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 attachment file name title
tabling member	label

Search

1092779

	registered interest
	date	21/03/2019
	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	Social Security Benefits
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the sample size used to inform the design of the benefit cap policy.
	tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of Durham
	uin	HL14730
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/04/2019 answer text <p>The rationale behind the benefit cap policy is set out in the Impact Assessment, which supported the Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016. The final update was published in August 2016 and is attached.</p><p> </p><p>DWP and HMRC administrative data was used to inform the design of the benefit cap policy, and sample data was not used.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 03/04/2019 16:07:11 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe attachment 1 file name welfare-reform-and-work-act-impact-assessment-for-the-benefit-cap.pdf title Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016 Impact Assessment
	tabling member	4312 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of Durham

1168620

	registered interest
	date	19/12/2019
	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	Employment: Disability
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to make the framework for voluntary reporting on disability, mental health and wellbeing a mandatory requirement for Disability Confident Leaders.
	tabling member printed	Lord Shinkwin
	uin	HL78
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/01/2020 answer text <p>We announced on 2 November that new Disability Confident (DC) Leaders (Level 3) and Disability Confident Leaders applying for re-accreditation will need to use the voluntary reporting framework (VRF) to publicly report on disability employment. A copy of which is attached. Although there is flexibility in how employers can use the VRF, we expect that most DC Leaders would choose to combine it with their annual report and accounts.</p><p> </p><p>We developed the voluntary reporting framework with a group of employers and disability stakeholders. It is deliberately designed to be flexible, recognising that different employers start in different places. It does not require reporting on pay and we have no current plans to require pay reporting.</p><p> </p><p>Disability Confident leaders are now required to publicly report using the voluntary reporting framework and one of the measures the framework encourages is the number of disabled people employed.</p><p> </p><p>The definition of disability in the voluntary reporting framework is self-declared, asking employees if they ‘consider’ themselves to have a disability. The framework is both voluntary and flexible, designed based on feedback from employers and other stakeholders. If we choose to go further in future, we will look at the case for alignment with the definition of disability in the Equality Act 2010.</p><p>We are committed to reducing the disability employment gap, and will report on progress regularly. We will consider the case for a target as part of our work on the new National Disability Strategy which we have committed to publish by the end of 2020.</p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott grouped question UIN HL79 HL80 HL81 HL82 question first answered 07/01/2020 12:53:27 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott attachment 1 file name voluntary-reporting-on-disability-mental-health-and-wellbeing.pdf title Voluntary Reporting Framework
	tabling member	4557 label Biography information for Lord Shinkwin

1168621

	registered interest
	date	19/12/2019
	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	Employment: Disability
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to extend the voluntary reporting on disability, mental health and wellbeing framework to include the number or proportion of disabled employees in each pay quartile.
	tabling member printed	Lord Shinkwin
	uin	HL79
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/01/2020 answer text <p>We announced on 2 November that new Disability Confident (DC) Leaders (Level 3) and Disability Confident Leaders applying for re-accreditation will need to use the voluntary reporting framework (VRF) to publicly report on disability employment. A copy of which is attached. Although there is flexibility in how employers can use the VRF, we expect that most DC Leaders would choose to combine it with their annual report and accounts.</p><p> </p><p>We developed the voluntary reporting framework with a group of employers and disability stakeholders. It is deliberately designed to be flexible, recognising that different employers start in different places. It does not require reporting on pay and we have no current plans to require pay reporting.</p><p> </p><p>Disability Confident leaders are now required to publicly report using the voluntary reporting framework and one of the measures the framework encourages is the number of disabled people employed.</p><p> </p><p>The definition of disability in the voluntary reporting framework is self-declared, asking employees if they ‘consider’ themselves to have a disability. The framework is both voluntary and flexible, designed based on feedback from employers and other stakeholders. If we choose to go further in future, we will look at the case for alignment with the definition of disability in the Equality Act 2010.</p><p>We are committed to reducing the disability employment gap, and will report on progress regularly. We will consider the case for a target as part of our work on the new National Disability Strategy which we have committed to publish by the end of 2020.</p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott grouped question UIN HL78 HL80 HL81 HL82 question first answered 07/01/2020 12:53:27 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott attachment 1 file name voluntary-reporting-on-disability-mental-health-and-wellbeing.pdf title Voluntary Reporting Framework
	tabling member	4557 label Biography information for Lord Shinkwin

1168622

	registered interest
	date	19/12/2019
	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	Employment: Disability
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to require large employers to publish data on the (1) number, and (2) pay, of disabled employees.
	tabling member printed	Lord Shinkwin
	uin	HL80
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/01/2020 answer text <p>We announced on 2 November that new Disability Confident (DC) Leaders (Level 3) and Disability Confident Leaders applying for re-accreditation will need to use the voluntary reporting framework (VRF) to publicly report on disability employment. A copy of which is attached. Although there is flexibility in how employers can use the VRF, we expect that most DC Leaders would choose to combine it with their annual report and accounts.</p><p> </p><p>We developed the voluntary reporting framework with a group of employers and disability stakeholders. It is deliberately designed to be flexible, recognising that different employers start in different places. It does not require reporting on pay and we have no current plans to require pay reporting.</p><p> </p><p>Disability Confident leaders are now required to publicly report using the voluntary reporting framework and one of the measures the framework encourages is the number of disabled people employed.</p><p> </p><p>The definition of disability in the voluntary reporting framework is self-declared, asking employees if they ‘consider’ themselves to have a disability. The framework is both voluntary and flexible, designed based on feedback from employers and other stakeholders. If we choose to go further in future, we will look at the case for alignment with the definition of disability in the Equality Act 2010.</p><p>We are committed to reducing the disability employment gap, and will report on progress regularly. We will consider the case for a target as part of our work on the new National Disability Strategy which we have committed to publish by the end of 2020.</p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott grouped question UIN HL78 HL79 HL81 HL82 question first answered 07/01/2020 12:53:27 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott attachment 1 file name voluntary-reporting-on-disability-mental-health-and-wellbeing.pdf title Voluntary Reporting Framework
	tabling member	4557 label Biography information for Lord Shinkwin

1168623

	registered interest
	date	19/12/2019
	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	Employment: Disability
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to amend the wording in the framework for voluntary reporting on disability, mental health and wellbeing so that it matches the definition of disability in the Equality Act 2010 and the Government Statistical Service's disability disclosure question.
	tabling member printed	Lord Shinkwin
	uin	HL81
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/01/2020 answer text <p>We announced on 2 November that new Disability Confident (DC) Leaders (Level 3) and Disability Confident Leaders applying for re-accreditation will need to use the voluntary reporting framework (VRF) to publicly report on disability employment. A copy of which is attached. Although there is flexibility in how employers can use the VRF, we expect that most DC Leaders would choose to combine it with their annual report and accounts.</p><p> </p><p>We developed the voluntary reporting framework with a group of employers and disability stakeholders. It is deliberately designed to be flexible, recognising that different employers start in different places. It does not require reporting on pay and we have no current plans to require pay reporting.</p><p> </p><p>Disability Confident leaders are now required to publicly report using the voluntary reporting framework and one of the measures the framework encourages is the number of disabled people employed.</p><p> </p><p>The definition of disability in the voluntary reporting framework is self-declared, asking employees if they ‘consider’ themselves to have a disability. The framework is both voluntary and flexible, designed based on feedback from employers and other stakeholders. If we choose to go further in future, we will look at the case for alignment with the definition of disability in the Equality Act 2010.</p><p>We are committed to reducing the disability employment gap, and will report on progress regularly. We will consider the case for a target as part of our work on the new National Disability Strategy which we have committed to publish by the end of 2020.</p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott grouped question UIN HL78 HL79 HL80 HL82 question first answered 07/01/2020 12:53:27 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott attachment 1 file name voluntary-reporting-on-disability-mental-health-and-wellbeing.pdf title Voluntary Reporting Framework
	tabling member	4557 label Biography information for Lord Shinkwin

1168624

	registered interest
	date	19/12/2019
	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	Employment: Disability
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to introduce targets for closing the disability employment gap; and if so, what dates they plan to set to meet those targets.
	tabling member printed	Lord Shinkwin
	uin	HL82
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/01/2020 answer text <p>We announced on 2 November that new Disability Confident (DC) Leaders (Level 3) and Disability Confident Leaders applying for re-accreditation will need to use the voluntary reporting framework (VRF) to publicly report on disability employment. A copy of which is attached. Although there is flexibility in how employers can use the VRF, we expect that most DC Leaders would choose to combine it with their annual report and accounts.</p><p> </p><p>We developed the voluntary reporting framework with a group of employers and disability stakeholders. It is deliberately designed to be flexible, recognising that different employers start in different places. It does not require reporting on pay and we have no current plans to require pay reporting.</p><p> </p><p>Disability Confident leaders are now required to publicly report using the voluntary reporting framework and one of the measures the framework encourages is the number of disabled people employed.</p><p> </p><p>The definition of disability in the voluntary reporting framework is self-declared, asking employees if they ‘consider’ themselves to have a disability. The framework is both voluntary and flexible, designed based on feedback from employers and other stakeholders. If we choose to go further in future, we will look at the case for alignment with the definition of disability in the Equality Act 2010.</p><p>We are committed to reducing the disability employment gap, and will report on progress regularly. We will consider the case for a target as part of our work on the new National Disability Strategy which we have committed to publish by the end of 2020.</p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott grouped question UIN HL78 HL79 HL80 HL81 question first answered 07/01/2020 12:53:27 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott attachment 1 file name voluntary-reporting-on-disability-mental-health-and-wellbeing.pdf title Voluntary Reporting Framework
	tabling member	4557 label Biography information for Lord Shinkwin

1176602

	registered interest
	date	05/02/2020
	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	Poverty: Children
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to reduce child poverty levels.
	tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of Durham
	uin	HL1354
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/02/2020 answer text <p>This Government is committed to delivering a sustainable, long-term solution to poverty in all its forms. Tackling child poverty requires an approach that goes beyond one that focuses on income alone to one that addresses the root causes of poverty and disadvantage and improves long-term outcomes for families and children.</p><p>Through Improving Lives: Helping Workless Families, a copy of which is attached, we set out detailed evidence on the root causes of poverty and disadvantage and their impact on the outcomes of children in families where none of the parents are working. We also set out nine indicators to track progress in the areas that matter, including two statutory measures of parental worklessness and educational attainment – the two areas that we know can make the biggest difference to children’s outcomes.</p><p>There is clear evidence that children in working households are not only less likely to grow up in poverty – their life chances are also significantly better. We will therefore continue to reform the welfare system so that it works with the tax system and the labour market to support employment and higher pay. At the heart of our reforms is Universal Credit, which is designed to help people move into work faster, stay in work longer and spend more time looking to increase their earnings. Once fully implemented, Universal Credit will inject in excess of £2bn more into the working age welfare system, helping families in the greatest need.</p><p>Promoting full-time work through work incentives is 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.</p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott question first answered 13/02/2020 14:02:24 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott attachment 1 file name improving-lives-helping-workless-families-web-version.pdf title Improving Lives: Helping Workless Families
	tabling member	4312 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of Durham

1549725

	registered interest
	date	07/12/2022
	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	Jobcentres: Staff
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Stedman-Scott on 7 December (HL3726), what components of this "comprehensive learning journey" do all work coaches undertake; and what are the "tools, skills and behaviours" required of those coaches.
	tabling member printed	Lord Storey
	uin	HL4121
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/12/2022 answer text <p>Work Coach Learning equips staff with tools, knowledge, skills and behaviours through a rich mix of topics, to enable them to support each claimant as an individual.</p><p> </p><p>This includes building a coaching skill set, focus on vulnerable customers and those with complex needs as well as those with health conditions, the impacts of their condition and what support is available to assist individuals moving closer to the working environment. DWP ensures that staff access the most up to date advice and expertise on a particular health condition/ complex need to support all individual customers requirements through signposted guidance support and websites to effectively use resources from both internal and external sites.</p><p> </p><p>Work Coaches also receive on-going learning for their roles and access to guidance which is refreshed at regular intervals. Please see attached list of learning which Work Coaches undertake as part of their comprehensive learning journey.</p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott question first answered 21/12/2022 11:17:35 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott attachment 1 file name Work Coach Learning.docx title Attachment
	tabling member	4238 label Biography information for Lord Storey

1293721

	registered interest
	date	01/03/2021
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Universal Credit: Deductions
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many universal credit claims in each parliamentary constituency had deductions taken from them by her Department in the most recent month for which that data is available; what the average size of the sums so deducted was in each of those constituencies; what the total sum so deducted from those claims was in each of those constituencies; and what proportion of each of those sums so deducted was used to repay advance payments.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
	tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
	uin	160729
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/03/2021 answer text <p>From 3rd April 2020, deductions from Universal Credit for some government debt, such as Tax Credits, benefit overpayments and Social Fund Loans were suspended for 3 months. This was done to ease the financial pressure of debt recovery on benefit claimants and to also allow Debt Management staff to be re-deployed to focus on the unprecedented volume of new claims received during the Covid-19 pandemic.</p><p> </p><p>Universal Credit advance repayments are made gradually over 12 months, and deductions are capped at 30% of a claimant’s standard allowance. This is further to the reduction of the overall maximum level of deductions from 40% to 30% of the standard allowance since October 2019.</p><p> </p><p>From April 2021, the repayment period will be extended from 12 months to 24 months and the deductions cap will be reduced from 30% to 25%.</p><p> </p><p>For those who find themselves in unexpected hardship, advance repayments can be deferred for up to three months in certain cases.</p><p> </p><p>The requested information surrounding deductions to Universal Credit payments by parliamentary constituency is shown in the attached table.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 09/03/2021 17:51:01 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince attachment 1 file name Universal Credit Claims with deductions.xlsx title Attachment PQ 160729
	tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1310266

	registered interest
	date	19/04/2021
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Universal Credit: Deductions
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of universal credit claimants have deductions from their payment as a result of repaying (a) budgeting loans and advances, (b) universal credit advances, (c) universal credit overpayments, and (d) tax credit overpayments in each month from March 2019 to the most recent month for which data is available.
	tabling member constituency	Westminster North
	tabling member printed	Ms Karen Buck
	uin	183058
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/04/2021 answer text <p>The information requested is provided in the attached spreadsheet.</p><p> </p><p>We carefully balance our duty to the taxpayer to recover overpayments with our support for claimants. Steps are in place to ensure deductions are manageable; this month we further reduced the cap on deductions from Universal Credit awards to 25% and lengthened the payback period from 12 months to 24 meaning in effect someone can receive 25 payments over 24 months.</p><p> </p><p>From 3rd April 2020, deductions from Universal Credit for some government debt, such as Tax Credits, benefit overpayments and Social Fund Loans were suspended for 3 months, which resulted in many claimants seeing an increase in the amount they received while allowing staff to prioritise processing the unprecedented number of new benefits claims.</p><p> </p><p>Customers can contact DWP if they are experiencing financial hardship in order to discuss a reduction in their rate of repayment, depending on financial circumstances.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 183059 question first answered 22/04/2021 16:54:55 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince attachment 1 file name Universal Credit Claims with deductions.xlsx title Attachment for PQ 183058 and 183059
	tabling member	199 label Biography information for Ms Karen Buck