Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to encourage small businesses to provide statutory maternity pay to employees; and whether he has discussions with industry on this.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
All employers have a statutory obligation to pay Statutory Maternity Pay to eligible employees. Employers are reimbursed at least 92 percent of the Statutory Maternity Pay they pay. Small employers (those who pay £45,000 or less gross NICs in the previous tax year) receive 100 percent of the Statutory Maternity Pay paid plus an additional 3 percent, known as the Small Employers’ Compensation Rate. This is in recognition of the relatively greater impact maternity absence has on small businesses.
Employers may apply for advance funding from HMRC if they are unable to meet their SMP liability at the required time.
DWP officials regularly meet with industry representatives to discuss Statutory Maternity Pay.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he has taken to ensure benefit fraud investigations do not result in discrimination.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
All fraud investigations are conducted in line with current legislation including Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 and the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) 1984.
All staff in the department undergo Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) training. The training is provided to ensure everyone has the right level of skill and understanding to ensure equality of treatment for all customers.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many officials his Department employs to work directly on public service innovation.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department does not hold this information centrally and to provide it would incur disproportionate costs.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has withdrawn the use of the (a) SignVideo Relay Service and (b) textphone number.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
I can confirm that DWP continues to provide Video Relay Service (VRS) to customers who require remote inbound BSL interpretation. All VRS is provided by our current supplier, DA Languages, via SignSolution. We do not use Textphone within the Language Services contract. We no longer use the former supplier ‘SignVideo’, referenced in the question.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of uplifting the benefits cap in line with inflation.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Secretary of State reviewed the benefit cap levels and decided they should be increased in line with CPI in the year to September 2022 (10.1%) in April 2023.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many officials are employed to administer universal credit.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
All DWP colleagues employed within our Universal Credit Directorate equate to 35,390 FTE (full time equivalent) resource as of 31st December 2022. This takes into account all grades working within the Universal Credit Directorate.
Notes:
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many officials are employed to administer pensions.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
All DWP colleagues employed within our Retirement Services Directorate equate to 6,460 FTE (full time equivalent) resource as of 31st December 2022. This takes into account all grades working within the Retirement Services Directorate.
Notes:
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
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 impact of the three month relevant period on eligible universal credit claimants' financial wellbeing.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
No assessment has been made.
Where a claimant is determined to have limited capability for work and work-related activity (LCWRA), an additional amount of Universal Credit may be awarded. However, before the additional amount is payable, the claimant must serve the ‘relevant’ period, a 3-month term used to establish that they have a long-term health condition. This replicates the 13-week assessment period applied to Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) claims. This period starts on the day the Department first receives medical evidence or a self-certificate from the claimant.
The reason that a 3 month period applies to most claimants is one of equity. It would not be fair to pay some claimants earlier than others because of circumstances beyond their control. There are exceptions for people who are terminally ill to ensure that they quickly receive the support they need as they have a short time to live or people who have previously claimed Universal Credit and have already served the relevant period and are returning to the benefit and whose circumstances meet certain specified criteria.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason there is a three month relevant period that claimants have to wait to receive their full entitlement when eligible for Universal Credit with limited capability for work and work-related activity.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
No assessment has been made.
Where a claimant is determined to have limited capability for work and work-related activity (LCWRA), an additional amount of Universal Credit may be awarded. However, before the additional amount is payable, the claimant must serve the ‘relevant’ period, a 3-month term used to establish that they have a long-term health condition. This replicates the 13-week assessment period applied to Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) claims. This period starts on the day the Department first receives medical evidence or a self-certificate from the claimant.
The reason that a 3 month period applies to most claimants is one of equity. It would not be fair to pay some claimants earlier than others because of circumstances beyond their control. There are exceptions for people who are terminally ill to ensure that they quickly receive the support they need as they have a short time to live or people who have previously claimed Universal Credit and have already served the relevant period and are returning to the benefit and whose circumstances meet certain specified criteria.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
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 merits of uprating universal credit in line with the ONS HCI benchmarks for low-income households when it is published in May 2022.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
There are currently no plans to use Office for National Statistics Household Cost Indices to up-rate Universal Credit. The Household Cost Indices to be published by Office for National Statistics in May are experimental statistics and still in development.
The Secretary of State undertakes an annual review of benefits and pensions, and the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) in the year to September this approach has been in place since 1987 is the latest figure that the Secretary of State can use to allow sufficient time for the required legislative and operational changes before new rates can be introduced at the start of the new financial year.
CPI has been the default inflation measure for the government’s statutory annual review of benefits since 2011.
CPI has a basket of goods and services that is relevant to pensioners and benefit recipients, is the target level of inflation used by the Bank of England and is an internationally recognised measure.