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1144092

registered interest
date	03/09/2019
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	Poverty
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, following the report by the Social Metrics Commission Measuring Poverty 2019, published in July, and the appointment of the new Prime Minister on 24 July, what plans they have to revise their strategy for tackling poverty.
tabling member printed	Lord Bird
uin	HL17580
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p><del class="ministerial">It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.</del><ins class="ministerial">The Government is committed to delivering a sustainable, long-term solution to poverty through reforming the welfare system so that it works with the tax system and the Labour market to support employment and higher pay. Promoting full-time work through work incentives are a key feature of this approach, reinforced by the National Living Wage and the rising Personal Tax Allowance, which work together to promote independence from benefits.</ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial">Universal Credit, which is now reaching over 2 million households, has already shown that it is more effective in getting people into work than the legacy benefits it replaces. Nine months into a UC claim, 40% of claimants are working for an employer in a paid role, compared with only 23% at the start of their claim. </ins><br /> <br /><ins class="ministerial"> The number of people in employment has increased by over 3.7 million since 2010. Three-quarters of the growth in employment has been in full-time work which substantially reduces the chances of being in poverty.</ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial">The Government is working with the Social Metrics Commission, and other experts in the field, to develop new experimental statistics which will help us to find new and better ways to analyse poverty in this country. These will be published in 2020 and, in the long-run, could help us target support more effectively.</ins></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott question first answered 09/09/2019 15:23:29 question first ministerially corrected 30/09/2019 14:54:43 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott previous answer version 134826 answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott
tabling member	4564 label Biography information for Lord Bird

1144129

registered interest
date	03/09/2019
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	Pension Credit
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Buscombe on 22 July (HL16979), whether they will provide details of the funding for charities that work with older people to support the take-up of Pension Credit in each of the three years specified in the original question.
tabling member printed	Lord Foulkes of Cumnock
uin	HL17617
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p><del class="ministerial">It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.</del><ins class="ministerial">The Government works with a wide range of stakeholders including charitable organisations to promote the take-up of Pension Credit. However, the DWP does not provide specific funding to such organisations for Pension Credit take-up related activities. Support is available through a variety of information resources including the Pension Credit toolkit, which is an on-line tool for organisations to use in order to encourage people to claim Pension Credit.</ins></p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott question first answered 09/09/2019 15:36:02 question first ministerially corrected 02/10/2019 14:06:45 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott previous answer version 134866 answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott
tabling member	579 label Biography information for Lord Foulkes of Cumnock

1144138

registered interest
date	03/09/2019
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	Sanitation
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether there is a statutory requirement for public buildings and offices to provide appropriate disposal bins for the disposal of stoma and other continence products and personal care products in (1) female, and (2) male toilets.
tabling member printed	Baroness Greengross
uin	HL17626
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p><del class="ministerial">It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.</del></p><p><ins class="ministerial">The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 cover a wide range of basic health, safety and welfare issues and apply to most workplaces. These Regulations require for suitable and sufficient sanitary conveniences to be available at readily accessible places. The attached documents the <em>Workplace Health Safety and Welfare Approved Code of Practice and Guidance</em> (L24) and <em>Welfare at Work – Guidance for employers</em> (INDG293), which are guidance to help dutyholders comply with the regulations, say:</ins></p><ul><li><ins class="ministerial">provision must be made for any worker with a disability to enable them to have access to facilities which are adjusted for their use as necessary; and</ins></li></ul><p><ins class="ministerial"> </ins></p><ul><li><ins class="ministerial">that toilets used by women should be provided with suitable means for the disposal of sanitary dressings.</ins></li></ul><p><ins class="ministerial"> </ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial">There are no equivalent requirements for men.</ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial"> </ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial">These regulations do not apply to non-workplaces; however, the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government’s building regulations are applicable to public buildings and the advice is:</ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial"> </ins></p><ul><li><ins class="ministerial">Statutory guidance supporting Part M of the building regulations, includes a sanitary waste disposal bin in accessible toilets. All building other than dwellings in scope, including offices and all public buildings would require as a minimum one accessible toilet where a stoma bag can be safely disposed of.</ins></li></ul><p><ins class="ministerial"> </ins></p><ul><li><ins class="ministerial">Building Regulations come with statutory guidance on the layout of wheelchair-accessible unisex toilets. These toilets offer private space for anyone needing to attend to a medical need and are not exclusively for use by ambulant disabled people. The guidance for accessible WCs includes a sanitary waste disposal bin with a lid and a wash hand basin. The layout and content of these spaces are controlled in all newly built offices and public buildings.</ins></li></ul><p><ins class="ministerial"> </ins></p><ul><li><ins class="ministerial">The statutory guidance given in Approved Document M (Access to and use of buildings) also points to the British Standard BS8300-2:2018 “Design of an accessible and inclusive built environment. Buildings. Code of practice”. This independent best practice standard was updated in January 2018 with further information describing best practice in a range of toilets for people treating a medical condition.</ins></li></ul><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott attachment 1 file name HL17626 attachment 1 Workplace health and safety regulations.pdf title Workplace Health, Safety and Welfare 2 file name HL17626 attachment 2 Welfare at work.pdf title Welfare at Work question first answered 09/09/2019 15:38:19 question first ministerially corrected 30/09/2019 11:58:41 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott previous answer version 134882 answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott
tabling member	2518 label Biography information for Baroness Greengross

1144160

registered interest
date	03/09/2019
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	Housing Benefit
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the case for increasing the (1) scope, and (2) total amount, of housing benefit, including any resulting savings on temporary accommodation and other costs.
tabling member printed	Lord Hylton
uin	HL17648
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p><del class="ministerial">It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.</del></p><p><strong><ins class="ministerial">No assessment has been made of the case for increasing the scope of housing support. Housing support in the private rented sector is based on the Local Housing Allowance and decisions on the uprating of Local Housing Allowance from April 2020 will form part of the discussions in support fiscal events later this year.</ins></strong></p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott question first answered 09/09/2019 15:39:15 question first ministerially corrected 30/09/2019 12:02:40 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott previous answer version 134928 answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott
tabling member	2018 label Biography information for Lord Hylton

1144161

registered interest
date	03/09/2019
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	Carers
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many carers registered with the Department of Work and Pensions are (1) over 18 years, (2) 13–18 years, and (3) under 13 years old, in each (a) London borough, and (b) English local authority area.
tabling member printed	Baroness Jolly
uin	HL17649
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p><del class="ministerial">It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.</del></p><p><ins class="ministerial">The Department does not hold information on carers unless they claim a benefit related to their role as a carer, such as Carer’s Allowance (CA). Carers may be receiving broader support through other DWP benefits, or through other sources, in addition to or instead of CA.</ins></p><p> </p><p><ins class="ministerial">Carer’s Allowance is a benefit available to those carers providing support to a disabled or seriously ill family member or friend for 35 hours or more a week. To be eligible for CA, the carer must also care for someone claiming Disability Living Allowance (middle or highest care rate), Personal Independence Payment (daily living component) or Attendance Allowance, must earn no more than £123 a week after tax, national insurance and expenses, and be aged 16 or over.</ins></p><p> </p><p><ins class="ministerial">The attached table shows the number of CA claimants in each London Borough and English Local Authority area (ranked by total number of CA claimants) as of February 2019 (the latest data available). This includes those who are in receipt of CA and those who are entitled to but do not receive CA. The data is available publicly at stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk.</ins></p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott question first answered 09/09/2019 15:41:17 question first ministerially corrected 27/09/2019 10:03:50 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott attachment 1 file name HL17649 attachment.pdf title Table of CA Claimants previous answer version 134960 answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott
tabling member	4203 label Biography information for Baroness Jolly

1144170

registered interest
date	03/09/2019
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	Poverty
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government why the objectives listed in the departmental plan for the Department for Work and Pensions makes no reference to (1) reducing poverty, and (2) the Sustainable Development Goal on poverty.
tabling member printed	Baroness Lister of Burtersett
uin	HL17658
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p><del class="ministerial">It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.</del></p><p><ins class="ministerial">As clearly set out in the Government’s published response to the Voluntary National Review of the Sustainable Development Goal 1, we are committed to delivering a sustainable, long-term solution to reducing poverty through welfare reforms that ensure that the benefits system works with the tax system and the labour market to support employment and higher pay. There is clear evidence that full-time work dramatically reduces the risk of poverty for working families; for example, there is only a 7% chance of a child being in poverty (relative, after housing costs) if both parents work full-time compared with 66% for children in (two-parent) families with only part-time work. </ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial"><ins class="ministerial"><ins class="ministerial">Although not directly referenced, our approach to reducing poverty is already reflected in our Single Departmental Plan which sets out how we plan to achieve our key strategic objectives including delivering an effective labour market strategy that boosts employment among under-represented and disadvantaged groups and facilitating progression; and consolidating the delivery of Universal Credit so that it works for everyone.</ins></ins></ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial"><ins class="ministerial"><ins class="ministerial"><ins class="ministerial"><ins class="ministerial">Universal Credit, at the heart of our reforms, has already shown that it is more effective in getting people into work than the legacy benefits it replaces. Nine months into a UC claim, 40% of claimants are working for an employer in a paid role, compared with only 23% at the start of their claim. This is a key approach to provide a sustainable solution to reducing poverty.</ins></ins></ins></ins></ins></p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott question first answered 09/09/2019 15:42:45 question first ministerially corrected 03/10/2019 13:26:53 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott previous answer version 134986 answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott
tabling member	4234 label Biography information for Baroness Lister of Burtersett

1144202

registered interest
date	03/09/2019
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	Food Banks: Schools
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that there has been an increase in the number of food banks set up in UK schools.
tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
uin	HL17690
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p><del class="ministerial">It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.</del></p><p><ins class="ministerial">There is no official data or record of the number of foodbanks in the UK. However, the Government wants to develop a better understanding of household food needs to help ensure that support is targeted at those who need it most. This is why the Government has worked with food insecurity experts, the Office for National Statistics and the Scottish Government to introduce a new set of food security questions in the Family Resources Survey starting from April 2019. This means that we will in future be able to able to monitor the prevalence and severity of household food insecurity across the UK and for specific groups, to better understand the drivers of food insecurity and identify which groups are most at risk.</ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial">To help families on low incomes we are supporting 1.3 million children with free school meals, investing up to £26 million in school breakfast clubs, providing approximately 2.3 million children aged 4-6 with a portion of fresh fruit or vegetables each day at school, and, through the Healthy Start Programme, hundreds of thousands of low income families benefit from vouchers which can be redeemed against fruit, vegetables, milk and infant formula.</ins></p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott question first answered 09/09/2019 15:53:12 question first ministerially corrected 30/09/2019 14:57:52 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott previous answer version 135004 answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott
tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

1141922

registered interest
date	24/07/2019
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	Poverty
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the National School Breakfast Programme feeding an estimated 280,000 children, (2) the number of pupils receiving Free School Meals, (3) the incidence of food banks, food pantries and similar help in kind, throughout England and Wales; and what consideration they are giving, as a result of any such assessment, to reviewing their policies to address destitution, food and fuel poverty and ensure sufficient services to prevent poverty.
tabling member printed	Lord Hylton
uin	HL17466
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/08/2019 answer text <p>The Government is committed to tackling poverty in all its forms by building a strong economy and a benefit system that supports employment and higher pay. A child growing up in a home where all adults are working is around 5 times less likely to be in poverty than a child in a household where nobody works. Since 2010, there are around 1 million fewer workless households and 667,000 fewer children in such households.</p><p>To help make sure every child gets the best start in life, the Department for Education is investing up to £26 million in a programme to establish or improve breakfast clubs in over 1,700 schools, targeting most disadvantaged areas. The programme’s effectiveness will be reviewed once it concludes next year. Additionally, over 1.2 million of the most disadvantaged children receive a free school meal.</p><p>The Government has not made an assessment of the incidence of food banks or similar charity-based provision in England and Wales. However, new questions have been added to the Family Resources Survey to develop a food insecurity measure from 2021 to help better understand the drivers of food insecurity and identify which groups are most at risk.</p><p>This Government spend more on family benefits than any other country in the G7, at 3.5% of GDP (OECD, 2015 data), demonstrating a commitment to providing a strong safety net for those that need it.</p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott question first answered 05/08/2019 15:49:45 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott
tabling member	2018 label Biography information for Lord Hylton

1141929

registered interest
date	24/07/2019
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	Universal Credit: Pilot Schemes
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the statement by Baroness Buscombe on 23 July (HL Deb, cols 680–691), what plans they have to ensure that Parliament will debate the report of the evaluation of the pilot to move existing welfare claimants to Universal Credit before regulations are laid concerning the full roll-out of managed migration; and how long that pilot is scheduled to last.
tabling member printed	Baroness Lister of Burtersett
uin	HL17473
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/09/2019 answer text <p>We have already said that following the pilot we will report back to Parliament on progress and findings, and at that point will determine the process for bringing forward further legislation to move claimants beyond the pilot phase.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The Universal Credit (Managed Migration Pilot and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2019 introduced in July 2019 allow the Department to pilot moving no more than 10,000 claimants across to Universal Credit from legacy benefits and is expected to last until November 2020.</p><p>Draft regulations were sent for scrutiny to the independent Social Security Advisory Committee (SSAC) in 2018. The Committee submitted them for a formal public consultation, receiving 455 responses - the Government accepted, in whole or in part, all but one of the Committee’s recommendations.</p><p>The revised regulations mean claimants, who are potentially eligible for Severe Disability Premium (SDP) transitional payments, can now start receiving payment. As the recently published statistics show we have paid over 6,300 claims worth over £16 million<strong>. </strong>Eligible claimants may receive up to an additional £405 per month on top of their existing Universal Credit award, depending on their specific circumstances. The Department estimates that by 2024-25, approximately 45,000 of the most vulnerable claimants will benefit from this package of support for those former SDP recipients, worth an estimated £600 million over the next six years.</p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott question first answered 02/09/2019 15:49:50 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott
tabling member	4234 label Biography information for Baroness Lister of Burtersett

1141521

registered interest
date	23/07/2019
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	Formaldehyde: Industrial Health and Safety
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government when the Health and Safety Executive will revisit its current work place exposure limits for formaldehyde.
tabling member printed	Baroness Crawley
uin	HL17389
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/08/2019 answer text <p>The EU has recently reviewed the occupational exposure limit value for formaldehyde, and in the Phase 3 amendment to the Carcinogens and Mutagens Directive 2004/37/EC, introduced a new binding occupational exposure limit value (BOELV) of 0.3ppm, which came into force on 11 July 2019. The current GB work place exposure limit (WEL) is 2ppm.</p><p> </p><p>Member States have two years to transpose the new BOELV (i.e. by 11 July 2021). Because of differences in cultural practices; cost of embalming and greater capacity in the facilities available; and the limited use of embalming in other Members States, the UK negotiated an additional 3-year transitional period (until July 2024) for the funeral and embalming sector, during which time an interim BOELV of 0.5ppm will apply. This is to allow the UK funeral and embalming sector to comply with the Directive without incurring disproportionate costs.</p><p> </p><p>The Health and Safety Executive is currently working to implement the revised exposure limits for formaldehyde.</p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott grouped question UIN HL17390 question first answered 05/08/2019 15:23:53 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott
tabling member	3386 label Biography information for Baroness Crawley