Show Search Form

Search Results

registered interest	true false
date	exactly: or between: and
answering body
answering dept id
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
hansard heading
house id
legislature	pref label
question text
tabling member constituency
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member constituency answering member printed grouped question UIN question first answered answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

1420838

registered interest
date	08/02/2022
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	Carer's Allowance
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 policy to increase the carers allowance cap to reflect the rise in minimum wage so that part-time workers do not have to reduce their hours to continue qualifying for carers allowance.
tabling member constituency	St Albans
tabling member printed	Daisy Cooper
uin	120937
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/02/2022 answer text <p>Carer’s Allowance has an earnings limit which permits carers to undertake some part-time work if they are able to do so. This recognises the benefits of staying in touch with the workplace, including greater financial independence and social interaction. We know that some carers are keen to maintain contact with the labour market so we want to encourage carers to combine some paid work with their caring duties wherever possible. That is why we regularly increase the earnings limit when it is warranted and affordable.</p><p> </p><p>The earnings limit for those in receipt of Carer’s Allowance who are able to maintain some contact with the employment market is currently £128 a week. Subject to Parliamentary approval, this will increase to £132 a week from April 2022. This will mean that the earnings limit will have increased by around one third since 2010.</p><p> </p><p>The earnings limit for Carer's Allowance is a figure net of certain expenses, including income tax, National Insurance contributions and half of any contributions to an occupational or personal pension, which means that some carers will be able to earn considerably more in gross earnings than the weekly earnings limit.</p><p> </p><p>The earnings limit for Carer’s Allowance is not linked to any specific factor such as the number of hours worked, or the National Living Wage. However, the Government keeps the earnings limit under review and will consider changes where they are warranted and affordable.</p><p> </p><p>Many carers who are receiving Carer’s Allowance and doing some work will also be receiving Universal Credit. For those receiving Universal Credit, the 55% taper rate and any applicable work allowance will help to ensure that people are better off in work.</p> answering member constituency Norwich North answering member printed Chloe Smith question first answered 10/02/2022 14:54:57 answering member 1609 label Biography information for Chloe Smith
tabling member	4769 label Biography information for Daisy Cooper

1420082

registered interest
date	07/02/2022
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	Children: Maintenance
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 her Department has made of the (a) scale of the backlog of child maintenance cases and (b) likely timeframe for clearing those cases.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Yardley
tabling member printed	Jess Phillips
uin	119613
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/02/2022 answer text <p>The information requested is published and can be found here:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-maintenance-service-statistics-data-to-september-2021-experimental" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-maintenance-service-statistics-data-to-september-2021-experimental</a></p><p> </p><p>The department acknowledges there has been a rise in outstanding changes of circumstances in the last reported quarter from end of June 2021 to the end of September 2021. The Department has redeployed resources to address this rise in outstanding work since the publication of these statistics and estimates that this will show an arresting of growth in the next statistical release.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 10/02/2022 14:12:15 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4370 label Biography information for Jess Phillips

1420321

registered interest
date	07/02/2022
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	Sign Language
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 promote the use of British Sign Language.
tabling member constituency	Barnsley Central
tabling member printed	Dan Jarvis
uin	119587
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/02/2022 answer text <p>The Government is committed to supporting all people with a disability, including deaf people, to lead fulfilled, independent lives. For D/deaf people, we recognise that this must include the ability to communicate with others through British Sign Language (BSL) or other forms of deaf communication.</p><p> </p><p>I have been working closely with Rosie Cooper MP to support the aims and development of her Private Members Bill to promote BSL. We have also held a number of stakeholder forums, including with deaf people’s organisations such as the Royal National Institute for Deaf People and British Deaf Association, to ensure that we understand the views and perspectives of D/deaf BSL users.</p><p> </p><p>The British Sign Language Bill is a major step forward in recognising BSL as a language for D/deaf people in its own right. It will place a duty on the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to issue guidance on the promotion and facilitation of BSL. It will also require them to report on information supplied by ministerial Departments regarding their use of BSL. This reporting will give us a much better understanding of how BSL is being used across the government, and how we can continue to improve communication for D/deaf BSL users.</p><p> </p><p>I will also be creating a non-statutory board of BSL users which can advise the Government on matters pertaining to BSL. To complement the approach set out in the Bill, we are also developing a suite of non-statutory measures which will help promote and facilitate the use of BSL. These include:</p><p>o examining how we might increase the number of BSL interpreters;</p><p>o reviewing how we might work in DWP to ensure the Access to Work fund helps BSL users; and</p><p>o aiming to update the National Disability Strategy to facilitate and promote BSL usage.</p> answering member constituency Norwich North answering member printed Chloe Smith question first answered 10/02/2022 14:46:04 answering member 1609 label Biography information for Chloe Smith
tabling member	4243 label Biography information for Dan Jarvis

1420322

registered interest
date	07/02/2022
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	Sign Language
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent discussions she has had with Ministerial colleagues in the Department for Education on the steps they are taking to issue guidance to parents of deaf children on British Sign Language.
tabling member constituency	Barnsley Central
tabling member printed	Dan Jarvis
uin	119588
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/02/2022 answer text <p>As the Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work, I engage across government on disability issues and meet with Departmental Ministerial Champions on a regular basis. I recently engaged with Department for Education officials at a Roundtable as part of the preparation for supporting Rosie Cooper’s current Private Members Bill on BSL. My officials are also in discussion with other government departments, including the Department for Education, about the provision of BSL interpretation services.</p><p> </p><p>I have been working closely with Rosie Cooper MP to support the aims and development of her Private Members Bill which I believe is a major step forward in recognising BSL as a language for D/deaf people in its own right.</p> answering member constituency Norwich North answering member printed Chloe Smith question first answered 10/02/2022 16:31:56 answering member 1609 label Biography information for Chloe Smith
tabling member	4243 label Biography information for Dan Jarvis

1420411

registered interest
date	07/02/2022
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	Horticulture: Recruitment
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 has taken to test the effectiveness of the Find a job website in recruiting local people into seasonal worker roles in the ornamental horticulture sector.
tabling member constituency	Bootle
tabling member printed	Peter Dowd
uin	119622
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/02/2022 answer text <p><strong> </strong></p><p>The requested information is not available.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>It is not possible to give specific information about ornamental horticulture vacancies advertised using Find a job or offered as part of our Sector-based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs).</p><p> </p><p>Employers categorise their vacancies by business sector, but this data is not granular enough to distinguish ornamental horticulture roles, which employers advertise across many different sectors ranging from agriculture and forestry, facilities management to retail. <br></p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies grouped question UIN 119623 question first answered 10/02/2022 14:30:13 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4397 label Biography information for Peter Dowd

1420413

registered interest
date	07/02/2022
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	Horticulture: Recruitment
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 effectiveness of her Department’s Workplace Academy programme for recruitment in to the ornamental horticulture sector.
tabling member constituency	Bootle
tabling member printed	Peter Dowd
uin	119623
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/02/2022 answer text <p><strong> </strong></p><p>The requested information is not available.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>It is not possible to give specific information about ornamental horticulture vacancies advertised using Find a job or offered as part of our Sector-based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs).</p><p> </p><p>Employers categorise their vacancies by business sector, but this data is not granular enough to distinguish ornamental horticulture roles, which employers advertise across many different sectors ranging from agriculture and forestry, facilities management to retail. <br></p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies grouped question UIN 119622 question first answered 10/02/2022 14:30:13 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4397 label Biography information for Peter Dowd

1420426

registered interest
date	07/02/2022
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
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department plans to provide alternative job opportunities to all of the 12,000 work coaches that are being re-interviewed.
tabling member constituency	Stockport
tabling member printed	Navendu Mishra
uin	119884
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/02/2022 answer text <p>DWP recognises the important contribution colleagues on fixed-term contracts have made over the pandemic period.</p><p>We expect to be able to offer permanency to the majority of our fixed-term Executive Officer colleagues. The current exercise will also include, where possible, the ability to offer colleagues other Executive Officer roles, not just Work Coaches, within the Department. Detailed planning work is currently underway to determine numbers and roles.</p><p>Where fixed-term EO colleagues cannot be offered permanency with DWP, we will continue to provide support in applying for roles in the Civil Service and externally throughout the remainder of colleagues' fixed term contract.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 10/02/2022 14:44:55 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4811 label Biography information for Navendu Mishra

1420449

registered interest
date	07/02/2022
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 and Training: Disability and Young People
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 increase the number of employment and training opportunities available to (a) young people and (b) disabled people.
tabling member constituency	Wolverhampton South West
tabling member printed	Stuart Anderson
uin	119818
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/02/2022 answer text <p>Through Jobcentre Plus, DWP is helping young people to find the right support, education or training that will ultimately lead to sustained employment opportunities and career progression. The Plan for Jobs provides a comprehensive package of support for young people, including the Youth Offer and Kickstart.</p><p> </p><p>The Kickstart scheme is dedicated to helping 16 to 24-year olds at risk of long-term unemployment develop their skills and experience through fully funded six-month jobs.</p><p> </p><p>We are extending the DWP Youth Offer to 2025 and have expanded eligibility to include 16 and 17-year olds, in addition to 18 to 24-year olds, who are claiming Universal Credit and in the Intensive Work Search group. As part of this, Youth Hubs offer a range of dedicated local services, including mental health support, alongside skills, training, and employment provision. Youth Employability Coaches work closely alongside Disability Employment Advisors who specialise in helping claimants who have a disability or health condition to move into the labour market.</p><p> </p><p>We have increased the number of work coaches providing individually tailored support which will help the newly unemployed, enable us to continue supporting those with complex needs, and to work with partners to ensure they get the help they need.</p><p> </p><p>A range of DWP initiatives are supporting disabled people and people with health conditions to live independent lives and start, stay and succeed in employment.</p><p> </p><p>The UK Government will provide £1.3bn over the Spending Review 2021 period to provide support for disabled people and people with health conditions. We will extend the Work and Health Programme, expand the Intensive Personalised Employment Support programme, and expand employment support in NHS Improving Access to Psychological Therapy services across England.</p><p> </p><p>Through the Disability Confident scheme, DWP is engaging with employers and helping to promote the skills, talents and abilities of people with disabilities and health conditions. Through the scheme, DWP is providing advice and support to help employers feel more confident about employing disabled people, by signposting them to appropriate advice guidance and support.</p><p> </p><p>Core skills are fundamental in securing, retaining and progressing in work. This Government has invested in apprenticeships, traineeships, vocational and basic skills training, alongside careers advice and Sector-based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs). This all forms part of the Lifetime Skills Guarantee. DWP actively seeks to provide claimants with upskilling opportunities, and our delivery approach is aligned to wider Government support for priority areas as part of the economic recovery – ensuring those looking for work, including young people and disabled people, are well positioned to gain employment in these sectors.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 10/02/2022 15:03:46 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4742 label Biography information for Stuart Anderson

1420482

registered interest
date	07/02/2022
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, in the most recent 12 months for which data is available, what the average length of time applicants for (a) personal independence payment, (b) employment and support allowance, and (c) the limited capability for work assessment of universal credit, waited for (i) an assessment and (ii) a correct decision on their assessment.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
uin	119668
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/02/2022 answer text <p>We are committed to ensuring that disabled people get the full support that they need in a timely manner. We always aim to make an award decision as quickly as possible, taking into account the need to review all available evidence, including that from the claimant. Decisions are made following consideration of all the information provided by the claimant, including supporting evidence from their GP or medical specialist.</p><p> </p><p>(a) For Personal Independence Payment (PIP), between November 2020 and October 2021, the most recent 12 months for which data is available:</p><p>- The average (median) time between a PIP new claim being referred to the Assessment Provider (AP) and returned from the AP was 13 weeks.</p><p>- The average (median) time between a PIP new claim being returned from the AP and a DWP decision being made was 2 weeks.</p><p> </p><p>The length of time between Referral to AP and return from AP is used as a proxy for the length of time the claimant has waited for an assessment, because data on the dates that assessments took place is not held by DWP. Similarly, the length of time between return from the AP and a DWP decision being made is used as a proxy for the length of time for a decision to be made on the assessment.</p><p /><p>(b) The Department publishes Employment Support Allowance (ESA) Work Capability Assessment (WCA) statistics on gov.uk which can be found <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/employment-and-support-allowance-outcomes-of-work-capability-assessment" target="_blank">here</a>. The median ESA WCA customer journey processing times for initial claims can be found in section 10 of the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/esa-outcomes-of-work-capability-assessments-including-mandatory-reconsiderations-and-appeals-december-2021/esa-work-capability-assessments-mandatory-reconsiderations-and-appeals-december-2021#esa-wca-customer-journey-clearance-times-for-initial-claims-experimental-statistics" target="_blank">latest statistical bulletin</a>. The statistics include the average time taken for the full end-to-end process and also the time from WCA referral to AP recommendation and the time from the AP recommendation to the DWP decision, including those following a Mandatory Reconsideration.</p><p> </p><p>More details can also be found in Table 1 of the ‘Clearance Times for Initial Claims’ dataset in the ESA Work Capability Assessments section of <a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/" target="_blank">Stat-Xplore</a>. Guidance for users is available <a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</p><p> </p><p>(c) The information for Universal Credit WCA processing times is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Notes</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Source part (a): PIP ADS</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><ul><li>PIP data includes normal rules claimants only and is for new claims only.</li><li>Figures have been rounded to the nearest whole number of weeks.</li></ul><ul><li>The status of claims as 'normal rules' and 'new claim/reassessment' is shown as at the point of clearance of the stage of the journey concerned.</li><li>Processing times do not include claims that were withdrawn by the claimant during this phase or claims that were returned to DWP without an assessment report and disallowed because the claimant failed to attend the assessment without good reason.</li><li>Processing times are for initial decisions only, and do not include Mandatory Reconsiderations or Appeals.</li><li>The figures quoted are the median processing time of claims which cleared the specified part of the journey between 1<sup>st</sup> November 2020 and 31<sup>st</sup> October 2021.</li><li>The median time is the middle value if you were to order all the times within the distribution from lowest value to highest value. The median is presented here instead of the mean because the mean can be unduly affected by outlying cases (e.g. cases where the person has been hard to reach due to being in prison, hospital, failed to attend the assessment on numerous occasions etc.)</li><li>Great Britain only.</li></ul><ul><li>This is unpublished data. It should be used with caution and it may be subject to future revision.</li></ul><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Norwich North answering member printed Chloe Smith question first answered 10/02/2022 14:04:59 answering member 1609 label Biography information for Chloe Smith
tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1420483

registered interest
date	07/02/2022
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, what proactive steps Jobcentre Plus is taking to ensure claimants are in receipt of their full entitlement.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
uin	119669
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/02/2022 answer text <p>The Department works hard to ensure that people are in receipt of their full entitlement, communicating with the public about benefits through paid advertising, stakeholder and employer engagement and no cost campaigns to help people understand their entitlement and the support we can provide as a safety net and in times of need.</p><p> </p><p>During the pandemic this has been of particular importance. We increased the frequency of our stakeholder engagement to effectively convey the rapidly changing environment particularly as many people needed to claim benefits for the first time. We have made additional use of digital media such as YouTube videos, particularly British Sign Language videos to widely promote DWP benefits.</p><p>DWP staff in Jobcentres provide support and advice about entitlement to benefits and will signpost citizens to appropriate information to help them. The Department provides telephone service lines that citizens can call to make their claims to benefit and to operate their claims as well as a visiting service which can help vulnerable customers with their claims. Jobcentres have internet terminals for use by the public, and staff will signpost citizens to other community resources (libraries and Citizens Advice) which can also provide advice and internet access points.</p><p>The Government’s website, GOV.UK provides guidance on individual’s rights and entitlements to benefits in the UK. In particular, the website provides links to independent benefits calculators that can be used to find out what benefits an individual could get, how to claim and how these benefits will be affected if an individual starts work.</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/benefits-calculators" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/benefits-calculators</a></p><p> </p><p>The independent benefits calculators we endorse are intended to provide useful estimations of what people could be entitled to in certain circumstances, based on the information that is entered on the calculators themselves.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 10/02/2022 14:25:34 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens