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1132544

	registered interest
	date	17/06/2019
	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	Historic Buildings: Health Hazards
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the protections introduced in Germany and Austria for workers renovating or demolishing buildings against the risk of breathing in historical man-made mineral fibres which are now considered to pose a serious risk to health, what steps she is taking to introduce similar protections for UK workers.
	tabling member constituency	York Central
	tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
	uin	265555
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/06/2019 answer text <p>The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is aware of the guidelines that have been produced in Germany and Austria, advising companies on the measures they should take to protect workers against risks of breathing in historic man-made mineral fibres (MMMFs).</p><p>In Great Britain there is a statutory framework in place to protect workers who may be exposed to any hazardous substance, such as MMMFs, regardless of how that exposure occurs. This framework includes the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 which places a general duty on employers to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare of people affected by their work activities.</p><p> </p><p>The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH), places specific duties on employers and implements several EU Directives on worker protection, ensuring our standards meet those required of all EU Member States. COSHH requires employers to carry out a risk assessment to establish the hazards associated with the tasks and processes they are undertaking and put in place suitable arrangements to either prevent or control those risks. Such a risk assessment would need to be carried out for workers renovating or demolishing buildings to enable suitable controls to be put in place for any hazardous substances that may be present or that may be produced, including MMMFs. HSE provides guidance, to help businesses comply with their legal duties.</p><p> </p><p>The regulatory framework, supported by guidance, is sufficient to control occupational exposure to MMMFs.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 24/06/2019 14:39:07 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1132257

	registered interest
	date	14/06/2019
	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	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 from the public purse on defending legal cases in relation to people formerly in receipt of severe disability premium that have transferred to universal credit.
	tabling member constituency	Wirral West
	tabling member printed	Margaret Greenwood
	uin	264775
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/06/2019 answer text <p>As at 14<sup>th</sup> June 2019, the Department has spent £131,399.50 on legal costs defending and appealing the cases in relation to people formerly in receipt of Severe Disability premium that have transferred to Universal Credit, broken down as follows<em>.</em></p><p> </p><p>The Department has spent £91,528.68 on legal costs defending and appealing the case of <em>TP and AR v SSWP.</em> The Department has spent £39,870.82 on legal costs defending and appealing the case of <em>TP, AR and SXC v SSWP.</em> These figures include Government Legal Department litigation fees, counsel’s fees and other disbursements, as well as VAT where payable. This does not include payment of any costs paid or which may be owed to the claimants’ solicitors.</p><p> </p><p>Time spent by Government advisory lawyers is not recorded in a manner that allows it to be attributed to individual cases. Time spent by policy officials supporting lawyers is not recorded.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson grouped question UIN 264776 question first answered 19/06/2019 16:04:58 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4400 label Biography information for Margaret Greenwood

1132258

	registered interest
	date	14/06/2019
	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	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 to date on legal costs in the case of R (TP AR & SXC) v SSWP & Anor [2019] EWHC 1116 (QB) involving payments to former recipients of Severe Disability Premium who have transferred to universal credit.
	tabling member constituency	Wirral West
	tabling member printed	Margaret Greenwood
	uin	264776
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/06/2019 answer text <p>As at 14<sup>th</sup> June 2019, the Department has spent £131,399.50 on legal costs defending and appealing the cases in relation to people formerly in receipt of Severe Disability premium that have transferred to Universal Credit, broken down as follows<em>.</em></p><p> </p><p>The Department has spent £91,528.68 on legal costs defending and appealing the case of <em>TP and AR v SSWP.</em> The Department has spent £39,870.82 on legal costs defending and appealing the case of <em>TP, AR and SXC v SSWP.</em> These figures include Government Legal Department litigation fees, counsel’s fees and other disbursements, as well as VAT where payable. This does not include payment of any costs paid or which may be owed to the claimants’ solicitors.</p><p> </p><p>Time spent by Government advisory lawyers is not recorded in a manner that allows it to be attributed to individual cases. Time spent by policy officials supporting lawyers is not recorded.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson grouped question UIN 264775 question first answered 19/06/2019 16:04:58 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4400 label Biography information for Margaret Greenwood

1137007

	registered interest
	date	04/07/2019
	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	Personal Independence Payment
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of people who decided not to pursue an appeal for personal independence payments due to the length of the waiting time for an appeal.
	tabling member constituency	Weaver Vale
	tabling member printed	Mike Amesbury
	uin	273493
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/07/2019 answer text <p>There is no administrative data held that could determine the reasons why an individual, if dissatisfied with the decision received after their MR is completed, might not choose to pursue an appeal with HMCTS.</p><p> </p><p>There is already some data in the public domain that may be of interest. The Personal Independent Payment (PIP) Official Statistics holds information on the volumes of Mandatory Reconsiderations (MRs) registered (<em>Table 7A</em>) and cleared (<em>Table 7B</em>), and can be found here:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-independence-payment-april-2013-to-april-2019" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-independence-payment-april-2013-to-april-2019</a></p><p> </p><p>The Ministry of Justice Tribunal Statistics Quarterly publication contains the number of PIP cases for which an appeal is lodged with Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS) (<em>Table SSCS1</em>), and can be found here:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tribunal-statistics-quarterly-january-to-march-2019" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tribunal-statistics-quarterly-january-to-march-2019</a></p><p> </p><p>HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HCMTS) is taking positive steps to reduce the waiting time for appeals to be heard in the Social Security and Child Support (SSCS) jurisdiction. In 2018, 232 medical members and 118 disability-qualified members were additionally appointed to the SSCS jurisdiction and an extra 129 fee-paid judges have recently been appointed. The SSCS jurisdiction will also benefit from 100 salaried judges and 170 fee-paid judges being recruited across tribunals more widely. In addition, HMCTS is developing a new digital system with a view to enabling speedier processing of appeals and a better service for all parties to the proceedings. Case-management “triage” sessions are also being conducted, with the aim of reducing the number of cases that need to progress to an oral hearing.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 10/07/2019 15:18:58 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4667 label Biography information for Mike Amesbury

1135947

	registered interest
	date	01/07/2019
	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	Personal Independence Payment
	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 it her Department's policy to process mandatory reconsiderations for personal independence payment claims within 15 working days.
	tabling member constituency	Warrington South
	tabling member printed	Faisal Rashid
	uin	271609
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/07/2019 answer text <p>Mandatory reconsideration (MR) decisions are made without delay, but the focus is on making sure that the decision under dispute is thoroughly reviewed not on how long it takes to review it.</p><p> </p><p>We are engaging with stakeholders to explore how we can improve the MR process. We have recently implemented a new approach in PIP which includes contacting claimants, where appropriate, to see if there is information that would enable us to change the decision ourselves. To support this, we are investing additional time for communication, evidence gather and review – including providing time for claimants to provide more information - which means that some cases can take longer. However, this approach supports our aim - to make the right decision as early as possible - so claimants don’t need to progress to the appeal stage.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 08/07/2019 16:21:25 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4670 label Biography information for Faisal Rashid

1134078

	registered interest
	date	24/06/2019
	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 and Health
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many employers have signed up to the Government’s voluntary reporting framework on disability, mental health and wellbeing since it was launched in November 2018.
	tabling member constituency	Walsall North
	tabling member printed	Eddie Hughes
	uin	268535
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/07/2019 answer text <p>The voluntary reporting framework was developed by the Government in partnership with employers and expert partners to support organisations to record and voluntarily report information on disability, mental health and wellbeing in the workplace. This approach recognises the potential power of transparency, both for employees within organisations and for external audiences. The Government continues to work with employers (including the Civil Service and the NHS) and expert partners to encourage sign up, but there is no requirement for them to notify the Government of how they are using it.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 02/07/2019 15:45:24 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4635 label Biography information for Eddie Hughes

1131366

	registered interest
	date	11/06/2019
	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: Terminal Illnesses
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she publish a list of each consultation event or meeting her Department held during the process to develop the revised guidance notes for the DS1500 with the (a) dates on which those events or meetings took place and (b) names of the organisations or professional bodies represented at those events or meetings.
	tabling member constituency	Vale of Clwyd
	tabling member printed	Chris Ruane
	uin	263067
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/06/2019 answer text <p>The Department held two events, in December 2018 and January 2019. As well as a number of clinicians who attended in an individual capacity, organisations present were Marie Curie, the Motor Neurone Disease Association, Macmillan Cancer Support, and the Cystic Fibrosis Trust.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 17/06/2019 15:14:42 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	534 label Biography information for Chris Ruane

1131367

	registered interest
	date	11/06/2019
	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: Medical Examinations
	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 11 June 2019 on Social Security Benefits: Medical Examinations, what the timetable is for the conclusion of the negotiations to extend the Health and Disability Assessment Service contract; and whether she plans to place in the Library a copy of those contract terms once those negotiations have been concluded.
	tabling member constituency	Vale of Clwyd
	tabling member printed	Chris Ruane
	uin	263068
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/06/2019 answer text <p>The negotiations to extend the Health and Disability Assessment Service contract will conclude with the signature of the contract to support the extension. On current timescales my Department expects this to be by the end of July 2019. There are currently no plans to publish a redacted version of the contract which supports this extension in the House of Commons library.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 17/06/2019 14:55:19 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	534 label Biography information for Chris Ruane

1133383

	registered interest
	date	19/06/2019
	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	Incapacity 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 amount of funding allocated to incapacity benefit as a proportion of (a) GDP and (b) the GDP average of OECD member states, excluding the UK.
	tabling member constituency	Vale of Clwyd
	tabling member printed	Chris Ruane
	uin	266847
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/06/2019 answer text <p>According to latest OECD data, the UK spent 1.85% of its GDP to support disabled people and those with health conditions. The OECD average is 1.93%.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>UK</p></td><td><p>OECD Average (including UK)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Total (share of GDP)</p></td><td><p>1.85%</p></td><td><p>1.93%</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Source: <a href="https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?datasetcode=SOCX_AGG" target="_blank">https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?datasetcode=SOCX_AGG</a>, OECD 2015 data (latest data point).</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 24/06/2019 12:39:07 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	534 label Biography information for Chris Ruane

1134604

	registered interest
	date	25/06/2019
	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: Mental Illness
	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 she has made of the proportion of people with long-term mental ill health who are in paid employment.
	tabling member constituency	Vale of Clwyd
	tabling member printed	Chris Ruane
	uin	268983
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/07/2019 answer text <p>An estimated 47% of people with a long-term mental health condition were in employment in 2018-19.</p><p> </p><p>Notes:</p><ol><li>Estimates are derived from the Annual Population Survey (APS) for the year April 2018 to March 2019. The APS is a variant on the Labour Force Survey produced by the Office for National Statistics. Survey estimates may be subject sampling errors and reporting errors.</li><li>Estimates relate to people living in the UK aged 16-64 years.</li><li>Employment is defined according to National Statistics definitions, as used in the ONS’s monthly <em>Labour Market Overview</em> release, in line with internationally-agreed (ILO) guidelines.</li><li>A long-term health condition is defined as a physical or mental health condition or illness lasting or expected to last 12 months or more, in line with Government Statistical Service (GSS) Harmonised Principles. This includes those who are disabled (who report that their condition or illness reduces their ability to carry out day-to-day activities) and those who are not disabled.</li><li>Mental health conditions are defined as any condition reported by survey respondents under the categories “depression, bad nerves or anxiety” or “mental illness, phobias, panics or other nervous disorders”. People who report a long-term health condition but do not specify the type are excluded from this analysis.</li></ol> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 01/07/2019 13:29:37 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	534 label Biography information for Chris Ruane