Every parliamentary written question tabled by Lisa Smart this session, with the full answer and department. Back to the MP page.
Showing 21–37 of 37 · Department for Work and Pensions
Whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of classifying income from pensions payments as unearned income for the purposes of Universal Credit assessments on people who are unable to work due to their partner's disability or health condition.
No assessment has been made. There are no plans to change the way that income from pensions is treated under Universal Credit.
What steps her Department is taking to reduce call waiting times on the PIP helpline.
Telephony is our customers’ primary channel to contact us. We continually assess the number of calls we are receiving and the associated waiting times. Where we have been seeing higher call volumes, we have been deploying more of our available resource onto telephony and at times this has been up to 100% of that resource, whilst also balancing the need to complete necessary processing work. As a result, over the last month we have seen improvements with call wait times dropping by c30%.
What steps her Department is taking to raise awareness of the impact of migraines in the workplace.
The Department for Work and Pensions and Department for Health and Social Care are committed to supporting disabled people and people with health conditions, including people with migraines, with their employment journey. The Disability Confident Scheme encourages employers to create disability inclusive workplaces and to support disabled people to get work and get on in work. A digital information service for employers, (Support with Employee Health and Disability), has been developed to offer guidance on making reasonable adjustments, supporting employees to remain in work, and understanding legal requirements. Backed by £240m investment, the Get Britain Working White Paper launched last November will drive forward approaches to tackling economic inactivity and work toward the long-term ambition of an 80% employment rate. We announced in the recent Pathways to Work Green Paper that we would establish a new guarantee of support for all disabled people and people with health conditions claiming out of work benefits who want help to get into or return to work, backed up by £1 billion of new funding. In addition to this work, the Secretaries of State for Work and Pensions and Business and Trade have launched the Keep Britain Working Review. This review will consider how to support and enable employers to recruit and retain more disabled people and people with health conditions; promote healthy workplaces and support more people to stay in or return to work from periods of sickness absence.
What steps her Department is taking to support visually impaired people in the workplace.
Appropriate work is generally good for health and wellbeing, so we want everyone to get work and get on in work, whoever they are and wherever they live. The DWP & DHSC are committed to supporting disabled people and people with health conditions, including visually impaired people, with their employment journey. Disabled people and people with health conditions are a diverse group so access to the right work and health support, in the right place, at the right time, is key. We therefore have a range of specialist initiatives to support individuals to stay in work and get back into work, including those that join up employment and health systems. Measures include support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres and Access to Work grants, as well as joining up health and employment support around the individual through Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies and Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care and WorkWell. Backed by £240m investment, the Get Britain Working White Paper launched on 26 November will drive forward approaches to tackling economic inactivity and work toward the long-term ambition of an 80% employment rate. As announced in the Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, we are investing £1 billion a year by the end of the decade in new employment, health and skills support – one of the biggest packages of new employment support for people with health conditions and disabled people ever - including new tailored support conversations for people on health and disability benefits, and more intensive programmes of support with health and work to break down barriers and unlock work. In addition, consulting on the future of the Access to Work scheme so that it better helps people to start and stay in work through reasonable adjustments, such as aids, appliances and making use of assistive technology It is also recognised that employers play an important role in addressing health and disability. To build on this, the Secretaries of State for Work and Pensions and Business and Trade have launched the Keep Britain Working Review. This review will consider how to support and enable employers to recruit and retain more people with health conditions and disabilities; promote healthy workplaces and support more people to stay in or return to work from periods of sickness absence. After conducting an initial discovery into the underlying issues, Sir Charlie Mayfield has published his early findings on 20 March which sets out the key areas that he would like to explore in the next phase of the review. This publication is a call to all stakeholders to engage with the early review findings and input views, including via a survey also launched on GOV.UK. The review is expected to produce a report to Government in autumn 2025. Additionally, the Joint Work and Health Directorate has developed a digital information service for employers, continues to oversee the Disability Confident Scheme, and continues to increase access to Occupational Health.
Whether her Department has plans to review the application of (a) National Insurance contributions and (b) home responsibilities protection in cases where an individual was contracted out of the Additional State Pension.
Before 6 April 2016, people were able to contract-out of the Additional State Pension. For the years they were contracted-out, they would be entitled to the basic State Pension only. When assessing State Pension eligibility under both the pre-2016 and new State Pension systems, the Department takes into account the impact of past contracting-out. There are no such plans to review this approach which is in accordance with legislation.
What assessment she has made with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care of the potential implications of changes to disability benefits on health and social care services.
We are investing almost £26 billion of extra funding for the Health and Social Care System so people can get the treatment they need to get back to work instead of being stuck on waiting lists, delivering over 2 million extra appointments 7 months ahead of schedule. Baroness Louise Casey, a cross-bench peer, has been commissioned to develop options for immediate action to improve adult social care in England before charting a course for longer term reform as announced in January. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will support this review – and work closely with the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) – as we take forward the proposals in this Green Paper. In the short term, up to £3.7 billion of additional funding will be made available for social care authorities in 2025/2026, including an £880 million increase in the Social Care Grant. To support unpaid carers to combine caring responsibilities with some paid work, from April 2025 the Carers’ Allowance earnings limit will be pegged to 16 hours work at National Living Wage (NLW) levels (rounded to the highest pound), and in future it will increase when the NLW increases. This is an increase from £151 to £196 a week. DHSC are also commissioning research on the link between the adult social care system and PIP.
What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of reducing disability benefit on the health of people with long term and fluctuating conditions.
Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course. An important consideration in the case for abolishing the Work Capability Assessment is the inappropriateness of its binary distinction between “capable of work” and “not capable of work” for people with fluctuating health conditions. A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.
Whether her Department plans to make Personal Independence Payment application forms more accessible for people with mental health issues; and if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) designing questions to account for (i) frequency, (ii) reliability, and (iii) safety in assessing abilities rather than on best-case scenarios and (b) providing additional funding for (A) Disability Stockport and Citizens Advice and (B) other organisations for the provision of support with completing forms and navigating the process.
It is a fundamental principle that the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessment should not just consider whether an individual can complete an activity, but the way they can do it. When formulating their advice to the decision maker, health professionals must confirm that they have considered whether an individual can complete each assessment activity “safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly and in a reasonable time period”.DWP continually reviews the PIP claims process, including the content of forms, to ensure information and questions are clear and easy to understand. For example, the Award Review form (AR1) has recently been changed to modify the questions and make it clearer to customers what information is needed. Changes were made following extensive consultation with a range of stakeholders. This will benefit all customers, including those with mental health conditions.Over the longer term, the Health Transformation Programme is modernising the entire PIP service to improve customer experience. The new service will deliver a simpler application process for customers with more information and support available to those who need it. Improved evidence gathering will also enable the department to better tailor the service to the customer’s circumstances.Within the current service there is no funding provided to external organisations to help customers completing PIP forms or navigating the claims process.There are a series of videos, accessible via a link on Gov.UK, aimed at supporting customers navigating the new claim and assessment process which many customers with mental health conditions may find helpful https://www.gov.uk/government/news/personal-independence-payment-customer-journey-films
What steps her Department is taking to ensure that Jobcentre Plus advisers provide (a) accurate and (b) comprehensive advice to claimants on (i) entitlement to transitional protection and (ii) other aspects of the transition from legacy benefits to Universal Credit.
All Jobcentre advisers are given key information about Move to UC. We have a network of Transformation Leads attached to each Area who represent our Jobcentre and Service Centre network within Move to UC to ensure that our colleagues are getting the upskilling they need and to ensure it is landing as intended. This is regularly updated through communications to advisers. Where customers have more complicated enquiries, advisers signpost customers to the helpline which can provide more comprehensive and specific advice on moving to UC. They also signpost to Help to Claim support externally if they identify a customer requires additional support.
Whether any redress mechanisms are available for claimants who were misadvised by Jobcentre Plus staff to claim Universal Credit before their official migration date and consequently lost entitlement to transitional protection.
Customers who are unhappy with the service provided by DWP can contact us by phone, in person or in writing. Universal Credit claimants can also use their journal. Complaints procedure - Department for Work and Pensions - GOV.UK
Whether her Department plans to review the priority order of Universal Credit deductions; and if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of ensuring that child maintenance payments have priority over council tax arrears.
The Government is committed to a sustainable long-term approach to tackling poverty and supporting people on lower incomes, and in support of this the Chancellor announced at the Autumn Budget, the Fair Repayment Rate (FRR), this measure is a permanent change and will reduce the Universal Credit (UC) overall deductions cap from 25% to 15% of a customer’s UC standard allowance from April 2025. This measure will help approximately 1.2 million UC households with deductions retain more of their UC award, on average £420 a year or £35 per month. In addition to the FRR measure a second measure was to move child maintenance deduction higher up the regulated priority order from April 2025.
Whether her Department has specific time targets for processing Carer’s Allowance claims for individuals with an underlying entitlement.
The Department does not have any processing targets for Carer’s Allowance claims when there is an underlying entitlement element. The current average clearance time for all Carer’s Allowance claims is 16.5 working days. This includes claims when there is underlying entitlement.
What assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of financial support available through the benefits system to people with (a) inflammatory bowel disease and (b) other unseen disabilities.
Attendance Allowance, Disability Living Allowance and Personal Independence Payment (PIP) provide a contribution towards the extra costs that may arise from a long-term disability or health condition. These benefits are assessed on the basis of needs arising and not on the condition itself so are available to those with inflammatory bowel disease and other, hidden conditions. The extra costs benefits are non-contributory, non-means-tested and can be worth over £9,500 a year, tax free. Individuals can choose how to use their benefit, in the light of their individual needs and preferences. The benefit can also be paid in addition to any other financial or practical support someone may be entitled to such as Universal Credit, Employment and Support Allowance, NHS services, free prescriptions, help with travel costs to appointments or the Blue Badge scheme. The benefits have been consistently uprated in line with inflation since they were introduced and were, like other benefits, increased by 6.7% from 8 April 2024.
If she will make it her policy to (a) extend Statutory Adoption Pay to self-employed individuals and (b) introduce an equivalent benefit that provides guaranteed financial support to self-employed individuals.
Government very much values people who come forward to take on the challenging but rewarding role of being an adoptive parent. That is why there is provision for Local Authorities to make discretionary payments, equivalent to Maternity Allowance, to self-employed adopters who do not qualify for Statutory Adoption Pay, where they satisfy the relevant criteria. This payment is means-tested and ensures that resources are targeted at those adopters who need it most, as part of a package of post-adoption support. Prospective adopters and the child or children that they intend to adopt are also entitled to an assessment of their family’s needs. This includes a whole host of support including discretionary means-tested financial support, advice, information and counselling, and support services. Depending on individual circumstances, additional financial support, such as Universal Credit and Child Benefit, as well as the Sure Start Maternity Grant (a lump sum payment of £500) may also be available to new parents.
If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of requiring the Jobcentre Plus to signpost people to digital inclusion services.
Jobcentre work coaches will consider the range of barriers faced by claimants to best support them into work and to progress in their careers. Digital inclusion is amongst the challenges that some claimants may experience and work coaches are encouraged to take action to address issues relating to poor digital skills and/or digital connectivity (access). Where claimants have poor Essential Digital Skills, work coaches will consider referral to locally available skills provision to help them address these needs. Where claimants are digitally excluded due to issues relating to access to digital equipment or connectivity, work coaches are able to use the Flexible Support Fund to procure devices, internet dongles, talk time, and broadband in the home on the basis that this will support labour market progression. DWP has also ensured that all operational staff in Jobcentres, Universal Credit service centres, Pension Centres, and partnership managers who engage with claimants and stakeholders are able to signpost to information promoting broadband social tariffs.
What steps she plans to take to improve support for employers who hire people with autism.
Employers play a key role in increasing employment opportunities and supporting autistic people to thrive as part of the workforce. Our current support to employers includes the Disability Confident scheme and a digital information service for employers which offers tailored guidance on supporting health and disability in the workplace. In our plan to Make Work Pay, we committed to raising awareness of neurodiversity in the workplace. Our forthcoming employment White Paper considers how to improve employment outcomes and experiences for disabled people and people with health conditions. We are exploring how we can build on the earlier, independent, Buckland Review which was focused more narrowly on autism and employment, to improve understanding and support for all neurodivergent people at work.
If she will make it her policy to deliver a long-term (a) funding settlement and (b) strategy for local crisis support when the Household Support Fund ends in March 2025.
The Government announced funding to extend the Household Support Fund (HSF) for a further 6 months, from 1 October 2024 until 31 March 2025. As set out by the Chancellor in July, the Government has inherited a number of significant pressures within public spending and took immediate action to reduce spending in-year and set out a clear process to a Budget this autumn and a full Spending Review to follow. The Government will set out its overall fiscal and spending plans then.