have (a) applied for and (b) been successful in an Access to Work application in the last 12 months.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The Department does collect information on Access to Work applicant’s primary medical condition, however we do not hold information to the level required to identify people with the specific conditions requested. Therefore, we are not able to make an estimate of the number of people that have applied for, or been approved, for support through the Access to Work scheme.
Information on Access to Work volumes for approvals and recipients by primary medical condition are published annually in the official statistics found here.