Contributions
635 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDSupporting Disabled People to WorkI think all Members will welcome the thrust of the point that my hon. Friend has made. It also gives me an opportunity to emphasise the benefit of universal credit to people with…28 Mar 2019HANSARDSupporting Disabled People to WorkIt is always a pleasure to appear before the Select Committee, and in particular to respond to the hon. Gentleman’s challenging and probing questions. We, as a Department, are…28 Mar 2019HANSARDSupporting Disabled People to WorkMy hon. Friend is another champion in his constituency, ensuring that disabled residents have the maximum opportunity that so many of us take for granted. We are spending £10…28 Mar 2019HANSARDSupporting Disabled People to WorkI am delighted to pay tribute to Brentwood Community Print. It has recognised that it can benefit from being an innovative business in terms of recruitment, and I hope that many…28 Mar 2019HANSARDSupporting Disabled People to WorkI thank the hon. Lady for taking the time to pay tribute to the frontline staff in jobcentres, who do a huge amount of work to support disabled claimants. That often goes…28 Mar 2019HANSARDSupporting Disabled People to WorkI thank my hon. Friend for championing this cause in her constituency. She highlights the point that a lot of these local organisations are doing a great amount to support…28 Mar 2019HANSARDSupporting Disabled People to WorkI thank the hon. Gentleman, who has done a huge amount of work in this area. These are the sorts of points that were picked up in the Maynard review. We have worked very closely…28 Mar 2019HANSARDSupporting Disabled People to WorkOur support for people with disability benefits is now at £55 billion, up £10 billion in real terms since 2010. That is a record high. The amount that we are spending on…28 Mar 2019HANSARDSupporting Disabled People to WorkTo be fair, I think the figures speak for themselves: 930,000 people in the last five years have gained— [ Interruption. ] However, I accept the thrust of the point about looking…28 Mar 2019HANSARDSupporting Disabled People to WorkMy right hon. Friend is absolutely spot on. We can help to raise the awareness of Disability Confident. We can do our own Disability Confident events, and we can write to…28 Mar 2019HANSARD Personal Independence Payments: MerseysideThat is the key thing that I will address, but I will cover one last matter first. Some 600,000 claimants currently access the Motability scheme. I echo the comments about what a…26 Mar 2019HANSARD Personal Independence Payments: MerseysideIt is difficult to comment without having seen the details. I am not saying that what the hon. Lady says is not true, but if that case is exactly as she describes, that should not…26 Mar 2019HANSARD Personal Independence Payments: MerseysideHang on; I will address the previous intervention. What are we doing to ensure that cases such as those that hon. Members have mentioned do not happen? First, there is the…26 Mar 2019HANSARD Personal Independence Payments: MerseysideI will come to that. Fear not; I have woven in as many of the answers as I could. The average length of time for assessments is now 15 weeks, and it has actually fallen.…26 Mar 2019HANSARD Personal Independence Payments: MerseysideWe always recognise that there is a need for improvement, and we continue to review all the processes—not just PIP, but all parts of Government activity. It is right to do that,…26 Mar 2019HANSARD Personal Independence Payments: MerseysideYes, it is an average, and we are highlighting cases. I will come on to that. The old DLA system relied solely on self-assessment. For many claimants, the very complex DLA forms…26 Mar 2019HANSARD Personal Independence Payments: MerseysideIt is a real pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Edward. I understand that we are waiting for a permanent Minister for Disabled People, but in the meantime—I am sure it…26 Mar 2019HANSARD Personal Independence Payments: MerseysideAbsolutely. That is what we are testing, so that we can assist claimants by strengthening areas where there are obvious gaps. It would be quicker for the claimant, and we would…26 Mar 2019HANSARD Personal Independence Payments: MerseysideIt is important to set out the overview of where we are. That is why it was so important to highlight those cases in Liverpool and Merseyside, which shape how we do the…26 Mar 2019HANSARDUniversal Credit: Food BanksThose transferring from legacy benefits would get two weeks’ housing benefit run-on, no strings attached, in addition and would automatically be offered the advance payment. We…18 Mar 2019