Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of support services for people with complex needs when entering the labour market; and what steps they are taking to make recruitment processes accessible for all.
Answered by Lord Freud
We have been engaging with a variety of stakeholders and partners, including those with an interest in people with complex needs, to understand their view of current employment support. We will soon publish a Green Paper to explore a range of options for long-term reform across different sectors enabling everyone to realise their aspirations, regardless of their health condition or disability.
The Government is committed to enabling all disabled people to fulfil their potential. Work is an important part of this, and the Government wants all disabled people and people with a long term health condition to go as far as their talents will take them.
We are supporting this through Access to Work, which has specialist teams to provide a dedicated service to particular groups of people including those with complex needs.
Our new Disability Confident employer scheme went live on 14 July 2016. When employers sign up as Disability Confident they are asked to make specific meaningful offers of opportunities for disabled people such as jobs, apprenticeships, internships, and work experience opportunities.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the latest figures they have of the number of fatal and serious accidents occurring in the farming industry.
Answered by Lord Freud
These figures are published on the Health and Safety Executive’s website: http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/industry/agriculture/index.htm. They can also be found in the published report attached, “Health and safety in agriculture in Great Britain, 2014” on pages 6 and 7.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the number of housing tenants in arrears since changes to the rules regarding access to Housing Benefit.
Answered by Lord Freud
The latest figures from the Homes and Community Agency (HCA) show that housing association rent arrears in England up to the end of March this year had fallen for the second quarter in a row and that average rent collections remain at 99%.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the progress of the Credit Union Expansion Project.
Answered by Lord Freud
The DWP Credit Union Expansion Project contract began in May 2013. Around 80 credit unions are currently participating in the project. ABCUL has started delivering the Automated Loan and decision tool to participating credit unions and feedback is that the tool is ensuring loan decisions are faster, consistent and more efficient to deliver. Procurement of an IT banking platform is also being progressed but much remains to be done particularly on achieving sufficient growth for Credit Unions, and DWP continue to support and monitor the project closely