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1729627

registered interest
date	12/09/2024
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	Jobcentre Plus
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what recent assessment they have made of the effectiveness of Jobcentre Plus in helping people get back into work.
tabling member printed	Baroness Wilcox of Newport
uin	HL1096
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/09/2024 answer text <p>The last Parliament saw the biggest increase in economic inactivity in nearly 40 years. The employment rate remains 1.4%pts lower than before the pandemic. Only one in six people escape low pay over the course of a decade.</p><p> </p><p>The UK is the only G7 country not to have a higher employment rate than pre-COVID. We are reforming employment support, bringing together Jobcentre Plus and the National Careers Service. The new jobs and careers service will transform our ability to support more people into work and help those on low pay to increase their earnings, which will in turn be vital to supporting our wider economic growth mission.</p><p> </p><p>We will set out our plans in more detail through the forthcoming White Paper to Get Britain Working.</p> answering member printed Baroness Sherlock question first answered 25/09/2024 09:06:10 answering member 4147 label Biography information for Baroness Sherlock
tabling member	4730 label Biography information for Baroness Wilcox of Newport

1729641

registered interest
date	12/09/2024
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	Civil Servants: Clothing
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Twycross on 7 August (HL346), whether this clothing policy applies to all staff in the Department for Work and Pensions.
tabling member printed	Baroness Jenkin of Kennington
uin	HL1037
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/09/2024 answer text <p>The DWP’s standards of behaviour statement requires employees to dress in a professional and business-like way. Professional and business-like has a normal, everyday meaning.</p> answering member printed Baroness Sherlock question first answered 18/09/2024 13:38:17 answering member 4147 label Biography information for Baroness Sherlock
tabling member	4229 label Biography information for Baroness Jenkin of Kennington

1729648

registered interest
date	12/09/2024
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	Department for Work and Pensions: Transgender People
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Department for Work and Pensions (1) currently has, or (2) has previously had, a National Diversity Ambassador on Trans Issues; and if so, (a) who they were, and (b) during what time period(s) they served.
tabling member printed	Lord Lucas
uin	HL1054
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/09/2024 answer text <p>DWP does not have a National Diversity Ambassador on Trans Issues.</p><p>Since 2018, under the current Permanent Secretary, there has been no formally recognised role of this description. Before this, the term Ambassador may have been used colloquially within the Department to raise awareness of Trans and wider Equity, Diversity and Inclusion matters. However, this role was not confirmed in any official capacity.</p> answering member printed Baroness Sherlock question first answered 18/09/2024 13:24:45 answering member 4147 label Biography information for Baroness Sherlock
tabling member	1879 label Biography information for Lord Lucas

1729653

registered interest
date	12/09/2024
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	Department for Work and Pensions: Equality
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Sherlock on 7 August (HL344), whether any of the civil servants claiming diversity network time are also claiming trade union facility time, and at what hourly amounts; and what is their policy on the double dipping of network time and facility time.
tabling member printed	Lord Lucas
uin	HL1059
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/09/2024 answer text <p>There are fewer than 5 individuals in DWP in September 2024 who are claiming Trade Union (TU) Facility time and Diversity Network time.</p><p>In line with standard departmental practice in statistics, we do not publish details of numbers below 5, or where individuals might otherwise be identified in the data, as this would breach our data protection obligations.</p><p>DWP does not have a policy on colleagues claiming both Diversity Network Time and Facility Time at the same time.</p> answering member printed Baroness Sherlock question first answered 25/09/2024 14:50:53 answering member 4147 label Biography information for Baroness Sherlock
tabling member	1879 label Biography information for Lord Lucas

1729046

registered interest
date	11/09/2024
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	Social Security Benefits: Pay
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that information published about the total value of benefits paid to claimants, including available discount schemes and grants, can be readily compared with employee salaries, which are usually quoted before tax.
tabling member printed	Baroness Buscombe
uin	HL958
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/09/2024 answer text <p>The Government has no such plans. Independent, free and anonymous benefit calculators are available that can help individuals to see how their benefits are affected if they start work or increase their hours. Benefit calculators can be found on gov.uk.</p> answering member printed Baroness Sherlock question first answered 20/09/2024 11:25:24 answering member 4147 label Biography information for Baroness Sherlock
tabling member	3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe

1728708

registered interest
date	10/09/2024
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	Social Security Benefits: Medical Examinations
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government how many assessors trained and qualified in autism will work in each of the five regions under the Department for Work and Pension's Health Assessment Advisory Service.
tabling member printed	Baroness Browning
uin	HL925
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/09/2024 answer text <p>The department and the Health Assessment Advisory Service (HAAS) are fully committed to supporting those with mental health conditions.</p><p> </p><p>All health professionals (HPs) within the five regions of HAAS are fully qualified in their health discipline and have passed strict recruitment and experience criteria. They must also be registered with a relevant regulatory body such as the General Medical Council, the Nursing and Midwifery Council, Health and Care Professions Council or European Economic Area equivalent. The department has not specified that HAAS employ HPs who are specialists in specific conditions or impairments. Instead, the focus is on ensuring they are experts in disability analysis, focusing on the effects of health conditions and impairments on the claimant’s daily life.</p><p> </p><p>All HPs receive comprehensive training in the functional assessment of mental health conditions and disabilities, including Autism. From 09 September 2024 the educational material for all HAAS HPs was provided by DWP. As part of our review, we identified best practice in the NHS and have implemented the Oliver McGowan training as part of the mandatory training requirements for every HP. This training is recognised to be of significant value to HPs in ensuring they have the skills and knowledge to provide safe, informed, and compassionate assessments to claimants with autism and learning disabilities. This is in addition to our comprehensive education programme for HPs.</p><p> </p><p>Following the completion of core training to undertake the role, HPs will engage in an annual training programme, and HAAS has been provided with materials (such as Continual Professional Development modules) to support the development of their HPs where learning needs are identified. This approach ensures that both service wide and individual training needs are met and will be of benefit to those with neurodiversity where applicable.</p> answering member printed Baroness Sherlock grouped question UIN HL926 question first answered 17/09/2024 14:28:11 answering member 4147 label Biography information for Baroness Sherlock
tabling member	236 label Biography information for Baroness Browning

1728709

registered interest
date	10/09/2024
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	Social Security Benefits: Medical Examinations
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what qualifications are stipulated for assessors of people on the autism spectrum by the Health Assessment Advisory Service.
tabling member printed	Baroness Browning
uin	HL926
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/09/2024 answer text <p>The department and the Health Assessment Advisory Service (HAAS) are fully committed to supporting those with mental health conditions.</p><p> </p><p>All health professionals (HPs) within the five regions of HAAS are fully qualified in their health discipline and have passed strict recruitment and experience criteria. They must also be registered with a relevant regulatory body such as the General Medical Council, the Nursing and Midwifery Council, Health and Care Professions Council or European Economic Area equivalent. The department has not specified that HAAS employ HPs who are specialists in specific conditions or impairments. Instead, the focus is on ensuring they are experts in disability analysis, focusing on the effects of health conditions and impairments on the claimant’s daily life.</p><p> </p><p>All HPs receive comprehensive training in the functional assessment of mental health conditions and disabilities, including Autism. From 09 September 2024 the educational material for all HAAS HPs was provided by DWP. As part of our review, we identified best practice in the NHS and have implemented the Oliver McGowan training as part of the mandatory training requirements for every HP. This training is recognised to be of significant value to HPs in ensuring they have the skills and knowledge to provide safe, informed, and compassionate assessments to claimants with autism and learning disabilities. This is in addition to our comprehensive education programme for HPs.</p><p> </p><p>Following the completion of core training to undertake the role, HPs will engage in an annual training programme, and HAAS has been provided with materials (such as Continual Professional Development modules) to support the development of their HPs where learning needs are identified. This approach ensures that both service wide and individual training needs are met and will be of benefit to those with neurodiversity where applicable.</p> answering member printed Baroness Sherlock grouped question UIN HL925 question first answered 17/09/2024 14:28:11 answering member 4147 label Biography information for Baroness Sherlock
tabling member	236 label Biography information for Baroness Browning

1727981

registered interest
date	09/09/2024
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	Boots: Pensions
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the sale of the Boots Pension scheme to an insurance company and (2) the effect of this sale on the protection provided to the pensions held in the Boots Pension scheme by the Pension Protection Fund.
tabling member printed	Lord Rooker
uin	HL905
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/09/2024 answer text <p>When a Defined Benefit pension scheme transfers responsibility for paying some or all of its members’ benefits to an insurer, the scheme pays a premium to the insurance company, which then takes on responsibility for paying the promised benefits. This is a well-established approach used by pension scheme trustees to secure the promised pensions for members with an insurance company.</p><p> </p><p>Arrangements to provide pension benefits to some or all scheme members with an insurer are secure and offer long term protection for member benefits. Insurance companies are regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority and their policy holders are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.</p><p> </p><p>Pension Protection Fund protection is retained until the whole scheme is transferred to an insurer, and both the sponsor and the trustees are discharged. At that point the members are no longer protected by the Pension Protection Fund. This is because all benefits are now secured with an insurance company.</p><p> </p><p>No assessments of individual schemes are made by Government.</p> answering member printed Baroness Sherlock question first answered 18/09/2024 13:22:48 answering member 4147 label Biography information for Baroness Sherlock
tabling member	302 label Biography information for Lord Rooker

1727992

registered interest
date	09/09/2024
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
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of Britain’s labour market, particularly in relation to (1) the decrease in job placements, and (2) the decline in pay growth.
tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
uin	HL916
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/09/2024 answer text <p>Job placements, as measured by employment, are currently at 33.2m. These have increased by 265,000 on the quarter and 150,000 on the year. The employment rate remains lower than it was immediately pre-COVID by 1.4 percentage points. This has been driven almost entirely by increased economic inactivity, including long term sickness which is at a near-record high.</p><p> </p><p>Regular pay growth (excluding bonuses) is currently at 5.1% on the year without accounting for inflation. This rate of pay growth has slowed since June 2023 when it reached 7.9%. Regular pay growth after inflation is currently at 2.2% on the year, following falls in real pay in 2022 and 2023 due to high inflation. Regular earnings after inflation are currently only 3% or £15 a week higher in the latest three months than the start of 2008, 16 years ago.</p> answering member printed Baroness Sherlock question first answered 18/09/2024 12:53:25 answering member 4147 label Biography information for Baroness Sherlock
tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

1728004

registered interest
date	09/09/2024
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	Social Security Benefits: Disability
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of residents of Ceredigion in Wales are currently in receipt of disability benefits.
tabling member printed	Baroness Buscombe
uin	HL870
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/09/2024 answer text <p>The table below shows the number of claimants in February 2024 who are on the different disability benefits, Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Disability Living Allowance, including the Child element (DLA) and Attendance Allowance (AA).</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>PIP</p></td><td><p>DLA</p></td><td><p>AA</p></td><td><p>Total</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>4,449</p></td><td><p>1,293</p></td><td><p>2,785</p></td><td><p>8,527</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>This information can be found on the published datasets on <a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/jsf/login.xhtml?invalidSession=true&amp;reason=Session+not+established." target="_blank">Stat-Xplore - Log in (dwp.gov.uk)</a></p><p>The latest available population estimates published by the Office of National Statistics on <a href="https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/datasets/pestsyoala" target="_blank">Population estimates - local authority based by single year of age - Nomis - Official Census and Labour Market Statistics (nomisweb.co.uk)</a> show that the estimated population of Ceredigion in April 2023 is 73,050.</p><p>This means that 12% of the residents of Ceredigion in Wales were claiming disability benefits in February 2024.</p> answering member printed Baroness Sherlock question first answered 17/09/2024 15:18:41 answering member 4147 label Biography information for Baroness Sherlock
tabling member	3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe