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1132544

	registered interest
	date	17/06/2019
	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	Historic Buildings: Health Hazards
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the protections introduced in Germany and Austria for workers renovating or demolishing buildings against the risk of breathing in historical man-made mineral fibres which are now considered to pose a serious risk to health, what steps she is taking to introduce similar protections for UK workers.
	tabling member constituency	York Central
	tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
	uin	265555
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/06/2019 answer text <p>The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is aware of the guidelines that have been produced in Germany and Austria, advising companies on the measures they should take to protect workers against risks of breathing in historic man-made mineral fibres (MMMFs).</p><p>In Great Britain there is a statutory framework in place to protect workers who may be exposed to any hazardous substance, such as MMMFs, regardless of how that exposure occurs. This framework includes the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 which places a general duty on employers to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare of people affected by their work activities.</p><p> </p><p>The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH), places specific duties on employers and implements several EU Directives on worker protection, ensuring our standards meet those required of all EU Member States. COSHH requires employers to carry out a risk assessment to establish the hazards associated with the tasks and processes they are undertaking and put in place suitable arrangements to either prevent or control those risks. Such a risk assessment would need to be carried out for workers renovating or demolishing buildings to enable suitable controls to be put in place for any hazardous substances that may be present or that may be produced, including MMMFs. HSE provides guidance, to help businesses comply with their legal duties.</p><p> </p><p>The regulatory framework, supported by guidance, is sufficient to control occupational exposure to MMMFs.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 24/06/2019 14:39:07 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1143767

	registered interest
	date	02/09/2019
	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	Personal Independence Payment: Medical Examinations
	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 ensure that all personal independence payment assessments are recorded on the request of a claimant.
	tabling member constituency	York Central
	tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
	uin	285361
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p>The audio recording of face-to-face consultations is not currently part of the contractual specification for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessments. However, claimants may use their own equipment to audio record their face-to-face consultation, should they wish to, subject to any reasonable conditions the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) chooses to impose on such recordings.</p><p> </p><p>We want to improve the service that PIP claimants receive and in response to the Paul Gray Independent review and feedback from the Work and Pensions Select Committee, we announced in June 2018 that we would be piloting video recording of PIP assessments. The pilot commenced on 26 November 2018 and 192 video recordings have been completed.</p><p> </p><p>We are currently evaluating the findings from the video recording pilot and will provide an update on our future plans once this has been completed.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 09/09/2019 10:50:15 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1139701

	registered interest
	date	17/07/2019
	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: Disability
	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 effect of welfare changes on disabled people in the last 10 years.
	tabling member constituency	Wycombe
	tabling member printed	Mr Steve Baker
	uin	278483
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2019 answer text <p>We are spending £55 billion a year on benefits to support disabled people and people with health conditions. That’s a record high and up £10 billion in real terms since 2010. Spending on disability benefits will be higher in every year to 2023 than 2010.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 23/07/2019 11:45:52 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4064 label Biography information for Mr Steve Baker

1144446

	registered interest
	date	03/09/2019
	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	Personal Independence Payment: Medical Examinations
	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 adequacy of the assessment procedure for personal independence payment.
	tabling member constituency	Woking
	tabling member printed	Mr Jonathan Lord
	uin	286200
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p>Since introducing the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) Assessment in 2013, we have made significant improvements to our services in response to stakeholder feedback.</p><p>In particular, we have carefully considered and learnt from two independent reviews of PIP as well as the 2018 Work and Pensions Select Committee’s Report on PIP assessments. To offer a transformed service to people with disabilities and health conditions, the DWP Health Transformation Programme will be integrating the services that deliver PIP and WCA from 2021.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 09/09/2019 11:24:14 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4090 label Biography information for Mr Jonathan Lord

1132257

	registered interest
	date	14/06/2019
	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	Universal Credit
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much her Department has spent from the public purse on defending legal cases in relation to people formerly in receipt of severe disability premium that have transferred to universal credit.
	tabling member constituency	Wirral West
	tabling member printed	Margaret Greenwood
	uin	264775
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/06/2019 answer text <p>As at 14<sup>th</sup> June 2019, the Department has spent £131,399.50 on legal costs defending and appealing the cases in relation to people formerly in receipt of Severe Disability premium that have transferred to Universal Credit, broken down as follows<em>.</em></p><p> </p><p>The Department has spent £91,528.68 on legal costs defending and appealing the case of <em>TP and AR v SSWP.</em> The Department has spent £39,870.82 on legal costs defending and appealing the case of <em>TP, AR and SXC v SSWP.</em> These figures include Government Legal Department litigation fees, counsel’s fees and other disbursements, as well as VAT where payable. This does not include payment of any costs paid or which may be owed to the claimants’ solicitors.</p><p> </p><p>Time spent by Government advisory lawyers is not recorded in a manner that allows it to be attributed to individual cases. Time spent by policy officials supporting lawyers is not recorded.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson grouped question UIN 264776 question first answered 19/06/2019 16:04:58 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4400 label Biography information for Margaret Greenwood

1132258

	registered interest
	date	14/06/2019
	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	Universal Credit
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much her Department has spent to date on legal costs in the case of R (TP AR & SXC) v SSWP & Anor [2019] EWHC 1116 (QB) involving payments to former recipients of Severe Disability Premium who have transferred to universal credit.
	tabling member constituency	Wirral West
	tabling member printed	Margaret Greenwood
	uin	264776
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/06/2019 answer text <p>As at 14<sup>th</sup> June 2019, the Department has spent £131,399.50 on legal costs defending and appealing the cases in relation to people formerly in receipt of Severe Disability premium that have transferred to Universal Credit, broken down as follows<em>.</em></p><p> </p><p>The Department has spent £91,528.68 on legal costs defending and appealing the case of <em>TP and AR v SSWP.</em> The Department has spent £39,870.82 on legal costs defending and appealing the case of <em>TP, AR and SXC v SSWP.</em> These figures include Government Legal Department litigation fees, counsel’s fees and other disbursements, as well as VAT where payable. This does not include payment of any costs paid or which may be owed to the claimants’ solicitors.</p><p> </p><p>Time spent by Government advisory lawyers is not recorded in a manner that allows it to be attributed to individual cases. Time spent by policy officials supporting lawyers is not recorded.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson grouped question UIN 264775 question first answered 19/06/2019 16:04:58 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4400 label Biography information for Margaret Greenwood

1144700

	registered interest
	date	04/09/2019
	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	Asbestos: Diseases
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of people who have an asbestos-related disease other than mesothelioma who are unable to claim compensation due to the fact that a liable insurer cannot be identified.
	tabling member constituency	West Dunbartonshire
	tabling member printed	Martin Docherty-Hughes
	uin	286778
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p>The Department does not hold this information.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 09/09/2019 11:39:24 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4374 label Biography information for Martin Docherty-Hughes

1144701

	registered interest
	date	04/09/2019
	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	Asbestos: Diseases
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the report, Estimates of the impact of extending the scope of the payment scheme in the Mesothelioma Bill to include other asbestos related diseases and other non-asbestos work related diseases, published in June 2013, if she will review and update that report.
	tabling member constituency	West Dunbartonshire
	tabling member printed	Martin Docherty-Hughes
	uin	286779
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p>The Mesothelioma Act 2014 established the Diffuse Mesothelioma Payment Scheme (DMPS). The DMPS makes lump sum payments to people who contract diffuse mesothelioma from negligent exposure to asbestos in the workplace, but are unable to pursue a civil claim because their former employer no longer exists and their former employer’s insurer cannot be traced. The DMPS is funded by a levy paid by insurers who are active in the Employer’s Liability insurance market.</p><p><br>This Scheme makes payments to eligible sufferers of diffuse mesothelioma only. Since this disease is always fatal and always caused by asbestos, it has been possible to implement DMPS as a simple payment scheme. Other asbestos-related diseases and other non-asbestos work related diseases have more uncertainties regarding cause, severity and aggravation by other factors and this complexity is not compatible with a straightforward tariff-based scheme such as the DMPS. The report published on 6 December 2013 highlighted the adverse impact on the amount of the levy should the scope of the Scheme be widened, which would also require a re-designing of the scheme, the legislation, and the commercial requirements.</p><p>There are no plans to update the 2013 report or extend eligibility to the DMPS.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 09/09/2019 11:58:03 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4374 label Biography information for Martin Docherty-Hughes

1144703

	registered interest
	date	04/09/2019
	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	Asbestos: Compensation
	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 sufferers of asbestos-related diseases other than mesothelioma who cannot identify a liable insurer are able to claim full compensation.
	tabling member constituency	West Dunbartonshire
	tabling member printed	Martin Docherty-Hughes
	uin	286780
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p>Anyone who contracts Pneumoconiosis, bilateral diffuse pleural thickening, or primary carcinoma of the lung when accompanied by asbestosis or bilateral diffuse pleural thickening, through work may be eligible for compensation under the Pneumoconiosis Etc. (Workers’ Compensation) Act 1979 scheme.</p><p>This scheme is open to current and former employees, including those who cannot identify a liable insurer. Information on eligibility is provided on gov.uk.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 09/09/2019 11:25:23 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4374 label Biography information for Martin Docherty-Hughes

1138669

	registered interest
	date	12/07/2019
	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	Mesothelioma: Death
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference the report entitled, Asbestos-related diseases in Great Britain, 2018, published in October 2018, how many deaths from mesothelioma there were in each (a) region and (b) local authority area.
	tabling member constituency	Wentworth and Dearne
	tabling member printed	John Healey
	uin	276514
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2019 answer text <p>The latest mesothelioma death statistics for Great Britain by region and local authority were published on the HSE website on 3 July 2019 and are summarised in the report at <a href="http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/causdis/mesothelioma/mesoarea.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/causdis/mesothelioma/mesoarea.pdf</a>.</p><p>Mesothelioma deaths and Standardised Mortality Ratios by region and local authority area for the period 1981-2017 are available in tables MESOAREA01 and MESOAREA02 for males and females respectively at <a href="http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/tables/mesoarea.xlsx" target="_blank">http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/tables/mesoarea.xlsx</a> . The statistics are further broken down by a 5-year time-period in tables MESOAREA03 and MESOAREA04 for males and females respectively.</p><p>Standardised Mortality Ratios allow an assessment of whether the death rate in each area is higher or lower than that for Great Britain as a whole, after allowing for population age differences.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 22/07/2019 12:50:42 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	400 label Biography information for John Healey