Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 7 February 2023 to Question 138258 on Labelling: Packaging, what the UK's policy has been on matters relating to the meetings of the potential hazards issues working group established by the UN Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals; and whether the UK (a) supported, (b) opposed or (c) did not taken a position in response to EU proposals to introduce new hazard classes on endocrine disruptors and other hazards.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The UK is an active participant of the potential hazard issues informal working group at the United Nations Globally Harmonized System of classification and labelling of chemicals (UN GHS) and supported a mandate issued to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to conduct a state of the science review for endocrine disruptors, persistence and mobility. The mandate includes a review of the existing GHS hazard classes to inform technical discussions on the extent to which the potential hazard issues raised by the European Union (EU) delegation are addressed by existing GHS hazard classes.
There are no plans to consider the suitability of establishing new hazard classes in the Great Britain Classification, Labelling and Packaging (GB CLP) Regulation without consensus at UN GHS. The UK is committed to following the established process at UN GHS and will consider the reviews from the OECD, in addition to input from a range of policy and technical experts, both within HSE and other UK government departments and agencies, to assist in the development of the UK policy position when a proposal is agreed at working group level.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
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 appointing a commissioner for older people.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Department has no current plans to assess the potential merits of appointing a commissioner for older people in England.
DWP offers employment support for eligible older people through the network of Jobcentres across the UK and through contracted employment programmes. A dedicated offer for older people provides more tailored support.
The government has ambitious plans to improve employment support for people of all ages and will set out more details in a forthcoming White Paper.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she plans to take to help support women affected by the rise in the State Pension age in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency and (b) Staffordshire.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
DWP offers employment support for eligible customers of all ages, including those below State Pension age, through the network of Jobcentres across the UK, and through contracted employment programmes.
A dedicated offer for older workers seeks to provide tailored support for those affected by low confidence, menopause, health and disability or caring pressures, and out of date skills or qualifications. This includes an online midlife review tool that supports people to assess their health, wealth and skills.
The government has set out ambitious plans to improve employment support by bringing together jobcentres and the national careers service.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
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 implications for her policies of the number of people that are in work and claiming Universal Credit in Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Under my political leadership the DWP will shift from being a department for welfare to being a department for work. We will create a new jobs and careers service, bringing together Jobcentre Plus and the National Careers Service.
The service will be focused on helping people get into work and get on at work, not only on monitoring and managing benefit claims. For our employment support system, the outcomes that will matter are higher engagement, higher employment, and higher earnings.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she plans to take to help tackle child poverty in Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Tackling child poverty is a priority for the Government and a central part of delivering the Government’s Mission to create and spread opportunity for every child and young person in our country.
We promised concrete actions in our manifesto to support children and families. Our initial steps to tackle poverty include free breakfast clubs in every primary school setting every child up at the start of the day ready to learn, expanding childcare to deliver work choices for parents and life chances for children, stronger protection for families who rent privately, and action to tackle high energy bills and slash fuel poverty.
We are also developing an ambitious, new child poverty strategy and have set up a Ministerial Taskforce, jointly led by the Work & Pensions Secretary and the Education Secretary, to drive cross-government action on this work.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people are in work and claiming Universal Credit in Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Official statistics for the number of people on Universal Credit are published each month on Stat-Xplore, with breakdowns available by Westminster Parliamentary Constituency. The latest statistics are to June 2024, with a breakdown by employment indicator available to May 2024.
Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access guidance on how to extract the information required.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
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 impact of the decision by the previous Conservative government to remove the £20 uplift to Universal Credit on poverty in Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The £20 uplift in Universal Credit was removed in October 2021.
Statistics on the number of Children living in absolute and relative poverty per constituency before housing costs are published annually in the “Children in low income families: local area statistics” publication. They can be found in tabs “6_Absolute_ParlC” and “5_Relative_ParlC” at Children in low income families: local area statistics 2014 to 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). The latest statistics published on 21 March 2024 cover the years 2014/15 to 2022/23.
These statistics show the impact of all policies, economic, societal and behavioural changes on child poverty levels in constituencies.