Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to recognise police officer (a) suicides and (b) attempted suicides as work-related accidents under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to PQ819.
Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has plans to support people with the cost of driving lessons; and whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of supporting people with the cost of driving lessons on employment opportunities for those people.
Answered by Guy Opperman
Service Leaders in Jobcentres can allocate funding for driving lessons through the Flexible Support Fund, where they feel this is an appropriate use of funds. Each request is considered on a case-by-case basis.
No specific assessment has been made of the potential merits of allocating specific funding for driving lessons.
Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential effect of increasing benefits in line with inflation on incentives for people in low-paid employment to remain in employment.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The Secretary of State is currently conducting his statutory annual review of State Pensions and benefit rates. The outcome of that review will be announced in due course.
Universal Credit is designed to make work pay, so not all of a person's net earnings are deducted from their Universal Credit. Claimants with children and/or limited capability for work will also benefit from a work allowance.
A work allowance is an amount of earnings a Universal Credit household can earn (including employed and self-employed earnings) before the single taper rate of 55 per cent is applied to their earnings and their Universal Credit begins to be reduced. In simple terms, this means that 45 pence in every pound earned would be kept: claimants are £45 better off for every extra £100 of net earnings.
If a single claimant (or either claimant in a couple) have responsibility for a child or qualifying young person, and/or have limited capability for work, they will be eligible for a work allowance.
Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of companies' covid-19 risk assessments including provision of covid-19 fogging equipment.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
COVID-19 risk assessments fall under the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) remit. As each workplace is different, it is for an employer to identify, as part of their risk assessment, how to control COVID-19 transmission. Guidance has been produced by HSE that gives advice and information to employers on how to do such an assessment and manage the risk from COVID-19 in a proportionate manner. Risk assessment - Working safely during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic (hse.gov.uk)
Frequent surface cleaning is one of several control measures that can be implemented to manage the transmission risk. Fog, mist, vapour or UV (ultraviolet) treatments may be suitable options to help control the spread of coronavirus and disinfecting a larger space or room when people are not present. Any use of these treatments for these purposes should form part of your COVID-19 risk assessment. Users must be competent and properly trained. HSE provides guidance on its website as to when using these systems may be appropriate. Airborne disinfection does not remove the need for surface cleaning and surfaces that are dirty can reduce the effectiveness of disinfectant applied by airborne dispersion.
HSE and public health bodies in England, Wales and Scotland have agreed joint advice for dutyholders considering using walk-through spraying or misting disinfecting systems to reduce transmission of coronavirus (COVID-19). Spraying people with disinfectants in this way is not recommended under any circumstances (including in a tunnel, cabinet, or chamber). For further information see: Disinfecting using fog, mist and other systems during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic - HSE news
Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she takes to assess the effectiveness of the Child Maintenance Service; and how frequently she makes that assessment.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The Department measures the effectiveness of the Service through regularly assessing data on the Service’s performance. This includes compliance of paying parents on paying their maintenance, the amount of money the service collects for the children and our measures of enforcement.
Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what assessment her Department has made of the effect that the decision of the High Court on 1 December 2020, on requiring informed consent for giving puberty blockers and hormones to children aged under 16, will have on the safety and protection of children.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
The NHS has previously recognised the need for a review of how to best meet the needs of children and young people with gender incongruence, which is why in September 2020, Dr Hilary Cass was asked to carry out an independent review of the gender identity development service. The review will be wide-ranging in scope, with a focus on how care can be improved for children and young people. The Tavistock is also required to undertake a number of urgent actions in response to the CQC’s recent finding that its child gender-identity service is ‘inadequate’.
The Tavistock and Portman appeal is subject to ongoing legal proceedings, as such the Government is unable to comment on the specifics of the case at this time. However, we will follow the proceedings closely and continue to review its impact on policy related to this area.