Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Health and Safety Executive is taking to protect outdoor workers from the potential ill-health effects of long-term exposure to air pollution.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The Health and Safety Executive is the independent regulator for work-related health and safety in Great Britain; it does not regulate environmental exposures. In the UK, responsibility for meeting air quality limit values is devolved to the national administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has responsibility for meeting the limit values in England and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) co-ordinates assessment and air quality plans for the UK as a whole.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what research the Health and Safety Executive is undertaking to better understand the effect of polluted air on the health of outdoor workers.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The Health and Safety Executive is not currently undertaking any research to better understand the effect of polluted air on the health of outdoor workers.
Defra and the Devolved Administrations carry out air quality modelling both to provide information on concentrations of pollutants in places where they do not monitor and to predict concentrations under different situations, for example in the future or as a result of possible new policies.
The UK Stratospheric Ozone and UV monitoring programme funded by Defra and the Devolved Administrations provides ozone and UV background information and includes a map of the ozone and UV monitoring stations across the UK.
Defra and the Devolved Administrations also support a number of research networks that gather data about certain air pollutants.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to her statement of 7 June 2018, Official Report, column 19WS, when those claimants who were in receipt of severe disability premium and have moved on to universal credit will begin receiving the ongoing payment; and how those claimants will be informed of their entitlement to that payment.
Answered by Lord Sharma
The Department is unable to provide precise detail or timetables related to the Severe Disability Premium proposals until the Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) (Managed Migration) Amendment Regulations 2018 is debated and agreed by Parliament.
Further detail on the proposed rates can be found in the explanatory memorandum and letter sent to the Social Security Advisory Committee at:
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to her statement of 7 June 2018, Official Report, column 19WS, how the additional payment will be calculated; and whether that payment will be made as a lump sum to claimants.
Answered by Lord Sharma
The Department is unable to provide precise detail or timetables related to the Severe Disability Premium proposals until the Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) (Managed Migration) Amendment Regulations 2018 is debated and agreed by Parliament.
Further detail on the proposed rates can be found in the explanatory memorandum and letter sent to the Social Security Advisory Committee at:
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the draft Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) (Managed Migration) Amendment Regulations 2018, how the value of the transitional payment was calculated.
Answered by Lord Sharma
The Department is unable to provide precise detail or timetables related to the Severe Disability Premium proposals until the Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) (Managed Migration) Amendment Regulations 2018 is debated and agreed by Parliament.
Further detail on the proposed rates can be found in the explanatory memorandum and letter sent to the Social Security Advisory Committee at:
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the draft Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) (Managed Migration) Amendment Regulations 2018, for what reasons universal credit claimants with limited capability for work and work related activity will receive a transitional payment of £80 per month; and what assessment he has made of the value of this payment in comparison to changes in those claimants' income as a result of transitioning to universal credit.
Answered by Lord Sharma
The Department is unable to provide precise detail or timetables related to the Severe Disability Premium proposals until the Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) (Managed Migration) Amendment Regulations 2018 is debated and agreed by Parliament.
Further detail on the proposed rates can be found in the explanatory memorandum and letter sent to the Social Security Advisory Committee at:
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department is monitoring content that is publicly available on social networking sites using overt monitoring techniques.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
DWP does monitor content that is publicly available on social networking sites using overt monitoring techniques. We do not, however, take on false identities in order to monitor publicly available content available on social networking sites online.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many ex-offenders have been helped into employment in each year since January 2010.
Answered by Priti Patel - Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs
My department is committed to supporting ex-offenders into employment as a key part of individual rehabilitation and the Government’s prison reform and rehabilitation programme.
Information on the total number of ex-offenders helped into employment is not readily available.
Prison-leavers who claim Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) in advance or within 13 weeks of release are mandated onto the Government’s Work Programme. The latest available data shows that between March 2012 when mandation was introduced and the end of December 2015, 8,270 JSA prison-leavers on the Work Programme have achieved a job outcome. The latest data is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/work-programme-data-to-december-2015
Administrative data shared between the Ministry of Justice, Department for Work & Pensions and Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs is available at:
These statistics include information on the benefit and employment status of offenders prior to and after their conviction/caution or release from prison.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the answer of 14 January 2016 to Question 21498, on social security benefits: personal injury, whether the estimated effect of the proposed changes on social security recoupment from injuries other than whiplash are likely to be caught by the changes.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
DWP officials are continuing to work with the Ministry of Justice to assess the potential impact of the proposed changes. The government will consult on these measures which will be accompanied by an impact assessment that will cover claims for compensation which are recoverable under the Social Security (Recovery of Benefits) Act 1997.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to proposed changes in personal injury law and procedure announced in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, what assessment he has made of the level of potential reduction in recoupment of social security benefits paid to personal injury victims following such changes; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
DWP officials have been working with the Ministry of Justice to assess the potential impact of the proposed changes to personal injury legislation on the level of recoupment of social security benefits paid by the compensator to DWP. The early analysis indicates that the vast majority of personal injury victims who claim compensation for whiplash do not claim DWP benefits which are recoverable under the Social Security (Recovery of Benefits) Act 1997. Therefore, if this trend continues, the potential changes to the personal injury legislation will have a minimal impact on the level of recoupment of social security benefits. DWP officials will continue to work with the Ministry of Justice as the proposed changes to personal injury legislation are developed and progressed.