Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average waiting time was for a payment to be made through the Access to Work programme for the cost of employment coaches for supported interns in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested about Access to Work payment journey times for the cost of employment coaches for supported interns in the latest period is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
However, the Access to Work statistics includes number of people who received a payment for any Access to Work provision from 2007/08 to 2022/23. Please see Table 6 of the Access to Work statistics.
The latest Access to Work statistics can be found here.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
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 the UK's obligations under the International Labour Organization Convention on Occupational Health Services are met.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
As a founding member of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the UK is committed to our obligations to the organisation and continues to be actively engaged in its work.
The Government’s Occupational Health (OH) reform programme is focused on increasing private market coverage of employer led OH to help businesses support disabled employees and those with health conditions stay in, succeed in, and return to work.
This programme of work includes the OH subsidy pilot for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and the £1m innovation fund launched in January 2023 which aim to increase access to and capacity in OH. The Occupational Health Workforce Expansion Funding Scheme also launched in July 2023 and funds doctors and nurses to undertake Occupational Health training courses and qualifications.
In the summer 2023, to better support employee health, the Government consulted on ways to increase employer uptake of OH services. The Government’s response to the Occupational Health: Working Better consultation was published following the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement on 22 November 2023. This outlined plans to imminently set up an expert task and finish group to support the development of a voluntary minimum framework for quality OH provision which employers could adopt to help improve employee health at work.
The response also explored options for new voluntary national workplace health and disability standards; a potential new SME group purchasing framework supported by a digital marketplace; and using the learning, including from our existing Workforce Expansion scheme, to consider a long-term strategic OH workforce approach to a multidisciplinary work and health workforce for businesses and providers to improve support for their employees.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to help ensure that disabled people who are (a) in work and (b) are seeking to return to work have access to occupational health services.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
As a founding member of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the UK is committed to our obligations to the organisation and continues to be actively engaged in its work.
The Government’s Occupational Health (OH) reform programme is focused on increasing private market coverage of employer led OH to help businesses support disabled employees and those with health conditions stay in, succeed in, and return to work.
This programme of work includes the OH subsidy pilot for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and the £1m innovation fund launched in January 2023 which aim to increase access to and capacity in OH. The Occupational Health Workforce Expansion Funding Scheme also launched in July 2023 and funds doctors and nurses to undertake Occupational Health training courses and qualifications.
In the summer 2023, to better support employee health, the Government consulted on ways to increase employer uptake of OH services. The Government’s response to the Occupational Health: Working Better consultation was published following the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement on 22 November 2023. This outlined plans to imminently set up an expert task and finish group to support the development of a voluntary minimum framework for quality OH provision which employers could adopt to help improve employee health at work.
The response also explored options for new voluntary national workplace health and disability standards; a potential new SME group purchasing framework supported by a digital marketplace; and using the learning, including from our existing Workforce Expansion scheme, to consider a long-term strategic OH workforce approach to a multidisciplinary work and health workforce for businesses and providers to improve support for their employees.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people are waiting for an Access to Work assessment as of 16 January 2023.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Access to Work statistics are published annually and figures, including those for January 2023, can be found here
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent progress his Department has made on publication of the Disability Action Plan.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Since the consultation closed on 6 October 2023 we have been working carefully through the responses and we aim to publish the Disability Action Plan as soon as possible.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether calls to his Department's MP Enquiry line team have been outsourced.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Calls to the MP Enquiry Line have not been outsourced. MP Enquiry Line call agents are Home Office staff.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the income to the public purse from Income Premium Tax on buildings insurance was in each year since 2017.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC does not hold the information requested.
Insurance Premium Tax returns do not include a breakdown of the tax due on specific products, as this may impose an excessive administrative burden on customers.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has had discussions with the National Council for the Training of Journalists on the potential impact of the requirement for a shorthand proficiency of 100 words per minute to achieve the National Qualification in Journalism on (a) disabled people and (b) people with cerebral palsy.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The department has not discussed the impact of the requirements needed for the National Qualification in journalism with the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ), newspapers or other media organisations. Higher education (HE) courses are designed and delivered by individual institutions, such as universities and colleges, according to their own academic standards and quality assurance processes. The government does not have a direct role in the development of the HE curriculum or the content of the courses. The government's role is to provide a regulatory framework for HE in England, which aims to protect the interests of students.
The government recognises that shorthand is a valuable skill for journalists, and that the NCJT sets the industry standard for journalism training and qualifications. The department acknowledges that some disabled people may face difficulties or barriers in acquiring or demonstrating shorthand proficiency, and that this may affect their access to and progression in the journalism profession.
The department wants to ensure people of all ages and backgrounds can study at universities.
Under the Equality Act 2010 and Disability Discrimination Act, universities have the same responsibilities as all other service providers. Universities must make reasonable adjustments to make sure students with disabilities, or physical or mental health conditions, are not substantially disadvantaged.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has had discussions with (a) newspapers and (b) other media organisations on the potential impact of shorthand proficiency requirements for journalism-related jobs on (a) disabled people and (b) people with (i) cerebral palsy and (ii) disabilities related to fine motor function.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The department has not discussed the impact of the requirements needed for the National Qualification in journalism with the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ), newspapers or other media organisations. Higher education (HE) courses are designed and delivered by individual institutions, such as universities and colleges, according to their own academic standards and quality assurance processes. The government does not have a direct role in the development of the HE curriculum or the content of the courses. The government's role is to provide a regulatory framework for HE in England, which aims to protect the interests of students.
The government recognises that shorthand is a valuable skill for journalists, and that the NCJT sets the industry standard for journalism training and qualifications. The department acknowledges that some disabled people may face difficulties or barriers in acquiring or demonstrating shorthand proficiency, and that this may affect their access to and progression in the journalism profession.
The department wants to ensure people of all ages and backgrounds can study at universities.
Under the Equality Act 2010 and Disability Discrimination Act, universities have the same responsibilities as all other service providers. Universities must make reasonable adjustments to make sure students with disabilities, or physical or mental health conditions, are not substantially disadvantaged.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 12 December 2023 to Question 5438, if he will make an estimate of the number of people that are waiting for (a) trauma and (b) orthopaedic treatment and are unable to work until they receive treatment as of 12 December 2023; and what steps he is taking to help these people re-enter the workforce.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department has not made such an assessment.
The Government is taking several steps to help support people with musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions to start, stay and succeed in work. In the Spring Budget, the government set out a package of measures to tackle the leading health-related causes keeping people out of work, including people with MSK conditions:
As announced in the Autumn Statement, to tackle rising economic inactivity, government is investing £2.5 billion over the next five years, building on the existing package of support that helps disabled people and individuals with health conditions, including MSK, to work. This includes: