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1605863

registered interest
date	21/03/2023
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	Social Security Benefits: Carers
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 14 March 2023 to Question 159058 on Social Security Benefits, what (a) advice and (b) other support his Department provides to claimants who are subject to the benefit cap and the primary carer of a child under three.
tabling member constituency	Edmonton
tabling member printed	Kate Osamor
uin	170678
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/03/2023 answer text <p>A full range of support is available to claimants, which includes work coach interviews, national and local provision. This support and advice is ongoing and can include, for example, employment support to help them find work, budgeting support, housing advice and signposting to local authorities to access to Discretionary Housing Payments</p><p> </p><p>The Government clearly recognises that high childcare costs can affect parents’ decisions to take up paid work or increase their working hours, which is why the changes to the UC childcare element announced in the Spring Budget 2023 will provide generous additional financial support to parents moving into work and/or significantly increasing their working hours.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 29/03/2023 16:03:53 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4515 label Biography information for Kate Osamor

1605937

registered interest
date	21/03/2023
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	Social Security Benefits
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the evidential basis is for introducing more conditionality for entitlement to benefits.
tabling member constituency	Wirral South
tabling member printed	Alison McGovern
uin	170588
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/03/2023 answer text <p>The Department has previously published evidence on the impact of Work Coach Support on Claimant outcomes including JSA Weekly Signing (2015) and the Intensive Activity Programme (2015) <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/398803/jsa-signing-trials.pdf" target="_blank">JSA Weekly Signing(opens in a new tab)</a> (2015): <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/398803/jsa-signing-trials.pdf" target="_blank">Jobseeker’s Allowance signing trials (publishing.service.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab)</a> <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/539043/intensive-activity-programme-trial-evidence-synthesis.pdf" target="_blank">Intensive Activity Programme(opens in a new tab)</a> (2015): <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/539043/intensive-activity-programme-trial-evidence-synthesis.pdf" target="_blank">Intensive Activity Programme trial evaluation: evidence synthesis (publishing.service.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab)</a>.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 29/03/2023 16:04:29 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4083 label Biography information for Alison McGovern

1606133

registered interest
date	21/03/2023
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	State Retirement Pensions: British Nationals Abroad
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what stage they have reached in negotiations with (1) the government of Canada, (2) the government of Australia, and (3) the government of New Zealand, on the annual uprating and payment of the UK state pension to beneficiaries resident in those countries.
tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of Southwark
uin	HL6701
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/03/2023 answer text <p>The government does not have a policy to increase the number of countries with which the UK has reciprocal agreements on state pensions. The government has no plans to change its social security relationship with these countries on state pensions.</p><p> </p><p>Requests for social security agreements may be raised in formal and informal meetings and in correspondence at both ministerial and official level. The Department for Work and Pensions does not, as a matter of routine, maintain full records of such requests. The department can, however, confirm that a response was provided to the government of Canada in August 2022 on its request to conclude a reciprocal agreement to include state pension uprating, where the department outlined its longstanding position as stated above.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie grouped question UIN HL6705 question first answered 30/03/2023 11:49:02 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	4345 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of Southwark

1606134

registered interest
date	21/03/2023
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	State Retirement Pensions: British Nationals Abroad
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what research they have undertaken of the impact of their decision not to uprate the UK state pension upon (1) British citizens resident in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and (2) Commonwealth citizens who have retired to a country in the Caribbean with a UK state pension entitlement.
tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of Southwark
uin	HL6702
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/03/2023 answer text <p>The Department has not undertaken such research. The UK State Pension is payable worldwide to those who meet the qualifying conditions. Entitlement is based on an individual’s national insurance record. The policy on up-rating UK State Pensions overseas is long-standing and has been supported by successive post-war Governments for over 70 years. We continue to up-rate UK State Pensions abroad where there is a legal requirement to do so – for example where there is a reciprocal agreement that provides for up-rating. There are no plans to change this policy.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 30/03/2023 16:36:28 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	4345 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of Southwark

1605340

registered interest
date	20/03/2023
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	Social Security Benefits: Disability
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that those with disabilities are in receipt of benefits that they are entitled to receive.
tabling member printed	Baroness Adams of Craigielea
uin	HL6596
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/04/2023 answer text <p>The Government makes information on benefits widely available to all those who may wish to claim, including disabled people and people with health conditions, through a variety of channels including GOV.UK. In addition, information is available from a wide range of other sources, including organisations and charities, who provide advice and support. The DWP continually seeks to improve the information it makes available to encourage people to claim the benefits they may be entitled to.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 03/04/2023 15:15:42 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	631 label Biography information for Baroness Adams of Craigielea

1605373

registered interest
date	20/03/2023
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	Universal Credit
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the statement in the Spring Budget 2023 factsheet – Labour Market Measures that over 700,000 lead carers of children in receipt of Universal Credit will be made to look for work or increase the number of hours they work, what is their estimate of how this number will be broken down by (1) age of youngest child, and (2) by lone parent/other; and what additional work-related requirements will be applied to such claimants.
tabling member printed	Baroness Lister of Burtersett
uin	HL6635
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/04/2023 answer text <p>The information requested is provided in the tables below.</p><p> </p><p>1) Estimate of the proportion of lead carers broken down by age of youngest child</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Age of youngest child</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Proportion</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>14%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>12%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>11%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>4</p></td><td><p>9%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>10%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>6</p></td><td><p>9%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>7</p></td><td><p>8%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>8</p></td><td><p>7%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>9</p></td><td><p>6%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>6%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>11</p></td><td><p>5%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>12</p></td><td><p>4%</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>2) Estimate of the proportion of lead carers broken down by family type</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Family Type</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Proportion</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Single, with children</p></td><td><p>70%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Couple, with children</p></td><td><p>30%</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Caveats &amp; Data Definitions:</p><ul><li>We do not hold data that explicitly identifies lead carers, as a result, figures are estimated assuming that if one member of the household has age of youngest child as required, and is in the relevant conditionality regime, then they are a “lead carer”.</li><li>Universal Credit conditionality regimes included are Intensive Work Search, Working with requirements, Planning for work and Preparing for work</li><li>Based on average volumes 2022/23</li><li>Based on internal Universal Credit Household dataset</li></ul><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Lead carers of children aged 1-2 will be required to have regular work focussed conversations with a dedicated Jobcentre work coach more often.</p><p> </p><p>For lead carers of children aged 2, work coaches can offer claimants more support with work preparation activities such as, job readiness workshops; help with developing a CV; practicing interviewing skills; skills assessment; participating in training or employment programme.</p><p> </p><p>Lead carers of children aged 3-12 will be supported by their work coach to increase their work search and preparation activity and will be required to be available for higher paid or longer hours jobs to align with Department for Education’s 30hr free childcare offer.</p><p> </p><p>Work search activities could include carrying out work searches, making job applications and creating and maintaining online job profiles. The requirements will be tailored to a claimant’s circumstances (e.g., location of job, claimant eligibility for free childcare provision, availability and location of childcare provision, and transport).</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 03/04/2023 15:35:10 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	4234 label Biography information for Baroness Lister of Burtersett

1605395

registered interest
date	20/03/2023
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	Carer's Allowance
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have commissioned research on people’s experiences of claiming and receiving Carer’s Allowance; if so, whether they will publish this research; and if so, when.
tabling member printed	Baroness Lister of Burtersett
uin	HL6636
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/04/2023 answer text <p>The department commissioned research on experiences of claiming and receiving Carer’s Allowance; and is reviewing the research results as part of our wider policy development and thinking around Carer’s Allowance. We need to ensure that policy makers and Ministers are able to do so based on the evidence and without fear of premature disclosure. Therefore, we will not publish the report while this process is ongoing. If Ministers decide to publish its findings, they will be made available to Parliament and online.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 03/04/2023 13:47:46 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	4234 label Biography information for Baroness Lister of Burtersett

1605011

registered interest
date	16/03/2023
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	Sector-based Work Academy Programme
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many sector-based work academy programme placements have been undertaken in (a) Feltham and Heston, (b) Hounslow, (c) Greater London, (d) England, since the start of the scheme.
tabling member constituency	Feltham and Heston
tabling member printed	Seema Malhotra
uin	167124
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/03/2023 answer text <p>Sector-based work academies were first launched in August 2011 in England and January 2012 in Scotland. Regular statistical releases on sector-based work academies, covering participation by those on legacy unemployment benefits, began in 2011 and ended in 2017. These statistics can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/employment-schemes-work-experience-sector-based-work-academy-and-skills-conditionality-starts-to-november-2017" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/employment-schemes-work-experience-sector-based-work-academy-and-skills-conditionality-starts-to-november-2017</a></p><p> </p><p>The scheme was relaunched as ‘SWAP’ in July 2020 as part of the government’s Plan for Jobs. Due to data limitations, we are unable to provide a geographical breakdown for SWAPs that took place before the start of the 2021/22 financial year.</p><p> </p><p>Data for the financial years 2021/22 and 2022/23 shows that as of 12<sup>th</sup> March 2023, there was a total of 179,000 starts to a Sector-based Work Academy Programme (SWAP). The breakdown of these starts by the regions specified and by financial year is displayed in the following table:</p><p> </p><p>Table 1: SWAP starts</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p><strong>Starts FY 2021/22 </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Starts FY 2022/23 – up to 12<sup>th</sup> March 2023</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Total Starts</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>(a) Feltham and Heston</p></td><td><p>260</p></td><td><p>290</p></td><td><p>560</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>(b) Hounslow</p></td><td><p>520</p></td><td><p>530</p></td><td><p>1040</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>(c) Greater London</p></td><td><p>15200</p></td><td><p>16300</p></td><td><p>31500</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>(d) England</p></td><td><p>66500</p></td><td><p>73400</p></td><td><p>139800</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p><strong>Notes on the data:</strong></p><p>Attached are tables listing the number of SWAP starts to date by Country, Region, Local Authority and Parliamentary Constituency. The figures used are correct as of 12<sup>th</sup> March 2023 and these figures have been rounded according to departmental standards.</p><p> </p><p>These figures reflect the number of starts by claimants in receipt of Universal Credit (UC), Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) or Income Support (IS).</p><p> </p><p>It is important to note that the information provided shows the current home location of the person who has started a SWAP. For starts by those in receipt of JSA, ESA or IS, due to data limitations a location cannot be assigned to these starts and as such they are categorised as unknown within the figures. SWAPs are run in England and Scotland, where a person’s current home location is outside of this they have also been categorised as unknown.</p><p> </p><p>Although care is taken when processing and recording SWAP starts, the data collected might be subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any clerical recording system, but is provided in the interests of transparency.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 30/03/2023 16:29:50 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman attachment 1 file name 167124.xlsx title Attachment
tabling member	4253 label Biography information for Seema Malhotra

1605054

registered interest
date	16/03/2023
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	Childcare and Occupational Health
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to expand the workforce by improving access to (1) affordable childcare, and (2) occupational health services.
tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
uin	HL6585
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/03/2023 answer text <p>The Government clearly recognises that high childcare costs can affect parents’ decisions to take up paid work or increase their working hours which is why the changes to the UC childcare element announced in the Spring Budget 2023 will provide generous additional financial support to parents moving into work and/or increasing their working hours.</p><p> </p><p>The Department will address the issue of ‘upfront’ childcare costs by exempting any Flexible Support Fund (FSF) payment for upfront childcare costs made to childcare providers from the UC childcare cost calculation when parents move into work or significantly increase their working hours. In practice, this means that the parent will be reimbursed for up to 85% of that FSF payment, as if they had paid it themselves. This provides parents with a significant payment of childcare costs, upfront, to use for their next set of childcare costs, thereby easing UC claimants into the UC childcare costs payment cycle.</p><p> </p><p>The Department will also increase the generosity of the UC childcare costs ‘caps’ (maximum amounts) - Allowing parents to claim back over £300 more for one child or over £500 for two or more children of their childcare costs per month. This will increase the caps from £646.35 for one child and £1,108.04 for two or more children to £950.92 and £1,630.15 respectively.</p><p> </p><p>By September 2025, eligible working parents of children aged 9 months to when they start school will be able to get 30 hours of free childcare in England.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>As set out in the Spring Budget, and the health is everyone’s business consultation response, increasing access to quality occupational health (OH) services can support disabled people and people with health conditions to remain in and thrive in work. This can contribute to reducing health-related inactivity.</p><p> </p><p>To increase access to OH the government is delivering a range of actions including: proposals to consult on tax incentives to encourage greater take-up of OH and new ways to boost OH coverage; an expanded trial of a subsidy for SMEs and the Self Employed to purchase OH services; a £1m fund to stimulate innovation in the OH market focussed on new models of service delivery and better use of technology; and plans to develop the multidisciplinary OH workforce needed to deliver services.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 30/03/2023 16:52:41 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

1604522

registered interest
date	15/03/2023
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	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, with reference to paragraph 4.148 of the Spring Budget 2023, HC1183, if he will publish the error rate data which informed this policy decision.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow East
tabling member printed	David Linden
uin	166321
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/04/2023 answer text <p>There are no plans to automate the decision making or the application of the sanction’s regime, which will continue to be undertaken by Work Coaches and Decision Makers.</p><p> </p><p>However, feedback from Work Coaches tells us that to create the original referral form for claimants that missed mandatory appointments is very slow and requires them to manually input all the required information. Any data input incorrectly would invalidate the referral meaning any associated decision could not be progressed. So, we are automating the creation of this form. The referral form will then be reviewed by the Work Coach and submitted to the Decision Maker to take the ultimate decision, in the normal way.</p><p> </p><p>We continually use a range of evidence to make improvements in our processes and in turn save taxpayers money.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 04/04/2023 13:57:48 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4640 label Biography information for David Linden