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724568

	registered interest
	date	26/04/2017
	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: Disability
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many representations he has received from whom on improving benefit assessments for pupils with severe disabilities.
	tabling member constituency	Bolsover
	tabling member printed	Mr Dennis Skinner
	uin	72007
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/05/2017 answer text <p><B>The House of Commons was prorogued before the earliest date of answer for this Question.</B></p> answering member constituency answering member printed question first answered 02/05/2017 10:00:00 answering member 0
	tabling member	325 label Biography information for Mr Dennis Skinner

724569

	registered interest
	date	26/04/2017
	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	Housing Benefit: Bolsover
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the total amount of housing benefit claimed was in Bolsover constituency in each of the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Bolsover
	tabling member printed	Mr Dennis Skinner
	uin	72003
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/05/2017 answer text <p><B>The House of Commons was prorogued before the earliest date of answer for this Question.</B></p> answering member constituency answering member printed question first answered 02/05/2017 10:00:00 answering member 0
	tabling member	325 label Biography information for Mr Dennis Skinner

1505467

	registered interest
	date	06/09/2022
	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	Pensioners: Poverty
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the number of pensioners living in poverty in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England; what recent assessment she has made of the effect of the rising cost of living on the levels of pensioner poverty in those areas; and what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the welfare system in helping to alleviate levels of pensioner poverty in those areas.
	tabling member constituency	Coventry North East
	tabling member printed	Colleen Fletcher
	uin	48379
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/09/2022 answer text <p>National Statistics on the number of pensioners in low income in West Midlands and England are published annually in the “Households Below Average Income” publication. Statistics, covering up until 2019/20, can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/households-below-average-income-for-financial-years-ending-1995-to-2020" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/households-below-average-income-for-financial-years-ending-1995-to-2020</a>. Data for Coventry and the Coventry North East constituency is unavailable due to insufficient sample size.</p><p> </p><p>Given the impact of the pandemic on the size and quality of sample data additional breakdowns for regions in 2020/21 were not reliable enough to be published as part of the annual statistics.</p><p> </p><p>No such assessments have been made.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is committed to action that helps to alleviate levels of pensioner poverty.</p><p> </p><p>In 2020/21 there were 400,000 fewer pensioners in absolute poverty in the UK (both before and after housing costs) than in 2009/10.</p><p> </p><p>We are forecast to spend over £134 billion on benefits for pensioners in 2022/23. This amounts to 5.4% of GDP. This includes spending on the State Pension which is forecast to be over £110bn in 2022/23.</p><p> </p><p>The government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living and has taken further decisive action to support people with their energy bills. The new “Energy Price Guarantee” will mean a typical UK household will now pay up to an average £2,500 a year on their energy bill for the next two years from 1 October, saving the average household in Great Britain at least £1,000 from October. This is in addition to the over £37bn of cost of living support announced earlier this year which includes the £400 non-repayable discount to eligible households provided through the Energy Bills Support Scheme.</p><p> </p><p>This includes a £650 cost of living payment (paid in 2 lump sums of £326 and £324) which has been designed to target support at more than 8 million low-income households on means-tested benefits. The payment of £326 was paid between the 14 July and the 31 July for most people and the payment of £324 will be made in the Autumn. In addition, 6 million eligible disabled people will receive a one-off disability Cost of Living Payment of £150 from 20 September and pensioner households will receive a one-off payment of £300 through and as an addition to the Winter Fuel Payment from November.</p><p> </p><p>The government is providing an additional £500 million to help households with the cost of household essentials, on top of what we have already provided since October 2021, bringing total funding for this support to £1.5 billion. In England this will take the form of an extension to the Household Support Fund backed by £421m. Devolved administrations will receive £79 million through the Barnett formula.</p><p> </p><p>The current Household Support Fund runs from 1 April to 30 September, with Coventry City Council allocated £3,224,222.30 for this period. During this period, a total of £49,520,715.25 has been allocated to West Midlands Local Authorities, which takes their total funding under both Household Support Funds to £99,041,430.50. Local Authorities have the discretion to design their own funds, within the parameters of the guidance and the grant determination.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart question first answered 21/09/2022 16:49:48 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart
	tabling member	4378 label Biography information for Colleen Fletcher

1506271

	registered interest
	date	08/09/2022
	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: Autism
	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 autistic people are supported to access their pensions in later life.
	tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
	tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
	uin	49580
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/09/2022 answer text <p>In order to ensure our services are available to all, including those with varying or complex needs, DWP provides choice in how customers can access our services to claim their State Pension.</p><p> </p><p>State Pension invite letters are issued to prompt a customer to claim State Pension four months before State Pension age. In the unlikely event of not receiving an invite letter there are still four access routes to claim, making sure those with differing or complex needs have options to use the most appropriate route based on their individual requirements. This includes online, telephony and postal channels. Customers, or their trusted helpers, can choose the most appropriate route to support their needs.</p><p> </p><p>Where, during contact with the department, someone is identified as having additional or complex needs, DWP Agents have access to the Advanced Customer Support Team who ensure DWP has the services and tools in place to help our most vulnerable customers identify, access and engage with the support that they need when they have multiple barriers. This includes support to make a claim and to ensure first payments are made on time, signposting, or referrals to external organisations if needed. All channels offer alternative formats when the claim is made which includes braille, British Sign Language, email, a hearing loop, translations, large print and audio.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, the Government provides free and impartial Pension Wise guidance for anyone who is over the age of 50 with a defined contribution pension (DC). Pension Wise helps individuals with the options they have to access their DC workplace and private pensions savings. This guidance is delivered by the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) who are required to comply with the Equality Act 2010 and must make reasonable adjustments for people’s accessibility needs. Accessibility requests can either be arranged at the point of booking a Pension Wise appointment or, if during the appointment any additional needs are identified, MaPS can adjust the delivery of the appointment to suit requirements.</p> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart question first answered 22/09/2022 16:29:16 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart
	tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

1506272

	registered interest
	date	08/09/2022
	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: Autism
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support her Department provides to autistic people to help them access their pensions in later life.
	tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
	tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
	uin	49581
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/09/2022 answer text <p>In order to ensure our services are available to all, including those with varying or complex needs, DWP provides choice in how customers can access our services to claim their State Pension.</p><p> </p><p>State Pension invite letters are issued to prompt a customer to claim State Pension four months before State Pension age. In the unlikely event of not receiving an invite letter there are still four access routes to claim, making sure those with differing or complex needs have options to use the most appropriate route based on their individual requirements. This includes online, telephony and postal channels. Customers, or their trusted helpers, can choose the most appropriate route to support their needs.</p><p> </p><p>Where, during contact with the department, someone is identified as having additional or complex needs, DWP Agents have access to the Advanced Customer Support Team who ensure DWP has the services and tools in place to help our most vulnerable customers identify, access and engage with the support that they need when they have multiple barriers. This includes support to make a claim and to ensure first payments are made on time, signposting, or referrals to external organisations if needed. All channels offer alternative formats when the claim is made which includes braille, British Sign Language, email, a hearing loop, translations, large print and audio.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, the Government provides free and impartial Pension Wise guidance for anyone who is over the age of 50 with a defined contribution pension (DC). Pension Wise helps individuals with the options they have to access their DC workplace and private pensions savings. This guidance is delivered by the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) who are required to comply with the Equality Act 2010 and must make reasonable adjustments for people’s accessibility needs. Accessibility requests can either be arranged at the point of booking a Pension Wise appointment or, if during the appointment any additional needs are identified, MaPS can adjust the delivery of the appointment to suit requirements.</p> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart question first answered 22/09/2022 16:23:35 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart
	tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

348496

	registered interest
	date	04/06/2015
	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	Employment: Disability
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to end the disability employment gap.
	tabling member printed	Lord Touhig
	uin	HL268
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/06/2015 answer text <p>In the last 12 months there has been an increase of 238,000 disabled people in work. That is really positive, but there is more to do.</p><p> </p><p>We have been very clear that the gap between the employment rates of disabled people and non-disabled people remains too big and have committed to halving it.</p><p> </p><p>Government cannot achieve this ambition alone so we are working closely with disabled people, their organisations, employers and employment support providers to develop our strategy to enable more disabled people to get into, remain in and progress in work.</p><p> </p><p>The Disability Confident Campaign, which actively promotes the Access to Work scheme, is key to supporting employers in working with Government to halve the disability employment gap.</p> answering member printed Baroness Altmann question first answered 18/06/2015 11:45:10 answering member 4533 label Biography information for Baroness Altmann
	tabling member	542 label Biography information for Lord Touhig

349511

	registered interest
	date	10/06/2015
	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	Mesothelioma: Compensation
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, with regard to the compensation payments awarded under the Mesothelioma Act 2014, what is their estimate of (1) the difference between the actuarial calculations on which they based their assumptions for payments of compensation and the payments now being made by insurance companies; and (2) how much such companies will save in each of the next 10 years compared with the original legislative assumptions.
	tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
	uin	HL380
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/06/2015 answer text <p /> <p>No actuarial calculations were carried out in relation to the payments that would be made by the Diffuse Mesothelioma Payment Scheme. The tariff table, which sets out the rate of payment according to age at diagnosis, is based on an average of similar payments made under civil compensation.</p><p> </p><p>The Impact Assessment published in March 2014 estimated that £93.7m would be paid out by the Scheme in the first year of its operation, and £412.4m would be paid out over the first 10 years.</p><p> </p><p>Initial application volumes were lower than anticipated so the amount levied on the insurance industry for the period 2014/15 was £32m. It is too early to estimate what the application volumes will be over the next 10 years given volumes received to date. As this is a demand led scheme, the calculations for the levy are done afresh each year. An upturn in applications to the Scheme would result in a higher levy rate in future years.</p> answering member printed Baroness Altmann question first answered 18/06/2015 13:31:33 answering member 4533 label Biography information for Baroness Altmann
	tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool

349525

	registered interest
	date	10/06/2015
	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	Fuel Direct Scheme
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the affordability of a standard Fuel Direct rate of £3.70 for direct payments for arrears on fuel bills; and whether in setting that rate they considered (1) allowing some customers to pay a lower rate of direct deduction, and (2) allowing customers to pay by Fuel Direct for ongoing bills when they are not in arrears.
	tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of St Albans
	uin	HL394
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/06/2015 answer text <p /> <p>Third Party Deduction is a long standing scheme of last resort where all other means of budgeting have been exhausted. Where the Secretary of State decides that it is in the claimant’s best interests to order repayment of the arrears he can do so. The scheme was introduced in the 1970’s to protect the vulnerable and their family, whilst not adding to their financial burden.</p><p> </p><p>Fuel Direct is set in legislation at 5% of their Personal Allowance, which is a fixed deduction of £3.70 for each element of fuel debt. This is considered to be the most appropriate level of repayment in order to clear the fuel debt arrears and to prevent enforcement action.</p><p> </p><p>Each year the amount of Third Party Deduction is re-assessed as part of The Social Security Up-rating Order.</p><p> </p><p>Once the arrears have been paid a person will usually be taken off the Fuel Direct scheme. In exceptional circumstances a person may be allowed to remain on the Fuel Direct scheme to help ensure that they don’t get into debt again.</p><p> </p><p>However Fuel Direct is not intended as a budgeting aid and the Governments main objective is to help people into employment, whilst encouraging them to be responsible for their own financial affairs, whether they are on benefit or not.</p> answering member printed Baroness Altmann question first answered 18/06/2015 14:39:18 answering member 4533 label Biography information for Baroness Altmann
	tabling member	4308 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of St Albans

350105

	registered interest
	date	11/06/2015
	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	Prescribed Industrial Diseases
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many claims they have received for Prescribed Disease C3b in the last 10 years; and of these, how many were allowed.
	tabling member printed	The Countess of Mar
	uin	HL419
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/06/2015 answer text <p /> <p>The information as requested is not available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.</p> answering member printed Baroness Altmann question first answered 18/06/2015 13:40:56 answering member 4533 label Biography information for Baroness Altmann
	tabling member	1861 label Biography information for The Countess of Mar

350106

	registered interest
	date	11/06/2015
	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	Sheep Dipping
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the statement by George Eustice, Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, on 10 June (HC Deb, col 136WH), who published the 1991 Health and Safety Executive report of an inquiry into sheep dipping; and to whom it was distributed.
	tabling member printed	The Countess of Mar
	uin	HL420
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/06/2015 answer text <p /> <p>The 1991 Health and Safety Executive (HSE) report presented the findings of a 1990 survey of sheep dipping and was published by HSE as an internal document in May 1991.</p><p> </p><p>The report was discussed at a meeting of the then Health and Safety Commission’s Agricultural Industry Advisory Committee (AIAC) working group, Chemicals In Agriculture (ChemAg), on 10 July 1991. The ChemAg working group membership included HSE, the Confederation of British Industry, the Trades Union Congress and other industry organisations.</p> answering member printed Baroness Altmann question first answered 18/06/2015 13:32:17 answering member 4533 label Biography information for Baroness Altmann
	tabling member	1861 label Biography information for The Countess of Mar