Show Search Form

Search Results

registered interest	true false
date	exactly: or between: and
answering body
answering dept id
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
hansard heading
house id
legislature	pref label
question text
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member printed grouped question UIN question first answered answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

78262

	registered interest
	date	15/07/2014
	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	Work Programme: Travellers
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in their draft Child Poverty Strategy 2014–17, what they envisage by "specialist" support for Gypsy and Traveller parents via the Work Programme.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Whitaker
	uin	HL1157
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/07/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>The Government’s strategy for increasing ethnic minority employment and participation in the labour market is based around mainstreaming opportunity through locally delivered flexible provision.</p><p>The Work Programme is designed to give providers the flexibility to support each individual jobseeker, rather than treat people according to ethnic groups. Local autonomy and flexibility has replaced the one size fits all approach that has dogged previous employment schemes.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud question first answered 28/07/2014 14:39:02 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
	tabling member	2510 label Biography information for Baroness Whitaker

79596

	registered interest
	date	24/07/2014
	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: Social Rented Housing
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of their recent <i>Evaluation of Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy: Interim Report</i>, what incentives they intend to make available to social landlords to encourage offers of alternative housing to be made to people affected by the removal of the spare room subsidy.
	tabling member printed	Lord German
	uin	HL1492
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/07/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>The Government has already taken steps to support mobility of tenants in the social rented sector.</p><p>Our social housing reforms have given social landlords, including councils, much more flexibility when allocating housing. Our statutory guidance on social housing allocations stresses the importance of giving under-occupying social tenants appropriate priority for a transfer. It also encourages authorities to re-consider the parameters of their allocation schemes which may prevent under-occupiers from being able to move.</p><p>The introduction of the national <em>HomeSwap</em> Direct scheme has made it easier for tenants wanting to move to find a suitable property. A guide was issued in February 2014 to support landlords seeking to facilitate mutual exchanges; highlighting various steps landlords can take to make mutual exchange a more attractive and viable proposition for tenants.Indeed, many social landlords are helping affected tenants by holding “mutual exchange fairs”, where tenants who want to downsize can meet those looking for larger properties.</p><p>The 2015-18 Affordable Housing Programme also encourages housing providers to build appropriately sized social homes to meet local need, 77% of successful bids have been for 1 and 2 bedroom homes, increasing the stock of housing available for those working to downsize.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud question first answered 29/07/2014 11:10:40 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
	tabling member	4163 label Biography information for Lord German

78230

	registered interest
	date	15/07/2014
	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: Voluntary Work
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the recent Joseph Rowntree Foundation study of neighbourhood approaches to loneliness, whether they will set out, and if necessary reconsider, the rules governing volunteering while on benefits.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Lister of Burtersett
	uin	HL1125
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/07/2014 answer text <p> </p><p> </p><p>We recognise that volunteering in the local community can be invaluable in helping benefit claimants, including inactive people, gain new skills and experience that will help them back into work.</p><p> </p><p>In Jobseekers Allowance, claimants are able to volunteer so long as they meet the conditions of claiming, namely looking for and being available for work.</p><p> </p><p>Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) claimants can do unlimited, voluntary work, it will not affect ESA.</p><p> </p><p>For Universal Credit claimants, advisers will be able to reduce a claimant’s expected hours of worksearch and work preparation activities by up to 50 per cent in order to accommodate voluntary work. However the claimant can continue to do as much voluntary work as they feel they are able to, as long as they continue to meet their other work-related requirements.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud question first answered 28/07/2014 15:59:46 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
	tabling member	4234 label Biography information for Baroness Lister of Burtersett

77778

	registered interest
	date	14/07/2014
	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	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Lord Freud on 9 July (HL Deb, col 223), how many people have made use of the "system of advances", and how many have been helped by "local support frameworks" through local authorities, in the last two years for which figures are available; and whether they consider that those methods have reduced numbers resorting to food banks and loan sharks.
	tabling member printed	Lord Hylton
	uin	HL1075
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/07/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>Statistics on how many people have made use of the &quot;system of advances&quot; is not currently available.</p><p> </p><p>Information on how many people have been helped by &quot;local support frameworks&quot; is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p>Our Local Authority partners are supporting claimants through our local delivery partnerships, and feedback from claimant surveys suggests there is no significant difference between the proportion of UC and JSA claimants accessing funding from third party lenders.</p><p> </p><p>Information on whether these methods have reduced numbers resorting to food banks and loan sharks is not collected by the Department.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud question first answered 24/07/2014 14:30:57 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
	tabling member	2018 label Biography information for Lord Hylton

79791

	registered interest
	date	30/07/2014
	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	Children: Day Care
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Deighton on 28 July (WA 247) what specific estimates they have made of the expected "positive impact" of the childcare element of Universal Credit on work incentives for mothers and corresponding employment rates and tax receipts from mothers paying income tax and national insurance.
	tabling member printed	Lord Sutherland of Houndwood
	uin	HL1680
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/08/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p>The announced measures mean from April 2016, families with children who have childcare costs below the defined limits will see an improved financial incentive to work and to work more hours.</p><p>Once Universal Credit is fully rolled out many working families will face an improved incentive to work, including 100,000 families who will get childcare support for the first time under Universal Credit. The precise improvement an individual faces will vary according to circumstance.</p><p>We have not made a specific estimate of how this feeds through into employment rates and tax receipts.</p><p><br></p> answering member printed Lord Freud question first answered 11/08/2014 12:29:40 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
	tabling member	2173 label Biography information for Lord Sutherland of Houndwood

79639

	registered interest
	date	28/07/2014
	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
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what trends they have identified in the prevalence of mesothelioma in the United Kingdom over the last 10 years.
	tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
	uin	HL1531
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/07/2014 answer text <p> </p><p> </p><p>Statistics on the prevalence of mesothelioma in the United Kingdom – that is, the number of people that had the disease at a particular time or in a particular period – are not available. However, mesothelioma prevalence is known to be approximately equivalent to annual mesothelioma mortality.</p><p>The annual total numbers of mesothelioma deaths in Great Britain over the period 2003-2012 (the latest 10 years for which data are available) are shown in the table below.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>2003</p></td><td><p>2004</p></td><td><p>2005</p></td><td><p>2006</p></td><td><p>2007</p></td><td><p>2008</p></td><td><p>2009</p></td><td><p>2010</p></td><td><p>2011</p></td><td><p>2012</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Total</p></td><td><p>1887</p></td><td><p>1978</p></td><td><p>2049</p></td><td><p>2060</p></td><td><p>2176</p></td><td><p>2265</p></td><td><p>2336</p></td><td><p>2360</p></td><td><p>2291</p></td><td><p>2535</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p>Source: Health and Safety Executive mesothelioma register.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud question first answered 30/07/2014 14:06:13 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
	tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool

79482

	registered interest
	date	22/07/2014
	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	Jobseeker's Allowance Sanctions Independent Review
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what their evaluation is of the report by Matthew Oakley, commissioned by the Department for Work and Pensions, on the imposition of benefits sanctions.
	tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
	uin	HL1381
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/07/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>The Government welcomes and accepts all of Matthew Oakley's recommendations.</p><p> </p><p>As Matthew himself confirmed, sanctions play an important role in the system. We have already started to make improvements as part of our continuous review of sanctions policy and will continue to build on these through Matthew’s recommendations.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud question first answered 29/07/2014 13:41:45 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
	tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

92750

	registered interest
	date	13/10/2014
	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	Access to Work Programme
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to consider individual and local requirements in the provision of Access to Work support for deaf people.
	tabling member printed	Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
	uin	HL1986
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2014 answer text <p>All 128 Access to Work advisers receive training which includes Disability Awareness, Decision Making, Equality &amp; Diversity, Negotiating Skills and Effective Communications. In addition, Access to Work have specialist adviser teams focussing on hearing impaired and visually impaired customers, and also a team to assist customers with mental health conditions. These teams receive additional training, which includes input from suppliers, disability charities and other disability led groups. Also as part of the standard adviser training, staff undertake Influencing Skills and Constructive Conversations training to enable them to work effectively with employers.</p><p> </p><p>Access to Work advisers have standardised work instructions to help ensure consistency during the evaluation and decision making process. However, all Access to Work awards are agreed on an individual basis, taking account of a customer’s disability, job role and the barriers they are facing. Standards are monitored using a Quality Assurance Framework which includes the quality of telephone conversations with customers and employers, and the consistency and accuracy of decisions and financial awards.</p><p> </p><p>Access to Work aims to contact customers within 7 working days and give 80% of all decisions in 15 working days. Time sensitive requests, such as customer support requirements at interview, are prioritised and are supported by a 5 working day service standard. Demand for Access to Work, particularly new applications, grew during 2013/14 and customer volumes continue to grow in 2014/15.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud grouped question UIN HL1981 HL1982 HL1983 question first answered 23/10/2014 15:24:39 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
	tabling member	2024 label Biography information for Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

77792

	registered interest
	date	14/07/2014
	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	Children: Day Care
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what projections they have made of the impact of the childcare element of universal credit on maternal employment rates, and the level of income tax paid by working mothers.
	tabling member printed	Lord Sutherland of Houndwood
	uin	HL1089
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/07/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>It is well known that childcare costs can be a significant barrier to maternal employment, which is why the Government is investing in childcare in Universal Credit. Universal Credit will cover childcare costs for families where the lone parent or both parents in a couple work any hours, whereas Tax Credits childcare support is only payable past 16 hours worked per week. At Budget '14 the Government announced an increase in the rate of childcare support in Universal Credit from 70% (as per the current system) to 85% of eligible childcare costs, up to defined limits, from April 2016. These measures combined mean that around 500,000 working families will get more out of the money they earn, including 100,000 families who will get childcare support for the first time under Universal Credit.</p><p> </p><p>We would expect the changes in childcare support under Universal Credit to have a positive impact on work incentives for mothers, affecting maternal employment rates and tax receipts from mothers paying Income Tax and National Insurance.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud question first answered 28/07/2014 14:38:01 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
	tabling member	2173 label Biography information for Lord Sutherland of Houndwood

78231

	registered interest
	date	15/07/2014
	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	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress has been made on reaching a final decision on the proposal to increase the rent arrears deduction rate under Universal Credit.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Lister of Burtersett
	uin	HL1126
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/07/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>We recently consulted on the proposal to increase the rate of rent arrears deductions in Universal Credit. We are currently considering the consultation responses.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>Deductions from Universal Credit are made after considering the claimant’s individual circumstances and ability to afford the deductions. The maximum that can be deducted for all deductions, including rent arrears, is an amount equivalent to 40 per cent of the claimant’s Universal Credit Standard Allowance. The government will ensure that appropriate support is available to help claimants manage moving to a single monthly household payment, including budgeting and debt management advice.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member printed Lord Freud grouped question UIN HL1127 question first answered 24/07/2014 14:32:29 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
	tabling member	4234 label Biography information for Baroness Lister of Burtersett