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1420712

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	Disability: Databases
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 4 February 2022 to Question 113195 on Disability: Databases, if she will publish further details of the framework the Disability Unit has designed to guide her Department's disability data assessment and improvement activities.
tabling member constituency	Lewisham, Deptford
tabling member printed	Vicky Foxcroft
uin	120842
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/02/2022 answer text <p>The Disability Unit currently has no plans to publish the framework to improve the availability, quality, relevance, and comparability of government disability data as it is still being piloted. We expect it will cover an audit of disability data by relevant department and its arms length bodies; an assessment of the quality of existing disability related data; an assessment of the available analysis both internally and in publications; an assessment of the relevance of the existing data with regard to the lived experience of disabled people and; information with regard to data management.</p> answering member constituency Norwich North answering member printed Chloe Smith question first answered 16/02/2022 15:15:27 answering member 1609 label Biography information for Chloe Smith
tabling member	4491 label Biography information for Vicky Foxcroft

1420720

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	Disability
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 4 February 2022 to Question 113193 on Disability, if she will publish further details of the agency appointed by the Disability Unit in Autumn 2021 to conduct research to identify and better understand unhelpful stereotypes and perceptions, and the behaviours found to be most harmful to disabled people.
tabling member constituency	Lewisham, Deptford
tabling member printed	Vicky Foxcroft
uin	120843
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/02/2022 answer text <p>Following a competitive procurement process, the Disability Unit appointed CM Monitor (Britain Thinks) Ltd, an independent research agency, to conduct research to identify and better understand unhelpful stereotypes and perceptions, and the behaviours found to be most harmful to disabled people.</p> answering member constituency Norwich North answering member printed Chloe Smith question first answered 16/02/2022 16:30:10 answering member 1609 label Biography information for Chloe Smith
tabling member	4491 label Biography information for Vicky Foxcroft

1420728

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	Poverty: Newport West
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of the planned uprating to benefits in April 2022 on levels of absolute poverty in Newport West constituency.
tabling member constituency	Newport West
tabling member printed	Ruth Jones
uin	120914
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/02/2022 answer text <p><strong></strong>No such assessment has been made. National Statistics on the number of individuals in absolute low income are published annually in the “Households Below Average Income” publication. Data for Newport West constituency is unavailable due to insufficient sample size.</p><p> </p><p>The Secretary of State undertakes an annual review of benefits and pensions based on inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), for the year to September. All benefit up-rating since April 1987 has been based on the increase in the relevant price inflation index in the 12 months to the previous September, as happens now.</p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 15/02/2022 15:13:54 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
tabling member	4716 label Biography information for Ruth Jones

1420729

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	Pensioners: Newport West
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the resources needed to support pensioners in Newport West constituency with increases in the cost of living.
tabling member constituency	Newport West
tabling member printed	Ruth Jones
uin	120915
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/02/2022 answer text <p>This country has never paid our pensioners more. This year, we will spend over £129 billion on the State Pension and benefits for pensioners in Great Britain.</p><p> </p><p>The Social Security (Up-rating of Benefits) Act 2020 raised the State Pension by 2.5% from April 2021 although CPI was 0.5% and earnings were negative. From April, the full yearly amount of the basic State Pension will be around £720 more in 2022/23 than if it had been up-rated by prices since 2010. That’s a rise of over £2,300 in cash terms.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, around 1.4 million eligible pensioners across Great Britain receive around £5 billion annually in Pension Credit, which tops up their retirement income and act as a passport to other financial help, such as support with housing costs, council tax, heating bills and a free TV licence for those over 75.</p><p> </p><p>Cold weather payments are payable to those in receipt of Pension Credit and the warm home discount - a rebate of £140 on a customer’s energy bill - is available to those in receipt of Pension Credit Guarantee Credit. From 2022/23 the eligibility criteria for the warm home discount scheme will be extended to a greater number of Pension Credit customers and the payment increased to £150.</p><p> </p><p>Customers of State Pension age are also entitled to an annual Winter Fuel payment worth up to £300. This winter we will pay over 11m pensioners a winter fuel payment at an annual cost of £2bn which is a significant contribution to winter fuel bills.</p><p /><p>The Chancellor’s announcement on 3 February of a package of support to help households with rising energy bills, worth £9.1 billion in 2022-23, will also be available to eligible pensioners.</p><p> </p><p>Further support for pensioners includes free eye tests and NHS prescriptions worth around £900m every year and free bus passes worth £1bn every year.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 15/02/2022 12:40:56 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4716 label Biography information for Ruth Jones

1420786

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	Centre for Social Justice
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 7 February 2022 to Question 113819 on the Centre for Social Justice, whether the meeting was minuted.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow East
tabling member printed	David Linden
uin	120875
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/02/2022 answer text <p>No. Formal, structured meetings are usually minuted, however, not all meetings need to be minuted. It is expected that the general guidance that departments give to their staff will help officials make judgements as to what meetings need to be minuted, noting their Civil Service Code obligation to ‘keep accurate official records’. Specific procedures are in place for external meetings involving Ministers. These are publicly available and can be found in the <a href="https://cdn.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/information-management/popapersguidance2009.pdf" target="_blank">Guidance on the management of Private Office Papers.</a></p> answering member constituency Norwich North answering member printed Chloe Smith question first answered 21/02/2022 13:23:00 answering member 1609 label Biography information for Chloe Smith
tabling member	4640 label Biography information for David Linden

1420798

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	State Retirement Pensions: Uprating
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to reintroduce the pension triple-lock for the 2023-24 financial year.
tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
uin	120642
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/02/2022 answer text <p>The Government is committed to implementing the Triple Lock in the usual way for the remainder of the Parliament. The decision to up-rate State Pensions in line with the Consumer Price Index, for 2022/23, is a one-year response to exceptional circumstances.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 15/02/2022 14:52:31 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

1420809

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	Social Security Benefits: Disqualification
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 an assessment of the potential merits of exempting people from sanctions if there is evidence of severe mental health or associated risk of self harm.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
uin	120811
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/02/2022 answer text <p><del class="ministerial">We are fully committed to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which we ratified in 2009, and the progressive realisation of rights for disabled people that it sets out. The UK has some of the strongest equalities legislation in the world, including the Equality Act 2010, and we will continue to make sure that these rights are protected.The UK has a proud record of furthering the rights of disabled people. The principles of the UN Convention are at the heart of our approach. We continue to reform and modernise our public services and welfare system to ensure that disabled people are able to participate in every aspect of society.The UK’s 2021 report demonstrates our ongoing commitment across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to support disabled people, through legislation, policies and programmes that tackle the barriers faced by disabled people to realise their full participation and inclusion in society. The Government’s response was submitted to the UNCRPD Committee in 2021, and published on GOV.UK with accessible formats in December 2021 and can be found <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/disabled-peoples-rights-the-uks-2021-report-on-select-recommendations-from-the-uncrpd-periodic-review" target="_blank">here</a>.The UK Government’s recently published National Disability Strategy has been a milestone in this respect, with over 100 practical commitments which are being delivered to improve the everyday lives of disabled people.</del></p><p><ins class="ministerial">Those who are not expected to look for work, such as those with severe health conditions, including mental health, are not subject to work search or work availability requirements.</ins></p><p> </p><p><ins class="ministerial">Work Coaches engage at an individual level with them and are committed to tailoring support for specific individual needs, including agreeing realistic and structured steps to encourage claimants into or towards the labour market where conditionality requirements are regularly reviewed to ensure that they remain appropriate for the claimant. This would include tailoring to reflect any mental health or associated self-harm issues the claimant raised.</ins></p><p> </p><p><ins class="ministerial">Sanctions are only applied where a claimant fails to comply with a mandatory requirement set out in their claimant commitment such as a failure to attend an appointment. When considering whether a sanction is appropriate, a Decision Maker will take all the claimant’s individual circumstances, including any health conditions or disabilities and any evidence of good reason, into account before deciding whether a sanction is warranted.</ins></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 21/02/2022 13:31:54 question first ministerially corrected 21/02/2022 14:28:15 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies previous answer version 51832 answering member constituency Norwich North answering member printed Chloe Smith answering member 1609 label Biography information for Chloe Smith
tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

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

1420888

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	Pension Credit
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 is taking to increase pension credit take-up in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England.
tabling member constituency	Coventry North East
tabling member printed	Colleen Fletcher
uin	120787
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/02/2022 answer text <p>The latest Pension Credit take-up statistics are due for publication on 24 February. These will cover the financial year 2019/20. Due to the sample size used to estimate Pension Credit take-up statistics, figures cannot be broken down to a constituency level.</p><p> </p><p>The Department has undertaken a range of actions to raise awareness of Pension Credit, encourage pensioners to check their eligibility, and to make a claim. This has included a Pension Credit media day of action in June, working with stakeholders such as the BBC and Age UK.</p><p> </p><p>Our initial internal management information suggests new claims for Pension Credit in the past twelve months to December 2021 were around 136,000, representing an increase of around 30% compared to the 12 months to December 2019 when they were around 105,000. It also suggests that we have been receiving consistently high volumes of claims over recent months, at around 3,300 per week.</p><p> </p><p>This management information has not been subjected to the usual standard of quality assurance associated with official statistics but are provided here in the interests of transparency.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The impact of these claim volumes on numbers of successful awards and on Pension Credit take-up will take longer to establish given the usual cycle involved in producing those statistics</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 21/02/2022 13:19:08 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4378 label Biography information for Colleen Fletcher

1420889

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	Employment: Menopause
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 is taking to ensure that women going through the menopause in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England are supported in their workplaces.
tabling member constituency	Coventry North East
tabling member printed	Colleen Fletcher
uin	120788
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/02/2022 answer text <p>Too many women feel forced either to leave work, reduce their hours, or take a step back in their careers, because of the menopause. That is why I asked the 50+ roundtable of employer organisations to look at menopause and employment, emphasising the importance of the provision of support by employers. An independent report is now published which Government will respond to.</p><p> </p><p>The Women’s Health Strategy will have menopause as a priority, and the UK wide Menopause task force will take a holistic approach to menopause care from healthcare to workplace support and education, enabling national coverage which will provide benefits at a local level.</p><p> </p><p>Our 37 district 50PLUS Champions provide a local response, reinforcing Jobcentre Plus’s commitment to supporting over 50s claimants find and stay in work by sharing the benefits of employing over 50s to employers. Our champions utilise their knowledge and local links to support Work Coaches and employers to understand the characteristics of our customers and the issues that may affect them such as the impact of the menopause, helping them retain women’s skills and expertise.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 21/02/2022 13:24:50 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4378 label Biography information for Colleen Fletcher