Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to recognise the social model of disability; and what assessment he has made of the impacts for his policies of the potential benefits of such a model.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Government recognises the benefits of the Social Model of disability across the breadth of our policy-making that affects disabled people. It guides us as we attempt to break down barriers for disabled people, for example helping them to start, stay and succeed in work.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Government plans to introduce mandatory disability pay gap reporting.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
There are no current plans to introduce mandatory disability pay gap reporting.
In November 2018, we published a Voluntary Reporting Framework, aimed at large employers (with over 250 employees) that recommends that they publicly report on disability employment and mental health and wellbeing. The framework can also be used to support smaller employers who are keen to drive greater transparency in their organisation or industry.
Whilst we recognise the merits of disability reporting, we would not propose to extend this to pay gap reporting due to the risk of dis-incentivising employers from recruiting more disabled people.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the correspondence from the former Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to the Chair of the Work and Pensions select committee of 15 July 2022, for what reasons he will not publish the report by his Department on the impact of benefit sanctions on claimants moving into employment.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the previous Minister to Question UIN 53458
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of compliance with the duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people under the Equality Act 2010.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The department is committed to providing services which embrace diversity and promote equality of opportunity. This means we need to take steps to ensure that our customers have access to reasonable adjustments, and we often provide additional support to enable them to access benefits and our services. We regularly hold discussions of this kind with stakeholders and statutory bodies in order to improve our services.
The department has in place a wide range of reasonable adjustments for customers, including:
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the communications issued by her Department on the State Pension age changes to women born in the 1950s.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman’s investigation into the communication of changes to women’s State Pension age is ongoing. Section 7(2) of the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967 states that Ombudsman investigations “shall be conducted in private”.
It would be inappropriate to comment whilst the investigation is ongoing.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to protect single, female pensioners who believe they were given inadequate notice of State Pension age changes during the winter months.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
This Government is committed to providing a financial safety net for those who need it, including when they near or reach retirement. Support is available to those who are unable to work or are on a low income but are not eligible to pensioner benefits because of their age. Support is also available to those who are on a low income but have reached State Pension age.
The Government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living. That is why the government is providing over £15bn in further support targeted particularly on those with the greatest need.
This package is in addition to the over £22bn announced previously, with government support for the cost of living now totalling over £37bn this year. This means that eight million low-income households will get £1,200 of one-off support in total this year to help with the cost of living, with all domestic electricity customers receiving at least £400 through the Energy Bills Support Scheme. The Energy Price Guarantee is supporting millions of households with rising energy costs, and the Chancellor made clear it will continue to do so from now until April next year.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the changes to the State Pension age on women born in the 1950's, in the context of increases in the cost of living.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
No such assessment will be made. The Government has put in place arrangements to support people with the cost of living crisis. Government support for the cost of living now totals over £37 billion this year. This includes a £650 cost of living payment (paid in two payments of £326 and £324) which has been designed to target support at low-income households on means-tested benefits including Pension Credit.
This Government is committed to providing a financial safety net for those who need it, including when they near or reach retirement. Support is available to those who are unable to work or are on a low income but are not eligible to pensioner benefits because of their age. Support is also available to those who are on a low income but have reached State Pension age.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 18 October 2022 to Question 62963 on Childcare: Tax Allowances, what plans she has to (a) monitor and (b) implement a service standard for waiting time for reimbursement of childcare costs.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Where childcare is used and paid for during a Universal Credit assessment period, the cost will be reimbursed at the end of the assessment period in which it is used.
As the exact waiting time for reimbursement depends on when the claimant reports those costs to DWP, a standard wait time is not appropriate, as the reporting varies.
UC Claimants who need help with upfront childcare costs to enter employment or significantly increase their working hours can apply for help from the Flexible Support Fund (FSF). This is non-repayable and will pay their initial childcare costs directly to the provider up to the first salary received.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average time is for her Department to process a claim for help with childcare.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Where childcare is delivered during an assessment period, the cost paid for that childcare will be reimbursed at the end of the assessment period in which it is delivered. In order to be reimbursed, childcare costs can be reported to DWP up to the end of the assessment period following the assessment period in which they were paid.
The exact waiting time for reimbursement, therefore, depends on how far in advance a claimant pays their childcare provider and how soon the claimant reports those costs to DWP.
UC claimants who need help with upfront childcare costs to enter employment or significantly increase their working hours can apply for help from the Flexible Support Fund (FSF). This is non-repayable and will pay their initial childcare costs directly to the provider up to the first salary received.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in Liverpool Walton are recipients of legacy benefits; and what steps her Department is taking to ensure that people are made aware of the transition to universal credit.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The data held for people in Liverpool Walton who are on Legacy benefits is published at: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk. Everyone who is required to move to Universal Credit will receive a migration notice informing them that they need to make a claim for Universal Credit. The document also underlines the benefits to these claimants in considering a voluntary move to Universal Credit now. The Department is committed to raising awareness among legacy benefit claimants of the transition to Universal Credit and helping them decide whether moving sooner would be right for them. The latest data estimates that 55% of legacy claimants could be better off on Universal Credit. A national multi-channel advertising campaign launched in March. It is focused in particular on tax credit customers and encourages them to use an independent benefits calculator and seek independent advice to find out if they could be better off and help them decide whether to move to Universal Credit voluntarily.
On the 25th April, the Department published its Completing the Move to UC Strategy for Universal Credit. This document explains how the department will ensure that the 2.6m households currently on legacy benefits will migrate to Universal Credit by the end of 2024.
We will continue to keep our wider communications strategy under close review.