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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

1506582

registered interest
date	20/09/2022
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	Carers: Employment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has plans to provide further resources to carers to help (a) remain in or (b) return to work.
tabling member constituency	Ealing Central and Acton
tabling member printed	Dr Rupa Huq
uin	51859
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/09/2022 answer text <p>The Government recognises the important contribution of unpaid carers and the considerable challenges they can face in balancing work with their caring responsibilities.</p><p>Unpaid carers can access a range of support in Jobcentres to help them find employment.</p><p>The Government has consulted on proposals for a new entitlement to carer’s leave. The Government response to the consultation committed to introducing carer’s leave as a day 1 right. We are aware of Wendy Chamberlain MP’s Private Member’s Bill on Carer’s Leave and are looking closely at whether we can support this at Second Reading. That Bill would introduce carer’s leave for all employees who are providing care for a dependant with a long-term care need. Eligible employees will be entitled to one week of unpaid leave per year, which will be available to take including flexibly in individual or half days.</p><p> </p><p>The Adult Social Care Reform White Paper: <em>People at the Heart of Care</em>, sets out a new strategic approach to empower unpaid carers including identifying, recognising and involving unpaid carers; supporting the economic and social participation of unpaid carers and working with sector to kick start a change in the services provided to support unpaid carers.</p><p> </p><p>Local authorities are required to undertake a Carer’s Assessment for any carer who has a need for support. This is an opportunity to record the impact caring has on a carer, including whether they are willing or able to continue caring. If a carer is assessed as having needs that are eligible for support, then the local authority has a legal duty to meet these needs on request from the carer and to draw up a support plan with the carer setting out how these needs will be met.</p> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart question first answered 27/09/2022 15:05:01 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart
tabling member	4511 label Biography information for Dr Rupa Huq

1506784

registered interest
date	20/09/2022
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	Pension Credit
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 8 September 2022 to Question 47660 on Pension Credit, if she will publish equivalent data on the number of people eligible for Pension Credit in the period since 2019-20.
tabling member constituency	North East Fife
tabling member printed	Wendy Chamberlain
uin	51977
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/09/2022 answer text <p>Data on the number of people eligible for Pension Credit in the period since 2019-20 is not available. The Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up Official Statistics series is suspended. Estimates will not be published for the financial year 2020 to 2021 due to data issues following the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. This is affecting the methodology used to produce these statistics. We will provide an update on the financial year 2021 to 2022 publication when we have assessed if it will be possible to publish these statistics in line with the UK Statistics Authority Code of Practice for Statistics.</p> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart question first answered 23/09/2022 14:02:02 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart
tabling member	4765 label Biography information for Wendy Chamberlain

1506816

registered interest
date	20/09/2022
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	Pension Credit
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 and proportion of eligible households that did not receive Pension Credit in the 2021-22 financial year.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
uin	51418
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/09/2022 answer text <p>Estimates for the number of people eligible for Pension Credit are only available at the Great Britain level and are available in the “Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up” publication which can be found on the statistics section of gov.uk. The latest publication relates to the financial year 2019 to 2020.</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/income-related-benefits-estimates-of-take-up-financial-year-2019-to-2020" target="_blank">Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up: financial year 2019 to 2020 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)</a></p> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart grouped question UIN 51419 question first answered 23/09/2022 14:04:47 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart
tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1506817

registered interest
date	20/09/2022
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	Pension Credit: West Midlands
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an estimate of the number and proportion of eligible households who are not receiving Pension Credit in the West Midlands as of 20 September 2022.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
uin	51419
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/09/2022 answer text <p>Estimates for the number of people eligible for Pension Credit are only available at the Great Britain level and are available in the “Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up” publication which can be found on the statistics section of gov.uk. The latest publication relates to the financial year 2019 to 2020.</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/income-related-benefits-estimates-of-take-up-financial-year-2019-to-2020" target="_blank">Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up: financial year 2019 to 2020 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)</a></p> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart grouped question UIN 51418 question first answered 23/09/2022 14:04:47 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart
tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1506818

registered interest
date	20/09/2022
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	Pension 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 claims for Pension Credit were made in each month since January 2022; and how many and what proportion of these new claims were successful.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
uin	51420
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/09/2022 answer text <p>Estimates of the number of Pension Credit claims since January 2022 are available in four-weekly groupings. Data on the number and proportion of Pension Credit claims that lead to successful awards are not available. This management information has not been subjected to the usual standard of quality assurance associated with official statistics but are provided here in the interests of transparency.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Time Period</p></td><td><p>Number of PC Claims</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>3<sup>rd</sup> January- 30<sup>th</sup> January 2022</p></td><td><p>13,111</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>31<sup>st</sup> January – 27<sup>th</sup> February 2022</p></td><td><p>15,824</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>28<sup>th</sup> February – 27<sup>th</sup> March 2022</p></td><td><p>17,296</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>28<sup>th</sup> March – 24<sup>th</sup> April 2022</p></td><td><p>14,489</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>25<sup>th</sup> April – 22<sup>nd</sup> May 2022</p></td><td><p>14,793</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>23<sup>rd</sup> May – 19<sup>th</sup> June 2022</p></td><td><p>18,160</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>20<sup>th</sup> June – 17<sup>th</sup> July 2022</p></td><td><p>22,205</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>18<sup>th</sup> July – 14<sup>th</sup> August 2022</p></td><td><p>26,117</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>15<sup>th</sup> August – 11<sup>th</sup> September 2022</p></td><td><p>26,564</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart question first answered 26/09/2022 08:25:15 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart
tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1506827

registered interest
date	20/09/2022
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 recent estimate her Department has made of the number of pensioners who will be living in poverty during the winter of 2022-23.
tabling member constituency	Ealing Central and Acton
tabling member printed	Dr Rupa Huq
uin	51865
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/09/2022 answer text <p>It is not possible to produce a robust estimate of the number of pensioners who will be living in poverty during the winter 2022/23. Projecting poverty involves projecting forward the impact of the cost of living on every household’s income which is not possible to do with confidence.</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 thousand 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>On top of this, 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 based on current energy prices 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 one-off payment to pensioners households 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> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart question first answered 23/09/2022 14:08:33 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart
tabling member	4511 label Biography information for Dr Rupa Huq

1506832

registered interest
date	20/09/2022
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	Farms: Safety
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many inspections were conducted by the Health and Safety Executive on farms in each of the past five annual reporting periods.
tabling member constituency	Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East
tabling member printed	Stuart C McDonald
uin	51710
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/09/2022 answer text <p>The fatality rate in agriculture is a concern to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which has a long-term strategy to drive industry ownership of the challenge and influence behaviour.</p><p> </p><p>Since 2018, HSE has run an annual programme of delivering training to farmers in advance of targeted proactive inspection. This sits alongside specific interventions on the management of cattle and, during 2022/23, the management of electrocution risk from overhead power lines.</p><p> </p><p>HSE continues engagement activity with a full range of stakeholders through the Farm Safety Partnerships. The latest activity includes work on child safety, management of cattle in fields with public rights of way, farm transport and the safe use of quad bikes. HSE also regularly holds formal consultations with the industry about its initiatives through the <a href="https://www.hse.gov.uk/agriculture/agriculture-industry-advisory-committee.htm" target="_blank">Agriculture Industry Advisory Committee</a>.</p><p> </p><p>HSE publishes an annual report detailing the main causes of fatal incidents in agriculture, forestry and fishing in Great Britain. The report covering the period of 2021/22 is available via HSE’s <a href="https://www.hse.gov.uk/agriculture/pdf/agriculture-fatal-injuries-2022.pdf" target="_blank">website</a>.</p><p> </p><p>The table below shows the number of agricultural inspections* conducted by HSE in each of the last five annual reporting periods (figures available from HSE systems as yearly figures):</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Year**</strong> <strong> </strong></p></td><td><p>2017</p></td><td><p>2018</p></td><td><p>2019</p></td><td><p>2020</p></td><td><p>2021</p></td><td><p>2022 (inspections ongoing)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Number of inspections</strong> <strong> </strong></p></td><td><p>572</p></td><td><p>772</p></td><td><p>706</p></td><td><p>229</p></td><td><p>398</p></td><td><p>179</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>*Figures have been provided for agriculture inspections. The number may include a small number of non-farm premises.</p><p>**HSE systems able to generate figures for each calendar year e.g., 2018 rather than work year e.g., 2017/18.</p> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart grouped question UIN 51711 question first answered 27/09/2022 14:54:48 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart
tabling member	4393 label Biography information for Stuart C McDonald

1506833

registered interest
date	20/09/2022
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	Agriculture: Safety
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent steps the Health and Safety Executive has taken to help reduce the fatality rate in agriculture.
tabling member constituency	Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East
tabling member printed	Stuart C McDonald
uin	51711
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/09/2022 answer text <p>The fatality rate in agriculture is a concern to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which has a long-term strategy to drive industry ownership of the challenge and influence behaviour.</p><p> </p><p>Since 2018, HSE has run an annual programme of delivering training to farmers in advance of targeted proactive inspection. This sits alongside specific interventions on the management of cattle and, during 2022/23, the management of electrocution risk from overhead power lines.</p><p> </p><p>HSE continues engagement activity with a full range of stakeholders through the Farm Safety Partnerships. The latest activity includes work on child safety, management of cattle in fields with public rights of way, farm transport and the safe use of quad bikes. HSE also regularly holds formal consultations with the industry about its initiatives through the <a href="https://www.hse.gov.uk/agriculture/agriculture-industry-advisory-committee.htm" target="_blank">Agriculture Industry Advisory Committee</a>.</p><p> </p><p>HSE publishes an annual report detailing the main causes of fatal incidents in agriculture, forestry and fishing in Great Britain. The report covering the period of 2021/22 is available via HSE’s <a href="https://www.hse.gov.uk/agriculture/pdf/agriculture-fatal-injuries-2022.pdf" target="_blank">website</a>.</p><p> </p><p>The table below shows the number of agricultural inspections* conducted by HSE in each of the last five annual reporting periods (figures available from HSE systems as yearly figures):</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Year**</strong> <strong> </strong></p></td><td><p>2017</p></td><td><p>2018</p></td><td><p>2019</p></td><td><p>2020</p></td><td><p>2021</p></td><td><p>2022 (inspections ongoing)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Number of inspections</strong> <strong> </strong></p></td><td><p>572</p></td><td><p>772</p></td><td><p>706</p></td><td><p>229</p></td><td><p>398</p></td><td><p>179</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>*Figures have been provided for agriculture inspections. The number may include a small number of non-farm premises.</p><p>**HSE systems able to generate figures for each calendar year e.g., 2018 rather than work year e.g., 2017/18.</p> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart grouped question UIN 51710 question first answered 27/09/2022 14:54:48 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart
tabling member	4393 label Biography information for Stuart C McDonald

1506845

registered interest
date	20/09/2022
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	State Retirement Pensions: Females
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman’s provisional views for the second stage of its investigation into changes to women’s State Pension age.
tabling member constituency	Portsmouth South
tabling member printed	Stephen Morgan
uin	51926
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/09/2022 answer text <p>The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman’s (PHSO) investigation into communication of changes to women’s state pensions is ongoing and section 7(2) of the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967 states that Ombudsman investigations “shall be conducted in private’’. We are cooperating fully with the PHSO in their investigation and will continue to do so.</p> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart question first answered 27/09/2022 12:59:06 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart
tabling member	4653 label Biography information for Stephen Morgan

1506897

registered interest
date	20/09/2022
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	Members: Correspondence
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when she plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for Glasgow North East, dated 30 June 2022, on Pension Credit and the £650 Cost of Living Payment.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow North East
tabling member printed	Anne McLaughlin
uin	51746
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/09/2022 answer text <p>I replied to the hon. Member on 29 September.</p> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart question first answered 29/09/2022 15:30:07 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart
tabling member	4437 label Biography information for Anne McLaughlin

1507231

registered interest
date	21/09/2022
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	State Retirement Pensions: British Nationals Abroad
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the impact of the freeze on the state pensions of people living abroad on levels of poverty amongst those people.
tabling member constituency	Coventry South
tabling member printed	Zarah Sultana
uin	53522
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/09/2022 answer text <p>DWP does not make such an assessment. The UK State Pension is payable worldwide to those who meet the qualifying conditions. Entitlement is based on an individual’s National Insurance record. The policy on up-rating UK State Pensions overseas is long-standing and has been supported by successive post-war Governments for over 70 years. We continue to up-rate UK State Pensions abroad where there is a legal requirement to do so – for example where there is a reciprocal agreement that provides for up-rating. There are no plans to change this policy.</p><p> </p><p>This Government continues to take the view that priority should be given to those living in the UK when drawing up expenditure plans for pensioner benefits.</p> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart question first answered 27/09/2022 13:13:24 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart
tabling member	4786 label Biography information for Zarah Sultana

1507312

registered interest
date	21/09/2022
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	State Retirement Pensions: Applications
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason eligible pensioners who have experienced delays in receiving their State Pension invitation do not have the option to apply for their pension via an online form or via a form that can be downloaded and printed from the Government website.
tabling member constituency	Brighton, Kemptown
tabling member printed	Lloyd Russell-Moyle
uin	53488
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/10/2022 answer text <p>If a customer’s State Pension age is pre 6th April 2016 they can download a BR1 claim form from Gov.uk.</p><p> </p><p>For customers whose State Pension Age is after 6th April 2016 they can use the online ‘Get Your State Pension’ (GySP) digital service to complete their claim. Customers who do not receive an invitation to claim their State Pension can use the online service to request a claim invitation to be sent to them. A claim invitation code can be used for up to 15 months from being issued.</p><p> </p><p>If a customer does not wish to use the online service and requires a clerical claim form to complete, this can be obtained by contacting the new claims telephony line. Additionally, claims can be made by telephone where the claim may be gathered and processed while the customer is on the phone. If the customer requires an accessible version of the form that can also be provided on request.</p> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart question first answered 12/10/2022 15:54:05 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart
tabling member	4615 label Biography information for Lloyd Russell-Moyle

1507339

registered interest
date	21/09/2022
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	Housing Benefit
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of applications for Housing Benefit in (a) Birmingham and (b) England in the last (i) 12 months, (ii) 3 years and (iii) 5 years.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Ladywood
tabling member printed	Shabana Mahmood
uin	53352
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/10/2022 answer text <p>The information requested for the number of Housing Benefit applications is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart question first answered 11/10/2022 13:53:42 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart
tabling member	3914 label Biography information for Shabana Mahmood

1507340

registered interest
date	21/09/2022
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	Housing Benefit
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of approvals for Housing Benefit in (a) Birmingham and (b) England in the last (i) 12 months, (ii) 3 years and (iii) 5 years.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Ladywood
tabling member printed	Shabana Mahmood
uin	53353
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/10/2022 answer text <p>Statistics on monthly Housing Benefit on-flows, by country and local authority, from May 2018 to May 2022, are available at:</p><p><a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/" target="_blank">https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/</a></p><p> </p><p>Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:</p><p><a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html" target="_blank">https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html</a></p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart question first answered 11/10/2022 14:38:52 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart
tabling member	3914 label Biography information for Shabana Mahmood

1507342

registered interest
date	21/09/2022
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	Housing Benefit: Supported Housing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of applications for Housing Benefit from tenants living in supported exempt accommodation in (a) Birmingham, (b) Blackpool, (c) Hull, (d) Bristol and (e) England in the last 12 months.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Ladywood
tabling member printed	Shabana Mahmood
uin	53354
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/10/2022 answer text <p>The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart question first answered 11/10/2022 14:48:02 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart
tabling member	3914 label Biography information for Shabana Mahmood

1507344

registered interest
date	21/09/2022
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	Housing Benefit: Supported Housing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of approvals for Housing Benefit for tenants living in supported exempt accommodation in (a) Birmingham, (b) Blackpool, (c) Hull, (d) Bristol and (e) England in the last 12 months.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Ladywood
tabling member printed	Shabana Mahmood
uin	53355
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/10/2022 answer text <p>The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart question first answered 11/10/2022 14:51:31 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart
tabling member	3914 label Biography information for Shabana Mahmood

1507391

registered interest
date	21/09/2022
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	Access to Work Programme: Standards
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 delays customers are experiencing to the Access to Work Scheme; and what further measures her Department are putting in place to address these delays.
tabling member constituency	Lewisham, Deptford
tabling member printed	Vicky Foxcroft
uin	53448
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/09/2022 answer text <p>Access to Work (AtW) are currently receiving an increased level of applications for support and are working through all applications to ensure that they are progressed as soon as possible, as well as recruiting new team members to increase capacity.</p><p> </p><p>For applications where a customer is due to begin a new job in the next 4 weeks (whether employed or self-employed), their case will be prioritised, and contact made as soon as possible. Renewal applications for on-going support are also being prioritised and in the majority of cases, support approved using a new streamlined process.</p><p> </p><p>All other Case Managers are deployed to work on the oldest outstanding cases and overtime working for AtW staff is also being used.</p> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart question first answered 27/09/2022 15:07:34 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart
tabling member	4491 label Biography information for Vicky Foxcroft

1507408

registered interest
date	21/09/2022
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	Pension Credit: Publicity
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much her Department has spent on Pension Credit awareness campaigns in each since 1 January 2019.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
uin	53269
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/10/2022 answer text <p>A targeted, time-limited pilot campaign to promote Pension Credit in early 2020 included advertising in GP surgeries, Post Offices and social media at a cost of £65,000. Activity was curtailed by the early impact of the pandemic.</p><p>In 2021, the Department ran proactive press and social media activity at no cost, focused around the Pension Credit ‘day of action’ on 15 June.</p><p>The current Pension Credit take up campaign, aimed at pensioners and their family members, was launched in April 2022. The total budget committed to the paid campaign so far this year, including paid press advertising, is £1.2m, and the campaign is continuously monitored and optimised to deliver the best value for the money spent.</p><p>Our internal management information suggests that during the week of this year’s Pension Credit ‘day of action’ in June there was a 275% increase in claims compared to the same week in 2021.</p><p>This activity is in addition to the Pension Credit material included in the annual uprating mailing, which is sent to over 11m pensioners in Great Britain.</p> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart question first answered 12/10/2022 15:52:16 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart
tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1507409

registered interest
date	21/09/2022
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	Pension Credit: Electronic Government
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many times was the online pension credit toolkit was accessed in each year since 1 January 2019.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
uin	53270
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/10/2022 answer text <p>The Pension Credit toolkit is an on-line tool aimed at agencies and welfare rights organisations to help them encourage Pension Credit take-up.</p><p> </p><p>The toolkit contains resources for anyone working with pensioners and includes guides to Pension Credit. It also contains publicity material and guidance designed to help older people understand how they could get Pension Credit and help organisations support someone applying for Pension Credit as well as ideas for encouraging take-up. The toolkit also provides links to information about disability and carers benefits.</p><p> </p><p>The specific information requested around the number of times the toolkit was accessed is not available.</p><p> </p><p>Since December 2019, citizens have the ability to opt-in to use performance cookies on GOV.UK and therefore DWP only sees data from the sample of those who accept these cookies. This means that we cannot use the data available to accurately reflect the total number of visits to the Pension’s toolkit. The data collected is primarily used for identifying trends in how citizens use and move within DWP content on the Gov.uk site.</p> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart question first answered 12/10/2022 15:50:19 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart
tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1507466

registered interest
date	21/09/2022
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	Welfare State: Wales
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 has made of the potential merits of the devolution of welfare powers to Wales to permit the Welsh Government to provide additional support for households amid the cost of living crisis.
tabling member constituency	Dwyfor Meirionnydd
tabling member printed	Liz Saville Roberts
uin	53462
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/09/2022 answer text <p>The Wales Act 2017 sets a reserved powers model, making clear that social security, pensions and child maintenance remain reserved to UK Parliament. This position is unchanged since devolution began. The UK Government does not intend to devolve reserved social security powers to the Welsh Government. It has, however, used them to make provision for the £650 Cost of Living Payment (paid in 2 lump sums of £326 and £324) for around 8 million low-income households on means-tested benefits; the one-off disability Cost of Living Payment of £150 currently being paid to 6 million eligible people; and the extra one-off £300 Winter Fuel Payment this year to be paid to over 8 million pensioner households across the UK.</p><p> </p><p>The UK Government has taken further decisive action to support people with their energy bills through the new “Energy Price Guarantee”, which 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. This will save the average household in Great Britain at least £1,000 a year based on current energy prices 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 and the cost of living payments. It also includes an additional £500 million from October to help households across the UK with the cost of essentials. In England, £421 million is being provided to extend the Household Support Fund, a discretionary scheme run by Upper Tier Local Authorities, from October 2022 – March 2023. The Welsh Government has been allocated its share of this funding through the Barnett Formula.</p> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart question first answered 27/09/2022 15:11:47 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart
tabling member	4521 label Biography information for Liz Saville Roberts