Asked by: Baroness Sherlock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many workers aged 50 or over are both (1) on Government-funded retraining or reskilling programmes, and (2) in receipt of furlough payments.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The Lifetime Skills Guarantee was announced by my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, in September 2020 and aims to ensure that people across the country can access the education and training they need to succeed throughout their lives. This includes a level 3 adult offer, Skills Bootcamps, a Lifelong Loan Entitlement, and wider work around improving quality and access to apprenticeships.
From this April, the level 3 adult offer will support any adult aged 24 and over who does not have an advanced technical certificate, diploma, or equivalent qualification, to access around 400 fully funded level 3 courses. This offer, a long-term commitment backed by £95 million from the National Skills Fund in year one, removes major cost barriers that have confronted adults who want to access training and progress in the labour market. Eligible adults aged 50 and over are equally able to access these qualifications and will be able to benefit significantly from this offer.
We have also introduced a series of Skills Bootcamps, starting in six local areas (West Midlands, Greater Manchester and Lancashire, Liverpool City Region, Leeds City Region, Heart of South West, and Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire). We will invest a further £43 million in the 2021/22 financial year to expand Skills Bootcamps across England. Following a competitive application, successful bids will be announced in the spring to ensure many more thousands of adults benefit from this offer.
Skills Bootcamps are there to provide in demand skills that help people to get good jobs and progress in their careers. It is vital that all eligible adults have equal opportunities to benefit from the Skills Bootcamps, including those aged 50 or over. No specific portion of funding is ring-fenced for workers aged 50 and above, but local areas and Skills Bootcamps providers target their marketing to encourage diverse participants.
Information about age of participants is collected by providers of Skills Bootcamps and will form part of our evaluation to ensure Skills Bootcamps are meeting the needs of all age groups, but figures are not yet available. The level 3 and Lifelong Loan Entitlements have not yet been introduced so there are no participant figures available. The department does not hold information on furloughed workers.
Last April the department introduced the Skills Toolkit, an online platform providing free courses to help individuals build the skills that are most sought after by employers. As of 24 January 2021, there have been an estimated 162,300 course registrations and 30,300 course completions. This data is not broken down by age or employment status.
Asked by: Baroness Sherlock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any of the funding for the Lifetime Skills Guarantee is ring-fenced for workers aged 50 or over.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The Lifetime Skills Guarantee was announced by my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, in September 2020 and aims to ensure that people across the country can access the education and training they need to succeed throughout their lives. This includes a level 3 adult offer, Skills Bootcamps, a Lifelong Loan Entitlement, and wider work around improving quality and access to apprenticeships.
From this April, the level 3 adult offer will support any adult aged 24 and over who does not have an advanced technical certificate, diploma, or equivalent qualification, to access around 400 fully funded level 3 courses. This offer, a long-term commitment backed by £95 million from the National Skills Fund in year one, removes major cost barriers that have confronted adults who want to access training and progress in the labour market. Eligible adults aged 50 and over are equally able to access these qualifications and will be able to benefit significantly from this offer.
We have also introduced a series of Skills Bootcamps, starting in six local areas (West Midlands, Greater Manchester and Lancashire, Liverpool City Region, Leeds City Region, Heart of South West, and Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire). We will invest a further £43 million in the 2021/22 financial year to expand Skills Bootcamps across England. Following a competitive application, successful bids will be announced in the spring to ensure many more thousands of adults benefit from this offer.
Skills Bootcamps are there to provide in demand skills that help people to get good jobs and progress in their careers. It is vital that all eligible adults have equal opportunities to benefit from the Skills Bootcamps, including those aged 50 or over. No specific portion of funding is ring-fenced for workers aged 50 and above, but local areas and Skills Bootcamps providers target their marketing to encourage diverse participants.
Information about age of participants is collected by providers of Skills Bootcamps and will form part of our evaluation to ensure Skills Bootcamps are meeting the needs of all age groups, but figures are not yet available. The level 3 and Lifelong Loan Entitlements have not yet been introduced so there are no participant figures available. The department does not hold information on furloughed workers.
Last April the department introduced the Skills Toolkit, an online platform providing free courses to help individuals build the skills that are most sought after by employers. As of 24 January 2021, there have been an estimated 162,300 course registrations and 30,300 course completions. This data is not broken down by age or employment status.
Asked by: Baroness Sherlock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Care Quality Commission (CQC) (1) holds, and (2) publishes, data identifying those nursing homes where residents have died from COVID-19 during the pandemic; and if so, whether the CQC shares that data with those who process claims to the NHS and Social Care Coronavirus Life Assurance Scheme.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) regularly shares data on notifications of deaths in individual care homes with the Department and other partners, including the Office of National Statistics, in order to monitor, plan and respond to the pandemic. The CQC does not publish mortality data by location.
The NHS and Social Care Coronavirus Life Assurance Scheme provides a safety net for the families of National Health Service and social care staff who die from coronavirus contracted through the course of their work. The scheme does not cover residents of care homes and does not receive data regarding care home resident deaths.
Asked by: Baroness Sherlock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many 50 PLUS Champions are currently employed in Jobcentres.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
We currently have 14 50PLUS Champions at Department regional level who work collaboratively with our 37 District 50PLUS Champions to raise the profile of our older claimants. The champions act as a single point of contact for cascading messages, communications and best practice to colleagues locally and nationally. They raise awareness with Work Coaches, employers and providers of the products available to them, for example local groups, online tools and more.
Asked by: Baroness Sherlock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many meetings the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions held with the Business Champion for Older Workers in (1) 2020, and (2) 2021.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions delegated the ownership of the relationship with the Business Champion for Older workers, Andy Briggs, to her ministerial team.
The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Employment) and departmental officials have regular meetings with the Business Champion for Older workers to actively promote the business case and the benefits for the retention, retraining and recruitment of older workers.
Asked by: Baroness Sherlock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many meetings the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Employment) held with the Business Champion for Older Workers in (1) 2020, and (2) 2021.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Employment) held standalone meetings with the Business Champion for Older Workers twice in 2020, and so far once in 2021, with a further meeting scheduled in April. The Minister for Employment and the Business Champion for Older Workers co-chair quarterly Roundtables with national employer organisations jointly, delivering their shared aim of promoting and championing the benefits of employing older workers.
In addition, Officials work closely with the Business Champion for Older Workers to support employers and actively promote the business case and benefits for the retention, retraining and recruitment of older workers. We are grateful for the outstanding work of the Business Champion for Older Workers.
Asked by: Baroness Sherlock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bethell on 24 November 2020 (HL9950), how many claims the NHS and Social Care Coronavirus Life Assurance Scheme has received; how many payments have been made by that Scheme; and what was the total value of those payments.
Answered by Lord Bethell
As of 27 January, the NHS and Social Care Coronavirus Life Assurance Scheme (England) has received 307 claims, of which 268 have been accepted. Payment has been made for 175 of these claims, with a further 92 accepted for payment pending proof of probate from the claimant and one case in the course of payment. Two cases have not been accepted and the remainder are going through the stages of being processed and assessed. The total value of accepted claims is £16,080,000.
Asked by: Baroness Sherlock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what financial support is available to the estates of deceased frontline workers who are not eligible for the NHS and Social Care Coronavirus Life Assurance Scheme.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The NHS and Social Care Coronavirus Life Assurance Scheme provides a safety net for the families of National Health Service and social care staff who have no life insurance cover provided by their employer or a pension scheme. For those who do, it provides an extra level of financial protection in addition to death in service benefits they have bought though their pension scheme.
NHS staff receive good quality death in service benefits through the NHS Pension Scheme, providing a lump sum and survivor pensions for a partner and dependents for qualifying members. NHS staff who claim their pension are guaranteed five years’ worth of pension payments plus ongoing survivor pensions. Around 90% of NHS staff participate in the scheme.
The ‘What to do when someone dies’ online resource provides a step by step guide on what to do after a death, including how to manage financial issues. This guide covers the financial support available to help with paying for a funeral and how to check entitlement to bereavement benefits. For those in receipt of income related benefits or tax credits, the Department for Work and Pensions Funeral Expense Payments scheme can offer a significant contribution to the cost of a funeral. Also, the Bereavement Support Payment provides short-term financial support to working age people whose deceased spouse or civil partner has paid sufficient National Insurance contributions. It is intended to help with the immediate costs of bereavement and can be paid to both widows and widowers.
Asked by: Baroness Sherlock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) NHS employees, and (2) social care workers, have died as a result of COVID-19.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Office for National Statistics publish mortality data for deaths involving COVID-19 for healthcare workers and social care workers in England and Wales. The last iteration of this release showed that in England there were 305 deaths involving COVID-19 among healthcare workers; and 307 deaths involving COVID-19 among social care workers registered between 9 March and 12 October 2020 in England, of those aged 20-64 years, using last known occupation. The definition of healthcare workers used will include not only those employed in the National Health Service but wider healthcare sector workers
Asked by: Baroness Sherlock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the (1) average, (2) longest, and (3) shortest, clearance time for (a) a mandatory reconsideration, and (b) a successful appeal outcome to be implemented, in relation to Universal Credit in each month of 2020.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
Table 1 below shows the Median, Lower Quartile and Upper Quartile of the number of days taken for a Universal Credit (UC) Mandatory Reconsideration (MR) to be cleared from registration. This data covers all UC MRs cleared in each month from January 2020 – October 2020, and does not include those cancelled or withdrawn.
Table 1: Times from UC MR registration to clearance in days from January 2020 – October 2020
Month | Lower Quartile | Median | Upper Quartile |
Jan-20 | 10 | 27 | 162 |
Feb-20 | 8 | 23 | 100 |
Mar-20 | 13 | 30 | 94 |
Apr-20 | 6 | 22 | 43 |
May-20 | 7 | 40 | 79 |
Jun-20 | 14 | 41 | 112 |
Jul-20 | 14 | 49 | 166 |
Aug-20 | 12 | 41 | 147 |
Sep-20 | 14 | 35 | 105 |
Oct-20 | 10 | 27 | 63 |
Please note that information about the extremes of a distribution (e.g. the maximum clearance time) risks being disclosive. We would not release this information publicly. Therefore, we have presented information on the lower quartile, median and upper quartile of clearance times.
Over the same period the UC caseload, expressed as ‘People on Universal Credit’, increased from 2.77 million to 5.73 million with a sharp increase from 3.00 million to 5.26 million between 12th March and 14th May 2020. People on Universal Credit counts the number of people with an open claim on the count date who had accepted a claimant commitment and verified their identity. These figures are from the Universal Credit official statistics publication available on gov.uk which also includes figures on volumes of claims, starts and households.
The information requested on the clearance times for a successful appeal outcome to be implemented is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
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