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1660691

registered interest
date	13/09/2023
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	ASW: Pensions
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have held with former Allied Steel & Wire employees regarding the non-payment of those employees' industrial pensions for the past 21 years.
tabling member printed	Lord Wigley
uin	HL10171
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/09/2023 answer text <p>The Allied Steel and Wire pension scheme was among the earliest of the major schemes to benefit from the Financial Assistance Scheme. The former Minister for Pensions and Financial Inclusion, Guy Opperman, met with members of the Allied Steel and Wire pension scheme on 16 June 2021 to discuss the financial assistance payments they have been receiving, in lieu of their pensions.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 21/09/2023 11:04:36 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	547 label Biography information for Lord Wigley

1657563

registered interest
date	04/09/2023
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	Local Housing Allowance: Families
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on families of freezing local housing allowance rates for the past three years.
tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of Durham
uin	HL9771
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/09/2023 answer text <p>No Assessment has been made, however the department works closely with stakeholders, Jobcentres and Local Authorities to understand the impact of its policies on families.</p><p> </p><p>The Local Housing Allowance (LHA) policy is kept under regular review and rates are reviewed annually by the Secretary of State. LHA rates are not intended to meet all rents in all areas.</p><p>In 2020 we spent almost £1 billion increasing LHA rates to the 30th percentile of market rents. This significant investment has been maintained ensuring that everyone who benefited continues to do so.</p><p>Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) are available for those who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs. Since 2011 we have provided nearly £1.6 billion in funding to local authorities for DHPs.</p><p>We recognise that rents are increasing. However, the challenging fiscal environment means that difficult decisions have been necessary to ensure support is targeted effectively.</p><p>Over 2022-23 and 2023- 24 the Government is providing support in excess of £94 billion to help households with the rising cost of living.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 14/09/2023 12:41:24 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	4312 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of Durham

1652130

registered interest
date	11/07/2023
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	Offshore Industry: Safety
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the safety of additive manufacturer products in equipment in the oil and gas industries.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL9234
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/07/2023 answer text <p>The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 establishes duties for manufacturers to design and construct safe articles for use at work. In the various health and safety regulations that apply to the oil and gas industry it is the responsibility of the duty holder to ensure that any components used are fit for purpose for their intended use, and that they have the means to ensure those components will remain fit for purpose during their service life. Furthermore, product supply legislation places duties on the manufacturers of such products to assess their safety before their use.</p><p> </p><p>The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) undertakes market surveillance monitoring of the health and safety of most products used at work. HSE have been engaged with the additive manufacturing industry for a number of years, including the publication of a report into structure properties of the technique in 2015. Industry standards and guidance are being produced in this area and these assure quality control throughout additive manufacture and provide a sufficient quantity and quality of information to manufacturers and dutyholders seeking to make or use these articles which can also be used as benchmarks against which to judge regulatory compliance. HSE is also considering the implications of exposure to fumes and respirable dusts from those undertaking additive manufacturing.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 19/07/2023 11:43:45 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

1643919

registered interest
date	12/06/2023
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	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what are the current annual savings to the Exchequer provided by (1) the benefit cap, and (2) the two-child limit on social security payments.
tabling member printed	Baroness Lister of Burtersett
uin	HL8403
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/06/2023 answer text <p>The saving to the Exchequer provided by the benefit cap in 2021/22 – the latest year for which data are available - was £400m.</p><p> </p><p>For the policy that provides support for a maximum of 2 children in Universal Credit (UC) and Child Tax Credits, it is not possible to provide a current annual savings measure and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p>In our previously published analysis on the cost of ending the policy that provides support for a maximum of 2 children in Universal Credit (UC) and Child Tax Credits over the period 19/20-23/24 we estimated that the cost of ending this policy to be around £5bn up to 23/24.</p><p> </p><p>The Government’s view is that providing support for a maximum of two children or qualifying young persons in Universal Credit and Child Tax Credit ensures fairness between claimants on the one hand and, on the other, those taxpayers who support themselves solely through work. Where they are able to, Individuals should consider whether they are financially prepared to support a new child without relying on benefits.</p><p> </p><p>We recognise that some claimants are not able to make the same choices about the number of children in their family, which is why exceptions have been put in place to protect certain groups. On migration to Universal Credit families’ existing entitlement will be protected, so long as they remain responsible for the same children and entitled to benefit.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 26/06/2023 17:00:05 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	4234 label Biography information for Baroness Lister of Burtersett

1642797

registered interest
date	07/06/2023
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	Coroners: Suicide
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government how many cases of suicide have been reported by (1) coroners, and (2) other sources, since the establishment of the coroner focal point in March 2016.
tabling member printed	Baroness Browning
uin	HL8274
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/06/2023 answer text <p>The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has recorded <ins class="ministerial">22 </ins><del class="ministerial">24</del> contacts related to possible suicides via its Coroner focal point since 2016.</p><p> </p><p>Coroners determine the cause of death, including whether it is by suicide. Coroners do not routinely inform the department when they return a conclusion of suicide in a case where the deceased person was claiming benefits. There is no requirement for them to do so, unless they have named it as an Interested Person at that inquest, or they decide to send it a Prevention of Future Deaths report.</p><p> </p><p>DWP becomes aware of the majority of deaths through the Tell Us Once (TUO) service. It is offered by all 391 councils across England, Scotland and Wales on behalf of DWP. This service lets citizens report a death to most government organisations in one go. Once verified, the Customer Information System (CIS), a cross-government system, is updated and DWP will take the appropriate action on a case.</p><p> </p><p>However, this service does not notify DWP of the cause or circumstances of a death, and DWP has no legitimate business reason to obtain or record this information.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 21/06/2023 15:10:51 question first ministerially corrected 24/08/2023 14:07:24 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie previous answer version 82847 answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	236 label Biography information for Baroness Browning

1626202

registered interest
date	09/05/2023
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	Pension Credit
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what their latest estimate is of the take-up of Pension Credit in the past five years.
tabling member printed	Baroness Altmann
uin	HL7669
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/05/2023 answer text <p>Estimates for Pension Credit take-up in a financial year are available in the “Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up” publication, which can be accessed on the statistics section of gov.uk. <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/income-related-benefits-estimates-of-take-up-financial-year-2019-to-2020" target="_blank">Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up: financial year 2019 to 2020 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)</a></p><p> </p><p>The latest estimates for Pension Credit take-up relate to the financial year 2019 to 2020. The table below outlines take-up estimates for this year, and the four years preceding:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Financial Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Estimate of Pension Credit take-up</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2019 to 2020</p></td><td><p>66%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018 to 2019</p></td><td><p>63%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017 to 2018</p></td><td><p>61%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016 to 2017</p></td><td><p>61%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015 to 2016</p></td><td><p>61%</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Please note – methodological refinements have been applied to the data from 2016 to 2017. Therefore, comparison to previous years should be treated with caution.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 23/05/2023 13:41:34 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	4533 label Biography information for Baroness Altmann

1611077

registered interest
date	17/04/2023
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	Electrical Safety
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to institute a programme of testing of domestic premises to measures the risks of neutral current diversion.
tabling member printed	Lord Rooker
uin	HL7167
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/05/2023 answer text <p>The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) regulates the safety of the public electricity network, including equipment owned by Distribution Network Operators. HSE have monitored developments carefully and continue to do so. Officials from HSE are of the view that no additional action is required by the regulator to manage this risk of neutral current diversion at the present time.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 02/05/2023 13:42:44 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	302 label Biography information for Lord Rooker

1611079

registered interest
date	17/04/2023
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	Electrical Safety
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the issue of neutral current diversions leading to electricity flowing through gas meters following domestic gas explosions.
tabling member printed	Lord Rooker
uin	HL7169
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/05/2023 answer text <p>Health and Safety Executive (HSE) officials have advised neutral current diversions are a known phenomenon and can occur for a number of reasons. The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations require additional electrical bonding when cutting conducting gas pipes to minimise the risk to workers. HSE are of the view that no additional action is required by the regulator to manage this risk at the present time but will keep emerging evidence under review.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 02/05/2023 13:15:48 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	302 label Biography information for Lord Rooker

1606155

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: Telephone Services
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Viscount Younger of Leckie on 16 March (HL6171), even allowing for waiting times for the Future Pension Centre having been higher than expected, why calls from the public remain unanswered.
tabling member printed	Lord Truscott
uin	HL6709
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/04/2023 answer text <p>The DWP Futures Pension Centre helpline has experienced unprecedented levels of contact from customers considering whether to pay voluntary National Insurance Contributions (VNICS) before the deadline due to recent media publicity. To alleviate customer concerns about meeting the deadline for paying VNIC’s, HM Revenue &amp; Customs has announced it will extend the deadline to pay these contributions until 31 July 2023. DWP have also provided additional resource directed to the telephony lines and will continue to review resourcing options to meet the current call demand.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 03/04/2023 15:46:10 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	3682 label Biography information for Lord Truscott

1537279

registered interest
date	31/10/2022
answering body	Department for International Trade
answering dept id	202
answering dept short name	International Trade
answering dept sort name	International Trade
hansard heading	Forced Labour
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the legislative proposal from the European Commission to ban the marketing of goods made with forced labour; and whether they plan to introduce such a ban in the UK.
tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
uin	HL3031
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/11/2022 answer text <p>The Government has serious concerns about the situation in Xinjiang. Robust action has been taken to help ensure that no British organisations are profiting from or are contributing to human rights violations in Xinjiang. We have, amongst other actions, introduced guidance on the risks of doing business in Xinjiang, led a ministerial campaign of business engagement to reinforce the need for UK business to act and have announced our intention to introduce financial penalties for businesses that do not comply with their transparency obligations under the Modern Slavery Act. Import bans are one of a range of tools that could be used to tackle forced labour in global supply chains, and we continue to keep this policy response under close review.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie grouped question UIN HL3032 question first answered 14/11/2022 12:53:00 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool