Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) pension products are available for automatic enrolment pensions; what assessment they have made of the impact of financial services regulations on the number of ESG pension products available for automatic enrolment pensions; and what steps they are taking to increase the number of ESG pension products available for automatic enrolment purposes.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
The department has introduced ESG-related legislation, including regulations aligned with the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), requiring trustees to consider, assess and report on the financial risks of climate change within their portfolios.
These measures go beyond merely reporting a climate policy and how it is implemented. They require trustees to put in place climate-related governance and risk management, to assess the impact of climate change on their investment strategy, to conduct scenario analysis, to set targets.
This means that automatic enrolment schemes will be encouraged to consider climate-related risks and opportunities, and this is likely to influence their choice of products in their portfolio. The Government thinks that ESG factors and their impact should be taken into consideration where financially material, but the process of investing in individual products is down to the market and trustees working within their fiduciary duty.
I recognise the risk of ‘greenwashing’, where investors can be misled on the quality of a product described as being an ESG product and this must be tackled. To aid trustees in their decisions, the department participates in an advisory group which supports the Financial Conduct Authority in developing their proposed requirements that certain investment products display a label reflecting their sustainability characteristics.
Recent research carried out by Corporate Advisor in their ‘ESG in DC Pensions’ report found that 19 out of 21 pension providers surveyed deploy ESG tilts or screening overlays on their default funds excluding specific companies or sectors with poor ESG ratings[1]. The report found that three years ago, just five master trust defaults took this approach, suggesting that schemes are increasingly turning to ESG-related products. I believe the steps the department has taken to put in place the regulatory framework for consideration of ESG factors will have contributed to the uptake here.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the change over the last three years in the level of disability-related benefits that were paid weekly to individuals; and what consideration, if any, they have given to removing the requirement to justify the use of that payment.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
The information requested is in the table below.
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The benefit rates are published annually on www.gov.UK and can be located by searching for “benefit and pension rates”.
Attendance Allowance, Disability Living Allowance and Personal Independence Payment are intended to act as a contribution towards the extra costs that arise as a result of a long-term health condition or disability. Claimants are free to use their payments in whatever way they want and according to their own priorities and needs. These benefits can also be used as a gateway to other benefits to assist in their income and day to day lives.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the (1) number, and (2) percentage, of Universal Credit recipients whose payments are affected by the minimum income floor for self-employed people.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
In September 2021, the latest month for which there is available data, there were around 4,000 gainfully self-employed Universal Credit (UC) recipients not in a start-up period and earning below the minimum income floor. This is 1% of all self-employed UC recipients, and 0.1% of all UC claimants.
This number will likely change significantly over the coming year as we gradually reintroduce our pre-pandemic processes for the self-employed, many of whom claimed while the minimum income floor was suspend
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the reply by Baroness Scott of Bybrook on 8 June (HL Deb, col 1312), what assessment they have made of the report by Z2K #PeopleBeforeProcess, published on 25 May; and what steps they plan to take as a result.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
The Government acknowledges the report by Z2K published in May 2021 and will consider its findings as part of our consultation on the Health & Disability Green Paper, published on 20 July. The Green Paper explores how the benefits system can better meet people’s needs now and in the future by improving people’s experience of our services, enabling independent living and improving employment outcomes.
The Government is committed to improving the lives of disabled people and yesterday published the National Disability Strategy. The strategy takes into account the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on disabled people and focuses on the issues that disabled people say affect them the most in all aspects of life.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that jobseekers being supported through Department for Work and Pensions programmes have been referred to websites that advise them to state in job interviews that climate change may not exist; and what steps they plan to take as a result.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
This was content provided by a third party supplier and was designed to help individuals understand that they can acknowledge different points of view when answering questions. The choice of “global warming” as an example subject was not appropriate and the content has been removed.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Stedman-Scott on 4 November 2020 (HL9402), and the identification of new variants of COVID-19, what plans they have to update their guidance for the ventilation of (1) existing, and (2) new, buildings.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
The Health and Safety Executive’s guidance outlines control measures that should protect against virus transmission and these remain unchanged. Ensuring good ventilation, staying at home, working from home where you can, social distancing, hand washing and cleaning surfaces are all measures that will reduce infection risk.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to respond to the report by the University of Glasgow and the Health Foundation, Mental health, welfare conditionality and employment support: Policy recommendations and key findings, published in October.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
The University of Glasgow and the Health Foundation’s report offers useful insights. We take these issues seriously and will consider the recommendations and key findings alongside the work on the forthcoming Health and Disability Support Green Paper, which will explore how the welfare system can better meet the needs of disabled people and people with health conditions. Improving employment support will be a key theme of the Green Paper.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Greenhalgh on 20 October (HL8966), what guidance they will provide on the operation and adaptation of ventilation provision in existing buildings, including (1) schools, (2) fitness facilities, and (3) retail premises and offices, in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has produced the following website-based advice on air conditioning and ventilation in the workplace for existing buildings during the pandemic
https://www.hse.gov.uk/coronavirus/equipment-and-machinery/air-conditioning-and-ventilation.htm
HSE is carrying out a review of this guidance in light of SAGE’s (the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies) consideration of evidence on aerosol transmission of SARS-CoV-2. If required as a result of this review HSE will update the advice provided on their website. This will also be communicated to stakeholders across all sectors via HSE’s e-bulletin subscription service.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what role they expect the Health and Safety Executive to play in (1) breaking transmission chains, and (2) establishing what allowed the transmission of the virus, in respect of workplace outbreaks of COVID-19; and what, if any, extra resources they have provided to enable any such role.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
Public health authorities lead multi-agency outbreak investigation teams and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has a significant role to play when a workplace is involved. HSE contributes information about the extent and effectiveness of infection risk controls in the workplace enabling the team to draw conclusions about likely infection routes.
HSE is also carrying out proactive spot checks of workplaces to ensure that appropriate measures are in place to protect workers from COVID-19, and provides guidance on relevant COVID-19 risk controls for businesses and organisations on it’s website (www.hse.gov.uk).
Establishing what allowed the transmission of the virus is a priority and HSE engages across government with Public Health England (PHE), the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Food Standards Agency and the devolved administrations; sharing data and learning lessons. HSE’s Chief Scientific Advisor (CSA) is on the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies and co-Chairs the Environmental and Modelling group which aims to provide scientific information on transmission in the built environment, which would include many workplaces. This group have been engaging with PHE, the Department for Health and Social Care and others to ensure that environmental considerations have been considered during outbreak management.
The Government has made available up to an extra £14.2 million for HSE to support the provision of advice and regulatory activities. These funds will be drawn down throughout the year to bring in additional inspectors, call centre staff and equipment as required.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by the Citizens’ Basic Income Feasibility Study Steering Group Assessing the Feasibility of Citizens’ Basic Income Pilots in Scotland: Final Report, published on 10 June.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
The Citizens’ Basic Income does not target those most in need of support; it also has high costs and reduces work incentives. The Department for Work and Pensions believes the future lies in support that is increasingly tailored to the needs of the individual which Universal Credit underpins.