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1233828

registered interest
date	14/09/2020
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Hospitality Industry and Tourism: Employment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to (a) tackle unemployment and (b) promote job retention in the tourism and hospitality sector.
tabling member constituency	Westmorland and Lonsdale
tabling member printed	Tim Farron
uin	905930
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/09/2020 answer text <p>The Government’s Job Retention and Eat Out to Help Out schemes have provided unprecedented support to the tourism and hospitality sector</p><p> </p><p>The August 2020 statistics[1] show that the accommodation and food services sector has seen 77% of employments furloughed, with over £4.7 billion claimed through CJRS. 87% of employers in this sector have furloughed at least one employment.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>By midnight on 31 August more than 100 million meals were eaten by diners as part of Eat Out to Help Out, with the 84,700 establishments signed up to the scheme making 130,000 claims worth £522 million[2].</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>For those in the sector that have unfortunately been made unemployed, I am working with colleagues from across government to ensure these people can access support to pivot into sectors where jobs are available.</p><p> </p><p>More widely, my department is working closely with other government departments, external organisations and local partners to support people into work. The Kickstart scheme was recently announced to help young people aged 16-24 find 6-month work places, while the start of Job Entry Targeted Support (JETS) and Job Finding Support Service will follow.</p><p> </p><p>As my Rt Hon Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer set out in his Plans for Jobs statement[3] in July, DWP is also doubling the number of work coaches in Job Centres to help provide the urgent support needed for jobseekers to find work, including those in the tourism and hospitality sector.</p><p> </p><p>As well as this, DWP designed two websites that were launched in April, Jobhelp and Employer Help, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, recognising both a radically different labour market as some sectors contract and others expand. Jobhelp[4] offers job search advice, showcases recruiting sectors and signposts to job vacancies to help people successfully find work.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>[1] <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/coronavirus-job-retention-scheme-statistics-august-2020" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/coronavirus-job-retention-scheme-statistics-august-2020</a></p><p> </p><p>[2] <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-diners-eat-100-million-meals-to-protect-2-million-jobs" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-diners-eat-100-million-meals-to-protect-2-million-jobs</a></p><p> </p><p>[3] <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/a-plan-for-jobs-2020" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/a-plan-for-jobs-2020</a></p><p>[4] <a href="https://jobhelp.campaign.gov.uk/" target="_blank">https://jobhelp.campaign.gov.uk/</a></p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 14/09/2020 17:03:34 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	1591 label Biography information for Tim Farron

1233829

registered interest
date	14/09/2020
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Kickstart Scheme: Small Businesses
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	What steps she is taking to encourage SMEs to participate in the Kickstart scheme.
tabling member constituency	Orkney and Shetland
tabling member printed	Mr Alistair Carmichael
uin	905948
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/09/2020 answer text <p>We are determined that small businesses play a key part in the Kickstart Scheme. We are actively encouraging a range of organisations to step forward as intermediaries, this includes the Chambers of Commerce, Local Authorities and charities – so they can support small employers offer Kickstart roles to young people.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 14/09/2020 15:57:17 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	1442 label Biography information for Mr Alistair Carmichael

1233930

registered interest
date	14/09/2020
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Pensions: Fraud
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the report by Police Foundation and The People’s Pension Protecting People’s Pensions: Understanding and Preventing Scams, published on 7 September, what action they are taking to protect people from pension scams.
tabling member printed	Baroness Warwick of Undercliffe
uin	HL8100
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/09/2020 answer text <p>The Government is committed to safeguarding consumer savings and we want individuals to better understand the choices they have and the risks that exist.</p><p> </p><p>Since the introduction of the pension freedoms in 2015, we have made several legislative interventions to tackle scams. The Finance Act 2018 strengthened the HM Revenue &amp; Customs process for registering pension schemes, thereby reducing the risk of fraudulent schemes being established. In 2019, HM Treasury introduced a ban on pension cold calling, to reduce the chance of individual’s being enticed into such schemes. We are now introducing a clause in the Pension Scheme Bill that allows legislation to set conditions on members’ statutory right to transfer, and thereby introduces two additional barriers to protect people. The clause sets examples of the conditions that must be applied to statutory transfers unless requests are to either a firm regulated and authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority or an authorised Master Trust. The legislation will require members to confirm they have obtained information or guidance of the associated risks of scams, and still want the transfer to go ahead.</p><p> </p><p>We will also be bringing forward new information requirements from the age fifty to those with defined contribution pension savings, that will inform them in more simplified terms, about their retirement options and the availability of guidance to help with their decisions. We see accessing guidance as a natural part of the journey savers take, before making a decision relating to the pension freedoms. Following the recent trials, which showed a nudge to guidance during the application process is effective, we will be commencing section 19 of the Financial Guidance and Claims Act 2018, which amends the Pension Schemes Act 1993.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has, and will, continue to work with industry and regulators to identify the circumstances that cause most concern (‘red flags’), so that we can determine how best to use legislation that ensures members at high risk are protected.</p><p> </p><p>The Department Work and Pensions (DWP) continues to work with other Government Departments, regulators, enforcement agencies and the pensions industry to monitor the evolution of the methods scammers use and raise awareness of these through coordinated campaigns. The pre-COVID campaign, July – November 2019, resulted in over 222,000 visits to the ScamSmart website, to find out how to identify and report a scam.</p><p> </p><p>DWP has also supported industry initiatives such as the Regulators and Money and Pension Service joint statement, to industry encouraging individuals not to make hasty decisions and endorsed equivalent initiatives by the Pension Protection Fund.</p><p> </p><p>DWP has set out warning signs of scams on social media and made 18 posts referencing Pension Scams and ScamSmart in total across Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn in the period March to September 2020.</p><p> </p><p>We continue to monitor the situation closely and will take necessary action to protect savers from scams.</p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott question first answered 28/09/2020 16:22:24 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott
tabling member	2471 label Biography information for Baroness Warwick of Undercliffe

1234064

registered interest
date	14/09/2020
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Universal Credit
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure that increased time frames for personal independence payment renewals do not prevent people whose PIP is no longer paid from accessing universal credit's limited capability for work related activity element when their income is above the conditionality earnings threshold and stopping them from having a universal credit work capability assessment.
tabling member constituency	Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey
tabling member printed	Drew Hendry
uin	89762
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/09/2020 answer text <p>As I stated during recent oral questions [Hansard, 14 September 2020, Column 6] the Department has supported disabled customers during the Covid outbreak by automatically extending existing Personal Independence Payment (PIP) awards. As PIP payments are unaffected until any review activity has been completed, the circumstances whereby an individual loses access to Universal Credit's limited capability for work and work related activity element do not arise.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 17/09/2020 11:00:44 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4467 label Biography information for Drew Hendry

1234078

registered interest
date	14/09/2020
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Health and Safety: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many covid 19-related workplace inspections the Health and Safety Executive undertook in each of the last six months; and what the outcome was of each of those inspections.
tabling member constituency	Bermondsey and Old Southwark
tabling member printed	Neil Coyle
uin	89720
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/09/2020 answer text <p>The table below provides details of Covid specific site visits carried out by the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) operational staff in each of the last 6 months and up until 15<sup>th</sup> September 2020. Where an outcome has been recorded this has been provided below and please note that there will be some instances where an outcome has not yet been recorded.</p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p><strong>March</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>April</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>May</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>June</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>July</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>August</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>1<sup>st</sup> - 15<sup>th</sup> September</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Total</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>No. of Covid Site Vists</strong></p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>35</p></td><td><p>126</p></td><td><p>159</p></td><td><p>1,820</p></td><td><p>1,103</p></td><td><p>475</p></td><td><p>3,721</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>No Action Taken</strong></p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>41</p></td><td><p>47</p></td><td><p>913</p></td><td><p>532</p></td><td><p>216</p></td><td><p>1,761</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Verbal Advice</strong></p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>12</p></td><td><p>55</p></td><td><p>61</p></td><td><p>619</p></td><td><p>379</p></td><td><p>195</p></td><td><p>1,322</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Written Correspondence</strong></p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>13</p></td><td><p>24</p></td><td><p>37</p></td><td><p>165</p></td><td><p>111</p></td><td><p>34</p></td><td><p>384</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Enforcement Notices served</strong></p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>6</p></td><td><p>13</p></td><td><p>31</p></td><td><p>15</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>68</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Notes:</p><p> </p><p>i) As the above data is taken from a live operational database it is subject to change e.g. when the outcome of an inspection is determined and recorded, due to the delay between a site visit and details being recorded onto the database and as a result of data quality checks.</p><p> </p><p>ii) The data also does not include site visits for other purposes which may have addressed Covid issues e.g. investigations of reported accidents and workplace concerns and inspections carried out for other purposes.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 17/09/2020 16:28:23 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4368 label Biography information for Neil Coyle

1234100

registered interest
date	14/09/2020
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Jobcentres: Staff
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many full-time equivalent work coaches there are in her Department.
tabling member constituency	Feltham and Heston
tabling member printed	Seema Malhotra
uin	89705
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/09/2020 answer text <p>As at 31 August 2020, c14,000 full-time equivalents were employed on Work Coach activity.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 17/09/2020 16:22:31 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4253 label Biography information for Seema Malhotra

1234101

registered interest
date	14/09/2020
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Jobcentres: Recruitment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many work coach (a) recruitment campaigns and (b) hires there were in each of the last 12 months.
tabling member constituency	Feltham and Heston
tabling member printed	Seema Malhotra
uin	89706
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/09/2020 answer text <p>The table shows by month the number of recruitment campaigns launched in that month and the number of hires. The hires link to recruitment campaigns launched in earlier months. In the 12 months from 1 September 2019 to 31 August 2020 the Department has run 30 work coach recruitment campaigns, these are a mixture of large scale campaigns across regions and much smaller targeted campaigns in specific locations. The number of hires to date from these campaigns is shown by month in the table below.</p><p> </p><p>In line with standard departmental practice in statistics, we do not publish details of numbers less than 5, or where individuals might otherwise be identified in the data, as this would breach our data protection obligations.</p><p> </p><p>All departmental recruitment activity (apart from that to bring in new administrative officers) was suspended as part of our immediate COVID response from March through to June to ensure maximum supply to process benefit claims.</p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Month</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Recruitment Campaigns</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Number of Hires</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="3"><p><strong>2019</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Sep</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>Less than 5</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Oct</p></td><td><p>6</p></td><td><p>30</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Nov</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>58</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Dec</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>74</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="3"><p><strong>2020</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Jan</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>533</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Feb</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>160</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Mar</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>62</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Apr</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>Less than 5</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>May</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Jun</p></td><td><p>4</p></td><td><p>10</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Jul</p></td><td><p>11</p></td><td><p>61</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Aug</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>374</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 18/09/2020 12:48:37 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies previous answer version 48031 answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4253 label Biography information for Seema Malhotra

1234102

registered interest
date	14/09/2020
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Universal Credit
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of new universal credit claims made since 3 May 2020 were unsuccessful; what proportion of those claims were unsuccessful because of income and capital rules; and what proportion of (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful universal credit claimants were eligible for contributory (i) jobseekers allowance and (ii) employment and support allowance since 3 May 2020.
tabling member constituency	Stalybridge and Hyde
tabling member printed	Jonathan Reynolds
uin	89694
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/09/2020 answer text <p>The Department has been working to ensure we get support as quickly as possible to those individuals and households most financially affected by the coronavirus pandemic. It has been a longstanding principle of Universal Credit (UC) that an assessment of earnings, other income and capital is needed to establish eligibility to target support to those most in need. There may be several reasons why someone is not eligible to receive UC, will have received a nil award or withdrew their claim. Among other reasons, this includes:</p><ul><li>speculative claims which were subsequently withdrawn;</li><li>found new employment (which may at present include being rehired under the Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme or taken advantage of the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme);</li><li>redundancy payments affecting their entitlement;</li><li>the last month’s salary taken account. The key principle of UC is that it’s calculated based on income, so if someone’s income from work drops, their UC payment will rise to top it up;</li><li>their claim may have been found to be fraudulent; and</li><li>Individuals may have capital saved above the £16,000 limit for UC entitlement.</li></ul><p> </p><p>Between 4 May and 23 June inclusive there were 702,000 declarations made to Universal Credit, all of which are processed. Of these</p><p>58% received a UC payment</p><p>9% had a nil award due to earnings</p><p>6% were withdrawn by the claimant</p><p>1% closed due to ineligibility regarding capital rules</p><p>20% closed due to other ineligibility reasons</p><p>7% have outstanding verification preventing payment</p><p><em>Percentages may not total 100% due to rounding</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p>Claimants move from existing benefits to UC when they experience a significant change in their circumstances that triggers a new claim to benefit. We do not centrally collate the number of claimants that have made a new claim to UC as a result of such a change in circumstances.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 17/09/2020 17:01:27 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4119 label Biography information for Jonathan Reynolds

1234167

registered interest
date	14/09/2020
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Universal Credit
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether claimants for the new version of jobseekers allowance are entitled to universal credit when their claim expires after six months.
tabling member constituency	Stalybridge and Hyde
tabling member printed	Jonathan Reynolds
uin	89695
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/09/2020 answer text <p>A claimant in receipt of New Style JSA may wish to claim Universal Credit and benefit calculators are available on the GOV.UK website to help people identify potential eligibility across the welfare system. New Style Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) claimants retain legacy benefit earnings, pension and payment rules.This is different to those for Universal Credit. Therefore, if a claimant starts working more than 16 hours per week the claim will close and they will not be able to benefit from the tailored features of Universal Credit, such as the taper and work allowance.</p><p> </p><p>New Style JSA and Universal Credit can be paid in parallel from the start of a claim and is considered to be a ‘dual claim’. This may be in circumstances such as where the award of New Style JSA is nil and is therefore a National Insurance credits only claim.</p><p> </p><p>Payments of New Style JSA are taken into account as unearned income in the Universal Credit monthly assessment period. Universal Credit conditionality applies and the detail of what a claimant must do to meet their work-related requirements are set out in their Universal Credit claimant commitment, which must be accepted for a New Style JSA and Universal Credit claim, as this remains a condition of entitlement.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 17/09/2020 17:06:14 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4119 label Biography information for Jonathan Reynolds

1234201

registered interest
date	14/09/2020
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Unemployment: UK Relations with EU
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she had made of the potential effect of not reaching an agreement on the future relationship with the EU on unemployment levels in (a) Scotland, (b) England, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland.
tabling member constituency	Feltham and Heston
tabling member printed	Seema Malhotra
uin	89707
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/09/2020 answer text <p>The Department for Work and Pensions is fully prepared for all possible outcomes of our negotiations with the European Union regarding our future relationship, including the event no agreement can be reached.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 18/09/2020 13:31:03 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies previous answer version 48032 answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4253 label Biography information for Seema Malhotra