Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference the Written Statement of 15 March 2018, Employment and Support Allowance, HCWS 549, which external organisations her Department has been engaging with that provide support and advice to claimants in order to ensure that as many people as possible are aware of corrections that may be necessary as a result of underpayments that may have occurred due to how a proportion of Incapacity Benefit claims were transitioned to Employment and Support Allowance between 2011 and 2014.

We held a stakeholder meeting on 26/02/2018:

The following stakeholders were invited -

• Child Poverty Action Group
• Citizen’s Advice
• Disability Rights UK
• MIND
• Scope
• Leonard Cheshire Disability
• Mencap
• National Autistic Society
• National Association of Welfare Rights Advisors
• The Disability Benefits Consortium

The following stakeholders attended -

• Disability Rights UK
• The National Association of Welfare Rights Advisors
• Scope
• Citizen’s Advice
• The Disability Benefits Consortium

Further stakeholder engagement took place on 06/03/18 through the DWP Operational Stakeholder Engagement Forum

The following external stakeholders attended -

• Independent Age
• Homeless Link
• BLESMA
• LASA
• Thomas Pocklington Trust
• HMRC
• LGA Social Security Adviser Group
• RNIB
• Gingerbread
• SSAC
• Refuge
• LITRG
• MIND
• DRUK
• Age UK
• Action on Hearing Loss
• NHF
• Mencap
• LWROG
• The Big Issue
• CAP
• Turn2Us
• MS Society
• Help for Heroes
• Trussell Trust
• Scope

We supported the Money Advice Service by fact checking the draft guidance they produced for their contact centres.