Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans she has to discuss the proposed June 2019 ILO Convention with (a) Governments of African countries and (b) other Governments.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
The Government supports the adoption of an ILO Convention on ending violence and harassment in the world of work. The Government is fully engaged in discussions in the ILO on the scope and content of the proposed Convention and as part of that is in regular contact with other states on this issue. The text of the Convention under negotiation includes informal workers and, if universally ratified, would apply to the world’s poorest workers. The Government’s position on the definitions and scope of the Convention is that it should provide broad coverage, whilst being ratifiable by as large a number of the ILO’s membership as possible.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of the recommendation in the Brain Tumour Charity’s report entitled The Price You Pay, published in March 2018, on including brain tumours in the list of health conditions requiring additional support in the personal independence payment assessment guide.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The Personal Independence Payment (PIP) Assessment Guide makes it clear that the list of health conditions requiring additional support is not exhaustive, rather it provides examples of conditions that may mean the claimant could struggle to engage with the claims process. Claimants with or recovering from a brain tumour who require additional support are therefore included.
More information can be found in Part 1, section 1.12, of the PIP Assessment Guide: Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessment guide for assessment providers - GOV.UK
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what criteria her Department use to review the list of health conditions requiring additional support in the personal independence payments assessment guide.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The Personal Independence Payment (PIP) Assessment Guide makes clear that the list of health conditions requiring additional support only provides examples of conditions that may mean the claimant could struggle to engage with the claims process, but is not exhaustive.
More information can be found in Part 1, section 1.12, of the PIP Assessment Guide: Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessment guide for assessment providers - GOV.UK
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the date is for the proposed outreach provision to be operational after the proposed closure of Southall Jobcentre on 26 January 2018; what the staffing requirement for that provision will be; and how and when service users will be notified of the date for that provision to be operational and how to access that provision.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
We have formally agreed that an outreach provision will be available from the Dominion Centre site in Southall and are confident that it will be in place by 26 January when Southall Jobcentre closes. This outreach provision may be available prior to the closure of Southall Jobcentre if the detailed arrangements are concluded earlier than expected.
The outreach service will be available 9am-5pm Monday to Friday. We anticipate being able to base between two and four members of staff at the site.
Existing customers will be notified about the outreach provision by Work Coaches at face-to-face interviews before the Southall Jobcentre closure date. Customers will also be handed a written notification about their new jobcentre and the new outreach provision.
Information about the new outreach facility will also be shared through our local partnership network.
Posters about the closure of Southall Jobcentre and the new outreach provision, will be displayed in Southall Jobcentre, as soon as the opening date of the new outreach provision is finalised. We expect this to take place within the first two weeks of January.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the daily living activity 3 of the personal independence payment assessment, how many people with epilepsy have scored points on descriptors c, d, e or f for (a) new claims and (b) disability living allowance reassessments in (i) each of the three years before and (ii) the period since November 2016.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The two tables below give statistics on the number of people with main disabling condition epilepsy who scored c, d, e or f on Activity 3 (“Managing therapy/Monitoring a health condition”) of their assessment for Personal Independence payment (PIP) for both new claimants and DLA reassessments.
Table 1 – Number of new claimants each calendar year that scored c, d, e or f on Activity 3 of their PIP assessment
New claims | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 (to 31st October) | 1st November 2016-28th February 2017 |
Number scoring c, d, e or f on Activity 3 | 0 | 40 | 20 | 10 | 0 |
Table 2 – Number of DLA reassessment claimants each calendar year that scored c, d, e or f on Activity 3 of their PIP assessment
DLA Reassessments | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 (to 31st October) | 1st November 2016-28th February 2017 |
Number scoring c, d, e or f on Activity 3 | 40 | 40 | 50 | 10 |
Data beyond 28th February 2017 is not readily available; preparing it would require us to link together several complex datasets and take steps to assure the quality of the results.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people with epilepsy have (a) had their personal independence payment award decreased or disallowed following disability living allowance reassessments in (i) each year before and (ii) the period since November 2016 and (b) successfully appealed a disability living allowance reassessment where their award was decreased or disallowed.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
Table 1 below gives statistics on the number of people with a primary disabling condition of epilepsy who have had their benefit payments reduced following reassessment for Personal Independence Payment (PIP).
Table 1 – Decreased awards following reassessment for PIP for claimants with a primary disabling condition of Epilepsy.
| Award Decreased | Disallowed post referral to the Assessment Provider |
Jan-Dec 2014 | 180 | 410 |
Jan-Dec 2015 | 610 | 1600 |
Jan-Oct 2016 | 1550 | 4540 |
Notes: Data has been rounded to nearest 10.
The Department published statistics on Disability Living Allowance (DLA) reassessment claims to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) on 14 December 2016:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/personal-independence-payment-statistics
These statistics are intended to be published annually and therefore data on reassessments occurring from November 2016 onwards isn’t readily available and in order to provide a reply it would require us to link together several complex datasets and assure the quality of the results, this would incur disproportionate costs.
The Department does collect some information on appeal outcomes broken down by initial award outcome from the PIP administrative data but to provide a reply would require us to link together several complex datasets and assure the quality of the results, this would incur disproportionate cost.
Information on the number of PIP appeals is published by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). A link to the latest national level statistics published on 9 March 2017 is here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tribunals-and-gender-recognition-certificate-statistics-quarterly-october-to-december-2016
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he has taken to improve the personal independence payment assessment process for people with epilepsy.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
New claims are now being cleared in under a third of the time they were in July 2014, with the average time taken to clear a new claim 12 weeks from registration to decision. We are committed to ensuring that all our processes work effectively across the spectrum of disabilities and health conditions, including mental health conditions, cognitive impairments, physical disabilities and conditions that fluctuate such as epilepsy. We recognise that for some individuals with epilepsy, attending a consultation at an unfamiliar location could create an element of anxiety. We have made it very clear that when attending a face-to-face consultation, claimants can bring someone with them in order to support them or help them manage any anxiety they may feel. In some cases we will also carry out consultations in claimants’ homes.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the daily living activity 2 of the personal independence payment assessment, how many people with epilepsy have scored points on descriptors c, d, e or f for (a) new claims and (b) disability living allowance reassessments in (i) each year before November 2016 and (ii) the period since November 2016.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The two tables below give statistics on the number of people with main disabling condition epilepsy who scored c, d, e or f on Activity 2 (“Taking Nutrition”) of their assessment for Personal Independence payment (PIP) for both new claimants and DLA reassessments.
Table 1 – Number of new claimants each calendar year that scored c, d, e or f on Activity 2 of their PIP assessment
New claims | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 (to 31st October) | 1st November 2016-28th February 2017 |
Number scoring c, d, e or f on Activity 2 | 70 | 550 | 170 | 60 | 10 |
Table 2 – Number of DLA reassessment claimants each calendar year that scored c, d, e or f on Activity 2 of their PIP assessment
DLA Reassessments | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 (to 31st October) | 1st November 2016-28th February 2017 |
Number scoring c, d, e or f on Activity 2 | 230 | 200 | 250 | 70 |
Data beyond 28th February 2017 is not readily available; preparing it would require us to link together several complex datasets and take steps to assure the quality of the results.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016 on access to housing for veterans.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government set out its assessment of the impacts of the welfare policies in the Welfare Reform and Work Act on 20th July 2015. It set out its assessment of the impacts of the social rents policies in the Act on 28th September 2015.
A link to the impact assessments is included:
http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2015-16/welfarereformandwork/documents.html
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016 on access to housing for post-release young offenders.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government set out its assessment of the impacts of the welfare policies in the Welfare Reform and Work Act on 20th July 2015. It set out its assessment of the impacts of the social rents policies in the Act on 28th September 2015.
A link to the impact assessments is included:
http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2015-16/welfarereformandwork/documents.html