Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that Personal Independence Payment assessments make an adequate assessment of claimants’ (a) physical symptoms and (b) medical evidence and (c) other supporting evidence.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
PIP assessors give due consideration to all available evidence when completing their advice to the Department. DWP decision makers also consider all available evidence when making entitlement decisions on PIP.
The Department closely monitors all aspects of the process including the performance of the assessment providers and the quality of assessments. All providers work with the department on plans to continuously improve assessment quality through a range of measures including audit, clinical observations, tailored training and development plans, providing feedback and in the support available to assessors.
We set out in the Pathways to Work Green Paper our intention to improve the experience for people who use the system of health and disability benefits. This includes exploring ways to improve PIP assessments through digitalising transfer of medical information.
We announced in the Pathways to Work Green Paper that we will, in future, record assessments by default, unless the claimant asks that the assessment should not be recorded. This will give us the means to check what happened when an assessment is found later to have been incorrect, and, we expect, an effective lever for improvement
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to review the treatment of Maternity Allowance as unearned income when calculating means-tested benefits.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
We want new mothers to be able to take time away from work in the later stages of their pregnancy and in the months following childbirth, in the interests of their own and their baby’s health and wellbeing.
Maternity Allowance is a benefit paid by the State, for those who cannot get Statutory Maternity Pay, and is classed as unearned income for Universal Credit purposes. As such, in determining the entitlement to Universal Credit, Maternity Allowance is deducted pound for pound from the total value of the award.
Where an individual claims Universal Credit, their award is adjusted to take account of other financial support that the customer is already receiving – including earnings, other income and benefits. This principle applies to other benefits: for example, the same approach is applied to new style Jobseeker’s Allowance and new style Employment and Support Allowance.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will exempt payments from the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme as income when calculating means-tested benefits.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the honourable member to the answer given on 5 December 2024 to question UIN 16635.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
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 increasing the carer element of Universal Credit for unpaid carers, in the context of recent trends in the cost of living.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is required by law to undertake an annual review of benefits and State Pensions. The outcome of the Secretary of State’s review will be announced in the usual way.
No assessment has been made of the merit of increasing the carer element of Universal Credit outside of the annual review.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of linking the Carer's Allowance earning limit to increase in the national living wage.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government recognises the challenges unpaid carers are facing and is determined to provide them with the help and support they need and deserve. It is looking closely at how the benefit system currently does this. The Carer’s Allowance earnings limit for 2025/26 will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
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 potential impact of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill on the level of support provided by the Government to businesses for health and safety initiatives.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
With the introduction of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) remains focused on ensuring that regulatory frameworks maintain the United Kingdom’s high standards of health and safety protection and continue to reduce burdens for business.
HSE’s approach aligns closely with the Government’s pledge to do more for business to help promote growth by removing disproportionate burdens and simplifying the regulatory landscape whilst maintaining our existing high standards of health and safety.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people that were are (a) economically inactive and (b) claiming benefits in (i) 2010 and (ii) the most recent year for which figures are available in Bolton South East constituency; and what assessment his Department has made of trends in that constituency in the level of (a) employment and (b) benefit usage since (i) 2013, (ii) 2018 and (iii) the onset of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The information requested on employment and inactivity is published and available here
The information requested on benefits is published and available here
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate she has made of the unemployment rates in (a) Bolton South East constituency and (b) the Borough of Bolton.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The information requested is published and available at:
https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/default.asp
Guidance for users can be found at:
https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/home/newuser.asp