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1248542

	registered interest
	date	03/11/2020
	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	Remote Working: Coronavirus
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what safety advice and guidance they have made available for individuals who (1) choose, and (2) are required, to work from home.
	tabling member printed	Lord McKenzie of Luton
	uin	HL9942
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/11/2020 answer text <p>Under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, all employers are under a duty to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all their employees. This duty extends to those working from home, either temporarily or permanently.</p><p> </p><p>The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published guidance on its website for employers and home workers (<a href="https://www.hse.gov.uk/toolbox/workers/home.htm" target="_blank">https://www.hse.gov.uk/toolbox/workers/home.htm</a>). The guidance covers all workers who work from home and includes information on working alone, working without supervision, ways to keep in touch and guidance on mental health, stress and wellbeing. It also covers practical guidance on setting up workstations, display screen equipment (DSE) and how to prevent musculoskeletal disorders.</p><p> </p><p>The DSE guidance is intended to provide a flexible, proportionate and pragmatic approach for employers and employees on managing low-risk activities during a time when the Government advice is for people to work from home where it is possible to do so.</p><p> </p><p>The HSE guidance emphasises the need for employers to keep health and safety arrangements for home working under review.</p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott question first answered 12/11/2020 16:21:15 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott
	tabling member	3694 label Biography information for Lord McKenzie of Luton

1248541

	registered interest
	date	03/11/2020
	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	Food Banks
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government when they plan to publish their evidence review of the drivers of food bank use, commissioned in August 2018.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Lister of Burtersett
	uin	HL9932
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/11/2020 answer text <p>The Department reallocated resources to prioritise work to helping the COVID-19 effort. As such, we will update on literature reviews in due course.</p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott question first answered 10/11/2020 15:45:04 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott
	tabling member	4234 label Biography information for Baroness Lister of Burtersett

1658476

	registered interest
	date	05/09/2023
	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: Artificial Intelligence
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve the response to requests for transparency over the use of artificial intelligence to verify welfare claims.
	tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
	uin	HL9915
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/09/2023 answer text <p>DWP recognises the public interest in being transparent about what we do and how we process personal information. However, we have to balance this with keeping the information secure, by not revealing publicly all methods and practices used particularly to detect fraudulent claims and cyber-attack against our systems.</p><p> </p><p>DWP takes its responsibility to protect data very seriously and we have published the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-work-pensions/about/personal-information-charter" target="_blank">Personal information charter (PIC) </a>which gives details of how we use information provided to us. We have done this to be as transparent as we can without hindering our ability to detect fraud and protect data.</p><p> </p><p>The PIC also explains that DWP does not use artificial intelligence to replace human judgement to determine or deny a payment to a claimant. We will only use data for lawful purposes.</p><p> </p><p>The <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-annual-report-and-accounts-2022-to-2023/dwp-annual-report-and-accounts-2022-to-2023" target="_blank">DWP annual report and accounts 2022 to 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)</a> also makes mention of audits covering data management and artificial intelligence.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 13/09/2023 13:26:40 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
	tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

1658474

	registered interest
	date	05/09/2023
	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	Child Maintenance Service: Fees and Charges
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to review the four per cent fees charged to receiving parents in the Child Maintenance Service.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Stedman-Scott
	uin	HL9913
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/09/2023 answer text <p>There are no plans to abolish the four per cent collection charge for receiving parents. This charge only applies to the collect and pay service and is intended to provide a parent with an incentive to use the direct pay service which has no ongoing fees.</p><p> </p><p>The collection charge for the receiving parent is deducted only when maintenance is paid, with no money owed to the Child Maintenance Service if maintenance is not paid. These charges contribute to the cost of running an expensive service, which remains subsidised by the taxpayer.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 15/09/2023 12:48:10 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
	tabling member	4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott

1658469

	registered interest
	date	05/09/2023
	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
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what (1) proportion, and (2) number of (a) male, and (b) female, retirees do not receive the full pre-2016 and post-2016 state pension.
	tabling member printed	Lord Sikka
	uin	HL9908
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/09/2023 answer text <p>During 2019, a new DWP computer system called “Get Your State Pension” (GYSP) came online to handle State Pension claims. The GYSP system is now handling a sizeable proportion of new claims.</p><p> </p><p>The department has not yet been able to include GYSP system data in our published statistics for State Pension and the number of GYSP cases are too high to allow us to continue to publish State Pension data on Stat-Xplore. We have been providing GYSP estimates based on payment systems data and as a temporary measure, State Pension statistics are being published via data tables only. The latest release in August 2023 contains State Pensions estimates for the quarters to February 2023.</p><p> </p><p>A biannual release of supplementary tables to show State Pension deferment increments and proportions of beneficiaries receiving a full amount was suspended. This release is normally based on a 5 per cent sample of the legacy computer system. Given the absence of GYSP data, the figures are affected by the same issues as described above. The latest available time period for these figures is for September 2020 and can be found in the DWP benefits statistics published in May 2021 on gov.uk.</p><p> </p><p>We are developing new statistical datasets to properly represent both computer systems. Once we have quality assured the new data it will be published on Stat-Xplore, including a refresh of historical data using the best data available.</p><p> </p><p>For more information on these developments, see the State Pension section of the ‘Background information note: DWP benefits statistical summary’ published on gov.uk.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 14/09/2023 12:42:33 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
	tabling member	4885 label Biography information for Lord Sikka

1658468

	registered interest
	date	05/09/2023
	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
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will publish a table showing the median pre-2016 and post-2016 state pension currently paid to (1) men, and (2) women.
	tabling member printed	Lord Sikka
	uin	HL9907
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/09/2023 answer text <p>The department currently publishes the mean weekly amount of the pre-2016 State Pension and the new State Pension paid to men and women, and this can be found in Table 11 of the latest tables which were published in August 2023 on gov.uk. There are no plans to publish the median weekly amount however we will periodically review this as the new State Pension caseload continues to grow.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 14/09/2023 12:45:35 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
	tabling member	4885 label Biography information for Lord Sikka

1331592

	registered interest
	date	09/06/2021
	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	Kickstart Scheme
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the name of (1) each individual employer, and (2) each employer which is part of a Kickstart gateway, which has had applications approved through the Kickstart Scheme; and how many jobs has each named employer made available through the Scheme.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Wilcox of Newport
	uin	HL982
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/06/2021 answer text <p>Organisations in receipt of a Kickstart grant will have their details published on the Government website in due course, as is standard practice for all organisations in receipt of a Government grant. This information has not been published yet as organisations are still applying and being approved for Kickstart funding.</p><p><br>For applications approved between the start of the scheme in September 2020 through to June 2021, there have been, on average, 14 Kickstart jobs available for young people to apply to per Kickstart employer (this includes individual employers and those that have applied through a Kickstart gateway).</p><p>Although care is taken when processing and analysing Kickstart applications, referrals and starts, the data collected might be subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system which has been developed quickly. The management information presented here has not been subjected to the usual standard of quality assurance associated with official statistics, but is provided in the interests of transparency. Work is ongoing to improve the quality of information available for the programme.</p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott question first answered 21/06/2021 15:59:53 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott
	tabling member	4730 label Biography information for Baroness Wilcox of Newport

1657563

	registered interest
	date	04/09/2023
	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	Local Housing Allowance: Families
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on families of freezing local housing allowance rates for the past three years.
	tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of Durham
	uin	HL9771
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/09/2023 answer text <p>No Assessment has been made, however the department works closely with stakeholders, Jobcentres and Local Authorities to understand the impact of its policies on families.</p><p> </p><p>The Local Housing Allowance (LHA) policy is kept under regular review and rates are reviewed annually by the Secretary of State. LHA rates are not intended to meet all rents in all areas.</p><p>In 2020 we spent almost £1 billion increasing LHA rates to the 30th percentile of market rents. This significant investment has been maintained ensuring that everyone who benefited continues to do so.</p><p>Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) are available for those who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs. Since 2011 we have provided nearly £1.6 billion in funding to local authorities for DHPs.</p><p>We recognise that rents are increasing. However, the challenging fiscal environment means that difficult decisions have been necessary to ensure support is targeted effectively.</p><p>Over 2022-23 and 2023- 24 the Government is providing support in excess of £94 billion to help households with the rising cost of living.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 14/09/2023 12:41:24 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
	tabling member	4312 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of Durham

1331590

	registered interest
	date	09/06/2021
	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: Training
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that all individuals on Universal Credit are able to participate in learning and training courses.
	tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
	uin	HL977
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/06/2021 answer text <p>The Department for Work &amp; Pensions (DWP) recognises that claimants may need to retrain or upskill to meet the changing needs of the labour market. The Department is continuing to implement the Plan for Jobs, which is focused on providing a skills and employment offer, allowing people to adapt and pivot into the job roles that employers need to fill.</p><p> </p><p>Our extensive Work Coach network engages with claimants on the basis of their individual need to support access to a comprehensive range of skills support, which includes: Apprenticeships, vocational and basic skills training, careers advice and Sector-based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs).</p><p> </p><p>The Department has recently launched the DWP Train and Progress initiative with the aim of improving alignment between our Government’s employment and skills support offer for Universal Credit (UC) claimants.</p><p> </p><p>This initiative builds more flexibility into the UC system for claimants to participate in longer spells of full time, work-related training where that is required. Our aim is to ensure people gain the skills and qualifications needed to progress into work and onto better-paid work.</p><p> </p><p>As a key part of DWP Train and Progress we have enhanced the links between Jobcentres and the careers services to support skills triage, signposting to career conversations with all claimants, particularly the most disadvantaged, building on existing ways of joint working.</p><p> </p><p>DWP’s Train and Progress campaign, to better align the employment and skills support offer, has been further enhanced by an increase in the amount of time UC claimants can take part in full-time training to 12 weeks - up from the current 8 weeks - helping them gain the skills and qualifications needed for good jobs. UC claimants will be able to train full time for up to 16 weeks in areas where Skills Boot camps exist.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott question first answered 23/06/2021 12:48:47 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott
	tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

1657660

	registered interest
	date	04/09/2023
	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: Uprating
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Department for Work and Pension's Estimated costs of uprating State Pension in frozen rate countries: 2024 to 2028, published on 19 July, whether there is any precedent where, when pensions were once frozen but started being uprated as a result of an international agreement, the pensions concerned were raised to the level they would have been had they never been frozen.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
	uin	HL9749
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/09/2023 answer text <p>There is no standard model for international agreements on social security, which are agreed on a case-by-case basis between countries or groups of countries. The UK's international agreements on social security which include State Pension provisions are included here:</p><p><a href="https://www.ilo.org/dyn/natlex/natlex4.listResults?p_lang=en&amp;p_country=GBR&amp;p_count=3017&amp;p_classification=23.01&amp;p_classcount=160" target="_blank">https://www.ilo.org/dyn/natlex/natlex4.listResults?p_lang=en&amp;p_country=GBR&amp;p_count=3017&amp;p_classification=23.01&amp;p_classcount=160</a></p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 14/09/2023 13:26:40 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
	tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle