Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the regulatory framework for gas safety; and what estimate she has made of the (a) number of prosecutions made in connection with installations that fail to meet the gas safe engineer rules in each of the last three years and (b) annual cost to consumers of unsafe works.
Answered by Chloe Smith
In 2018 following discussions with stakeholders the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) amended the current regulations, Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 (GSIUR).
HSE continues to work across UK Government and industry to ensure the regulations are effective to maintain the safety of gas users not just today but in the development of future fuels that form part of the wider Net Zero Strategy.
HSE is currently conducting a Post Implementation Review of the specific amendments they made to the regulations in 2018 and will be reporting their conclusions in 2023.
Since the introduction of GSIUR, the number of reported gas-related fatalities has steadily declined from 48 in 1998/99 to 3 in 2020/21. While any number of fatalities is clearly unwanted, this substantive decline is evidence that these regulations have improved the safety of the gas landscape in GB and that they remain effective.
HSE believes in firm but fair enforcement and the number of breaches prosecuted under GSIUR are outlined below:
Year | No. breaches prosecuted under GSIUR |
2018/19 | 46 |
2019/20 | 74 |
2020/21 | 33 |
The annual cost to consumers of unsafe work is not reported to or held by Government.
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of implementing a feature on calls relating to (a) universal credit and (b) employment support allowance where in the event that the caller does not progress with automated telephony services they are automatically transferred to a human operator.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
All except two of the many freephone lines that DWP provides operate with a menu of options for customers to select before the call is routed to a human operator. The two lines which operate differently with a form of automation are the Benefit Enquiry Line and the Jobcentre Enquiry Line. These freephone lines use a function called Natural Language Call Steering which, if the customer is not understood, does not understand the question, or chooses not to speak, will revert to a menu of options before transfer to a human operator.
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of excluding (a) Lifetime ISA's, and (b) private pension savings mechanisms from universal credit capital rules.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The value of any right to receive pension under an occupational or personal pension scheme or any other pension scheme registered under section 153 of the Finance Act 2004, is already disregarded under Universal Credit capital rules.
The Lifetime ISA is primarily a savings vehicle rather than a pension scheme. That is why money invested in a Lifetime ISA will be treated as capital in Universal Credit.
Universal Credit capital rules strike a balance between protecting less well-off people and protecting the taxpayer, whilst at the same time recognising the hard work of people who have built up capital. They ensure that the help which comes from taxpayers, many of whom are themselves on low incomes and have limited capital, is directed to people who need it most.
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer on 25 October 2021 to Question 57146 on Employment Support Allowance (ESA), what steps her Department is taking to ensure (a) ESA decision makers apply hardship payments where appropriate for individuals whose ESA has been temporarily suspended while investigations into capital allowance are ongoing and (b) training of ESA decision makers on the role of hardship payments.
Answered by Chloe Smith
Decisions about whether suspending payment would cause hardship are made on a case by case basis by considering the circumstances of the claimant at the point that suspension becomes an option. This would only arise after a claimant has been given the opportunity to resolve the doubt that has arisen in relation to their entitlement or award and not done that.
Decision makers are trained to be fully conversant with all legislation and guidance in relation to all aspects of Decision Making, including hardship. There are quality assurance frameworks to ensure that there are consistent national standards in the decision-making process.
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that people whose voices cannot be understood by her Department's automated helpline systems are redirected to a human operator.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
All except two of the Freephone lines that DWP provides operate with a menu of options for customers to select the most appropriate one before the call is then routed to an agent. The two lines which operate differently; Benefit Enquiry Line (BEL) and the Jobcentre Enquiry Line (JEL) use a function called Natural Language Call Steering which will revert to a menu of options if the customer is not understood or chooses not to speak
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the average telephony waiting time for people seeking support with their employment support allowance via her Department's helplines as of 8 November 2021; and what assessment she has made of the acceptability of those waiting times.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We actively manage our Percentage of Calls Answered (PCA) to achieve the optimal service to our customers by balancing our resources to meet the needs of our customers. To achieve this, we consider a variety of factors of which average speed of answer is one. These figures are calculated using historic data available to us and balancing this alongside current demand.
For The period 1 October 2021 – 31 October 2021 the average speed of answer for Employment and Support Allowance was 21 minutes and 08 seconds. Call volumes received during the month of October were 8.6% higher than our forecast figures. This will have contributed to the slight increase in the average speed of answer for the month.
To actively achieve the optimal PCA of 80% the accepted average speed of answer for Employment and Support Allowance enquiries is 18 minutes 48 seconds.
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of providing additional support for the mobility needs of severely disabled children under the age of three.
Answered by Chloe Smith
Children under the age of 16 can claim Child Disability Living Allowance (DLA). They are not eligible for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) which is a benefit for working age claimants.
DLA is an extra-costs benefit available to those under the age of 16 who, due to a disability or health condition, have mobility issues and/or have needs which are substantially in excess of a child the same age without the disability or health condition. DLA is a contribution towards the extra costs associated with being disabled.
As all younger children have substantial mobility needs, only children over the age of three can claim the mobility component of DLA. Under 3s, however, can still access other forms of support, including the care component of DLA.
There are no current proposals to change the existing age restrictions for the mobility component of Child DLA.