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1253431

	registered interest
	date	18/11/2020
	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	Universal Credit: Coronavirus
	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 his Department has made of representations from civil society organisations on the efficacy of extending the £20 universal credit uplift to a permanent level of universal credit payment, in order to tackle financial hardship as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
	tabling member constituency	York Outer
	tabling member printed	Julian Sturdy
	uin	117243
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/11/2020 answer text <p>The £20 per week temporary Universal Credit increase remains in place until April 2021. As the Government has done throughout this crisis, it will continue to assess how best to support low-income families, which is why we will look at the economic and health context in the new year before making any decisions.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 27/11/2020 14:48:06 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4079 label Biography information for Julian Sturdy

1253264

	registered interest
	date	18/11/2020
	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	Housing Benefit
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the benefits of excluding (a) savings in lifetime and (b) help-to-buy ISAs from the eligibility calculation for housing benefit.
	tabling member constituency	York Outer
	tabling member printed	Julian Sturdy
	uin	117242
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/11/2020 answer text <p>No assessment has been made. The fundamental purpose of Housing Benefit is to help people on low incomes pay their rent. As it is an income related benefit, regard must be had to all income and capital when assessing entitlement. Whilst it is important to encourage saving, it has never been thought right for substantial amounts of capital to be ignored altogether when deciding entitlement to a benefit based on need.</p><p> </p><p>However, as ISAs are treated as capital, entitlement to Housing Benefit is only affected if the amount held in an ISA exceeds £6,000 for working age people or £10,000 for people over pension age. Housing Benefit claimants who are also receiving a passporting benefit such as Income Support or Pension Credit have all their capital disregarded.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 27/11/2020 13:50:56 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4079 label Biography information for Julian Sturdy

1519728

	registered interest
	date	10/10/2022
	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	Energy: Food Banks
	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 effect of rises in the cost of energy on trends in the level of food bank use; and what steps she is taking to address that matter.
	tabling member constituency	York Outer
	tabling member printed	Julian Sturdy
	uin	59721
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/10/2022 answer text <p>Foodbanks are independent, charitable organisations and the Department for Work and Pensions does not have any role in their operation. There is no consistent and accurate measure of food bank usage at a constituency or national level.</p><p> </p><p>We understand the data limitations in this area, and therefore from April 2021 we introduced a set of questions into the Family Resources Survey (FRS) to measure and track foodbank usage. The first results of these questions are due to be published in March 2023 subject to usual quality assurance.</p><p> </p><p>The government has announced unprecedented support within its Growth Plan to protect households and businesses from high energy prices. The Energy Price Guarantee and the Energy Bill Relief Scheme are supporting millions of households and businesses with rising energy costs, and the Chancellor made clear they will continue to do so from now until April next year. This is in addition to the over £37bn of cost of living support announced earlier this year which includes the £400 non-repayable discount to eligible households provided through the Energy Bills Support Scheme.</p><p /><p>For those who require additional support the government has provided an additional £500 million to help households with the cost of essentials, on top of what we have already provided since October 2021, bringing the total funding for this support to £1.5 billion. For the period October 2022-March 2023, we are providing an additional £421million to help households in England with the cost of essentials, and the devolved administrations will receive £79 million through the Barnett formula.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 18/10/2022 16:59:40 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
	tabling member	4079 label Biography information for Julian Sturdy

1519483

	registered interest
	date	10/10/2022
	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	Homelessness
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Government is taking steps to tackle homelessness this winter.
	tabling member constituency	York Outer
	tabling member printed	Julian Sturdy
	uin	59709
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/10/2022 answer text <p>The Government is committed to tackling homelessness. We have made excellent progress on our commitment to end rough sleeping with levels falling by 49% since 2017, and the Spending Review committed £2 billion to tackle and prevent homelessness over the next three years. This winter, many of the most vulnerable in society will receive extra support via the £37bn of cost of living support package and the Energy Price Guarantee. Discretionary Housing Payments continue to be available to people struggling with housing costs.</p><p> </p><p>My department is committed to ensuring people get the benefits they are entitled to and the support to move into work and on with their lives. Under the “duty to refer”, jobcentres in England offer a voluntary referral to local authority housing teams for people who may be homeless or threatened with homelessness. As part of the Government’s new strategy, <em>Ending Rough Sleeping for Good, </em>we are launching an employer covenant to increase opportunities for homeless people.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 18/10/2022 15:18:21 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
	tabling member	4079 label Biography information for Julian Sturdy

1506920

	registered interest
	date	20/09/2022
	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	Maternity Pay: Cost of Living
	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 rate of statutory maternity pay in the context of recent trends in the cost of living.
	tabling member constituency	York Outer
	tabling member printed	Julian Sturdy
	uin	51648
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/09/2022 answer text <p>The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has a statutory obligation to review Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP), benefits including Maternity Allowance, and pensions annually. The review will commence shortly, and her decisions will be announced to Parliament in the normal way later this year. Any new rates of benefits / pensions will become payable from April 2023.</p><p> </p><p>From April 2022 the standard rate of SMP increased to £156.66, in line with the September 2021 CPI rate of 3.1%.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has no plans to increase the standard rate of SMP outside of the annual review.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 29/09/2022 11:32:08 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
	tabling member	4079 label Biography information for Julian Sturdy

1506919

	registered interest
	date	20/09/2022
	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	Mothers and Pregnancy: Cost of Living
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to help support (a) heavily pregnant women and (b) new mothers on statutory maternity pay with increases in cost of living.
	tabling member constituency	York Outer
	tabling member printed	Julian Sturdy
	uin	51647
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/09/2022 answer text <p>Maternity Allowance (MA) is available to eligible pregnant women and new mothers who cannot get Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP), such as the low paid and the self-employed. The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has a statutory obligation to review SMP, benefits including MA, and pensions annually. The review will commence shortly, and her decisions will be announced to Parliament in the normal way later this year. Any new rates of benefits / pensions will become payable from April 2023.</p><p> </p><p>More broadly, the government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living and has taken further decisive action to support people with their energy bills ahead of Winter 2022. The new “Energy Price Guarantee” will mean a typical UK household will now pay up to an average £2,500 a year on their energy bill for the next two years from 1 October, saving the average household in Great Britain at least £1,000 a year based on current energy prices from October. This is in addition to the over £37bn of cost-of-living support announced earlier this year which includes the £400 non-repayable discount to eligible households provided through the Energy Bills Support Scheme.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 29/09/2022 11:27:48 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
	tabling member	4079 label Biography information for Julian Sturdy

1503406

	registered interest
	date	02/09/2022
	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	Beer: Health and Safety
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of legal safety standards for the use of clean-in-place systems in the brewing industry; and if he will make it his policy to mandate the placing of leakage detecting air testing devices around those systems in breweries.
	tabling member constituency	York Outer
	tabling member printed	Julian Sturdy
	uin	45101
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/09/2022 answer text <p>The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) already has in place an effective regulatory regime to protect employees from substances hazardous to health in the workplace under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations 2002. The regulations place duties on employers, including those running clean-in-place systems in a brewery, to assess the risk of exposure to substances hazardous to health arising from their activities. HSE publishes Workplace Exposure Limits to help employers define the standard they need to meet. Arising from this, employers are required to put in place appropriate controls to prevent or control exposure of employees to those substances hazardous to health by inhalation, ingestion etc. in the workplace.</p><p> </p><p>The COSHH Regulations 2002 also set out a hierarchy of control measures that should be applied when assessing the effective prevention or control of exposure to substances hazardous to health. Any requirement for an individual brewery to use leakage detection devices should be identified in the risk assessment process and provided by the employer.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis grouped question UIN 45076 question first answered 16/09/2022 16:56:26 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
	tabling member	4079 label Biography information for Julian Sturdy

1503405

	registered interest
	date	02/09/2022
	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	Beer: Air Pollution
	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 the Health and Safety Executive strengthening regulation regarding the monitoring of air quality around clean-in-place systems in breweries.
	tabling member constituency	York Outer
	tabling member printed	Julian Sturdy
	uin	45076
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/09/2022 answer text <p>The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) already has in place an effective regulatory regime to protect employees from substances hazardous to health in the workplace under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations 2002. The regulations place duties on employers, including those running clean-in-place systems in a brewery, to assess the risk of exposure to substances hazardous to health arising from their activities. HSE publishes Workplace Exposure Limits to help employers define the standard they need to meet. Arising from this, employers are required to put in place appropriate controls to prevent or control exposure of employees to those substances hazardous to health by inhalation, ingestion etc. in the workplace.</p><p> </p><p>The COSHH Regulations 2002 also set out a hierarchy of control measures that should be applied when assessing the effective prevention or control of exposure to substances hazardous to health. Any requirement for an individual brewery to use leakage detection devices should be identified in the risk assessment process and provided by the employer.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis grouped question UIN 45101 question first answered 16/09/2022 16:56:26 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
	tabling member	4079 label Biography information for Julian Sturdy

1611686

	registered interest
	date	18/04/2023
	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	Multiple Sclerosis: Personal Independence Payment
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the (a) 20-metre and (b) 50 per cent rules for assessing the eligibility of people with multiple sclerosis for personal independence payments.
	tabling member constituency	York Outer
	tabling member printed	Julian Sturdy
	uin	181230
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/04/2023 answer text <p>Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is intended to act as a contribution towards the extra costs that arise from needs related to a long-term health condition or disability. Entitlement is assessed on the basis of the needs arising from the health condition or disability, rather than a diagnosis of the health condition or disability itself.</p><p> </p><p>The enhanced rate of the Personal Independence Payment mobility component was always intended to be for those &quot;unable&quot; or &quot;virtually unable&quot; to walk. The 20-metre distance was introduced to identify those whose mobility is significantly more limited than that of other people. Individuals who can walk more than 20 metres can still receive the enhanced rate of the mobility component, if they cannot do so safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly or in a reasonable time period. We believe the current assessment criteria, including the 20-metre rule, are the best way of identifying people whose physical mobility is most limited and there are no immediate plans to make changes.</p><p> </p><p>The PIP assessment should reflect the impact of variations in an individual's level of impairment, including conditions which fluctuate, and whether the individual can complete each activity safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly and in a reasonable time period. When choosing the descriptor, the health professional should also consider an individual’s ability over a 12-month period, ensuring that fluctuations are taken into account. For each activity, if a descriptor applies on more than 50 per cent of the days in the 12-month period, that descriptor should be chosen. In general, health professionals should record function over an average year for conditions that fluctuate over months, per week for conditions that fluctuate by the day, and by the day for conditions that vary over a day.</p><p> </p><p>The department closely monitors all aspects of the assessment process, including how we assess fluctuating health conditions like multiple sclerosis. There are no current plans to make changes to the 50 per cent rule.</p> answering member constituency Corby answering member printed Tom Pursglove question first answered 21/04/2023 10:34:17 answering member 4369 label Biography information for Tom Pursglove
	tabling member	4079 label Biography information for Julian Sturdy

1663711

	registered interest
	date	13/10/2023
	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	Bereavement Support Payment
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing discretionary payments for bereavement support.
	tabling member constituency	York Outer
	tabling member printed	Julian Sturdy
	uin	201564
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2023 answer text <p>No assessment has been made, however, the Department already has a wide range of financial support available to those affected by bereavement.</p><p>Bereavement Support Payment (BSP) is a contributory benefit intended to help working age people with the immediate costs of bereavement. BSP is payable to the surviving spouse, cohabiting partner (with dependent children), or civil partner of the deceased. Funeral Expenses Payments contribute towards the cost of a funeral arranged by someone in receipt of income-related benefits, and Budgeting Loans and Budgeting Advances are interest-free loans available to claimants of income-related benefits. Further support for day to day living expenses is available via Universal Credit.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 23/10/2023 16:39:11 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	4079 label Biography information for Julian Sturdy