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Written Question
Social Security Benefits: Fraud
Tuesday 26th March 2024

Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure that the use of AI in benefit fraud investigations does not discriminate against vulnerable people.

Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department does not use AI in its benefit fraud investigations.


Written Question
Chemicals: Regulation
Wednesday 7th February 2024

Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 30 November 2023 to Question 3556 on Chemicals: Regulation, for what reason no new additions to the UK’s Substance of Very High Concern waitlist are expected before 2025.

Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) work under the agreed 2023-24 UK REACH Work Programme has not identified any substances that are suitable candidates for authorisation under UK REACH, which would need to be included in the Candidate List as Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC).

HSE’s work includes both technical assessments of substances candidate-listed in the EU and regulatory management options analyses (RMOAs), which are reviewed in the context of the interim principles for the inclusion of SVHCs on the candidate list (Approach to including substances of very high concern on the UK REACH candidate list – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). If suitable substances are identified to go onto the Candidate List from this work, they will be taken forward. RMOAs may, however, also identify that other regulatory approaches are more appropriate than REACH authorisation.


Written Question
Chemicals: Regulation
Wednesday 7th February 2024

Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment has he made of the adequacy of the UK’s chemical safety regulations.

Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The UK’s chemical regulations play an important role in protecting human safety and health as well as the environment and wildlife. The Government ensured that an operable regime for chemicals was put in place at the time the UK left the EU.

Following EU exit, the government continues to assess how best to provide ongoing protection in an effective, proportionate and targeted way, taking into account the full range of regulatory options. Several government departments have responsibilities within the UK chemicals regulatory framework.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is considering opportunities for legislative reform within their areas of legislative remit.


Written Question
Universal Credit: Farmers
Monday 29th January 2024

Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 19 January 2024 to Question 9914 on Universal Credit: Farmers, whether he has made an assessment of the potential financial impact of moving from Working Tax Credits to Universal Credit on recipient farmers in the last five years; and if he will undertake an assessment in the next three months.

Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

No assessment has been made and there are no plans to make an assessment.


Written Question
Universal Credit: Self-employed
Friday 19th January 2024

Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of using alternative methods of calculating monthly Universal Credit rates for self-employed recipients with seasonal income and expenditure patterns.

Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

No assessment has been made.


Written Question
Universal Credit: Self-employed
Friday 19th January 2024

Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of using annual income as the basis for Universal Credit rates for self-employed recipients with seasonal income and expenditure patterns.

Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

No assessment has been made.


Written Question
Universal Credit: Farmers
Friday 19th January 2024

Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of the financial impact of moving from Working Tax Credits to Universal Credit on recipient farmers.

Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

No recent assessment has been made.


Written Question
War Pensions and Armed Forces Compensation Scheme: Social Security Benefits
Thursday 30th November 2023

Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people are in receipt of payments from the (a) War Pensions and (b) Armed Forces Compensation Scheme are also in receipt of (i) Universal Credit, (ii) Child Tax Support, (iii) Income Support, (iv) Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, (v) Income-related Employment and Support Allowance, (vi) Working Tax Credit and (vii) Pension Credit.

Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The requested information is not held by the department.


Written Question
Social Security Benefits: Armed Forces
Wednesday 29th November 2023

Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to disregard compensation offered to wounded (a) service people and (b) veterans under the (i) Service Invaliding Pensions and (ii) Service Attributable Pensions scheme as income from (A) Universal Credit, (B) Child Tax Credit, (C) Income Support, (D) Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, (E) Income-related Employment and Support Allowance, (F) Working Tax Credit, (G) Social Care payments and (H) Pension Credit.

Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

Universal Credit replaced a number of benefits and tax credits. It was decided that War Pensions and Armed Forces Compensation Payments would not be taken into account in Universal Credit. Guaranteed Income Payments, Service Attributable Pensions and service-attributable, non-taxable Service Invalidity Pensions are also not taken into account. However, it has never been the intention that the rules around the treatment of income and indeed other rules - should be changed across the legacy and other benefits to align them with Universal Credit.

Social care payments are the responsibility of the Department of Health and Social Care.


Written Question
Social Security Benefits: Armed Forces
Wednesday 29th November 2023

Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make n assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to disregard compensation offered to wounded (a) service people and (b) veterans under the War Pensions and Armed Forces Compensation schemes as income from (i) Income Support, (ii) Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, (iii) Income-related Employment and Support Allowance, (iv) Working Tax Credit, and (v) Pension Credit.

Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

Universal Credit replaced a number of benefits and tax credits. It was decided that War Pensions and Armed Forces Compensation Payments would not be taken into account in Universal Credit. Guaranteed Income Payments, Service Attributable Pensions and service-attributable, non-taxable Service Invalidity Pensions are also not taken into account. However, it has never been the intention that the rules around the treatment of income and indeed other rules - should be changed across the legacy and other benefits to align them with Universal Credit.

Social care payments are the responsibility of the Department of Health and Social Care.