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 attachment file name title
tabling member	label

Search

1092779

	registered interest
	date	21/03/2019
	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	Social Security Benefits
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the sample size used to inform the design of the benefit cap policy.
	tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of Durham
	uin	HL14730
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/04/2019 answer text <p>The rationale behind the benefit cap policy is set out in the Impact Assessment, which supported the Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016. The final update was published in August 2016 and is attached.</p><p> </p><p>DWP and HMRC administrative data was used to inform the design of the benefit cap policy, and sample data was not used.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 03/04/2019 16:07:11 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe attachment 1 file name welfare-reform-and-work-act-impact-assessment-for-the-benefit-cap.pdf title Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016 Impact Assessment
	tabling member	4312 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of Durham

1168620

	registered interest
	date	19/12/2019
	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	Employment: Disability
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to make the framework for voluntary reporting on disability, mental health and wellbeing a mandatory requirement for Disability Confident Leaders.
	tabling member printed	Lord Shinkwin
	uin	HL78
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/01/2020 answer text <p>We announced on 2 November that new Disability Confident (DC) Leaders (Level 3) and Disability Confident Leaders applying for re-accreditation will need to use the voluntary reporting framework (VRF) to publicly report on disability employment. A copy of which is attached. Although there is flexibility in how employers can use the VRF, we expect that most DC Leaders would choose to combine it with their annual report and accounts.</p><p> </p><p>We developed the voluntary reporting framework with a group of employers and disability stakeholders. It is deliberately designed to be flexible, recognising that different employers start in different places. It does not require reporting on pay and we have no current plans to require pay reporting.</p><p> </p><p>Disability Confident leaders are now required to publicly report using the voluntary reporting framework and one of the measures the framework encourages is the number of disabled people employed.</p><p> </p><p>The definition of disability in the voluntary reporting framework is self-declared, asking employees if they ‘consider’ themselves to have a disability. The framework is both voluntary and flexible, designed based on feedback from employers and other stakeholders. If we choose to go further in future, we will look at the case for alignment with the definition of disability in the Equality Act 2010.</p><p>We are committed to reducing the disability employment gap, and will report on progress regularly. We will consider the case for a target as part of our work on the new National Disability Strategy which we have committed to publish by the end of 2020.</p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott grouped question UIN HL79 HL80 HL81 HL82 question first answered 07/01/2020 12:53:27 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott attachment 1 file name voluntary-reporting-on-disability-mental-health-and-wellbeing.pdf title Voluntary Reporting Framework
	tabling member	4557 label Biography information for Lord Shinkwin

1168621

	registered interest
	date	19/12/2019
	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	Employment: Disability
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to extend the voluntary reporting on disability, mental health and wellbeing framework to include the number or proportion of disabled employees in each pay quartile.
	tabling member printed	Lord Shinkwin
	uin	HL79
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/01/2020 answer text <p>We announced on 2 November that new Disability Confident (DC) Leaders (Level 3) and Disability Confident Leaders applying for re-accreditation will need to use the voluntary reporting framework (VRF) to publicly report on disability employment. A copy of which is attached. Although there is flexibility in how employers can use the VRF, we expect that most DC Leaders would choose to combine it with their annual report and accounts.</p><p> </p><p>We developed the voluntary reporting framework with a group of employers and disability stakeholders. It is deliberately designed to be flexible, recognising that different employers start in different places. It does not require reporting on pay and we have no current plans to require pay reporting.</p><p> </p><p>Disability Confident leaders are now required to publicly report using the voluntary reporting framework and one of the measures the framework encourages is the number of disabled people employed.</p><p> </p><p>The definition of disability in the voluntary reporting framework is self-declared, asking employees if they ‘consider’ themselves to have a disability. The framework is both voluntary and flexible, designed based on feedback from employers and other stakeholders. If we choose to go further in future, we will look at the case for alignment with the definition of disability in the Equality Act 2010.</p><p>We are committed to reducing the disability employment gap, and will report on progress regularly. We will consider the case for a target as part of our work on the new National Disability Strategy which we have committed to publish by the end of 2020.</p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott grouped question UIN HL78 HL80 HL81 HL82 question first answered 07/01/2020 12:53:27 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott attachment 1 file name voluntary-reporting-on-disability-mental-health-and-wellbeing.pdf title Voluntary Reporting Framework
	tabling member	4557 label Biography information for Lord Shinkwin

1168622

	registered interest
	date	19/12/2019
	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	Employment: Disability
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to require large employers to publish data on the (1) number, and (2) pay, of disabled employees.
	tabling member printed	Lord Shinkwin
	uin	HL80
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/01/2020 answer text <p>We announced on 2 November that new Disability Confident (DC) Leaders (Level 3) and Disability Confident Leaders applying for re-accreditation will need to use the voluntary reporting framework (VRF) to publicly report on disability employment. A copy of which is attached. Although there is flexibility in how employers can use the VRF, we expect that most DC Leaders would choose to combine it with their annual report and accounts.</p><p> </p><p>We developed the voluntary reporting framework with a group of employers and disability stakeholders. It is deliberately designed to be flexible, recognising that different employers start in different places. It does not require reporting on pay and we have no current plans to require pay reporting.</p><p> </p><p>Disability Confident leaders are now required to publicly report using the voluntary reporting framework and one of the measures the framework encourages is the number of disabled people employed.</p><p> </p><p>The definition of disability in the voluntary reporting framework is self-declared, asking employees if they ‘consider’ themselves to have a disability. The framework is both voluntary and flexible, designed based on feedback from employers and other stakeholders. If we choose to go further in future, we will look at the case for alignment with the definition of disability in the Equality Act 2010.</p><p>We are committed to reducing the disability employment gap, and will report on progress regularly. We will consider the case for a target as part of our work on the new National Disability Strategy which we have committed to publish by the end of 2020.</p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott grouped question UIN HL78 HL79 HL81 HL82 question first answered 07/01/2020 12:53:27 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott attachment 1 file name voluntary-reporting-on-disability-mental-health-and-wellbeing.pdf title Voluntary Reporting Framework
	tabling member	4557 label Biography information for Lord Shinkwin

1168623

	registered interest
	date	19/12/2019
	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	Employment: Disability
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to amend the wording in the framework for voluntary reporting on disability, mental health and wellbeing so that it matches the definition of disability in the Equality Act 2010 and the Government Statistical Service's disability disclosure question.
	tabling member printed	Lord Shinkwin
	uin	HL81
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/01/2020 answer text <p>We announced on 2 November that new Disability Confident (DC) Leaders (Level 3) and Disability Confident Leaders applying for re-accreditation will need to use the voluntary reporting framework (VRF) to publicly report on disability employment. A copy of which is attached. Although there is flexibility in how employers can use the VRF, we expect that most DC Leaders would choose to combine it with their annual report and accounts.</p><p> </p><p>We developed the voluntary reporting framework with a group of employers and disability stakeholders. It is deliberately designed to be flexible, recognising that different employers start in different places. It does not require reporting on pay and we have no current plans to require pay reporting.</p><p> </p><p>Disability Confident leaders are now required to publicly report using the voluntary reporting framework and one of the measures the framework encourages is the number of disabled people employed.</p><p> </p><p>The definition of disability in the voluntary reporting framework is self-declared, asking employees if they ‘consider’ themselves to have a disability. The framework is both voluntary and flexible, designed based on feedback from employers and other stakeholders. If we choose to go further in future, we will look at the case for alignment with the definition of disability in the Equality Act 2010.</p><p>We are committed to reducing the disability employment gap, and will report on progress regularly. We will consider the case for a target as part of our work on the new National Disability Strategy which we have committed to publish by the end of 2020.</p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott grouped question UIN HL78 HL79 HL80 HL82 question first answered 07/01/2020 12:53:27 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott attachment 1 file name voluntary-reporting-on-disability-mental-health-and-wellbeing.pdf title Voluntary Reporting Framework
	tabling member	4557 label Biography information for Lord Shinkwin

1168624

	registered interest
	date	19/12/2019
	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	Employment: Disability
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to introduce targets for closing the disability employment gap; and if so, what dates they plan to set to meet those targets.
	tabling member printed	Lord Shinkwin
	uin	HL82
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/01/2020 answer text <p>We announced on 2 November that new Disability Confident (DC) Leaders (Level 3) and Disability Confident Leaders applying for re-accreditation will need to use the voluntary reporting framework (VRF) to publicly report on disability employment. A copy of which is attached. Although there is flexibility in how employers can use the VRF, we expect that most DC Leaders would choose to combine it with their annual report and accounts.</p><p> </p><p>We developed the voluntary reporting framework with a group of employers and disability stakeholders. It is deliberately designed to be flexible, recognising that different employers start in different places. It does not require reporting on pay and we have no current plans to require pay reporting.</p><p> </p><p>Disability Confident leaders are now required to publicly report using the voluntary reporting framework and one of the measures the framework encourages is the number of disabled people employed.</p><p> </p><p>The definition of disability in the voluntary reporting framework is self-declared, asking employees if they ‘consider’ themselves to have a disability. The framework is both voluntary and flexible, designed based on feedback from employers and other stakeholders. If we choose to go further in future, we will look at the case for alignment with the definition of disability in the Equality Act 2010.</p><p>We are committed to reducing the disability employment gap, and will report on progress regularly. We will consider the case for a target as part of our work on the new National Disability Strategy which we have committed to publish by the end of 2020.</p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott grouped question UIN HL78 HL79 HL80 HL81 question first answered 07/01/2020 12:53:27 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott attachment 1 file name voluntary-reporting-on-disability-mental-health-and-wellbeing.pdf title Voluntary Reporting Framework
	tabling member	4557 label Biography information for Lord Shinkwin

381048

	registered interest
	date	15/06/2015
	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 what estimate they have made of (1) the number of people who have received compensation under the terms of the Mesothelioma Act 2014 since the Act came into effect, and (2) the number of people projected to receive compensation in each of the next three years.
	tabling member printed	Lord Wills
	uin	HL496
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/06/2015 answer text <p /> <p>The information requested is available from the attached Impact Assessment for the Diffuse Mesothelioma Payment Scheme which was published in March 2014 and sets out the anticipated levels of claims over the first 10 years of the scheme.</p><p> </p><p>The scheme has now been running since April 2014 with payments being made from July 2014. We will publish statistics on the number of claims made in 2014/15 in due course, and consider a review of the estimates made in the Impact Assessment in light of this data.</p> answering member printed Baroness Altmann question first answered 23/06/2015 16:07:28 answering member 4533 label Biography information for Baroness Altmann attachment 1 file name mesothelioma-payment-scheme-ia-mar-2014.pdf title Impact Assessment for Mesothelioma Payment Scheme
	tabling member	260 label Biography information for Lord Wills

1176602

	registered interest
	date	05/02/2020
	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	Poverty: Children
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to reduce child poverty levels.
	tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of Durham
	uin	HL1354
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/02/2020 answer text <p>This Government is committed to delivering a sustainable, long-term solution to poverty in all its forms. Tackling child poverty requires an approach that goes beyond one that focuses on income alone to one that addresses the root causes of poverty and disadvantage and improves long-term outcomes for families and children.</p><p>Through Improving Lives: Helping Workless Families, a copy of which is attached, we set out detailed evidence on the root causes of poverty and disadvantage and their impact on the outcomes of children in families where none of the parents are working. We also set out nine indicators to track progress in the areas that matter, including two statutory measures of parental worklessness and educational attainment – the two areas that we know can make the biggest difference to children’s outcomes.</p><p>There is clear evidence that children in working households are not only less likely to grow up in poverty – their life chances are also significantly better. We will therefore continue to reform the welfare system so that it works with the tax system and the labour market to support employment and higher pay. At the heart of our reforms is Universal Credit, which is designed to help people move into work faster, stay in work longer and spend more time looking to increase their earnings. Once fully implemented, Universal Credit will inject in excess of £2bn more into the working age welfare system, helping families in the greatest need.</p><p>Promoting full-time work through work incentives is a key feature of this approach, reinforced by the National Living Wage and the rising Personal Tax Allowance, which work together to promote independence from benefits.</p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott question first answered 13/02/2020 14:02:24 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott attachment 1 file name improving-lives-helping-workless-families-web-version.pdf title Improving Lives: Helping Workless Families
	tabling member	4312 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of Durham

807246

	registered interest
	date	15/12/2017
	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	Poverty
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what lessons they have learned from measures to tackle the root causes of poverty taken by the devolved administrations, social enterprises, non-governmental organisations, charities and other organisations.
	tabling member printed	Lord Bird
	uin	HL4227
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/12/2017 answer text <p>Officials in DWP continue to engage with external organisations and with devolved administrations on a wide range of welfare issues, including constructive discussions about approaches to tackling poverty. The Government is very clear that work is the best route out of poverty and our welfare reforms are designed to incentivise employment and support people to progress in work.</p><p>In April this year we published Improving Lives: Helping Workless Families which sets out a framework to improve outcomes for workless families, now and in the future. Central to this approach is effective joint working between Jobcentre Plus and local partners, including third sector organisations, which specialise in supporting people with multiple and complex needs, to ensure coordination of support and sharing of expertise at a local level. Children in workless families are significantly more disadvantaged, and achieve poorer educational and employment outcomes than other children, including those in lower-income working families. That is why we will continue with policies that support and encourage employment - reforming the welfare system to make work pay. And these policies are working: since 2010, there are 3 million more people in work, with 954,000 fewer workless households, and 608,000 fewer children in workless households across the UK. The UK unemployment rate has not been lower since 1975 and the proportion of workless households is at its lowest since records began.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 22/12/2017 13:09:44 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe attachment 1 file name improving-lives-helping-workless-families-print-version.pdf title Improving Lives: Helping Workless Families
	tabling member	4564 label Biography information for Lord Bird

1036898

	registered interest
	date	07/01/2019
	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	Universal Credit
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how are the salaries of employees on Universal Credit who are paid twice within a month, in particular over the Christmas period, being treated for the purposes of benefits payments; and what steps are being taken to prevent such employees being disadvantaged.
	tabling member printed	Lord McNicol of West Kilbride
	uin	HL12540
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/01/2019 answer text <p>Universal Credit payments reflect, as closely as possible, the actual circumstances of a household during each monthly assessment period. Assessment periods allow for Universal Credit awards to be adjusted on a monthly basis, ensuring that if a claimant’s income falls, they do not have to wait several months for a rise in their Universal Credit award.</p><p> </p><p>Some claimants receive earnings from work multiple times within an assessment period if they are paid via four-weekly, fortnightly, or weekly patterns. This in turn may reduce, or in some cases, nil the Universal Credit award the claimant receives that month. Claimants can always discuss the implications of this with their case managers and work coaches and can be referred to Personal Budgeting Support to help them manage their budgeting.</p><p> </p><p>If a claimant’s Universal Credit claim is closed due to this, claimants can re-claim the following month via a more simplified process than for an initial claim. We have produced guidance to help ensure claimants, staff and representatives are aware of the importance of reporting accurate dates and the impact on payment cycles, which is attached with this reply.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is working with employers to ensure that they use the most appropriate payment practices and comply with RTI guidelines in order to minimise the incidence of erroneous or late reporting by employers. HMRC have recently updated guidance to reiterate to employers the importance of reporting accurate dates and the impact on payment cycles; the Financial Secretary to the Treasury is working closely with HMRC and employers to do this.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 21/01/2019 15:36:52 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe attachment 1 file name gov.uk UC earnings patterns.pdf title UC Earning Patterns
	tabling member	4702 label Biography information for Lord McNicol of West Kilbride