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1697811

registered interest
date	21/03/2024
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	Department for Work and Pensions: Mental Health
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what training (a) he has and (b) other Ministers in his Department have had in mental health literacy.
tabling member constituency	York Central
tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
uin	19898
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/03/2024 answer text <p>Ministers are not required to undertake specific mental health literacy training.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 26/03/2024 17:21:30 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1697812

registered interest
date	21/03/2024
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	Department for Work and Pensions: Mental Health
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 his Department's (a) policy and (b) other staff have comprehensive training in mental health.
tabling member constituency	York Central
tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
uin	19899
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/03/2024 answer text <p>DWP is actively taking steps to increase staff capability and raising awareness of the mental health difficulties that may be experienced by our customers, ensuring they can be directed to further support at any stage of the claimant journey.</p><p> </p><p>We continually review our learning alongside external experts and psychologists to enhance the mental health training offer. The learning is mandatory and aims to help our colleagues better support claimants who may present with mental health issues/unexpected behaviour by exploring their impact on customers, the steps needed to build relationships and learning how to respond appropriately to customers’ needs.</p><p> </p><p>All colleagues in customer contact roles will receive this learning by March 2025, and the learning is included in new entrant learning for colleagues in these roles. As of the end of February 2024, we have delivered the learning to 62,291 colleagues, with a further 20,399 colleagues due to receive the learning before the rollout is completed.</p><p> </p><p>All DWP colleagues have access to support and resources relating to mental health.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 26/03/2024 15:22:07 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1694563

registered interest
date	07/03/2024
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	Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he made an assessment of the potential merits of removing the under-occupancy penalty during the preparation of the Spring Budget.
tabling member constituency	York Central
tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
uin	17656
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/03/2024 answer text <p>No assessment has been made.</p><p> </p><p>The removal of the spare room subsidy (RSRS) policy applies to claims for housing support where the claimant is living in the social rented sector in a property that is considered to have more bedrooms than the household requires.</p><p> </p><p>The policy helps encourage mobility within the social rented sector to make better use of the existing social housing stock and strengthens work-incentives.</p><p> </p><p>There are no plans to abolish this policy and easements are available to support disabled people and carers, the families of disabled children, foster carers, parents who adopt, parents of service personnel and people who have suffered a bereavement. The deduction does not apply to pensioners in receipt of Housing Benefit.</p><p> </p><p>For individuals who may require additional support, Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) may be available. DHP payments are entirely at the discretion of the local authority and since 2011 the Government has provided nearly £1.7 billion to local authorities.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 12/03/2024 14:38:37 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1694568

registered interest
date	07/03/2024
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	Pension Funds
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 Spring Budget 2024, HC 560, published on 6 March 2024, if he will hold discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on how a transferrable pension fund would work.
tabling member constituency	York Central
tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
uin	17660
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/03/2024 answer text <p>The Government has recently concluded a call for evidence to understand the considerations, merits and impacts of a lifetime pension provider model.</p><p> </p><p>In his Spring Budget, the Chancellor confirmed our commitment to explore a Lifetime Provider model. My Officials will undertake further analysis and engagement with industry, employers and employees to better understand if this measure would improve outcomes for savers.</p><p> </p><p>I am happy to meet any member of Parliament to discuss this issue.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 12/03/2024 13:52:33 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1691564

registered interest
date	26/02/2024
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	Welding: Carcinogens
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information his Department holds on the number of people that have been exposed (a) directly and (b) indirectly to welding fume since the categorisation of welding fume as a human carcinogen by the Health and Safety Executive in 2019.
tabling member constituency	York Central
tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
uin	15684
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/02/2024 answer text <p>The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) does not collect data on the numbers of people directly or indirectly exposed to welding fume.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 29/02/2024 10:07:56 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1691566

registered interest
date	26/02/2024
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	Welding: Health Hazards
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department is taking steps to (a) provide information to welders on and (b) help protect welders from the potential health risks associated with mild steel welding fume.
tabling member constituency	York Central
tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
uin	15686
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/02/2024 answer text <p>The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has taken the following steps to provide information to welders:</p><p> </p><ul><li>A safety alert was issued in 2019 following the change in the categorisation of mild steel welding fume carcinogenicity. This led to a lot of action from industry and articles in the trade press (<a href="https://www.hse.gov.uk/safetybulletins/mild-steel-welding-fume.htm" target="_blank">Change in Enforcement Expectations for Mild Steel Welding Fume (hse.gov.uk)</a>).</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>The specific HSE guidance to businesses on welding fume control was updated in the form of the COSHH Essentials Welding Sheet WL3 (<a href="https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/guidance/wl3.pdf" target="_blank">Welding fume control (hse.gov.uk)</a>).</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>HSE’s website has a wide range of guidance and resources on the safety and health hazards associated with welding (<a href="https://www.hse.gov.uk/welding/index.htm" target="_blank">Welding - HSE</a>). Access to HSE’s website and downloading the documents on the website is free.</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>HSE developed a multi-channel media campaign, including the Work Right Site (<a href="https://workright.campaign.gov.uk/campaigns/" target="_blank">Campaigns Archive - Work Right to keep Britain safe</a>), a top tips resource on preparing for inspections and regular e-bulletins and social media alerts covering welding fume control.</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>A series of presentations at stakeholder events and webinars, reaching thousands of people and hosted by multiple partners, informed duty holders about the required control measures for metal working fluids and welding.</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>The findings of the regular HSE inspection campaigns are shared and highlighted with the relevant industry stake holder groups.</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>More widely HSE has worked with the British Occupational Hygiene Society (BOHS) to promote the Breathe Freely campaign (<a href="https://breathefreely.org.uk/" target="_blank">Breathe Freely – Controlling exposures to prevent occupational lung disease in industry</a>)</li></ul><p><strong> </strong></p><p>HSE conducts regular inspection campaigns targeting the industries where welding is prevalent. Since 2013 there have been annual campaigns specifically focussing on metal fabrication businesses including assessment of their control of exposure to welding fume. Inspection activities in other industries, for example agriculture and construction, also address welding controls where appropriate.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 29/02/2024 10:32:33 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1691567

registered interest
date	26/02/2024
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	Welding: Health Hazards
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 with Cabinet colleagues to help ensure that businesses undertaking welding provide effective controls on the fumes arising from welding.
tabling member constituency	York Central
tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
uin	15687
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/02/2024 answer text <p>The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH) require that businesses ensure that exposure to substances hazardous to health, like welding fume, are either prevented or, where this is not reasonably practicable, adequately controlled.</p><p> </p><p>The hierarchy of control measures specified by COSHH requires systems of work and engineering controls to be implemented, where reasonably practicable, to provide adequate control of welding fume. A key engineering control is the provision of suitable Local Exhaust Ventilation (LEV) equipment to remove the fume at source.</p><p> </p><p>The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) conducts regular inspection campaigns targeting the industries where welding is prevalent. A key part of the inspection is to check that the correct type of LEV is provided, that it is effective, that workers know how to set up and use the equipment correctly, welding is appropriately supervised, that the LEV is maintained and that the LEV is thoroughly examined and tested by competent examiners at the correct intervals.</p><p> </p><p>HSE has worked with the British Occupational Hygiene Society (BOHS) to promote the BOHS Welding LEV On-line Selector Tool developed and published on their website that allows duty holders to specify their welding requirements and circumstances and the tool suggests the most appropriate control measures (<a href="https://breathefreely.org.uk/WST/" target="_blank">Welding Fume Control Selector Tool</a>).</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 29/02/2024 10:16:55 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1691568

registered interest
date	26/02/2024
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	Welding: Health Hazards
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 with Cabinet colleagues to help ensure that businesses provide adequate respiratory protective equipment to people at risk of residual welding fume.
tabling member constituency	York Central
tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
uin	15688
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/02/2024 answer text <p>The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH) require that businesses ensure that exposure to substances hazardous to health, like welding fume, are either prevented or, where this is not reasonably practicable, adequately controlled.</p><p> </p><p>The key control measure should be the use of appropriate local exhaust ventilation (LEV) to extract welding fume from the work area. Where LEV is not reasonably practicable, for example in an outdoor environment, or where the LEV on its own cannot provide adequate control then the business has a duty to provide respiratory protective equipment (RPE) to control the residual risk.</p><p> </p><p>The HSE conducts regular inspection campaigns targeting the industries where welding is prevalent. Part of the inspection is to check that welders have the appropriate RPE where required. <br></p><p>The COSHH Essentials Welding Sheet WL3 gives welders guidance on the appropriate type of mask and grade of filters, suitable for welding, <a href="https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/guidance/wl3.pdf" target="_blank">Welding fume control (hse.gov.uk)</a>.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 29/02/2024 12:21:00 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1687628

registered interest
date	05/02/2024
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: Death
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 have discussions with The Pensions Regulator on ensuring that death in service benefits are paid expediently to beneficiaries.
tabling member constituency	York Central
tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
uin	13121
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/02/2024 answer text <p>Where pension schemes offer a death in service benefit, I completely understand how important it will be for beneficiaries that they are paid promptly. The time this takes will vary depending on the circumstances, but of course it should be reasonable. If anyone thinks that a pension scheme is not acting reasonably in the processing of its promised benefits they should contact the scheme, which is required to have an internal disputes resolution process. They may also wish to contact the Pensions Ombudsman who will consider how best they can help.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 08/02/2024 13:52:21 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1680499

registered interest
date	08/01/2024
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	Money Lenders
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department is taking steps to advise claimants on the financial risks associated with unauthorised money lenders.
tabling member constituency	York Central
tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
uin	8484
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/01/2024 answer text <p>We are committed to ensuring staff who engage with claimants identify and signpost them to the financial support they require. We continue to work closely with the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS), which is an Arm’s Length Body of DWP, to identify and maximise all the touchpoints where it may be appropriate to signpost claimants to the expert financial help they need.</p><p> </p><p>We have also been working with MaPS to upskill our frontline staff to give them the confidence and skills to have those difficult and sensitive conversations with claimants regarding their finances before signposting them to the most suitable organisation. This may be for help with budgeting and money management, or with debt, as well as information on unauthorised money lenders. Customers contacting the Department’s Debt Management Team are routinely referred to this service.</p><p> </p><p>To help facilitate signposting discussions with claimants, staff have access to a database of national and local support information, the District Provision Tool, which ensures that claimants can access tailored support where required.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 16/01/2024 13:26:06 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell