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1701824

registered interest
date	17/04/2024
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	Unemployed People: Birmingham
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department has taken to support unemployed people in Birmingham with (a) skills training and (b) financial management.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Hall Green
tabling member printed	Tahir Ali
uin	22398
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/04/2024 answer text <p>In Birmingham, our local Jobcentre Plus partnership teams are working directly with colleges and training providers to ensure claimants have access to the right skills support. Our successful Sector Based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs) have seen almost three hundred customers in Sparkhill take up this support in the last year. This provision includes pre-employment training, work experience and a guaranteed job interview across a variety of sectors, with further SWAPs available with employers such as HS2, Compass Group, Air Scaffolding, Weatherspoon’s, and Jet 2.</p><p> </p><p>In the Hall Green constituency, we have recently supported customers into jobs in the hospitality sector through English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) provision based at Sparkhill Jobcentre. Customers have also taken up non-teaching roles within local schools through the skills training we have set up with Pineapple Recruitment, and Sparkhill Jobcentre staff work closely with Joseph Chamberlain College to support claimants move into self-employment.</p><p> </p><p>We are committed to ensuring that all staff can identify and signpost customers to the financial support they require. Across all our Jobcentres in Birmingham, Work Coaches have regular conversations with customers about the Flexible Support Fund (FSF) and how this can help to remove barriers to work, such as support with childcare costs.</p><p> </p><p>The ‘Move In Move On’ programme helps customers in supported accommodation to move into work via a partnership with the Salvation Army. This programme offers financial education, tenancy skills and employability. We also work with The Money House which offers a financial education course to support 16–25-year-olds with banking, budgeting, and spending habits to support in reducing youth homelessness.</p><p> </p><p>To help facilitate signposting discussions with customers, staff have access to a database of national and local support information, the District Provision Tool, which ensures that customers can access tailored support where required.</p> answering member constituency Bury St Edmunds answering member printed Jo Churchill question first answered 25/04/2024 16:10:12 answering member 4380 label Biography information for Jo Churchill
tabling member	4747 label Biography information for Tahir Ali

1701465

registered interest
date	16/04/2024
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	Social Security Benefits
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to help people claim each benefit to which they are entitled.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Hall Green
tabling member printed	Tahir Ali
uin	22162
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/04/2024 answer text <p>GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) provides information on eligibility and how to make a claim for benefits, including signposting to telephony routes (including textphone and Relay UK) for people who are unable to complete forms online. There are videos on the DWP YouTube channel that provide further information on a range of benefits including Personal Independence Payment, Universal Credit, Winter Fuel Payment, Pension Credit and DLA for Children and these explain how to claim and what to expect once a claim has been made.</p><p> </p><p>Guidance on GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) includes information on benefits people may be able to claim and other financial support. This includes housing support, help with council tax and direct payments for social care. Where appropriate DWP letters include signposting to additional help and support.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bury St Edmunds answering member printed Jo Churchill question first answered 23/04/2024 12:44:25 answering member 4380 label Biography information for Jo Churchill
tabling member	4747 label Biography information for Tahir Ali

1687737

registered interest
date	06/02/2024
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
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to tackle disproportionate levels of unemployment of (a) women, (b) disabled people and (c) Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Hall Green
tabling member printed	Tahir Ali
uin	13329
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/02/2024 answer text <p>The Department for Work and Pension’s Jobcentre offer provides a range of options to those seeking employment, including face-to-face time with work coaches and interview assistance. In addition, there is specific support targeted towards young people, people aged 50 plus, ethnic minorities and disabled people and people with health conditions. There is also support for those with childcare costs through Universal Credit. The DWP Jobhelp pages [https://jobhelp.campaign.gov.uk/] provide fuller information of the help and support available. DWP also works in partnership with others, including working with the Department of Health and Social Care to provide support embedded within health systems, for example, Employment Advice in NHS Talking Therapies.</p><p> </p><p>Due to rising levels of inactivity due to long-term sickness, a new package of support, building upon existing provision and the £2 billion investment announced at the Spring Budget 2023, was announced in Autumn Statement 2023. This includes:</p><ul><li>Doubling the number of places on the Universal Support employment programme, to provide support for 100,000 people per year when fully rolled out;</li><li>Formally launching WorkWell, which will bring together the NHS, local authorities and other partners, in collaboration with jobcentres, to provide light touch work and health support in approximately 15 pilot areas;</li><li>Building on the extension of the certification of the fit notes to a wider range of healthcare professions, exploring new ways of providing individuals receiving a fit note with timely access to work and health support; and</li><li>Establishing an expert group to support the development of the voluntary national baseline for Occupational Health provision.</li></ul> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 14/02/2024 13:55:54 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4747 label Biography information for Tahir Ali

1687738

registered interest
date	06/02/2024
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	Poverty: Birmingham
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Cities Outlook 2024, published on 22 January 2024 by the Centre for Cities, what steps his Department is taking to reduce child poverty in Birmingham.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Hall Green
tabling member printed	Tahir Ali
uin	13330
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/02/2024 answer text <p>The Government is committed to reducing poverty, including child poverty, and supporting low-income families. We will spend around £276bn through the welfare system in Great Britain in 2023/24 including around £124bn on people of working age and children.</p><p> </p><p>Working age benefits will increase by 6.7% from April 2024, subject to Parliamentary approval, following a 10.1% increase in 2023/24. To further support low-income households, we are also raising the Local Housing Allowance rates to the 30th percentile of local market rents in April 2024, benefiting 1.6 million low-income households.</p><p> </p><p>With over 900,000 vacancies across the UK, our focus remains firmly on supporting parents to move into and progress in work. This approach is based on clear evidence about the importance of parental employment - particularly where it is full-time - in substantially reducing the risk of child poverty. The latest statistics show that children living in workless households were around 5 times more likely to be in absolute poverty after housing costs than those where all adults work.</p><p> </p><p>To further support parents into work, we increased the Universal Credit childcare costs cap to £951 a month for one child and £1630 a month for two or more children in June 2023. We will also increase the National Living Wage by 9.8% to £11.44 for workers aged 21 years and over from this April - an annual increase in gross earnings of over £1800 for someone working full-time on the National Living Wage.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bury St Edmunds answering member printed Jo Churchill question first answered 14/02/2024 11:44:17 answering member 4380 label Biography information for Jo Churchill
tabling member	4747 label Biography information for Tahir Ali

1672359

registered interest
date	22/11/2023
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	Cost of Living Payments: Pensioners
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to take steps to help low income pensioners with the cost of living.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Hall Green
tabling member printed	Tahir Ali
uin	3342
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/11/2023 answer text <p>The Government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living which is why we are providing total support of over £94bn over 2022/23 and 2023/24 to help households and individuals with their rising bills.</p><p> </p><p>Over 8 million pensioner households will receive a £300 pensioner Cost of Living Payment as a top up to their winter fuel payment increasing payments to £500 for those aged 66-79 and £600 for those aged 80 and over.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, households in receipt of Pension Credit will be entitled to get up to £900 in means-tested Cost of Living Payments across the 2023/24 financial year.</p><p> </p><p>We continue to maximise opportunities to raise awareness of Pension Credit, including highlighting that there is still time to apply for Pension Credit by the 10 December and be eligible for £300 cost of living payment thanks to the Pension Credit backdating rules.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has also just announced that from April 2024, the basic and new State Pensions as well as the Standard Minimum Guarantee in Pension Credit will be increased by 8.5%.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 28/11/2023 11:42:51 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
tabling member	4747 label Biography information for Tahir Ali

1671414

registered interest
date	20/11/2023
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	Social Security Benefits: Fraud
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 benefits claims were found to be fraudulent in each of the last two years.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Hall Green
tabling member printed	Tahir Ali
uin	2637
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/11/2023 answer text <p>Estimates of fraud and error levels in the benefit system, including for the last two financial years, have been published and can be found at:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/fraud-and-error-in-the-benefit-system" target="_blank">Fraud and error in the benefit system - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)</a></p><p>The rate of fraud overpayments fell from 3.0% of benefit expenditure in 2021/2022 to 2.7% in 2022/23.</p><p> </p><p>To be clear, the percentage of fraud cases represents the average cases incorrect due to fraud at one time, rather than the total number over a whole year. We express this as a percentage, rather than as a whole number.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Corby answering member printed Tom Pursglove question first answered 23/11/2023 15:21:17 answering member 4369 label Biography information for Tom Pursglove
tabling member	4747 label Biography information for Tahir Ali

1219742

registered interest
date	01/07/2020
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	Postal Services: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the safety of postal workers during the covid-19 outbreak.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Hall Green
tabling member printed	Tahir Ali
uin	67765
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/07/2020 answer text <p>The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and Local Authorities (LAs) are jointly responsible for health and safety regulation of Royal Mail’s activities. Broadly, HSE regulate larger distribution centre and mail delivery activities and LAs regulate Post Offices and delivery offices/sorting centres.</p><p> </p><p>HSE has carried out assessment of compliance at individual locations around the country and through liaison with Royal Mail’s Global Director for Compliance and Sustainability. Complaints (referred to as ‘concerns’ by HSE) have been raised about the management of Covid-19 risks at Royal Mail sites, and HSE responds to any concerns notified by Royal Mail’s workforce by assessing Royal Mail’s risk controls against the standards set out in government guidelines addressing social distancing, handling mail, cleaning, and hygiene.</p><p> </p><p>As part of HSE’s assessment of compliance, investigation of these concerns have involved a mixture of visits to premises and contact through email or telephone. Where improvements in the measures to protect workers from Covid-19 have been identified, HSE staff have secured compliance with the law by providing advice or writing to Royal Mail to require improvements.</p><p> </p><p>HSE has advised LAs to ensure a coordinated approach in applying consistent and proportionate standards to securing compliance against Covid-19 risks in Royal Mail premises</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 13/07/2020 15:29:34 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4747 label Biography information for Tahir Ali

1064499

registered interest
date	20/02/2019
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: Food Banks
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether it is her Department's policy not to permit job centre staff to issue food bank referral forms to benefit claimants.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Hall Green
tabling member printed	Mr Roger Godsiff
uin	224080
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/02/2019 answer text <p>Jobcentre managers have discretion to work with a wide range of external partners, including food banks, where they are invited to do so. The Department has long-standing guidance in place which allows staff to signpost customers in writing to a food bank where they have expressed an interest in using one and if all sources of statutory support have been exhausted. We are also exploring how we can build on current good practice to make it as easy as possible for food banks to identify and refer back to the local Jobcentre any customers who may, for a variety of reasons, not be receiving the full formal support to which they are entitled.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 25/02/2019 13:17:27 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	304 label Biography information for Mr Roger Godsiff

1011420

registered interest
date	21/11/2018
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	Social Security Benefits: Medical Examinations
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what proportion of (a) employment support allowance mandatory reconsiderations and (b) personal independence payment mandatory reconsiderations her Department has contacted a claimant's GP or specialist to request medical evidence in the last 12 months; and what guidance his Department provides on when it is appropriate to contact a claimant's GP or specialist.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Hall Green
tabling member printed	Mr Roger Godsiff
uin	194024
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/11/2018 answer text <p>The information requested is not recorded centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The guidance for both benefits tells claimants that when making their claim they should provide the evidence that they already hold and that they should not request additional evidence for which they may need to pay, for example from their GP. If further medical evidence is required this will be requested by the Assessment Provider at no cost to the claimant. At Mandatory Reconsideration the guidance encourages claimants to share any <em>new</em> medical evidence they may have received since their original claim. The instructions in relation to claims and Mandatory Reconsideration are clearly signposted for both benefits.</p> answering member constituency Truro and Falmouth answering member printed Sarah Newton question first answered 26/11/2018 17:42:49 answering member 4071 label Biography information for Sarah Newton
tabling member	304 label Biography information for Mr Roger Godsiff

1011443

registered interest
date	21/11/2018
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	Women against State Pension Inequality
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department plans to accept recommendations made by the Ombudsman's investigation into complaints regarding WASPI.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Hall Green
tabling member printed	Mr Roger Godsiff
uin	194026
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/11/2018 answer text <p>The process of any Ombudsman investigation is effectively unchanged since their creation by the Labour Government in 1967.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The Ombudsman is currently considering whether to investigate, and if so, the scope of that investigation. Should he decide to investigate, the DWP will co-operate in full with that process.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 26/11/2018 15:03:11 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	304 label Biography information for Mr Roger Godsiff