Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to help ensure that working parents who are unable to work from home are financially supported to stay at home when their child is ill.
Answered by Will Quince
Parents in this situation can be supported through Universal Credit (UC), which means the amount of benefit received by claimants fluctuates in line with their earnings. The value of this has been shown during the Covid-19 pandemic. Where people have seen variations in the hours worked and earnings, UC has provided extra support when their earnings have decreased.
NHS Test and Trace isolation payments are also available to financially incentivise individuals to self–isolate and not to return to work. Legislation within legacy benefits (and also Pension Credit) is already wide enough for these payments to be disregarded. The lump sum payment will not be treated as income or earnings for Universal Credit, and the Coronavirus Act 2020 enables it to be ignored as capital. On 22nd February 2021, the government announced additional funding, including a further £20 million per month, for discretionary payments would be made available from March 2021 and expanded the scheme to cover parents who are unable to work because they are caring for a child who is self-isolating.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
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 introducing a Government emergency bridging loan for people who have to miss work in order to care for their child who is absent from school as a result of illness.
Answered by Will Quince
Parents in this situation can be supported through Universal Credit (UC), which means the amount of benefit received by claimants fluctuates in line with their earnings. The value of this has been shown during the Covid-19 pandemic. Where people have seen variations in the hours worked and earnings, UC has provided extra support when their earnings have decreased.
NHS Test and Trace isolation payments are also available to financially incentivise individuals to self–isolate and not to return to work. Legislation within legacy benefits (and also Pension Credit) is already wide enough for these payments to be disregarded. The lump sum payment will not be treated as income or earnings for Universal Credit, and the Coronavirus Act 2020 enables it to be ignored as capital. On 22nd February 2021, the government announced additional funding, including a further £20 million per month, for discretionary payments would be made available from March 2021 and expanded the scheme to cover parents who are unable to work because they are caring for a child who is self-isolating.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have been offered full-time equivalent employment through the Kickstart Scheme to date.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
We are not currently able to provide this information. As of 22nd April the Kickstart Scheme has approximately 16,600 jobs started by young people but we do not hold information on which employers are offering hours over and above the 25 hours a week minimum.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Kickstart scheme, how many jobs have been (a) made available for application to young people by that scheme; and (b) started by young people in each (i) business sector and (ii) region of the UK.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
As of the 22nd April 2021, over 93,000 jobs have been made available for young people to apply to through the Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) Kickstart Scheme. This includes approximately 16,600* jobs started by young people. There have been over 195,000 jobs approved by the scheme.
More than 260 young people, on average, have started a Kickstart job every day for the last six weeks**.
The tables below show these figures split by region and sector, the data presented has been rounded according to DWP statistical rounding convention. Although care is taken when processing and analysing Kickstart applications, referrals and starts, the data collected might be subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system which has been developed quickly. The management information presented here has not been subjected to the usual standard of quality assurance associated with official statistics, but is provided in the interests of transparency.
*Around 1,000 of the Kickstart jobs started have been provided without government funding.
** This is based on the number of young people starting in Kickstart jobs from 11th March 2021 to 22nd April 2021.
Regions | Jobs Advertised | Jobs Started |
Central England | 19,000 | 2,900 |
London and Essex | 22,000 | 3,800 |
North East England | 6,600 | 1,200 |
North West England | 16,000 | 3,100 |
Scotland | 6,500 | 1,200 |
Southern England | 19,000 | 3,200 |
Wales | 5,300 | 740 |
Figures may not add up to provided totals due to rounding. 1,000 non-grant funded jobs are included in Jobs Advertised but not included under Jobs Started. |
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By Sector | Jobs Advertised | Jobs Started |
Administration | 24,000 | 4,300 |
Animal Care | 430 | 130 |
Beauty & Wellbeing | 600 | 100 |
Business & Finance | 3,700 | 620 |
Computing, Technology & Digital | 7,500 | 1,700 |
Construction & Trades | 3,100 | 580 |
Creative & Media | 7,300 | 1,800 |
Delivery & Storage | 3,000 | 580 |
Emergency & Uniform Services | 190 | 10 |
Engineering & Maintenance | 3,400 | 380 |
Environment & Land | 1,800 | 280 |
Government Services | 280 | 20 |
Healthcare | 4,100 | 520 |
Home Services | 710 | 70 |
Hospitality & Food | 6,100 | 750 |
Law & Legal | 240 | 70 |
Managerial | 750 | 100 |
Manufacturing | 2,400 | 510 |
Retail & Sales | 15,000 | 2,300 |
Science & Research | 420 | 70 |
Social Care | 2,600 | 210 |
Sports & Leisure | 2,000 | 330 |
Teaching & Education | 4,100 | 610 |
Transport | 370 | 30 |
Travel & Tourism | 250 | 30 |
Figures may not add up to provided totals due to rounding. 1,000 non-grant funded jobs are included in Jobs Advertised but not included under Jobs Started. |
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Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of personal independence payment claimants have had their claim accepted at appeal following an initial rejection, in (a) Rother Valley, (b) South Yorkshire, and (c) nationwide in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The table below provides the information requested for initial decisions following a Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessment for the Rother Valley Parliamentary constituency, the four local authority areas that make up South Yorkshire and Great Britain for all PIP initial disallowance decisions.
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| Initial disallowance decisions following a PIP assessment: April 2013 to Jun-20 |
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| totals | % |
GB | PIP decision - disallowed following a PIP assessment | 1,336,740 |
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Appeal lapsed | 26,880 | 2% | |
Overturned at appeal | 137,970 | 10% | |
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South Yorkshire | PIP decision - disallowed following a PIP assessment | 37,550 |
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Appeal lapsed | 750 | 2% | |
Overturned at appeal | 3,290 | 9% | |
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Rother Valley | PIP decision - disallowed following a PIP assessment | 2,200 |
|
Appeal lapsed | 40 | 2% | |
Overturned at appeal | 200 | 9% |
Initial decisions: April 2013 to 30th June 2020; appeals: to 30th September 2020
Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
Percentages are to the nearest 1% and based on the total number of initial disallowance decisions following a PIP assessment.
Initial disallowance decisions following a PIP assessment reflect outcomes prior to any Mandatory Reconsideration (MR) and appeal action. They do not include Award Review or Change of Circumstance decisions, or decisions prior to an assessment being completed.
Claimants who have received benefit decisions more recently may not yet have had time to complete the claimant journey and progress to appeal. The volumes of appeals for the more recent periods of initial decision could increase as claimants’ progress to MR and appeal.
A lapsed appeal is where DWP changed the decision in the customer’s favour after an appeal was lodged but before it was heard at tribunal.
The appeal figures will include some decisions which are changed at a Mandatory Reconsideration, where the claimant continues to appeal for a higher PIP award, are then changed again at appeal.
South Yorkshire data consists of the four local authority areas of Barnsley, Doncaster, Sheffield and Rotherham.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
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 strengthening existing regulations on the storage of fireworks by retailers.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is an independent regulator and has policy responsibility for the Explosives Regulations 2014 (as amended) which set out the framework for the safe and secure manufacture and storage of explosives, including fireworks.
These Regulations are supported by overarching guidance on safety - https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/l150.htm and security - https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/l151.htm
Subsector guidance is also available for storing and selling fireworks safely - https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg407.htm - and detailed guidance relating to fireworks in retail premises - https://www.hse.gov.uk/explosives/er2014-fireworks-retail-prem.pdf
There is already comprehensive legislation and guidance in this area to enable retailers involved in the storage of fireworks to do so safely and so there are no plans at this time to strengthening existing regulations in this area.