Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the report by the Local Government Association entitled Work local: unlocking talent to level up, published on 10 May 2022, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of proposals for an integrated and devolved employment and skills service; and if she will make it her policy to implement the Work Local model in full.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is supportive of better integration of employment and skills services. The Levelling Up White Paper (LUWP), published on 2 February 2022, established three Employment and Skills Pathfinders: in Blackpool, Walsall and Barking and Dagenham. The UK Government will bring greater alignment to the delivery of employment and skills interventions in these areas. This is a joint project between DWP and the Department for Education (DfE), the Department responsible for further education policy, apprenticeships and wider skills and funding in England. The Pathfinders are bringing together local delivery partners to share understanding of local employers’ skills needs, support people into work, and identify progression opportunities for people in part-time work.
The LUWP also established an ‘English Devolution Framework.’ It takes a tiered approach to devolution and enables DWP to offer local government, a single institution or County Council with a directly elected Mayor, a role in the design and delivery of future contracted employment programmes. The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities is leading devolution deal negotiations with those areas identified in the LUWP.
DWP works closely with local government to understand local labour market issues and reflect these in our employment support and is committed to working with the LGA to strengthening our engagement, alongside other local government organisations.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
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 number of disabled people who have less than £10 per week to spend on food and other essentials after paying for housing, tax and other bills across the UK; and what steps her Department is taking to support disabled people in response to the increase in the cost of living.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
No such assessment has been made. The government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living. In 2022/23 we will spend over £64bn on benefits to support disabled people and people with health conditions in Great Britain and spending on the main disability benefits – PIP, DLA and Attendance Allowance – will be over £6bn higher in real terms than in 2010.
We know that living with a long-term illness or disability can impact on living costs and financial support is available to those, or those who care for them. People who have a health condition or disability which restricts the amount of work they can do could receive over £350 a month on top of the Universal Credit standard allowance.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether there will be any redundancies following the closure of the offices in her Department's estate from which staff will not be relocated to an alternative premise.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department’s priority will be to retain, retrain, and redeploy staff either within DWP, or within other Government Departments in the area.
Redundancies will be only considered as a very last resort, and only after all efforts to redeploy within DWP or other Government Departments in the area have been fully exhausted.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will increase (a) personal independence payment (b) disability living allowance and (c) universal credit in line with inflation.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The Secretary of State is legally required to conduct an annual review of benefit rates to determine whether they have retained their value in relation to the general level of prices. We have used the same approach since April 1987 of up-rating benefits based on the relevant inflation index in the 12 months to the previous September and since 2011 the preferred index has been the Consumer Price index. We will spend over £64 billion this year on benefits to support disabled people and people with health conditions.
Personal Independence Payment and Disability Living Allowance are non means–tested andnon-contributory, thus they are paid regardless of any income or savings and were not subject to the benefits freeze. They are currently paid at between £24.45 and £156.90 a week, tax free.
In Universal Credit the limited capability for work and work-related activity amount is currently £354.28 a month.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Household Support Fund, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that there is (a) maximum flexibility and (b) timely sharing of details on allocations to assist local authorities in making sure funding reaches people in need of support.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Indicative allocations for the Household Support Fund extension have been shared with Local Authorities. These indicative allocations are the same amount as for the previous 6 months of the Household Support Fund.
Local Authorities will have discretion on exactly how this funding is used within the scope set out in the fund guidance and the accompanying grant determination.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
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 offer greater support to claimants of employment and support allowance in response to the rise in the cost of living.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The Government understands that people are concerned about pressure on household budgets and is taking action to help. Alongside the £9.1 billion Energy Bills Rebate announced on 3 February, it is providing £12 billion of support over this financial year and next to ease cost of living pressures, with help targeted at working families, low-income households and the most vulnerable.
The Government is making sure we continue to deliver the financial support that people need. Our spending on disability support is the second highest in the G7 – with a record £59 billion forecast to be spent this year (2021/2022), or 2.5% of GDP. This will increase by £3.5 billion to over £62 billion in 2022/23.
This year, the total amount that the Government spends on Employment and Support Allowance will increase by 3.1% from April 2022, in line with the Consumer Prices Index. This approach is fair to both benefit recipients and taxpayers.
Claimants receiving legacy benefits who believe they may be better off on Universal Credit should first refer to the independent benefits calculators on GOV.UK. They can also get help through the government funded Help to Claim scheme as well as Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland.
In addition, Personal Independence Payment is available to help with the extra costs faced by people with a long-term health condition or disability.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking with Chancellor of the Exchequer to help support pensioners with increases in the cost of living.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
This country has never paid our pensioners more. This year, we will spend over £129 billion on the State Pension and benefits for pensioners in Great Britain. From April,
The Social Security (Up-rating of Benefits) Act 2020 raised the State Pension by 2.5% from April 2021 although CPI was 0.5% and earnings were negative. From April, the full yearly amount of the basic State Pension will be around £720 more in 2022/23 than if it had been up-rated by prices since 2010. That’s a rise of over £2,300 in cash terms.
In addition, around 1.4 million eligible pensioners across Great Britain receive around £5 billion annually in Pension Credit, which tops up their retirement income and act as a passport to other financial help, such as support with housing costs, council tax, heating bills and a free TV licence for those over 75.
Cold weather payments are payable to those in receipt of Pension Credit and the warm home discount - a rebate of £140 on a customer’s energy bill - is available to those in receipt of Pension Credit Guarantee Credit. From 2022/23 the eligibility criteria for the warm home discount scheme will be extended to a greater number of Pension Credit customers and the payment increased to £150.
Customers of State Pension age are also entitled to an annual Winter Fuel payment worth up to £300. This winter we will pay over 11m pensioners a winter fuel payment at an annual cost of £2bn which is a significant contribution to winter fuel bills.
The Chancellor’s announcement on 3 February of a package of support to help households with rising energy bills, worth £9.1 billion in 2022-23, will also be available to eligible pensioners.
Further support for pensioners includes free eye tests and NHS prescriptions worth around £900m every year and free bus passes worth £1bn every year.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment has her department made of the implications for her policies of the number of job vacancies in the labour market as of 2 February 2022 in (a) Weaver Vale constituency, (b) the North West and (c) the UK.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
For October to December 2021 there were a record high 1.2 million vacancies nationally, many in key sectors. Official statistics are not available at a local level, but ONS publish experimental statistics based on online job adverts. These suggest that, as of 28 January 2022, there are almost 40% more job adverts online in the North West than they were in February 2020. Our labour market policies are designed to support claimants who can work to move into work, improving their financial situation and wellbeing; and to support employers who need to fill vacancies.
To deliver the workforce needed by the labour market, the Government has launched ‘Way to Work’. This will apply the lessons from the Kickstart Scheme to bring employers and claimants together in our Jobcentres. This will expedite applications and interviews and speed up the process of getting people into work. We will also make it easier for employers to work with us to fill their vacancies through jobs fairs (both in person and online), Employer Hubs, our social media channels (including JobHelp), and advertising on FindAJob.
This is good news for employers who need to fill their vacancies. It is also good for our claimants who will be better off financially in work.