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349826

	registered interest
	date	10/06/2015
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Learning Disability: Employment
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure people with adult learning difficulties (a) receive appropriate support when looking for a job and (b) are supported enough to retain that job once in work.
	tabling member constituency	Bath
	tabling member printed	Ben Howlett
	uin	1970
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/06/2015 answer text <p /> <p>Through the Disability Employment Adviser (DEA) network across Jobcentre Plus, DWP provides a pan-disability, person centred approach, when supporting disabled people into employment. Advisers receive specific training on Autism and Learning Disabilities; enabling them to offer an appropriate and accessible service when supporting individuals with these conditions into work. The Work-Choice programme provides employment support for all pan-disability groups including individuals with learning disabilities, ensuring reasonable adjustment solutions are identified and put in place, at the earliest stage, ensuring participants are able to meet their full potential on the programme. To support the retention of people with learning disabilities, DWP provides help through the Access to Work scheme, which pays for the additional adjustments that disabled people may require to retain them in the workplace.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 16/06/2015 12:07:41 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4445 label Biography information for Ben Howlett

349829

	registered interest
	date	10/06/2015
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Pensions: Widowed People
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure that reforms to the pensions system do not unfairly affect widows who have relied on their husband's earnings and have not themselves made a sufficient contribution.
	tabling member constituency	Bath
	tabling member printed	Ben Howlett
	uin	1973
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/06/2015 answer text <p /> <p>The new State Pension will be based on an individual’s own National Insurance contributions. This reflects the fact that, in contrast to earlier generations of women, most people of working age today are able to gain sufficient qualifying years to qualify for a state pension in their own right.</p><p> </p><p>We have put arrangements in place to ensure that certain women who elected to pay National Insurance contributions at the married women and widows’ reduced rate are not affected by withdrawing access to derived basic State Pension. Widows who qualify under these arrangements will be able to get a pension of about the same as the basic pension they could have got in the current scheme plus any additional State Pension they built up themselves by April 2016, if that is more than they would get under the new rules on their own contributions.</p><p> </p><p>We are also protecting the additional State Pension (also known as SERPS or S2P) a surviving spouse or civil partner would have been able to inherit under the current rules, if their deceased partner had either died or reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016. Where both members of the couple are in the new State Pension system, the surviving member may inherit half of any “protected payment” (the amount, if any, by which a person’s state pension valued under current rules exceeds the full rate of the new State Pension at 2016). These arrangements will apply where the marriage or civil partnership had begun before the new scheme starts.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 18/06/2015 15:57:07 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4445 label Biography information for Ben Howlett

388370

	registered interest
	date	07/07/2015
	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	National Insurance Contributions
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what arrangements exist to support those who have fallen behind with national insurance contributions in fully accessing contributory benefits.
	tabling member constituency	Bath
	tabling member printed	Ben Howlett
	uin	5861
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2015 answer text <p>National Insurance credits are generally available to people who are unable to work and pay contributions for example if they are unemployed, incapable of work or caring for others.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>National Insurance credits are awarded automatically with qualifying social security benefits; otherwise applications are required to determine eligibility.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Government is introducing a new credit for those who reach State Pension age on or after 6 April 2016. It will be available to the spouses and civil partners of members of HM Forces for past periods spent accompanying their Service partner on postings outside the UK.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Those not eligible for National Insurance credits may be able to fill gaps in their record to protect certain benefits by paying voluntary contributions. These are subject to time limits; and higher rate provisions when paid late.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>For those who would like further information on their National Insurance record they should go to the GOV.UK website <a href="https://www.gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions</a></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 15/07/2015 11:56:27 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4445 label Biography information for Ben Howlett

388371

	registered interest
	date	07/07/2015
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Employment Schemes: Hearing Impairment
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support his Department provides to people with hearing difficulties in finding work.
	tabling member constituency	Bath
	tabling member printed	Ben Howlett
	uin	5858
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2015 answer text <p /> <p>People with hearing difficulties can benefit from the same support to find work as other disabled people through provision such as the Work Programme and Work Choice.</p><p> </p><p>In addition we are launching a new programme, Specialist Employability Support (SES), in September. It focuses on helping those for whom other provision such as Work Choice or Work Programme is not suitable and one of the programme providers will support people with hearing difficulties in preparing for work.</p><p> </p><p>SES replaces the Residential Training contracts and is expected to double the number of people supported at the same cost.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 15/07/2015 11:37:57 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4445 label Biography information for Ben Howlett

421499

	registered interest
	date	14/10/2015
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Employment Schemes: Homelessness
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he plans to take to improve employment support for homeless people.
	tabling member constituency	Bath
	tabling member printed	Ben Howlett
	uin	11878
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/10/2015 answer text <p>We are exploring how we can best deliver future tailored employment support as part of the Spending Review. We will continue to do all we can to help all individuals, including homeless people, find, and stay in, work.</p> answering member constituency Witham answering member printed Priti Patel question first answered 22/10/2015 13:23:43 answering member 4066 label Biography information for Priti Patel
	tabling member	4445 label Biography information for Ben Howlett

428228

	registered interest
	date	13/11/2015
	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	Workplace Pensions: LGBT+ People
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps to extend occupational pensions to include widows from same sex married couples in the same way as widows from other married couples are currently included.
	tabling member constituency	Bath
	tabling member printed	Ben Howlett
	uin	16179
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/11/2015 answer text <p>The Government is considering the findings of the statutory review into survivor benefits in occupational pension schemes that was required by section 16 of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013. The Review provided important information on the benefits, costs and other effects of eliminating or reducing differences in survivor benefit provision.</p><br /><p>The Government will respond to the Review in due course.</p><br /> <br /> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 23/11/2015 11:59:57 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4445 label Biography information for Ben Howlett

428232

	registered interest
	date	13/11/2015
	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	Welfare Reform and Work Bill
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when his Department will provide a definition of the term vulnerable group for the purposes of the Welfare Reform and Work Bill; and with whom his Department will consult on that definition.
	tabling member constituency	Bath
	tabling member printed	Ben Howlett
	uin	16181
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/11/2015 answer text <p>Our reforms aim to ensure that work always pays more than a life on benefits; that the system is fair to those who pay for it, as well as those who benefit from it; and that support is focused on the most vulnerable which is why we are protecting pensioner benefits and payments for the additional costs of care and disability.</p> answering member constituency Witham answering member printed Priti Patel question first answered 23/11/2015 14:47:39 answering member 4066 label Biography information for Priti Patel
	tabling member	4445 label Biography information for Ben Howlett

429325

	registered interest
	date	19/11/2015
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Employment: Health
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment the Government has made of the benefit to businesses of a healthy workforce.
	tabling member constituency	Bath
	tabling member printed	Ben Howlett
	uin	16968
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/11/2015 answer text <p>There is a good evidence base for the benefits to business of a healthy workforce, for example, workers who are in good health can be up to three times as productive as those in poor health. Conversely there are high costs to business from ill health: ‘Health at Work – an independent review of sickness absence’ found that the costs to employers of sick pay were £9bn per year.</p> answering member constituency Witham answering member printed Priti Patel question first answered 26/11/2015 10:35:14 answering member 4066 label Biography information for Priti Patel
	tabling member	4445 label Biography information for Ben Howlett

519372

	registered interest
	date	18/05/2016
	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	Joint Work and Health Unit
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what consultations the Joint Work and Health Unit has undertaken with external groups on its work since its creation.
	tabling member constituency	Bath
	tabling member printed	Ben Howlett
	uin	37093
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/05/2016 answer text <p><strong> </strong></p><p>The Work and Health Unit has been established to lead the drive for improving work and health outcomes for people with disabilities and long term health conditions, as well as improving prevention and support for people absent from work through ill health and those at risk of leaving the workforce.</p><p> </p><p>Since Q1 2014 the number of disabled people in employment has increased by around 365,000 people, with a total of 3.3million disabled people now in work as of Q1 2016.</p><p> </p><p>The Unit will build on this progress by improving integration across healthcare and employment services as well as supporting employers to recruit and retain more disabled people and people with long term health conditions. We have set up work-streams focused on delivery workforce, fitness for work, culture change and stakeholder engagement, employers and building the evidence base through developing a ‘test and learn’ approach.</p><p> </p><p>We have been seeking and listening to the views of people that use current health, care and employment services, engaging with charities and other stakeholders, to understand what works and what needs to change and will continue to engage at all levels over the coming months.</p><p> </p><p>The Work and Health Unit is leading the process for preparing a green paper which will be published later this year that will begin the consultation about how to improve support for people with disabilities and long term health conditions.</p> answering member constituency Witham answering member printed Priti Patel grouped question UIN 37094 37095 question first answered 27/05/2016 13:41:10 answering member 4066 label Biography information for Priti Patel
	tabling member	4445 label Biography information for Ben Howlett

519373

	registered interest
	date	18/05/2016
	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	Joint Work and Health Unit
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what workstreams have been established by the Joint Work and Health Unit; and when each such workstream is expected to report.
	tabling member constituency	Bath
	tabling member printed	Ben Howlett
	uin	37094
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/05/2016 answer text <p><strong> </strong></p><p>The Work and Health Unit has been established to lead the drive for improving work and health outcomes for people with disabilities and long term health conditions, as well as improving prevention and support for people absent from work through ill health and those at risk of leaving the workforce.</p><p> </p><p>Since Q1 2014 the number of disabled people in employment has increased by around 365,000 people, with a total of 3.3million disabled people now in work as of Q1 2016.</p><p> </p><p>The Unit will build on this progress by improving integration across healthcare and employment services as well as supporting employers to recruit and retain more disabled people and people with long term health conditions. We have set up work-streams focused on delivery workforce, fitness for work, culture change and stakeholder engagement, employers and building the evidence base through developing a ‘test and learn’ approach.</p><p> </p><p>We have been seeking and listening to the views of people that use current health, care and employment services, engaging with charities and other stakeholders, to understand what works and what needs to change and will continue to engage at all levels over the coming months.</p><p> </p><p>The Work and Health Unit is leading the process for preparing a green paper which will be published later this year that will begin the consultation about how to improve support for people with disabilities and long term health conditions.</p> answering member constituency Witham answering member printed Priti Patel grouped question UIN 37093 37095 question first answered 27/05/2016 13:41:10 answering member 4066 label Biography information for Priti Patel
	tabling member	4445 label Biography information for Ben Howlett