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1660651

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	Lead: Ammunition
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what are the unforeseen clearance issues, if any, that have delayed the publication of the Health and Safety Executive's (HSE) assessment of the responses to the consultation on the phasing out of toxic lead ammunition that was due on 6 August; and whether they expect the HSE to deliver a dossier of options on the phasing out of toxic lead ammunition by 6 November, as legally required.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL10129
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/09/2023 answer text <p>The restriction process in the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals Regulation (REACH) contains multiple stages for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to undertake in their role as the REACH Agency. Having agreed, in 2021, to prepare a restriction dossier in respect of the risks posed by the use of lead in ammunition to human health and the environment, HSE has progressed a number of these stages, including formulating a risk assessment opinion by the 6 August 2023 as required.</p><p> </p><p>The next stage is for HSE to publish this final opinion on risk assessment and open a 60-day public consultation on a separate opinion on socioeconomic analysis. To ensure that these are as robust and transparent as they need to be, there are established HSE internal clearance processes at various stages. This clearance process is well underway with the publication of the risk assessment opinion and public consultation on the socioeconomic analysis expected in the first half of October.</p><p> </p><p>REACH legislation does allow HSE to amend the deadline for delivery of its final restriction opinion. The current stage of the clearance process means that the scheduled delivery date of 6 November 2023 will be changed and a new date will be identified shortly.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 27/09/2023 16:00:01 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

1657658

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	State Retirement Pensions: Australia
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they had last year with the government of Australia, if any, on the issue of frozen state pensions.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL9747
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/09/2023 answer text <p>His Majesty's Government did not have any discussions on this issue last year with the Government of Australia.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 14/09/2023 12:40:39 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

1657659

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	State Retirement Pensions: Uprating
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Department for Work and Pension's Estimated costs of uprating State Pension in frozen rate countries: 2024 to 2028, published on 19 July, whether they can publish the background workings to the estimated costs of uprating the State Pension in frozen rate countries.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL9748
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/09/2023 answer text <p>The methodology is relatively straight forward and is contained within the publication but quoted below for ease:</p>Estimates of projected costs<p>1. The estimate is based on the latest available data (March 2022) from the 5% extract of DWP’s State Pension administrative data, the Quarterly Statistical Enquiry (QSE).</p><p>2. The QSE is used to estimate the volume of individuals in frozen rate countries and their State Pension amounts.</p><p>3. The State Pension amount, for all current and future recipients, is uprated (using the relevant indices) to the level they would have been if they had never been frozen.</p><p>4. To estimate the costs for subsequent financial years we make adjustments to the underlying caseload and associated costs by:</p><ul><li>applying mortality rates to existing cases, based on age and gender;</li><li>adding forecasts of future State Pension claims, which are based on historical trends and expected changes in the population, and are adjusted for mortality; and</li><li>uprating State Pension amounts using economic assumptions from the Office for Budget Responsibility at Spring Budget 2023.</li></ul><p>5. The total cost for a given financial year is the difference between the uprated State Pension amounts and the frozen State Pension amounts.</p><p>As with all estimates of projected costs, there is a degree of uncertainty, however where possible we have taken steps to try to minimise any significant measurement error.</p><p>Links for the relevant data sources publicly available are:</p><p>- OBR economic assumption for the relevant uprating indices <a href="https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=https://obr.uk/docs/dlm_uploads/Long_term_economic-determinants_March_2023_EFO-2.xlsx&amp;wdOrigin=BROWSELINK" target="_blank">here</a></p><p>- Mortality projections <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/lifeexpectancies/datasets/mortalityratesqxprincipalprojectionenglandandwales" target="_blank">here</a></p><p>- Benefit expenditure and caseload tables (table State_Pension) <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/benefit-expenditure-and-caseload-tables-2023" target="_blank">here</a></p><p>- Stat-Xplore SP outturn data from Nov 20 <a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/jsf/tableView/tableView.xhtml" target="_blank">here</a></p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 14/09/2023 12:44:56 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

1657660

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	State Retirement Pensions: Uprating
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Department for Work and Pension's Estimated costs of uprating State Pension in frozen rate countries: 2024 to 2028, published on 19 July, whether there is any precedent where, when pensions were once frozen but started being uprated as a result of an international agreement, the pensions concerned were raised to the level they would have been had they never been frozen.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL9749
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/09/2023 answer text <p>There is no standard model for international agreements on social security, which are agreed on a case-by-case basis between countries or groups of countries. The UK's international agreements on social security which include State Pension provisions are included here:</p><p><a href="https://www.ilo.org/dyn/natlex/natlex4.listResults?p_lang=en&amp;p_country=GBR&amp;p_count=3017&amp;p_classification=23.01&amp;p_classcount=160" target="_blank">https://www.ilo.org/dyn/natlex/natlex4.listResults?p_lang=en&amp;p_country=GBR&amp;p_count=3017&amp;p_classification=23.01&amp;p_classcount=160</a></p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 14/09/2023 13:26:40 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

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

1600567

registered interest
date	01/03/2023
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	Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government how many households in England are affected by the under-occupancy charge for (1) one extra bedroom, or (2) more than one extra bedroom; and what assessment they have made of the financial impact of these deductions on those households.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL6023
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/03/2023 answer text <p>For the latest data available, related to September 2022, 286,149 households were subject to the Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy (RSRS) for 1 extra bedroom, and 63,759 for 2 or more extra bedrooms. This data is available on Stat-Xplore.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>For 2021/22, a total of £434m worth of deductions were made for RSRS in Great Britain. This includes households on Universal Credit and Housing Benefit. No wider assessment has been made.</p><p> </p><p>The RSRS policy applies to claims for housing support - either Housing Benefit or the housing element of Universal Credit - where the claimant is living in the social rented sector in a property that is deemed too large for their needs.</p><p> </p><p>The policy helps encourage mobility within the social rented sector to make better use of the existing social housing stock and strengthens work-incentives. An additional bedroom is allowed in certain circumstances such as for disabled people and carers, foster carers, and parents of service personnel. Additionally, those in receipt of pension age housing benefit are exempt.</p><p> </p><p>Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP’s) are available for those who need additional support with housing costs. Since 2011 we have provided nearly £1.6 billion in DHP’s to local authorities.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 09/03/2023 12:33:58 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

1547518

registered interest
date	01/12/2022
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	Disability Living Allowance and Personal Independence Payment: Cost of Living Payments
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of people in receipt of (1) Disability Living Allowance (DLA), or (2) Personal Independence Payment (PIP), who are not eligible for the Cost of Living Payment; and what plans they have to provide assistance to those affected.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL3931
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/12/2022 answer text <p>Of those claimants in receipt of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) in England and Wales in May 2022 (the most recent data available), 220 were not eligible for a Disability Cost of Living Payment (DCoLP), as they had claimed the benefit after the 25<sup>th</sup> May 2022 deadline. A further 3,020 may not have been eligible as they had their DLA suspended in May. Some of these claimants may have been partially suspended and so would be eligible for a payment.</p><p> </p><p>Of those claimants in receipt of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) in England and Wales in July 2022 (the most recent data available), 2,260 were not eligible for a DCoLP, as they had claimed the benefit after the 25<sup>th</sup> May 2022 deadline. A further 43,290 claimants may not have been eligible as they had their PIP suspended on the 25<sup>th</sup> May 2022. This figure includes claimants who were only partially suspended and so would be eligible for a payment.</p><p> </p><p>There is a range of support available to claimants.</p><p> </p><p>DLA and PIP claimants are paid at up to £159.60 per week and we are forecast to spend £24bn on PIP and DLA this year.</p><p> </p><p>The Government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living, which is why, in addition to the £37 billion of support we have provided for cost of living pressures in 2022-23, we are acting now to ensure support continues throughout 2023/24.</p><p> </p><p>To ensure stability and certainty for households, in the Autumn Statement, the Government has announced £26bn in cost of living support for 2023/24. From April 2023 we are uprating benefits for working age households and disabled people, including DLA and PIP, as well as the basic and new State Pensions, by 10.1%. In order to increase the number of households who can benefit from these uprating decisions, the benefit cap will also be increased by 10.1%. Alongside further Cost of Living Payments for the most vulnerable, the amended Energy Price Guarantee which will also save the average UK household £500 in 2023-24.</p><p> </p><p>For those who require extra support, the Government is providing an additional £1 billion of funding, including Barnett impact, to enable the extension of the Household Support Fund in England in the next financial year. This is on top of what we have already provided since October 2021, bringing total funding to £2.5 billion. In England, this will be delivered through an extension to the Household Support Fund backed by £842 million, running from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, which local authorities will use to help households with the cost of essentials. It will be for the devolved administrations to decide how to allocate their additional Barnett funding.</p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Notes:</strong></p><p><strong>Source:</strong> PIP Atomic Data Store (ADS), National Statistics Frozen Dataset</p><ul><li>This is unpublished data. It should be used with caution and it may be subject to future revision.</li><li>The PIP data provided reflects the position on suspensions as recorded on the PIP analytical data system as at 5<sup>th</sup> December 2022. This is subject to revision as the Department receives more information about a claimant’s situation.</li><li>The DLA data provided reflects the position on suspensions as recorded on the DLA analytical data system as at 31<sup>st</sup> May 2022. This is subject to revision as the Department receives more information about a claimant’s situation.</li><li>Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10.</li><li>Figures include England and Wales only.</li></ul><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott question first answered 14/12/2022 12:29:31 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

1547131

registered interest
date	30/11/2022
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	Air Pollution: Business Premises
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to introduce schemes which rate the indoor air quality of commercial premises and their associated risks of viral transmission.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL3875
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/12/2022 answer text <p>The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is the regulator for workplace health and safety. Whilst HSE expects businesses to consider any risks arising from the quality of the air in their premises and to ensure they have mitigations in place where, for example, work generates fumes or dust that is harmful to workers this does not extend to general infection control. As such HSE has no plans to introduce any schemes to rate indoor air quality or the risks of viral transmission.</p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott question first answered 19/12/2022 17:21:59 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

1547182

registered interest
date	30/11/2022
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	Pension Credit
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 Stedman-Scott on 22 November (HL3269), whether they will now answer the question put, namely, what are the (1) average, and (2) longest, delays being experienced by pensioners applying for pension credit for applications made (a) in late April, and (b) subsequently.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL3880
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/12/2022 answer text <p>DWP does not maintain data for the longest time taken to process Pension Credit applications. This information is only available at disproportionate cost to the Department for Work &amp; Pensions as the Department does not have a business requirement for this information to be retained.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>We are processing claims as quickly as possible and streamlining our processes, as well as increasing our staffing resources, which has resulted in the outstanding claims reducing considerably. We expect the clearance of claims to reduce as outstanding claims are cleared.</p><p> </p><p>All successful claims and arrears are paid accordingly to ensure no one misses out.</p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott question first answered 13/12/2022 15:23:02 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

1540883

registered interest
date	08/11/2022
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	Pension Credit
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what are the (1) average, and (2) longest, delays being experienced by pensioners applying for pension credit for applications made (a) in late April, and (b) subsequently.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL3269
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/11/2022 answer text <p>We currently aim to process claims within 35 days from receipt, although following the successful launch of our campaign to increase take up of Pension Credit, we have received an unprecedented number of claims, which has resulted in average processing increasing.</p><p> </p><p>We are processing claims as quickly as possible and streamlining our processes, as well as increasing our staffing resources, which has resulted in the outstanding claims reducing considerably.</p><p> </p><p>All successful claims and arrears are paid accordingly to ensure no one misses out.</p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott question first answered 22/11/2022 14:31:16 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle