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 she has made of the effect of climate change on the work of her Department; and what steps she is taking in response to that effect.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions assesses climate change as a potential risk to its operational responsibilities.
The UK Government recognises climate change as a material risk to most if not all pension schemes. Therefore, we have clarified trustees’ investment duties in legislation to consider all financially material considerations – including climate change. Trustees have to document a policy on how they take account of climate change. Defined contribution and hybrid benefit schemes are required to publish their policy and defined benefit schemes will be required to publish from 1 October.
With respect to its own operations, the Department applies criteria that considers the effect of climate change, such as flood risk, when deciding on future site strategy.
The Department also undertakes regular reviews of their location specific emergency planning, disaster recovery and business continuity plans.
The Department’s estate supply chain is undertaking site visits which include an assessment of climate change risk with recommendations on investment. Investment in the Departmental estate is focused upon its core assets, with the level of criticality of those assets a key measure. This helps to ensure that its buildings are as resilient as possible. By using data, asset management principles and specialist knowledge we are able to identify assets most at risk of failure and to mitigate accordingly.
The DWP has a dedicated Estates Sustainability and Environment Team. Their purpose is to oversee that from an estate perspective: -
• Our effects on sustainability and the environment from appropriately managed and
• That risks from the environment are proportionately managed.
In terms of sustainability, the Department is committed to tackling climate change and delivering against the Government’s sustainability targets. We are currently exceeding our carbon reduction targets under the Greening Government Commitments (GGC). The GGC requires the Department to reduce carbon emissions by 51% by 2020 against a 2009/10 baseline. As of June 2019, we are currently at a 56% reduction.
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 claims that the Universities Superannuation Scheme exaggerated its budget deficit in November 2017.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
It is not appropriate for Government to comment on individual cases, which are a matter for the independent Pensions Regulator.
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 she plans to review the Government's decision to calculate child maintenance liabilities as a proportion of gross rather than net parental income; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Will Quince
The paying parent’s gross income is taken directly from HM Revenue and Customs for the latest tax year available. Using the paying parent’s gross income allows calculations to be made quickly and accurately.
There are no plans to change the way the Child Maintenance Service calculates child maintenance liabilities.
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 Carers' Allowance is not paid to people that have reached state pensionable age.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
There is no upper age limit to claiming Carer’s Allowance, but it cannot normally be paid with the State Pension. Carer’s Allowance provides a measure of replacement income where the duties of caring for a severely disabled person limit the prospect of full-time work and the earnings it would yield. State Pension provides a replacement income in retirement.
It is a long-standing and basic principle of the social security system that only one benefit at a time can be paid for the same purpose. Even though the circumstances which give rise to entitlement to Carer’s Allowance and State Pension are different, they are both designed to provide a degree of replacement for lost or foregone income.
The overlapping benefits rules, which prevent both benefits being paid, were established to reflect the general principle that flat-rate benefits designed to help with income maintenance e.g. Carer’s Allowance and State Pension, should not be added together and paid in full, even though a person may qualify for both. However, if a carer’s State Pension is less than Carer's Allowance, State Pension is paid and topped up with Carer's Allowance to the basic weekly rate of Carer's Allowance which, from April 2019, increased to £66.15.
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 she plans to introduce a central employment forum for people on the Autistic Spectrum, to match skill sets and employer needs.
Answered by Sarah Newton
We have no plans to introduce a central employment forum for people on the Autistic Spectrum. However, Disability Confident employers who use the Find a Job service to advertise jobs can now add a searchable Disability Confident tag to their vacancies. This allows disabled people to find Disability Confident employers who are offering jobs that match their skills. Over 10,500 employers have signed up to Disability Confident, and their number continues to grow.
Overall, improving employment opportunities for people with learning difficulties, including those on the Autism Spectrum, disability is a Government priority. We take a life course approach, working with other Departments to tackle barriers to employment that start early in life.
For example:
We are also running a number of local initiatives in jobcentres, such as:
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 in assessing universal credit payments the Department deducts payments in lieu of holiday as part of temporary work.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
Universal Credit seeks to take earnings into account in a way that is fair and transparent. The amount of Universal Credit paid reflects, as closely as possible, the actual circumstances of a household each monthly assessment period, including any earnings reported by the employer during that assessment period.
This includes earnings from employment that has ended which encompasses pay in lieu of notice and any accrued holiday pay, regardless of when they were paid or which month they relate to.
This is in line with the principle that Universal Credit is designed to reflect the cash flow available to a household.
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 she is taking to implement safeguards in situations where her Department makes backdated payments of benefits to vulnerable people with mental health issues or drug or alcohol dependencies.
Answered by Sarah Newton
On legacy benefits when we identify a customer is vulnerable every endeavour is made to contact the claimant or their appointee, discuss and explain the high value payment we intend to issue and identify if they have any concerns over receiving such an amount of money. As part of this process both from the conversation and the earlier information we had available we would encourage using split or phased payments if we viewed a risk in making one large payment to the claimant. If we cannot make contact, we will refer to our visiting team to make attempts to visit them at home and have those conversations. On Universal Credit, vulnerability is dealt with on a case-by-case basis so that the necessary support can be given to claimants.
Current payment regulations only permit us to restrict amounts of payments with a claimant’s consent. If we did not feel that claimant was able to manage their affairs, or make that decision for themselves, we would then consider if an appointee was appropriate.
The Department is currently working to enhance safeguarding procedures across all benefit products to help staff to identify claimants who may need additional support because their circumstances make them vulnerable. A multi-disciplinary working group is currently undertaking a comprehensive review of the processes and procedures we have in place across DWP to identify and support vulnerable claimants who are entitled to backdated payments of benefits. This will include sharing best practice from legacy processes and exploring what more we can do to ensure vulnerable claimants in this situation are given access to the support they need, and developing a proposal for the implementation of these improvements. This will ensure that the Department will be able to fully support the eligible claimants on Universal Credit who will be entitled to a Severe Disability Premium transitional payment.
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 plans to introduce a paternity allowance for self-employed fathers.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
My Department have no plans to introduce paternity allowance for self-employed fathers.
Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) and Maternity Allowance (MA) are paid to women to replace earnings to help them take time off work before and after their baby is born, in the interests of their health and wellbeing.
Statutory family related leave entitlements focus on employees as they have less flexibility and autonomy over the work they do and when they take time off work.
The Government agrees with the principle of equalising parental benefits for the employed and self-employed. But as set out in the Government Response to the Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices, it is right to only consider making changes to this area once we have carefully considered this in the wider context of tax, benefits and rights over the longer term.
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 ensure that all disability and medical assessment centres are accessible to all constituents.
Answered by Sarah Newton
Ensuring our assessment services are accessible to all claimants is a priority in line with the standards under the Equality Act 2010. Where customers are not able to access an assessment at one of our assessment centres, our assessment providers provide an alternative method of delivering the service. For example they may arrange an appointment at an alternative nearby assessment centre or arrange a home visit.
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 her Department is taking to ensure the maintenance of access to services in the event that a contracted assessment centre is rendered temporarily inaccessible.
Answered by Sarah Newton
Where customers are not able to access an assessment at one of our assessment centres due to the centre being temporarily inaccessible, assessment providers will provide an alternative method of delivering the service. For example, they may arrange an appointment at an alternative nearby assessment centre or arrange a home visit.