Chapter 8
Consultation arrangements and contact details
Working in partnership to improve our services
1 Proposals outlined in this paper are informed by ongoing informal consultation with key stakeholders. Indeed, we have been consulting on incapacity benefits reform since 2002, when we published Pathways to work – Helping people into employment. 39 Proposals for lone parents, Housing Benefit and occupational health are similarly the product of a lengthy process of consultation and evaluation of evidence from existing policies.
Formal consultation
2 Publication of this paper signals the start of a formal consultation period in line with the best practice guidance in the Cabinet Office’s Code of Practice on Consultation. A partial Regulatory Impact Assessment is available at www.dwp.gov.uk/aboutus/welfarereform
3 The formal consultation period will continue for 12 weeks from 24 January to 21 April 2006.
4 Copies of this paper are available in a variety of formats (including audio, Braille, Easy Read, large print and Welsh versions) and can be ordered by contacting:
The Welfare Reform Team Level 2 The Adelphi 1–11 John Adam St London WC2N 6HT Telephone: 020 7712 2521 Fax: 020 7962 8524 Textphone: 020 7712 2492 Email: welfarereform@dwp.gsi.gov.uk (Lines are open Monday to Friday, 9am – 4pm.)
Feedback
5 To facilitate the consultation process, a series of key questions have been posed throughout the paper and these are pulled together at the end of this section. A template is also available at www.dwp.gov.uk/aboutus/welfarereform
6 The deadline for responses is 21 April 2006. Please ensure that your response reaches us by that date. Please send consultation responses to the Welfare Reform Team.
7 When responding, please state whether you are responding as an individual or representing the views of an organisation. If responding on behalf of a larger organisation, please make it clear who the organisation represents, and, where applicable, how the views of members were assembled.
8 A list of those consulted is available at www.dwp.gov.uk/aboutus/welfarereform. If you have any suggestions of others who may wish to be involved in this process, please contact us.
9 The information you send to us may need to be passed to colleagues within the Department for Work and Pensions and may be published in a summary of responses to this consultation, along with a response from the Government.
10 Because of the law about access to information that public organisations hold, we may at some time in the future share some or all of your information with other individuals or the general public. If you would not want us to do this, please explain why as part of your answer. We will consider your request if it is possible that your information might be shared. However, we cannot promise to keep your information secret or private. If you are worried about sharing information about yourself with other people, please limit what you tell us, or do not tell us anything personal. If you want to talk to someone about this before you give us your views, please contact the Welfare Reform Team.
11 More information about the Freedom of Information Act can be found on the website of the Department for Constitutional Affairs at: www.dca.gov.uk/foi/guidance/exguide/
12 Throughout the formal consultation period, we will be facilitating a range of events to gather feedback. Details of these events will be available at: www.dwp.gov.uk/aboutus/welfarereform, alongside contact details for those wishing to participate.
13 We will produce a report of consultation feedback. The report will be available at: www.dwp.gov.uk/aboutus/welfarereform
Consultation questions
1 What else should we consider to give the right incentives to employers to provide increased health support to their workforce?
2 How can we best share the evidence for the role of work in recuperation and good practice regarding sickness certification to medical professionals?
3 Does this simplification package for Statutory Sick Pay provide incentives for improved absence management and meet the need for reduced bureaucracy? How could the redirected sums of the percentage threshold scheme be most effectively utilised?
4 Do the types of ‘suitable activity’ we have set out provide a sensible range of activities that could be undertaken in order to fulfil an acceptable action plan?
5 Is the combination of Disability Living Allowance plus the Enhanced Disability Premium/Severe Disability Premium for those on low incomes, the right way to target support towards disabled people with the greatest needs?
6 Do you agree that these proposed simplifications more accurately reflect the principles underpinning our modern society?
7 How do you think that we can best improve work incentives within the new Employment and Support Allowance so that individuals have the opportunity to try out periods of work and progress to full-time work where possible?
8 Would it be reasonable to extend the Work-Related Activity Premium, and the associated requirement to take steps back to employment, to lone parents with children younger than 11? If so, what age should be the cut-off point?
9 In what circumstances do you think it would be reasonable to extend the six-month Work-Related Activity Premium period?
10 Does utilising voluntary sector and private providers in this way sound sensible? Would outcome-based payments incentivise providers to meet the challenges of delivering Pathways to Work and the new arrangements described in Chapter 4?
11 Will this proposal provide an effective mechanism to join up the work of different agencies and make better use of existing funding to tackle the problems in cities?
12 How should Housing Benefit be adapted to meet our welfare reform objectives for tenants in the social housing sector?
