Asked by: Anna Turley (Labour (Co-op) - Redcar)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, by what date his Department plans to complete its longitudinal study into former employees of SSI UK; what the likely outcome of that study will be; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The study has been commissioned. The timing and content are being considered. The honourable member for Redcar and other members of the SSI taskforce will be informed when more information is available.
Asked by: Anna Turley (Labour (Co-op) - Redcar)
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 effect of the living wage on the earnings threshold for carers allowance; and if he will bring forward proposals to raise the existing threshold.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The primary purpose of Carer's Allowance is to provide a measure of financial support and recognition for people who give up the opportunity of full-time employment in order to provide regular and substantial care for a severely disabled person. It is not, and was never intended to be, a carer’s wage or a payment for the services of caring, nor is it intended to replace lost or forgone earnings in their entirety.
The earnings limit for Carer's Allowance is a net figure which is the figure left once income tax, National Insurance contributions and half of any contributions to an occupational or personal pension are deducted from earnings. There are also a number of other deductions which can be made that mean that people can earn significantly more than £110 per week and still be eligible for Carer's Allowance.
Whilst the Government does not link the earnings limit to any other particular factor (including the National Living Wage), we do keep it under regular review and increase it when it is warranted and affordable, and this will continue to be our approach. Most recently in April 2015 the earnings limit was increased by 8% to £110, far outstripping the general increase in earnings.
Asked by: Anna Turley (Labour (Co-op) - Redcar)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will commission a comprehensive assessment of the levels of acetaldehyde that workers are exposed to in the UK chemical industry.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has no plans to commission an assessment of the levels of acetaldehyde that workers are exposed to in the UK chemical industry.
Acetaldehyde has been assigned a Workplace Exposure Limit (WEL). WELs are concentrations of hazardous substances in the air, averaged over a specified period of time, referred to as a time-weighted average (TWA). Two time periods are used; long-term (8 hours) and short-term (15 minutes). For acetaldehyde these are concentrations of 37 milligrams per cubic meter (mg.m-3) and 92mg.m-3 respectively.
Substances that have been assigned a WEL are subject to the requirements of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH). COSHH requires employers to prevent or control exposure to hazardous substances. Under COSHH, control is defined as adequate only if a) the principles of good control practice are applied; b) any WEL is not exceeded; and c) exposure to asthmagens, carcinogens and mutagens are reduced as low as is reasonably practicable. As part of the assessment required under regulation 6 of COSHH, employers should determine their own working practices and in-house standards for control of exposure.
Asked by: Anna Turley (Labour (Co-op) - Redcar)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department takes to monitor the levels of acetaldehyde that workers are exposed to in the chemical industry; and what steps he is taking to reduce routine exposure to acetaldehyde in that industry.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has no plans to commission an assessment of the levels of acetaldehyde that workers are exposed to in the UK chemical industry.
Acetaldehyde has been assigned a Workplace Exposure Limit (WEL). WELs are concentrations of hazardous substances in the air, averaged over a specified period of time, referred to as a time-weighted average (TWA). Two time periods are used; long-term (8 hours) and short-term (15 minutes). For acetaldehyde these are concentrations of 37 milligrams per cubic meter (mg.m-3) and 92mg.m-3 respectively.
Substances that have been assigned a WEL are subject to the requirements of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH). COSHH requires employers to prevent or control exposure to hazardous substances. Under COSHH, control is defined as adequate only if a) the principles of good control practice are applied; b) any WEL is not exceeded; and c) exposure to asthmagens, carcinogens and mutagens are reduced as low as is reasonably practicable. As part of the assessment required under regulation 6 of COSHH, employers should determine their own working practices and in-house standards for control of exposure.
Asked by: Anna Turley (Labour (Co-op) - Redcar)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment the Government has made of the safe levels of acetaldehyde to which workers in the chemical industry can be exposed.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has no plans to commission an assessment of the levels of acetaldehyde that workers are exposed to in the UK chemical industry.
Acetaldehyde has been assigned a Workplace Exposure Limit (WEL). WELs are concentrations of hazardous substances in the air, averaged over a specified period of time, referred to as a time-weighted average (TWA). Two time periods are used; long-term (8 hours) and short-term (15 minutes). For acetaldehyde these are concentrations of 37 milligrams per cubic meter (mg.m-3) and 92mg.m-3 respectively.
Substances that have been assigned a WEL are subject to the requirements of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH). COSHH requires employers to prevent or control exposure to hazardous substances. Under COSHH, control is defined as adequate only if a) the principles of good control practice are applied; b) any WEL is not exceeded; and c) exposure to asthmagens, carcinogens and mutagens are reduced as low as is reasonably practicable. As part of the assessment required under regulation 6 of COSHH, employers should determine their own working practices and in-house standards for control of exposure.
Asked by: Anna Turley (Labour (Co-op) - Redcar)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what criteria the Government considers before making an application to the European Globalisation Fund.
Answered by Shailesh Vara
The UK has not made any applications to the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF).
The European Globalisation Fund (EGF) provides a financial contribution for active labour market measures, aimed at reintegrating those made or at risk of being made redundant in the labour market. EGF Regulations state that these measures must complement actions at national, regional and local level.
The EGF Regulations also set out strict criteria and eligibility for potential applicants with regards to the number of redundancies that take place over a given period of time and the link between these redundancies and globalisation or the global financial and economic crisis.
The UK already offers a broad range of personalised support to workers made redundant through its Rapid Response Service and Jobcentre Plus, which could therefore not be duplicated or substituted by EGF.
The Rapid Response Service and the Jobcentre Plus Core Offer are effective reintegration tools which represent good value for money and are our primary and most effective means of response to support the industry.
In addition to this, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills also announced packages of support worth up to £80 million for SSI in Redcar.
It has, therefore, not been necessary to make an application for EGF funding to provide complementary support.
Asked by: Anna Turley (Labour (Co-op) - Redcar)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons the Government did not apply to the European Globalisation Fund to secure financial support for those affected by the closure of SSI Redcar in 2015.
Answered by Shailesh Vara
The UK has not made any applications to the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF).
The European Globalisation Fund (EGF) provides a financial contribution for active labour market measures, aimed at reintegrating those made or at risk of being made redundant in the labour market. EGF Regulations state that these measures must complement actions at national, regional and local level.
The EGF Regulations also set out strict criteria and eligibility for potential applicants with regards to the number of redundancies that take place over a given period of time and the link between these redundancies and globalisation or the global financial and economic crisis.
The UK already offers a broad range of personalised support to workers made redundant through its Rapid Response Service and Jobcentre Plus, which could therefore not be duplicated or substituted by EGF.
The Rapid Response Service and the Jobcentre Plus Core Offer are effective reintegration tools which represent good value for money and are our primary and most effective means of response to support the industry.
In addition to this, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills also announced packages of support worth up to £80 million for SSI in Redcar.
It has, therefore, not been necessary to make an application for EGF funding to provide complementary support.
Asked by: Anna Turley (Labour (Co-op) - Redcar)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when the Government has applied to the European Commission Globalisation Adjustment Fund; and whether each such application was successful.
Answered by Shailesh Vara
The UK has not made any applications to the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF).
The European Globalisation Fund (EGF) provides a financial contribution for active labour market measures, aimed at reintegrating those made or at risk of being made redundant in the labour market. EGF Regulations state that these measures must complement actions at national, regional and local level.
The EGF Regulations also set out strict criteria and eligibility for potential applicants with regards to the number of redundancies that take place over a given period of time and the link between these redundancies and globalisation or the global financial and economic crisis.
The UK already offers a broad range of personalised support to workers made redundant through its Rapid Response Service and Jobcentre Plus, which could therefore not be duplicated or substituted by EGF.
The Rapid Response Service and the Jobcentre Plus Core Offer are effective reintegration tools which represent good value for money and are our primary and most effective means of response to support the industry.
In addition to this, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills also announced packages of support worth up to £80 million for SSI in Redcar.
It has, therefore, not been necessary to make an application for EGF funding to provide complementary support.
Asked by: Anna Turley (Labour (Co-op) - Redcar)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his policy is on a person providing child maintenance having their payments regarded for the purpose of an income assessment for means-tested benefit.
Answered by Priti Patel
A person who is providing child maintenance does not have their payments disregarded for the purpose of an income assessment, in a means-tested benefit, as this would amount to the tax payer meeting a person’s liabilities.
Asked by: Anna Turley (Labour (Co-op) - Redcar)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of people who will be affected by the introduction of the individual award limit to the Access to Work scheme.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The annual limit on Access to Work awards of 1.5x average salaries (which currently equates to £40,800 per person per year) will be introduced for new customers from October 1st 2015.
There are 200 current customers, (approximately 0.5% of the current caseload) who are currently above this level. Current customers with awards above that level as of 1st October 2015 will have their existing award levels protected until 1st April 2018, provided their needs remain the same.