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1192332

	registered interest
	date	01/05/2020
	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	Access to Work Programme: Coronavirus
	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 effect of the covid-19 lockdown on the operation of the Access to Work programme; and if she will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
	tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
	uin	41895
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/05/2020 answer text <p>Access to Work is continuing to provide support for people with a disability or health condition whether they are working in the workplace or are working from home. Access to Work service delivery teams are deploying available resources in line with the agreed priority areas and responding flexibly to meet customer demand. DWP remains committed to ensuring disabled people continue to receive support they need to move into and maintain employment and has prioritised payments.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, to support disabled people during COVID-19 Access to Work has introduced various measures, these include:</p><ul><li><strong>Prioritising new applications from key workers</strong> and those with jobs starting within the next 4 weeks;</li><li><strong>Extending the timeframe</strong> customers have to submit payment claim forms to <strong>9 months</strong>;</li><li><strong>Accepting </strong>employer and support worker signatures<strong> via email</strong>;</li><li><strong>Extending Support Worker</strong> awards that are coming <strong>to an end by 6 months;</strong></li><li><strong>Adapting </strong>the way our <strong>assessments </strong>are undertaken to support customers who don’t know what support they need and/or where coping strategies are required as part of the Mental Health Support Service.</li><li><strong>Accepting e mail claim forms </strong>from customers who request this as a reasonable adjustment</li></ul> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 06/05/2020 14:09:49 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

1192333

	registered interest
	date	01/05/2020
	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	Disability: Coronavirus
	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 effect of the covid-19 outbreak on disabled (a) employees and (b) business owners; and if she will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
	tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
	uin	41896
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/05/2020 answer text <p>We continue to monitor employment of disabled people using the quarterly Labour Force Survey along with other relevant sources. Collection of this information is contemporaneous with the covid-19 outbreak. There will be an interval until data needed to assess the effects of the outbreak is available.</p><p> </p><p>Labour Force Survey statistics for the first quarter of 2020, will be reported by the Office for National Statistics on 19 May 2020, covering the very start of the covid-19 outbreak in March. Statistics for the second quarter of 2020 will be available in August.</p><p> </p><p>The latest available disability employment statistics for quarter 4 2019, show that the employment rate for working age disabled people was 54.1%, compared with 82.2% for non-disabled people. Therefore, there was an employment rate gap between disabled and non-disabled people of 28.1 percentage points. The disability employment gap fell by 2.1 percentage points on the year. These statistics also show that similar proportions of disabled and non-disabled people in work were self-employed; 15% of disabled people in work were self-employed compared with 14% of non-disabled people.</p><p> </p><p>The Office for National Statistics is producing a range of wider information about the social and economic impacts of covid-19 such as the Business Impact of Coronavirus (BIC) survey. Statistics from the ONS Omnibus survey for 3 April 2020 to 13 April 2020 show that a lower proportion of disabled people than non-disabled people were worried about aspects of work and household finances.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 12/05/2020 09:31:50 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

1192334

	registered interest
	date	01/05/2020
	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	Disability: Coronavirus
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps is she taking to ensure that disabled (a) employees and (b) business owners continue to receive the (i) assistive technology and (ii) other forms of support they need to remain in work during the covid-19 lockdown; and if she she make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
	tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
	uin	41897
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/05/2020 answer text <p>Access to Work is continuing to support disabled employees to access assistive technology and other forms of support they need to remain in work and during the pandemic is adapting existing awards to new working environments. This could include switching from face to face British Sign Language Interpreting to Video Remote Interpreting services where possible as well as making greater use of assistive technology and software.</p><p> </p><p>For all other forms of support, such as support workers and travel to work (for customers not self-isolating), Access to Work continues to offer support. If support needs or workplaces have changed, Access to Work will work with the customer to understand what support is needed, and adapt the support package accordingly.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, Access to Work is working with employers to ensure assistive technology can be transported from the workplace to support home working. If the support cannot be removed from the workplace, Access to Work may be able to provide the support at home, work with disabled employees to consider new adjustments or support adaptations to standard equipment.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 06/05/2020 14:53:39 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

1192335

	registered interest
	date	01/05/2020
	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	Disability: Coronavirus
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what representations she has received on disabled (a) employees and (b) business owners not receiving support in work as a result of the covid-19 lockdown; and if she will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
	tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
	uin	41898
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/05/2020 answer text <p>A cross section of disabled people, employers and stakeholders’ organisations have been engaging with the department in relation to the impacts covid-19 policies. To support employees, Access to Work is continuing to provide support for people with a disability or health condition whether they are working in the workplace or are working from home.</p><p>In addition, to support disabled people and their employers during covid-19 Access to Work has introduced various measures, these include:</p><ul><li>Prioritising new applications from key workers and those with jobs starting within the next 4 weeks;</li><li>Extending the timeframe customers have to submit payment claim forms to 9 months;</li><li>Accepting employer and support worker signatures via email;</li><li>Extending Support Worker awards that are coming to an end by 6 months;</li><li>Adapting the way our assessments are undertaken to support customers who don’t know what support they need and/or where coping strategies are required as part of the Mental Health Support Service; and</li><li>Accepting email claim forms from customers who request this as a reasonable adjustment.</li></ul> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 12/05/2020 14:32:47 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

1196195

	registered interest
	date	15/05/2020
	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	Aviation: Redundancy
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to support former employees of the UK aviation sector who have been made redundant due to the covid-19 outbreak.
	tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
	tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
	uin	47184
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/05/2020 answer text <p>We know this is a worrying time for people and we stand ready to support anyone impacted by job loss. In response to Covid-19 we have established an alternative service to our usual face to face offer. People will be able to access redundancy help and job search advice on the Department’s new Job Help campaign website (<a href="http://www.jobhelp.dwp.gov.uk" target="_blank">www.jobhelp.dwp.gov.uk</a>). There’s also information on gov.uk and updated information packs provided to employers to help them signpost employees to the support that is available. The support includes:</p><p> </p><ul><li>Connecting people to jobs in the labour market</li><li>Helping with job search including CV writing, interview skills, where to find jobs and how to apply for them</li><li>Helping to identify transferable skills and skills gaps (linked to the local labour market)</li><li>Advising what benefits they may get and how to claim</li></ul><p> </p><p>The Rapid Response Service is co-ordinated nationally by the National Employer and Partnership Team (NEPT) and managed by Jobcentre Plus. Delivery partners include the National Careers Service, local training providers, employers, HMRC, Money Advice Service and the skills bodies in England.</p><p> </p><p>These services are offered by equivalents in the Devolved Administrations PACE (Scotland) and ReAct (Wales). Redundancy support in Northern Ireland is devolved with separate funding and delivery arrangements where no partner support is available.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 27/05/2020 16:48:42 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

1216329

	registered interest
	date	22/06/2020
	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	Funerals: Coronavirus
	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 introducing a crisis funeral loan to (a) support grieving families and (b) provide confidence to funeral homes that their costs will be met in the context of the covid-19 pandemic.
	tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
	tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
	uin	62293
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/07/2020 answer text <p>The DWP Funeral Expenses Payments (FEP) scheme provides an important contribution towards the cost of a funeral arranged by someone who is in receipt of certain income based benefits including Universal Credit.</p><p>The scheme meets the necessary costs of a burial or cremation in full and in April 2020 the additional element that can help with the costs of a coffin or the services of a funeral director, was increased from £700 to £1000.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 07/07/2020 16:29:41 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

1217262

	registered interest
	date	22/06/2020
	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	Meat: Processed Food
	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 health and safety standards are maintained in meat processing plants throughout the UK.
	tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
	tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
	uin	903799
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/06/2020 answer text <p>The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is responsible for enforcement of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 in Great Britain. HSE Northern Ireland has a similar responsibility in Northern Ireland.</p><p> </p><p>HSE is not the regulator of food safety. The regulatory lead for public health matters, such as responding when workers in meat processing plant test positive for Covid-19, remains with public health bodies.</p><p> </p><p>HSE has published guidance on health and safety in meat processing and other food businesses and regulated standards in this industry through operational activity, including inspections and investigating concerns raised by workers and incidents where there has been harm: <a href="https://www.hse.gov.uk/food/index.htm" target="_blank">https://www.hse.gov.uk/food/index.htm</a>.</p><p> </p><p>During the pandemic, HSE has worked with other government departments to provide additional guidance on health and safety risk controls appropriate to food production businesses, including meat processing:</p><p><a href="https://www.food.gov.uk/business-guidance/adapting-food-manufacturing-operations-during-covid-19" target="_blank">https://www.food.gov.uk/business-guidance/adapting-food-manufacturing-operations-during-covid-19</a>.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 25/06/2020 16:46:20 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

1223920

	registered interest
	date	13/07/2020
	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	Social Security Benefits
	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 take steps to investigate the reasons for delays people may experience when obtaining (a) letters from GPs and (b) other supporting evidence when bringing forward appeals against a decision made by her Department relating to social security benefits.
	tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
	tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
	uin	72807
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/07/2020 answer text <p>Appeals against social security benefit decisions are lodged with and administered by HMCTS and as such, DWP is unable to answer questions related to obtaining evidence for appeals.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 17/07/2020 12:07:31 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

1225546

	registered interest
	date	16/07/2020
	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	Social Security Benefits: Appeals
	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 effect of fees and charges levied on the provision of medical letters on the number of people that bring forward appeals against a decision made by her Department relating to social security benefits.
	tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
	tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
	uin	75201
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/07/2020 answer text <p>No such assessment has been done.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 21/07/2020 14:23:38 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

1229190

	registered interest
	date	28/08/2020
	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	Social Security Benefits: Coronavirus
	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 parity between the amount received by claimants of universal credit in relation to the covid-19 outbreak and claimants of (a) employment support allowance (b) Jobseekers Allowance and (c) other benefits.
	tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
	tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
	uin	81537
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/09/2020 answer text <p>Employment and Support Allowance, Jobseeker’s Allowance and Income Support were increased by 1.7% in April 2020 following the Government’s announcement to end the benefit freeze.</p><p> </p><p>It has always been the case that claimants on legacy benefits can make a claim for Universal Credit (UC) if they believe that they will be better off. There are special arrangements for those in receipt of the Severe Disability Premium, who will be able to make a new claim to Universal Credit from January 2021.</p><p> </p><p>Claimants should check their eligibility before applying to UC as legacy benefits will end when they submit their claim and they will not be able to return to them in the future. For this reason, prospective claimants are signposted to independent benefits calculators on GOV.UK. Neither DWP nor HMRC can advise individual claimants whether they would be better off moving to UC or remaining on legacy benefits.</p><p> </p><p>From 22 July 2020, a two-week run on of Income Support, Employment and Support Allowance (IR) and Jobseeker’s Allowance (IB) is available for all claimants whose claim to UC ends entitlement to these benefits, to provide additional support for claimants moving to UC.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 81993 82494 question first answered 08/09/2020 09:07:44 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman