Asked by: Bridget Phillipson (Labour - Houghton and Sunderland South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the effect of the roll-out of universal credit on the level of income of disabled people.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
I refer the Rt.Hon Member to the answer I gave on 3rd March 2020 to Question UIN 20604
Asked by: Bridget Phillipson (Labour - Houghton and Sunderland South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much pension credit was unclaimed in (a) Houghton and Sunderland South constituency, (b) the North East of England and (c) the UK in each of the last three years.
Answered by Guy Opperman
It is important to highlight that in 2017/18 there were around 1.7 million Pension Credit claimants, amounting to around £5.1 billion of Pension Credit payments. The Government is committed to making sure that all pensioners eligible can claim the Pension Credit to which they are rightly entitled.
The information requested on the amount of Pension Credit which remains unclaimed in (a) Houghton and Sunderland South, (b) the North East of England and (c) the UK, is only available at the Great Britain level. Below are the figures on the amount of unclaimed Pension Credit within Great Britain over the past 3 years of data available.
Year | Estimated Amount Unclaimed (Millions of Pounds) | Range (Millions of Pounds) |
2017/18 | 2,160 | 1,840 - 2,500 |
2016/17 | 2,850 | 2,440 - 3,300 |
2015/16 | 2,720 | 2,330 - 3,140 |
*Methodological refinements have been applied to the data for 2016/17 and 2017/18. Therefore, comparisons to previous years should be treated with caution.
Official statistics on the take-up of income-related benefits at Great Britain level, including Pension Credit, can be found in the ‘Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up in 2017 to 2018’ publication. Which was published on 27th February 2020.
Asked by: Bridget Phillipson (Labour - Houghton and Sunderland South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to tackle levels of unemployment among the BAME community.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The Government is committed to levelling up skills and opportunity across the country. Using data from the Race Disparity Audit, first published in October 2017, and the Department for Work and Pensions own analysis we are helping those underrepresented in the labour market. Since 2010, 1,223,000 more people from ethnic minority backgrounds are in employment - that’s a 45 per cent increase in the number of ethnic minority people employed.
Asked by: Bridget Phillipson (Labour - Houghton and Sunderland South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessments he has made of the adequacy of financial support available from the public purse for unpaid carers.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
This Government recognises and values the vital contribution made by carers in supporting some of the most vulnerable in society.
The Government is supporting carers in a number of ways, including through the benefit system. The rate of Carer’s Allowance, the main social security benefit for carers, has increased from £53.90 in 2010 to £66.15 a week, meaning an additional £635 a year for carers since 2010. Subject to Parliamentary approval, Carer’s Allowance will further increase to £67.25 a week in April 2020. By 2023/24, we are forecast to spend £3.7 billion a year on Carer’s Allowance.
The Government also provides targeted financial support for carers on low incomes through means-tested benefits, including Pension Credit and Universal Credit. Subject to Parliamentary approval, in April 2020, the associated carer premia in means-tested benefits will increase from £36.85 to £37.50 a week; and the carer element in Universal Credit will increase from £160.20 to £162.92 per monthly assessment period. These amounts recognise the additional contribution and responsibilities associated with caring and mean that these benefits can be paid to carers at a higher rate than those without caring responsibilities.
A table of proposed benefit rates for 2020/2021 was deposited in the House libraries on 29 November 2019. https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/business-papers/commons/deposited-papers/
Asked by: Bridget Phillipson (Labour - Houghton and Sunderland South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the effect of the two child benefit limit on the income of single parents.
Answered by Will Quince
DWP and HMRC produce a joint report with statistics related to the policy to provide support for a maximum of two children, the latest of which was published in July 2019 and can be found online at:
Providing support for a maximum of two children, or qualifying young persons in Universal Credit and Child Tax Credit, ensures fairness between claimants and those taxpayers who support themselves solely through work.
We recognise that some claimants are not able to make the same choices about the number of children in their family, which is why exceptions have been put in place to protect certain groups. On migration to Universal Credit, families’ existing entitlement will be protected.
Asked by: Bridget Phillipson (Labour - Houghton and Sunderland South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make it her policy to no longer deduct student maintenance loans from universal credit payments to ensure claimants are not pushed into financial hardship while undertaking study.
Answered by Lord Sharma
Most full time students in education do not qualify for benefits or tax credits. Universal Credit is no different, as students can access fees and living costs to support their education courses through various loans and grants funded by the Department for Education. It is important that Universal Credit does not duplicate this support, which is designed for their needs unlike the social security system.
Treatment of student income under Universal Credit broadly mirrors that in Legacy Benefits which safeguards fairness whilst also ensuring simplification of the benefit system. An award of Universal Credit takes into account the elements of student loans or grants which provide for basic maintenance and disregards elements paid for specific additional costs, such as tuition or books. A flat rate monthly disregard of £110 is applied against the amount taken into account as student income
Asked by: Bridget Phillipson (Labour - Houghton and Sunderland South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to support employers to improve workplace health.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The HSE is undertaking a programme of targeted activity with employers to help them put in place suitable and proportionate preventative measures designed to address three key work-related ill health issues; musculoskeletal disease, work-related stress and occupational lung disease. This programme involves a substantial body of cross-cutting interventions (including publicity and awareness-raising activities, sector-specific initiatives, and regulatory interventions) and forms part of HSE’s contribution to the health and safety strategy – Helping Great Britain Work Well – launched in 2016.
The DWP and DHSC Joint Work and Health Unit is overseeing progress across 40 recommendations that were made in Thriving at Work: The Stevenson / Farmer review of mental health and employers published in October 2017 these range from short term deliverables to longer term reform. Government is committed to working with the authors of the review and key stakeholders across the public, private and voluntary sectors to ensure that employers of all sizes act to implement the core and enhanced standards and help them, and their employees, realise the benefits of healthy, inclusive workplaces.
One of the review’s recommendations was about transparency as a significant opportunity to encourage cultural change around mental health. We have worked with partners, including employers, to develop a framework to support organisations to record and voluntarily report information on disability and mental health in the workplace. This framework was published on 22nd November 2018 and is aimed at large employers with 250 or more employees. To improve information and advice for employers we are working with Mind and the Royal Foundation to continue developing their Mental Health at Work website (https://www.mentalhealthatwork.org.uk) which launched on 11th September 2018.
Asked by: Bridget Phillipson (Labour - Houghton and Sunderland South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to increase access for small businesses to occupational health advice.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 employers are legally required to assess the risk of ill health that may result from activities undertaken in the workplace, and act on that assessment. The approach applies to all employers and directs them to take preventative action. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) sets standards and provides a range of resources and guidance for employers. As part of this work, the HSE is undertaking a programme of targeted activity with employers to help them put in place suitable and proportionate preventative measures designed to address three key work-related ill health issues; musculoskeletal disease, work-related stress and occupational lung disease. This programme involves a substantial body of cross-cutting interventions (including publicity and awareness-raising activities, sector-specific initiatives, and regulatory interventions) and forms part of HSE’s contribution to the health and safety strategy – Helping Great Britain Work Well – launched in 2016.
We plan to consult later this year on measures to encourage and support all employers, including small and medium enterprises (SMEs), to play their part in retaining and reintegrating employees who are struggling with their health or who are off sick. This includes measures to improve access to cost effective and high quality occupational health services.