Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the National Disability Strategy published 28 July 2021, if he will list which of those report's recommendations that have not been paused as a result of legal action has been (a) fully, (b) partially and (c) not been implemented by (i) action and (ii) Department responsible.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
In January 2022, the High Court declared the National Disability Strategy was unlawful because the UK Disability Survey, which informed it, was held to be a voluntary consultation that failed to comply with the legal requirements on public consultations.
We are disappointed by, and strongly disagree with, the High Court’s finding, and the Secretary of State has been granted permission to appeal the Court's declaration.
As the NDS was found to be unlawful, we are unable to provide you with the information in the format you have requested, as we do not centrally track commitments included in the NDS.
We are fully committed to supporting disabled people in the UK through creating more opportunities, protecting their rights and ensuring they fully benefit from, and can contribute to, every aspect of our society. To support this, we will be providing details of the Government’s recent achievements to improve disabled people’s lives in the forthcoming Disability Action Plan consultation due for publication in the summer.
Ahead of this, I will write providing a list of these achievements and will place a copy in the House Library.
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, by what date the Menopause Workplace Champion will be appointed.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
I am pleased to confirm today, Helen Tomlinson, has been appointed by DWP as the Governments Menopause Employment Champion.
We are committed to ensuring we address any stigma in the workplace associated with menopause and its symptoms - which can vary as well as, the age of women when they experience it. Working positively with employers is vital to ensure they can support, recruit and importantly retain women who are in employment and experiencing menopause and stop women perhaps considering giving up their employment due to the impacts which can occur affecting both confidence and wellbeing.
I look forward to working closely with Helen, to achieve our goals of driving workplace change that will help realise the full potential of women, businesses, and the economy by assisting women at any age and career stage to be properly supported and thrive in work.
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
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 potential merits of making people under the age of 25 living in supported accommodation eligible for the work allowance under universal credit.
Answered by Will Quince
There are no current plans to change eligibility for work allowances in Universal Credit. Work allowances are focussed on providing extra support for those with children or limited capability to work. All Universal Credit claimants who are in work and earn above any applicable work allowance will benefit from the single 63% taper rate which reduces their Universal Credit at a consistent and predictable rate and by less than they are earning.
To support young people into employment we are investing £2bn to support the creation of quality jobs via our Kickstart scheme, which is already creating thousands of high-quality jobs for young people.
On top of this, our DWP Youth Offer provides wrap-around support for 18-24 year olds in the intensive work search group, helping young people access provision stood up as part of the Plan for Jobs, alongside local work related provision.
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans she has to review the universal credit rate for young people who live alone.
Answered by Will Quince
The Universal Credit rate for under 25s reflects the lower wages that younger workers typically receive. Universal Credit also includes separate elements to provide support for housing costs, children and childcare costs and support for disabled people and carers. These additional amounts are provided to claimants at the same level irrespective of age.
There are no plans to review this at present. OBR figures show we have injected over £8bn into the welfare system in 2020/21, and we have extended the £20 a week increase to Universal Credit for a further six months. This increase is supporting millions of people across the UK, including those under 25.
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people under the age of 25 were refused Discretionary Housing Payment (a) nationally and (b) in each local authority area in (i) 2019 and (ii) 2020.
Answered by Will Quince
As Discretionary Housing Payments are administered by Local Authorities the information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
The most recent data available on Discretionary Housing Payments is the following set of official statistics: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/use-of-discretionary-housing-payments-april-to-september-2020