Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 26 June 2023 to Question 189864 on Public Lavatories: Men, what the expected timescale is for when the Health and Safety Executive will have concluded its review of the guidance on the disposal of sanitary dressings in toilets; and whether the guidance will be open to public consultation.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Officials at the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) will ensure web-based guidance is clear that provisions must be made for any workers with a disability to enable them to have access to facilities which are adjusted to their use if necessary. This work is in hand and will be completed in the autumn. As this is a simple clarification, it will not be open for public consultation.
HSE is the workplace regulator therefore the legislation and guidance will apply to toilets for used by workers in workplaces, made available to them as a place of work.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to take steps to update the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) 1992 Regulations and Approved Code of Practice to ensure that there are sufficient toilets in workplaces for men experiencing incontinence following a radical prostatectomy to (a) dispose of their incontinence products hygienically and (b) not have to use facilities for disabled people.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Regulation 2(3) of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulation 1992 aims to ensure that workplaces meet the health, safety and welfare needs of any worker. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has informed me that they believe the Regulations are fit for purpose in this respect.
Additionally, the Approved Code of Practice (ACOP) (para 189) already states that provision must be made for any workers with a disability to enable them to have access to facilities which are adjusted to their use if necessary.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people lost their Carer’s Allowance because they had reached pensionable age in each of the last 20 years .
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The information requested on how many people lost their Carer’s Allowance because they had reached pensionable age in each of the last 20 years is not held. The department does not hold data on the reason Carer’s Allowance claimants lose their Carer’s Allowance award.
There is no upper age limit to claiming Carer’s Allowance, however, it cannot normally be paid with the State Pension.
It has been a long-held feature of the UK’s benefit system that where someone is entitled to two benefits for the same contingency, then whilst there may be entitlement to both benefits, only one will be paid. Although entitlement to State Pension and Carer’s Allowance arise in different circumstances, they are nevertheless paid for the same contingency – as an income replacement: Carer’s Allowance replaces income where the carer has given up the opportunity of full-time employment in order to care for a severely disabled person, while the State Pension replaces income in retirement. For this reason, social security rules operate to prevent them being paid together, to avoid duplicate provision for the same need.
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 is currently £76.75. Where Carer’s Allowance cannot be paid, the person will keep underlying entitlement to the benefit. This gives access to the additional amount for carers in Pension Credit of £42.75 a week and even if a pensioner’s income is above the limit for Pension Credit, he or she may still be able to receive Housing Benefit.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many men in England are classified as disabled due to incontinence.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
I can confirm that the department does not hold the information requested. The department does not hold health records for each individual in England. In relation to disability benefits, the department does not classify or register disabilities or hold a disability register. The information held for disability benefit claimants is usually based on the primary disabling condition and claimants may often have multiple disabling conditions upon which the decision is based.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps to (a) amend the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 and (b) recommend changes to the Code of Practice and Guidance published by the Health and Safety Executive to ensure provision of and access to hygiene bins in men's toilets equal to that in women's toilets.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Regulation 20 of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 (‘Workplace Regulations’) state that toilets should be kept in a clean and orderly condition. The Approved Code of Practice covers provisions of a disposal method for sanitary dressings in toilets used by women.
Regulation 2(3) of the Workplace Regulations aims to ensure that workplaces meet the health, safety and welfare needs of each member of the workforce, therefore, HSE believe the current Workplace Regulations are fit for purpose in this respect though they intend to consider whether the guidance regarding disposal of sanitary dressings in toilets fulfils that aim.
Provisions for public toilets, including hygiene bins in men’s toilets, would be the responsibility of the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC).
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that reducing parental conflict services forms a core element of the support being made available to parents and families through family hubs.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Family Hubs are a way of joining up locally to improve access to services, improve the connections between families, professionals, services, and providers, and put relationships at the heart of family help. Family Hubs can include both physical locations and virtual offers, with a range of services for families with children of all ages, and a great Start for Life offer at their core.
It is essential that all local services for families work together effectively. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), the Department for Education (DfE) and the National Centre for Family Hubs are working closely together to ensure that policy alignment nationally facilitates local joined up working to support children and families to thrive. This includes joining up work on Reducing Parental Conflict with Family Hubs.