Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many of her Department's staff, who work with black women and girls affected by domestic abuse, have received specialist cultural training.
Answered by Guy Opperman
All DWP staff in customer facing roles undertake comprehensive learning to support customers affected by domestic abuse. All learning provides staff with the knowledge and skills to treat each claimant as an individual.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
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 increase the carers allowance cap to reflect the rise in minimum wage so that part-time workers do not have to reduce their hours to continue qualifying for carers allowance.
Answered by Chloe Smith
Carer’s Allowance has an earnings limit which permits carers to undertake some part-time work if they are able to do so. This recognises the benefits of staying in touch with the workplace, including greater financial independence and social interaction. We know that some carers are keen to maintain contact with the labour market so we want to encourage carers to combine some paid work with their caring duties wherever possible. That is why we regularly increase the earnings limit when it is warranted and affordable.
The earnings limit for those in receipt of Carer’s Allowance who are able to maintain some contact with the employment market is currently £128 a week. Subject to Parliamentary approval, this will increase to £132 a week from April 2022. This will mean that the earnings limit will have increased by around one third since 2010.
The earnings limit for Carer's Allowance is a figure net of certain expenses, including income tax, National Insurance contributions and half of any contributions to an occupational or personal pension, which means that some carers will be able to earn considerably more in gross earnings than the weekly earnings limit.
The earnings limit for Carer’s Allowance is not linked to any specific factor such as the number of hours worked, or the National Living Wage. However, the Government keeps the earnings limit under review and will consider changes where they are warranted and affordable.
Many carers who are receiving Carer’s Allowance and doing some work will also be receiving Universal Credit. For those receiving Universal Credit, the 55% taper rate and any applicable work allowance will help to ensure that people are better off in work.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will undertake a public consultation on amending the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 to require businesses to report long term sickness due to stress as a health and safety issue.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR) are made under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and apply to all sectors and workplaces in Great Britain.
The 2013 regulations clarified and simplified the list of reportable ill-health conditions (occupational diseases), as a result of a recommendation made by Professor Löfstedt in his report “Reclaiming health and safety for all: An independent review of health and safety legislation”, published in 2011.
The Health and Safety Executive keeps the regulations, including the specified injuries and reportable diseases under review. The list of current reportable occupational diseases will be considered as part of the next formal post-implementation review of RIDDOR, which is due to report in 2023. Stress is not always work-related but can be connected to many other issues outside of the workplace and as such it would not be appropriate to require stress to be reported under RIDDOR.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of Kickstart applications waiting for a decision for eight weeks or more after submission as at 27 May 2021 were from organisations based in Hertfordshire.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
Delivering the Kickstart Scheme at pace has led to a limited data set which makes it hard to present an accurate snapshot of a smaller geographical area, meaning we are currently unable to provide information at a county wide level. We are continuing to develop our data, which may help in sharing this level of information in due course.
Since the launch of the Kickstart Scheme we have made changes to the assessment process to enable a quicker turnaround of applications, whilst ensuring that we continue to protect taxpayer’s money through robust and fair procedures. Data from 27 May shows that over the previous 7 days, the average number of days from application receipt to grant agreement issued is less than 20 days.
Although care is taken when processing and analysing Kickstart applications, referrals and starts, the data collected might be subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system which has been developed quickly. The management information presented here has not been subjected to the usual standard of quality assurance associated with official statistics, but is provided in the interests of transparency. Work is ongoing to improve the quality of information available for the program.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
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 accessibility of (a) personal independence payment and (b) universal credit for people with endometriosis.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
I refer the Member to the answer I gave on 30 November 2020 to Question UIN 120949.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2021 to Question 157304 on Pension Credit: Publicity, how much the Government spent on promoting the uptake of pension credit in (a) 2017-18, (b) 2018-19 and (c) 2019-20.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The Department uses a wide range of channels to reach potential recipients; this includes some 11 million uprating letters currently being sent to State Pension recipients, alongside work with the BBC on their mailings and support with and from a range of other organisations. It is not feasible to undertake such an assessment with precision.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will review the definition of Statutory Sick Pay to fully recognise long-term and fluctuating conditions.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is payable for up to 28 weeks per sickness absence. Sickness absences which are less than 8 weeks apart count as the same period of sickness. In a new period of sickness, employees are eligible for 28 weeks of SSP. In this way, those with long-term or fluctuating conditions are supported through SSP.
SSP provides a minimum level of income for employees when they are sick or incapable of work. Employers are legally required to pay SSP to eligible employees who are off work sick or incapable of work, where employees meet the qualifying conditions. Some employers may also decide to pay more, and for longer, through Occupational Sick Pay.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will publish an action plan to increase the number of eligible people applying for pension credit.
Answered by Guy Opperman
DWP continues to use available channels to promote Pension Credit and reach potential recipients, and their family and friends. This includes using proactive press activity and planned social media posts to encourage older people to check if they are eligible by visiting the gov.uk website or calling the Freephone claim line 0800 99 1234.
The Department is currently sending letters to over 11 million pensioners in Great Britain informing them about the increase in their State Pension from April. In order to better promote Pension Credit and encourage eligible pensioners to make a claim, the accompanying leaflet includes specific information about Pension Credit, highlighting that an award of Pension Credit can mean being eligible for other benefits such as Housing Benefit or a free over-75 TV licence.
As part of an internal review of communication products, we have also identified improvements in our Pension Credit messaging at other key customer “touchpoints” and are updating the products used to claim Attendance Allowance and Carer’s Allowance accordingly.
We also continue to liaise regularly with stakeholders about ways to encourage take-up of Pension Credit, and working with the BBC on their messaging around free TV licences and Pension Credit through their licensing letters and other channels.
A targeted, pilot campaign in early 2020 was developed to explore the role for advertising beyond that broader promotion. This time limited pilot used advertising in GP surgeries, Post Offices and social media. Activity was curtailed by the early impact of the pandemic. We are continually reviewing the role for paid advertising.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much the Government has spent on promoting the uptake of pension credit in each year of the last three years.
Answered by Guy Opperman
DWP continues to use available channels to promote Pension Credit and reach potential recipients, and their family and friends. This includes using proactive press activity and planned social media posts to encourage older people to check if they are eligible by visiting the gov.uk website or calling the Freephone claim line 0800 99 1234.
The Department is currently sending letters to over 11 million pensioners in Great Britain informing them about the increase in their State Pension from April. In order to better promote Pension Credit and encourage eligible pensioners to make a claim, the accompanying leaflet includes specific information about Pension Credit, highlighting that an award of Pension Credit can mean being eligible for other benefits such as Housing Benefit or a free over-75 TV licence.
As part of an internal review of communication products, we have also identified improvements in our Pension Credit messaging at other key customer “touchpoints” and are updating the products used to claim Attendance Allowance and Carer’s Allowance accordingly.
We also continue to liaise regularly with stakeholders about ways to encourage take-up of Pension Credit, and working with the BBC on their messaging around free TV licences and Pension Credit through their licensing letters and other channels.
A targeted, pilot campaign in early 2020 was developed to explore the role for advertising beyond that broader promotion. This time limited pilot used advertising in GP surgeries, Post Offices and social media. Activity was curtailed by the early impact of the pandemic. We are continually reviewing the role for paid advertising.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
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 potential merits of ensuring that directors dividends are included in the initial calculation of child maintenance payments.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The 2012 Child Maintenance Service (CMS) moved from an assessment on a net income basis, used by the former Child Support Agency (CSA), to a gross income basis in order to simplify the calculation process. CMS assessments are based initially on gross income information received directly from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). As dividend payments are issued from a company’s annual profits after tax, they are not included in the initial child maintenance calculation.
For child support purposes, dividend payments are treated as unearned income, and can be taken into account via a variation application. Variations are specific types of changes which allow the CMS to look at some circumstances not covered by the basic maintenance calculation rules. If a variation succeeds the maintenance calculation will be adjusted accordingly. CMS can check HMRC data for dividend payments to support an application for a variation.
Taking information directly from HMRC allows us to capture a wide range of income types received by paying parents. Basing the assessment on gross income data has enabled the CMS to significantly speed up the set-up of new cases which can be key to securing regular payments.