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348496

	registered interest
	date	04/06/2015
	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 steps they are taking to end the disability employment gap.
	tabling member printed	Lord Touhig
	uin	HL268
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/06/2015 answer text <p>In the last 12 months there has been an increase of 238,000 disabled people in work. That is really positive, but there is more to do.</p><p> </p><p>We have been very clear that the gap between the employment rates of disabled people and non-disabled people remains too big and have committed to halving it.</p><p> </p><p>Government cannot achieve this ambition alone so we are working closely with disabled people, their organisations, employers and employment support providers to develop our strategy to enable more disabled people to get into, remain in and progress in work.</p><p> </p><p>The Disability Confident Campaign, which actively promotes the Access to Work scheme, is key to supporting employers in working with Government to halve the disability employment gap.</p> answering member printed Baroness Altmann question first answered 18/06/2015 11:45:10 answering member 4533 label Biography information for Baroness Altmann
	tabling member	542 label Biography information for Lord Touhig

349511

	registered interest
	date	10/06/2015
	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	Mesothelioma: Compensation
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, with regard to the compensation payments awarded under the Mesothelioma Act 2014, what is their estimate of (1) the difference between the actuarial calculations on which they based their assumptions for payments of compensation and the payments now being made by insurance companies; and (2) how much such companies will save in each of the next 10 years compared with the original legislative assumptions.
	tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
	uin	HL380
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/06/2015 answer text <p /> <p>No actuarial calculations were carried out in relation to the payments that would be made by the Diffuse Mesothelioma Payment Scheme. The tariff table, which sets out the rate of payment according to age at diagnosis, is based on an average of similar payments made under civil compensation.</p><p> </p><p>The Impact Assessment published in March 2014 estimated that £93.7m would be paid out by the Scheme in the first year of its operation, and £412.4m would be paid out over the first 10 years.</p><p> </p><p>Initial application volumes were lower than anticipated so the amount levied on the insurance industry for the period 2014/15 was £32m. It is too early to estimate what the application volumes will be over the next 10 years given volumes received to date. As this is a demand led scheme, the calculations for the levy are done afresh each year. An upturn in applications to the Scheme would result in a higher levy rate in future years.</p> answering member printed Baroness Altmann question first answered 18/06/2015 13:31:33 answering member 4533 label Biography information for Baroness Altmann
	tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool

349525

	registered interest
	date	10/06/2015
	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	Fuel Direct Scheme
	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 affordability of a standard Fuel Direct rate of £3.70 for direct payments for arrears on fuel bills; and whether in setting that rate they considered (1) allowing some customers to pay a lower rate of direct deduction, and (2) allowing customers to pay by Fuel Direct for ongoing bills when they are not in arrears.
	tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of St Albans
	uin	HL394
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/06/2015 answer text <p /> <p>Third Party Deduction is a long standing scheme of last resort where all other means of budgeting have been exhausted. Where the Secretary of State decides that it is in the claimant’s best interests to order repayment of the arrears he can do so. The scheme was introduced in the 1970’s to protect the vulnerable and their family, whilst not adding to their financial burden.</p><p> </p><p>Fuel Direct is set in legislation at 5% of their Personal Allowance, which is a fixed deduction of £3.70 for each element of fuel debt. This is considered to be the most appropriate level of repayment in order to clear the fuel debt arrears and to prevent enforcement action.</p><p> </p><p>Each year the amount of Third Party Deduction is re-assessed as part of The Social Security Up-rating Order.</p><p> </p><p>Once the arrears have been paid a person will usually be taken off the Fuel Direct scheme. In exceptional circumstances a person may be allowed to remain on the Fuel Direct scheme to help ensure that they don’t get into debt again.</p><p> </p><p>However Fuel Direct is not intended as a budgeting aid and the Governments main objective is to help people into employment, whilst encouraging them to be responsible for their own financial affairs, whether they are on benefit or not.</p> answering member printed Baroness Altmann question first answered 18/06/2015 14:39:18 answering member 4533 label Biography information for Baroness Altmann
	tabling member	4308 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of St Albans

350105

	registered interest
	date	11/06/2015
	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	Prescribed Industrial Diseases
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many claims they have received for Prescribed Disease C3b in the last 10 years; and of these, how many were allowed.
	tabling member printed	The Countess of Mar
	uin	HL419
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/06/2015 answer text <p /> <p>The information as requested is not available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.</p> answering member printed Baroness Altmann question first answered 18/06/2015 13:40:56 answering member 4533 label Biography information for Baroness Altmann
	tabling member	1861 label Biography information for The Countess of Mar

350106

	registered interest
	date	11/06/2015
	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	Sheep Dipping
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the statement by George Eustice, Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, on 10 June (HC Deb, col 136WH), who published the 1991 Health and Safety Executive report of an inquiry into sheep dipping; and to whom it was distributed.
	tabling member printed	The Countess of Mar
	uin	HL420
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/06/2015 answer text <p /> <p>The 1991 Health and Safety Executive (HSE) report presented the findings of a 1990 survey of sheep dipping and was published by HSE as an internal document in May 1991.</p><p> </p><p>The report was discussed at a meeting of the then Health and Safety Commission’s Agricultural Industry Advisory Committee (AIAC) working group, Chemicals In Agriculture (ChemAg), on 10 July 1991. The ChemAg working group membership included HSE, the Confederation of British Industry, the Trades Union Congress and other industry organisations.</p> answering member printed Baroness Altmann question first answered 18/06/2015 13:32:17 answering member 4533 label Biography information for Baroness Altmann
	tabling member	1861 label Biography information for The Countess of Mar

381048

	registered interest
	date	15/06/2015
	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	Mesothelioma: Compensation
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of (1) the number of people who have received compensation under the terms of the Mesothelioma Act 2014 since the Act came into effect, and (2) the number of people projected to receive compensation in each of the next three years.
	tabling member printed	Lord Wills
	uin	HL496
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/06/2015 answer text <p /> <p>The information requested is available from the attached Impact Assessment for the Diffuse Mesothelioma Payment Scheme which was published in March 2014 and sets out the anticipated levels of claims over the first 10 years of the scheme.</p><p> </p><p>The scheme has now been running since April 2014 with payments being made from July 2014. We will publish statistics on the number of claims made in 2014/15 in due course, and consider a review of the estimates made in the Impact Assessment in light of this data.</p> answering member printed Baroness Altmann question first answered 23/06/2015 16:07:28 answering member 4533 label Biography information for Baroness Altmann attachment 1 file name mesothelioma-payment-scheme-ia-mar-2014.pdf title Impact Assessment for Mesothelioma Payment Scheme
	tabling member	260 label Biography information for Lord Wills

100009

	registered interest
	date	20/10/2014
	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	Unemployed People: Travel
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what financial assistance is given to help young people on benefits with the travel costs associated with attending job interviews.
	tabling member printed	Lord Roberts of Llandudno
	uin	HL2224
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2014 answer text <p /> <p>All Jobcentre Plus District Managers have access to the Flexible Support Fund, that they can use to supplement mainstream services and to tailor support to the needs of individuals and the local area. A proportion of this fund will be spent by their Work Services Teams on discretionary awards to individual claimants, which could include helping with travel costs to attend job interviews.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud question first answered 23/10/2014 15:06:09 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
	tabling member	3691 label Biography information for Lord Roberts of Llandudno

100567

	registered interest
	date	22/10/2014
	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	Welfare Assistance Schemes
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of their decision not to contest the judicial review of the decision to cease funding for Local Welfare Assistance, whether they will reinstate that funding for 2015–16.
	tabling member printed	Baroness King of Bow
	uin	HL2304
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/10/2014 answer text <p>From April 2015 it was intended funding for local welfare provision would be funded from the general grant to Local Government. The general grant took this into account.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has agreed to look again at how funding is provided for in 2015/16. Any decisions will be taken after we have reviewed how the current funds have been used and the on-going consultation and equality analysis on 2015/16 funding being co-ordinated by the Department for Communities and Local Government.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud question first answered 29/10/2014 15:16:01 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
	tabling member	143 label Biography information for Baroness King of Bow

100645

	registered interest
	date	23/10/2014
	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 why housing benefit overpayments increased to £1.4 billion in 2013–14 and how they are addressing the issue.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Manzoor
	uin	HL2376
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2014 answer text <p /> <p>Housing Benefit is a complex benefit administered by 380 Local Authorities. It has a high proportion of in-work claimants and this caseload is more likely to undergo changes in circumstances than out-of-work claimants. If claimants fail to report changes in circumstances correctly and in a timely manner then overpayments will occur.</p><p>The rate of fraud in Housing Benefit has been stable for many years at 1.4% since 2008-09. Official error has also remained relatively stable over the last six years, currently standing at 0.6% which is the same level as in 2008-09. Claimant error has increased from 2.7% in 2008-09 to 3.8% in 2013-14.</p><p>The rise in HB claimant error is primarily earnings related and a consequence of failure to report these changes. DWP is taking action to deal with this issue through better data sharing with Local Authorities, such as the introduction of real time information (RTI) on earnings, so that local authorities are alerted to changes quickly and do not have to rely on the claimant informing them of changes.</p><p>Longer term, Housing Benefit for working age claimants will be replaced by the housing cost element of Universal Credit and will be paid as a single monthly payment with the other elements. This will reduce the opportunity for Fraud and Error and prevent overpayments from occurring.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Freud question first answered 04/11/2014 15:11:36 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
	tabling member	4289 label Biography information for Baroness Manzoor

100930

	registered interest
	date	24/10/2014
	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, in the light of the steps they are taking to reduce the cost of benefit fraud, what they propose to do, and how much they plan to spend, to reduce underpayments to claimants due to mistakes by officials or claimants.
	tabling member printed	Lord Beecham
	uin	HL2398
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/11/2014 answer text <p /> <p>The Department takes both under and overpayments seriously and has in place a number of initiatives to address the errors that cause them. These activities address fraud as well as error, and both under and overpayments. It is therefore not possible to separate out the cost of activities focused exclusively on underpayments as a result of error.</p><p> </p><p>Universal Credit will make the welfare system simpler by replacing six benefits and credits with a single monthly payment. This simplification is expected to lead to a reduction in fraud and error due to the fact that information about claimants will be held in one place and updated more frequently and easily.</p><p> </p><p>For claimants that have income taxed under PAYE, Universal Credit will be linked to HMRC’s Real Time Information system, which will provide an automatic monthly update of their income thus reducing the potential for both error and fraud.</p><p> </p><p>The Department has invested in compliance activity, so that case correctness is maintained and fraud and error entering the system are detected and resolved quickly. Across all delivery arms there is a focus on accuracy and quality, including a continuous quality checking regime to review claims and check processing accuracy.</p><p> </p><p>We constantly review claims by checking them against data coming into our systems, in order to highlight potential anomalies. We do this by using business rules which focus on potential error to identify both under and overpayments.</p><p> </p><p>The Department is taking steps to encourage claimants to ensure that the information provided to us is accurate and up-to-date. This includes a fraud and error communications campaign about driving behaviour change and emphasising that claimants must report any change of circumstances.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud question first answered 07/11/2014 13:39:35 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
	tabling member	4181 label Biography information for Lord Beecham