Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their latest assessment of the effect of the two-child limit to families on benefits in the UK.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)
The two-child limit policy aims to introduce fairness between households claiming benefits and taxpayers who support themselves solely through work. Families on benefits should face the same financial choices when deciding to grow their family as those supporting themselves solely through work. A benefits structure adjusting automatically to family size is unsustainable. Child Benefit continues to be paid for all children in eligible families as well as an additional amount for any disabled children.
Statistics related to the policy to provide support for a maximum of two children was published in July 2022 and can be accessed at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/universal-credit-and-child-tax-credit-claimants-statistics-related-to-the-policy-to-provide-support-for-a-maximum-of-2-children-april-2022
Some key statistics from the link below are as follows:
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their latest assessment of the effectiveness of the Prevention of Accidents to Children in Agriculture Regulations 1998.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)
The Prevention of Accidents to Children in Agriculture Regulations 1998 (PACAR) prohibit anyone allowing children under the age of 13 to ride on machinery used in the course of agricultural operations.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) enforces the Regulations and considers they are clear in their intent and requirements. The provisions are well known in the agriculture industry and stem from protections that have been in place since 1958.
Within the last ten years, (since 01/04/2013), under the Prevention of Accidents to Children in Agriculture Regulations 1998, HSE have:
If followed, the Regulations are effective at controlling farm related risk to children under 13 years of age riding on farm machinery. However, they do not extend to control all farm related risk. These hazards include for example, cattle, moving vehicles, slurry lagoons, and bale stacks.
The risks presented by these other hazards can only effectively be controlled because HSE uses more general legislation in conjunction with specific guidance. The broader legislation relevant to the protection of children is:
HSE continues to monitor the legislative framework for the control of risk to children in agriculture and considers the legal provisions are sufficient to allow HSE to take proportionate enforcement action where necessary.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the level of workplace injuries, including fatalities, in the agricultural sector compared to all other sectors of the UK economy over the past five years.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)
As the regulator for workplace health and safety, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) publishes official statistics on deaths and injuries at work.
Published statistics of work-related fatal injuries over the last five years by industry sector are available at https://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/fatals.htm. The data shows that 138 workers in the agricultural sector were killed in work-related accidents over the five years 2017/18 to 2021/22, equivalent to 8.61 deaths annually per 100,000 workers. This rate of fatal injury to workers in the agricultural sector remains markedly higher than the average across all industries: 21 times as high as the average rate across all industries. [Note 1] [Note 2].
Published statistics of workplace non-fatal injuries over the last five years by industry sector are also available at https://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/causinj/index.htm. This data shows that on average, an estimated 12,000 workers in the agricultural sector sustained an injury at work each year between 2017/18 to 2021/22, equivalent to 4,190 injuries per 100,000 workers. This is statistically significantly higher than the average rate across all industries. [Note 1] [Note 3].
Notes
[Note 1] Agricultural sector defined as Section A, Agriculture, forestry and fishing, of the 2007 Standard Industrial Classification.
[Note 2] Source: Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR)
[Note 3] Source: Estimates from the Labour Force Survey, a national representative household survey run by the Office for National Statistics.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) deaths, and (2) serious injuries, (a) on farms, and (b) in agriculture generally, have been reported to the Health and Safety Executive in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott - Opposition Whip (Lords)
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) publishes official statistics on deaths and injuries at work. Data specifically for agriculture and farms is reproduced in the tables below.
Table 1: Number of fatal injuries to both workers (employees and the self-employed) and members of the public (a) on farms and (b) in the agricultural sector, 2011/12-2020/21. | |||||
Source: Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) | |||||
| |||||
| Farms (a) |
| Agriculture Sector (b) | ||
Year | Workers | Members of the public |
| Workers | Members of the public |
2011/12 | 27 | 6 |
| 35 | 6 |
2012/13 | 29 | 5 |
| 31 | 5 |
2013/14 | 26 | 4 |
| 27 | 4 |
2014/15 | 30 | 3 |
| 32 | 4 |
2015/16 | 26 | 2 |
| 27 | 2 |
2016/17 | 25 | 3 |
| 26 | 3 |
2017/18 | 27 | 3 |
| 29 | 4 |
2018/19 | 31 | 6 |
| 32 | 7 |
2019/20r | 18 | 1 |
| 21 | 2 |
2020/21p | 32 | 7 |
| 34 | 7 |
|
Table 2: Number of reported (f) non-fatal injuries to employees (a) on farms and (b) in the agricultural sector each year 2011/12-2020/21. | ||
Source: Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) | ||
|
|
|
Year | Farms (a) | Agriculture sector (b) |
2011/12 (c) | 881 | 1,110 |
2012/13 (d) | 681 | 861 |
2013/14 (e) | 688 | 861 |
2014/15 | 785 | 936 |
2015/16 | 733 | 890 |
2016/17 | 697 | 869 |
2017/18 | 664 | 814 |
2018/19 | 714 | 849 |
2019/20r | 703 | 845 |
2020/21p | 626 | 738 |
| ||
Footnotes | ||
(a) Farms defined as Division 01, Crop and animal production, hunting and related service activities, of the 2007 Standard Industrial Classification. | ||
(b) Agriculture defined as Section A, Agriculture, forestry and fishing, of the 2007 Standard Industrial Classification. | ||
(c) Due to a major change in the RIDDOR non-fatal injury reporting requirements in April 2012, injuries reported prior to 2012/13 are not directly comparable with later years. | ||
(d) RIDDOR reporting requirements for non-fatal injuries changed on 1 April 2012. From this date, non-fatal injuries resulting in more than 7 days absence from work (previously more than 3 days absence) or specified on a pre-defined list of major injuries were reportable. | ||
(e) A further change in reporting requirements was introduced in October 2013 when the pre-defined list of reportable non-fatal injuries was updated. | ||
(f) While RIDDOR requires employers to report certain workplace non-fatal injuries to workers, generally the more serious, it is known that employers substantially under-report these non-fatal injuries, particularly in relation to self-employed workers. Hence Table 2 presents number of reports for employees only. | ||
r- revised; p- provisional | ||
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much they paid in housing benefit to private sector landlords in each year from 2010 to the last year for which figures are available.
Answered by Baroness Buscombe
The available information is in the tables below.
Housing Benefit paid for private rented sector accommodation, split by payment destination (£millions, real terms, 2018/19 prices) | |||
Financial Year | Total Housing Benefit paid for private tenants | Of which paid to the landlord | Of which paid to the claimant |
2010/11 | £9,880 | - | - |
2011/12 | £10,370 | - | - |
2012/13 | £10,220 | - | - |
2013/14 | £10,040 | £3,100 | £6,940 |
2014/15 | £9,730 | £3,020 | £6,710 |
2015/16 | £9,310 | £2,870 | £6,450 |
2016/17 | £8,600 | £2,630 | £5,970 |
2017/18 | £7,850 | £2,400 | £5,450 |
Source: DWP Stat-x-plore and Benefit Expenditure tables
Notes:
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their latest estimate of the number of children living in poverty in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Buscombe
In 2016/17 there were 2.2 million children in absolute low income on a before housing costs basis – 300,000 lower than 2010 and a record low. National statistics on the number of children in relative and absolute low incomes, before and after housing costs, are published annually in the “Households Below Average Income” publication.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - 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 Joseph Rowntree Foundation UK Poverty 2018, published on 4 December.
Answered by Baroness Buscombe
The figure quoted by the Joseph Rowntree Trust in this report is taken from official national statistics on the number and proportion of people in low income published by the Department for Work in March 2018. These statistics show that there are one million fewer people living in absolute poverty since 2010, including 300,000 children. Whichever way you look at overall poverty – relative or absolute, before or after housing costs, none are higher than 2010- in fact three are lower.
This Government believes that the best way of tackling poverty is by building a strong economy and getting people into work. Adults in workless families are around 4 times more likely to be in poverty than those in working families. Children in workless households are around 5 times more likely to be in poverty after housing costs than those where all adults work. Nationally, there are now over 3.3 million more people in work, around 964,000 fewer workless households, and around 637,000 fewer children living in such households compared with 2010. This is why we will continue with our reforms to the welfare system so that it encourages work whilst supporting those who need help.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking to ensure there are no further instances of wrongly calculated benefits on the scale described by the Department for Work and Pensions in its document, ESA Underpayments: Forecast Numbers Affected, Forecast Expenditure and Progress on Checking, published on 17 October.
Answered by Baroness Buscombe
The Department has strengthened its governance arrangements for the identification and management of actual or potential errors, so the impact on individuals can be understood and an appropriate response put in place.
The National Audit Office conducted an investigation into the underpayment errors in transferring people to Employment and Support Allowance from other benefits and the Public Accounts Committee published their recommendations on 18 July 2018. The Department’s response to this investigation was published on 9 October 2018 and is available on Gov.uk.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to reduce the number of farm accidents.
Answered by Baroness Buscombe
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has responsibility for the regulation of health and safety standards on Great Britain’s farms. In September 2017 HSE published the document “Sector Plan for Health and Safety: Agriculture” (attached) that details the actions it will take to tackle farm accidents and ill health.
I have also attached the draft Sector Intervention Strategy for agriculture which has been shared with stakeholders for public consultation, setting out the sector plan in more detail. It is due to be published this Spring.