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1726978

registered interest
date	03/09/2024
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	Unemployment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment has been made on trends of unemployment rates over the last 12 months.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	3982
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/09/2024 answer text <p>The unemployment rate has fallen slightly over the last 12 months, by 0.1%pts to 4.2%.</p><p> </p><p>The unemployment rate does not capture everyone who is out of work. The economic inactivity rate has increased by 0.7%pts, equivalent to 350,000 people, over the same period. Economic inactivity due to long-term sickness is at a near-record high at 2.8m.</p> answering member constituency Birkenhead answering member printed Alison McGovern question first answered 05/09/2024 16:31:16 answering member 4083 label Biography information for Alison McGovern
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1726666

registered interest
date	02/09/2024
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	Occupational Health: Unemployment
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 use occupational health to help reduce levels of economic inactivity.
tabling member constituency	York Central
tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
uin	3718
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/09/2024 answer text <p>Expert-led impartial advice, including occupational health, can help employers provide appropriate and timely work-based support to manage their employees’ health conditions, and also support business productivity.</p><p> </p><p>Occupational health supports employers to maintain and promote health and wellbeing through assessments of fitness for work and advice about reasonable adjustments, work ability or return to work plans, as well as by signposting to treatment for specific conditions. Employers also have a choice about the type and level of Occupational Health service to provide for their employees.</p><p> </p><p>The Government’s Occupational Health programme includes £1m of funding for Phase 1 and £1.5m for Phase 2 of an Innovation Fund which has focussed on increasing small medium enterprises (SME) access to and capacity in the occupational health sector, due for completion in March 2025. The fund has encouraged the development of new models of occupational health tailored to the self-employed and SMEs with a focus on better use of technology.</p><p> </p><p>Further, the Occupational Health Workforce Expansion Funding Scheme (launched in July 2023), has funded registered doctors and nurses to undertake occupational health training courses and qualifications. To date over 200 doctors and nurses have undertaken training with exams taking place in May 2024.</p> answering member constituency Birkenhead answering member printed Alison McGovern question first answered 05/09/2024 16:05:17 answering member 4083 label Biography information for Alison McGovern
tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1726755

registered interest
date	02/09/2024
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	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 impact the Disability Employment Charter proposals on disabled people's ability to (a) gain and (b) retain employment.
tabling member constituency	Ealing Southall
tabling member printed	Deirdre Costigan
uin	3861
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/09/2024 answer text <p>The Government has ambitious employment plans, including for disability employment. We will be setting this out through a forthcoming White Paper, the Employment Rights Bill and the Equality (Race and Disability) Bill. A fully inclusive labour market that enables disabled people and people with health conditions to have access to the same opportunities as everyone else to the benefits of work is crucial to meeting our ambition for an 80% employment rate.</p><p> </p><p>Employers play a key role in supporting the health of their workforce and minimising health-related job loss. Proactive initiatives from employers and all parts of society, such as the Disability Employment Charter, to support disabled people and people with health conditions to thrive in work are welcome. While the Government has not made a formal assessment of its impact, we know that the employers signed up to the Disability Employment Charter are sending a positive message to current and potential employees.</p> answering member constituency Birkenhead answering member printed Alison McGovern grouped question UIN 3865 question first answered 05/09/2024 16:01:28 answering member 4083 label Biography information for Alison McGovern
tabling member	5075

1726756

registered interest
date	02/09/2024
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	Sick Pay: Disability
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 impact of her plans to strengthen statutory sick pay on the disability employment gap.
tabling member constituency	Ealing Southall
tabling member printed	Deirdre Costigan
uin	3862
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/09/2024 answer text <p>No one should be forced to choose between their health and financial hardship, which is why we plan to strengthen Statutory Sick Pay (SSP), so it provides a safety net for those who need it most. The Plan to Make Work Pay commits to remove the Lower Earnings Limit to make it available to all workers and remove the waiting period so that everyone receives fair earnings replacement when they have to take time off work.</p><p> </p><p>Any changes to SSP will be accompanied by a full Regulatory Impact Assessment and Equalities Impact Assessment to assess the impact of the changes on a range of protected characteristics, but this will not directly assess the impact of the changes on the disability employment gap. However, we would expect that strengthening SSP would increase the overall employment rate of disabled people as well as reduce the difference between the employment rates of disabled and non-disabled people.</p> answering member constituency Birkenhead answering member printed Alison McGovern question first answered 05/09/2024 16:07:10 answering member 4083 label Biography information for Alison McGovern
tabling member	5075

1726757

registered interest
date	02/09/2024
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	Equal Pay: Disability
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 publish a timeline for the introduction of the right to equal pay for disabled people through the introduction of mandatory disability pay gap reporting for large employers.
tabling member constituency	Ealing Southall
tabling member printed	Deirdre Costigan
uin	3863
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/09/2024 answer text <p>Following the announcement in the King's Speech in July to take forward work on an Equality (Race and Disability) Bill, and this government's manifesto commitments to introduce the full right to equal pay for disabled people and disability pay gap reporting for large employers, the Disability Unit is currently taking forward work in these areas. Ministers will update the House as this work progresses.</p> answering member constituency Birkenhead answering member printed Alison McGovern question first answered 05/09/2024 15:56:35 answering member 4083 label Biography information for Alison McGovern
tabling member	5075

1726758

registered interest
date	02/09/2024
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	Access to Work Programme
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 reduce Access to Work claim (a) application and (b) renewal times; if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of removing the cap on Access to Work; and if she will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the Access to Work scheme in helping disabled people to (i) stay in and (ii) start work.
tabling member constituency	Ealing Southall
tabling member printed	Deirdre Costigan
uin	3864
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/09/2024 answer text <p>The Department for Work and Pensions is committed to reducing waiting times for new applications for Access to Work, as well as renewals. We are considering the best way to deliver that for customers. We have increased the number of staff processing Access to Work claims and have prioritised applications from customers who are about to start a job and renewals.</p><p> </p><p>There are no current plans to change the maximum amount of annual grants available in Access to Work but we will keep this under review.</p><p> </p><p>Access to Work is a popular scheme that helps many disabled people and those with health conditions to have suitable workplace adjustments. The 2018 qualitative evaluation of Access to Work (<a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/756414/access-to-work-qualitative-research-with-applicants-employers-and-delivery-staff.pdf" target="_blank">Access to Work: Qualitative Research with applicants, employers and delivery staff</a>) reported that customers felt the scheme helped them to retain and progress in employment, improve confidence and mental wellbeing, and better enabled employers to recruit employees with health conditions or disabled employees.</p> answering member constituency Birkenhead answering member printed Alison McGovern question first answered 05/09/2024 15:57:56 answering member 4083 label Biography information for Alison McGovern
tabling member	5075

1726759

registered interest
date	02/09/2024
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	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to implement the recommendations of The Disability Employment Charter.
tabling member constituency	Ealing Southall
tabling member printed	Deirdre Costigan
uin	3865
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/09/2024 answer text <p>The Government has ambitious employment plans, including for disability employment. We will be setting this out through a forthcoming White Paper, the Employment Rights Bill and the Equality (Race and Disability) Bill. A fully inclusive labour market that enables disabled people and people with health conditions to have access to the same opportunities as everyone else to the benefits of work is crucial to meeting our ambition for an 80% employment rate.</p><p> </p><p>Employers play a key role in supporting the health of their workforce and minimising health-related job loss. Proactive initiatives from employers and all parts of society, such as the Disability Employment Charter, to support disabled people and people with health conditions to thrive in work are welcome. While the Government has not made a formal assessment of its impact, we know that the employers signed up to the Disability Employment Charter are sending a positive message to current and potential employees.</p> answering member constituency Birkenhead answering member printed Alison McGovern grouped question UIN 3861 question first answered 05/09/2024 16:01:28 answering member 4083 label Biography information for Alison McGovern
tabling member	5075

1726775

registered interest
date	02/09/2024
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: Armed Forces
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 review the inclusion of military compensation as income in the means test for Pension Credit.
tabling member constituency	Torbay
tabling member printed	Steve Darling
uin	3854
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/09/2024 answer text <p>There are no plans to change the way in which military compensation such as War Pensions and Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) awards affect Pension Credit.</p><p> </p><p>When calculating a Pension Credit award, the first £10 of any War Pension payments or AFCS award made due to injury or disablement is disregarded.</p><p> </p><p>Four additions to the War Disablement Pension are completely disregarded: Constant Attendance Allowance; Mobility Supplement; Severe Disablement Occupational Allowance; and dependency increases for anyone other than the applicant or her/his partner.</p><p> </p><p>War Pensions and AFCS awards are a qualifying income for the Savings Credit element of Pension Credit, which is available to those who reached State Pension age before April 2016. Armed Forces Independence Payments are fully disregarded in Pension Credit and can also allow the recipient to qualify for an additional disability amount.</p><p> </p><p>In contrast, payments from other schemes with a disablement element are fully taken into account as income for example, other public servants’ schemes, such as the Fire Service, (Firefighters Compensation Scheme), or the Police Service, (Police Pension Scheme), have no income disregards applied at all, as any disablement elements form part of their occupational pension and so these are taken fully into account.</p> answering member constituency Wycombe answering member printed Emma Reynolds question first answered 05/09/2024 15:20:05 answering member 4077 label Biography information for Emma Reynolds
tabling member	5066

1726815

registered interest
date	02/09/2024
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	Winter Fuel Payment: Louth and Horncastle
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of pensioners will no longer be eligible to receive the Winter Fuel Payment in Louth and Horncastle constituency in Winter 2024-25.
tabling member constituency	Louth and Horncastle
tabling member printed	Victoria Atkins
uin	3709
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/09/2024 answer text <p>In Louth and Horncastle constituency, the estimated proportion of pensioners who will no longer be eligible to receive the Winter Fuel Payment is 90%.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>This estimation is calculated by subtracting the number of Pension Credit recipients for Louth and Horncastle constituency, from the number of Winter Fuel Payment recipients for Louth and Horncastle constituency (using the latest statistics, sources shown below), and dividing by the number of Winter Fuel Payment recipients for Louth and Horncastle constituency. The Pension Credit data is based on the 2010 Westminster Parliamentary constituencies, not 2024 in order to be comparable with the Winter Fuel Payments statistics.</p><p> </p><p>Please note that the below does not take into account any potential increase in Pension Credit take-up we might see as a result of the policy change (means testing Winter fuel payments to those on Pension Credit and other means tested benefits). We do not have data on those additional Pension Credit claims by Parliamentary constituencies or local authorities.</p><p> </p><p>Also, the published Pension Credit figures refer to households, so the number of individuals will be higher (i.e. taking account of households where it is a couple claiming Pension Credit).</p><p> </p><p>Furthermore, Pension Credit claimants are the majority of those that will be eligible for Winter Fuel Payments, not all. There are other pensioners who are eligible for Winter Fuel Payments (as they claim other means tested benefits) but they are not considered in these figures as it is not possible to do so.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Sources used:</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><a href="https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6507ffd2fc63f6000d9573a0/winter-fuel-payments-caseload-2022-to-2023.ods&amp;wdOrigin=BROWSELINK" target="_blank">winter-fuel-payments-caseload-2022-to-2023.ods (live.com)</a></p><p> </p><p><a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/jsf/tableView/tableView.xhtml" target="_blank">Stat-Xplore - Table View (dwp.gov.uk)</a> (Feb-24 data)</p> answering member constituency Wycombe answering member printed Emma Reynolds question first answered 05/09/2024 16:44:32 answering member 4077 label Biography information for Emma Reynolds
tabling member	4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins

1726817

registered interest
date	02/09/2024
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	Winter Fuel Payment: Energy
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 potential impact of the change in eligibility requirements for the Winter Fuel Payment in Winter 2024-25 on the affordability of energy for people aged over 65 in (a) Louth and Horncastle constituency and (b) rural off-gas grid areas.
tabling member constituency	Louth and Horncastle
tabling member printed	Victoria Atkins
uin	3711
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/09/2024 answer text <p>Energy support including for those who live in areas off-grid is the responsibility of Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.</p><p> </p><p>The Home Upgrade Grant provides grants to low-income households to upgrade the energy performance of the worst quality, off-gas grid homes in England by installing multiple energy efficiency measures and low carbon heating. This will typically include insulation measures in combination with a heat pump to make the home heat efficient and suitable for the future as we build towards net zero.</p><p> </p><p>This Government is committed to pensioners – everyone in our society, no matter their working history or savings deserves a comfortable and dignified retirement.</p><p> </p><p>Given the substantial pressures faced by the public finances this year and next, the Government has had to make hard choices to bring the public finances back under control.</p><p> </p><p>Winter Fuel Payments will continue to be paid to pensioner households with someone receiving Pension Credit or certain other income-related benefits. They will continue to be worth £200 for eligible households, or £300 for eligible households with someone aged over 80.</p> answering member constituency Wycombe answering member printed Emma Reynolds question first answered 05/09/2024 15:13:34 answering member 4077 label Biography information for Emma Reynolds
tabling member	4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins