Asked by: Chris Elmore (Labour - Ogmore)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent steps his Department has taken to help ensure that people with non-smart prepayment meter receive their Energy Bill Support Scheme vouchers.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Customers with traditional prepayment meters should have received their first and second Energy Bills Support Scheme (EBSS) discount vouchers. These have been sent by SMS text, email or post.
Data for October indicates all vouchers have been dispatched by suppliers and take up so far is over 60%. The Government is issuing communications via a broad range of channels and stakeholders to increase awareness of the vouchers and how to redeem them. The Government will address any redemption issues identified.
Asked by: Chris Elmore (Labour - Ogmore)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many claims have been made for the first £400 instalment voucher of the Energy Bill Support Scheme by households with non-smart prepayment meters in Ogmore constituency as of 29 November 2022.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Customers with traditional prepayment meters should have received their first and second Energy Bills Support Scheme (EBSS) discount vouchers. These have been sent by SMS text, email or post. There is no need to apply for the discount under the Energy Bills Support Scheme in Great Britain.
Data for October indicates all vouchers have been dispatched by suppliers and over 60% of those eligible have claimed these. The Department will publish constituency data in due course.
Asked by: Chris Elmore (Labour - Ogmore)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many households in Ogmore constituency have non-smart prepayment meters installed as of 29 November 2022.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Department does not collect this information.
Asked by: Chris Elmore (Labour - Ogmore)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the participation rate is in Ogmore constituency for private sector employees in the Automatic Enrolment pension scheme over the last five tax years.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
For private sector employees eligible for automatic enrolment in the Ogmore constituency over the last 5 years, the workplace pension participation rate is shown in Table 1.
Table 1: Participation rate for eligible private sector employees in the Ogmore constituency
Participation rate | |
2017 | (73%) |
2018 | (85%) |
2019 | (91%) |
2020 | (93%) |
2021 | (84%) |
Source:
DWP estimates derived from ONS ASHE.
Statistical notes:
Asked by: Chris Elmore (Labour - Ogmore)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of the £6.4 million allocated to support disabled people at work will be apportioned to Wales.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The figure of £6.4m relates to a three-year programme of work to design, develop, and maintain the Support with Employee Health and Disability digital service which is a GB-wide service. This will provide online advice to help employers across GB to:
The Department for Work and Pensions are liaising with the devolved administrations in Wales and Scotland during the service development, which is on-going.
Asked by: Chris Elmore (Labour - Ogmore)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of the total Disability Cost of Living Payments due to people in Ogmore constituency have been paid as of 8 November 2022.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
In line with the code of practice, the number of Cost of Living Payments made to recipients of a specific constituency is the subject of an upcoming statistical release, and cannot be released before that publication is ready, subject to usual quality assurance.
It is not possible to determine how many people are due a Cost of Living Payment, as entitlement may not have been established at the time the payments were made. We will periodically make payments to people who have later been found to be eligible and have not yet received a payment. The payments will continue to be made automatically in the same way the qualifying benefit or tax credit is paid.
The timetable for when Cost of Living Payments are made is published here: Cost of Living Payment - GOV.UK.
The Department for Work and Pensions has published management information on the total number of Disability Cost of Living Payments made. As of 30 September 2022, 6,000,000 Disability Cost of Living payments had been made.
The information which will be updated as new payments are made can be found here: Cost of Living Payment management information - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Chris Elmore (Labour - Ogmore)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many £150 Disability Cost of Living Payments have been paid in Ogmore constituency as of 8 November 2022.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
In line with the code of practice, the number of Cost of Living Payments made to recipients of a specific constituency is the subject of an upcoming statistical release, and cannot be released before that publication is ready, subject to usual quality assurance.
The Department for Work and Pensions has published management information on the total number of Disability Cost of Living Payments made. As of 30 September 2022, 6,000,000 Disability Cost of Living Payments had been made.
The information which will be updated as new payments are made can be found here: Cost of Living Payment management information - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Chris Elmore (Labour - Ogmore)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have claimed (a) Widowed Parent's Allowance and (b) the Bereavement Support Payment since the eligibility of those payments was extended to surviving cohabiting partners with dependent children who were not in a legal union with the deceased on the date of death.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We cannot currently accept claims for Widowed Parent’s Allowance or Bereavement Support Payment from those who were not in a legal union with their deceased partner. This is because the draft Bereavement Benefits (Remedial) Order, which proposes to extend eligibility for these benefits to surviving cohabiting partners with dependent children, has not yet become law. We laid the draft Order in Parliament on 13 October 2022. It will lay in Parliament for a 60-day period, and will need to be debated and voted upon in both Houses of Parliament before it can become law.
Asked by: Chris Elmore (Labour - Ogmore)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on plans for regeneration of coalfield communities in the next five years.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal discussions are not normally disclosed. This Government is, however, committed to levelling up the UK by spreading opportunity more equally across the country, investing in places that need it most, including coalfield communities. Several former coalfield communities are benefiting from our Towns Fund, including Goldthorpe and Mansfield which have Town Deals running until 2025/26. Through our Community Ownership Fund, coalfield communities can apply for funding to save assets like local pubs, shops and sports clubs from closure - like the CANA resource and training centre in Rhondda Cynon Taf which received funding in Round 1.
Asked by: Chris Elmore (Labour - Ogmore)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the plans on support for renewables and nuclear in the British energy security strategy, published in April 2022, if he will publish a timescale for spending in these areas.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Department has set out a timetable for delivering the Government’s ambitions for these technologies as part of the British Energy Security Strategy. This builds on the funding commitments set out in the 2021 Spending Review. Future departmental expenditure limits will be agreed with HM Treasury at the next Spending Review.