Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans she has to mark National Workplace Day of Remembrance 2020 in Parliament.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
Every year on 28 April the Health and Safety Executive joins with the Trade Union Congress and others to mark International Workers’ Memorial Day. The event remembers all those who have lost their lives at work, or from work-related injury and diseases. Workers Memorial Day is commemorated throughout the world and is officially recognised by the UK Government.
The Health and Safety Executive welcomes any initiatives that will raise awareness of this important topic and help to reduce work related ill health, injury and death in the workplace.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the financial effect of the covid-19 outbreak on claimants on legacy benefits.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
To support those on low incomes through the outbreak, we introduced a package of temporary welfare measures.
We increased the Local Housing Allowance rates for Universal Credit and Housing Benefit claimants, so they now cover the lowest 30% of local rents. This increase, costing almost £1 billion, will mean 1.5 million households see an increase, on average, of £600 this year. We also increased the additional earnings disregard in Housing Benefit to ensure increases in the maximum rate of the basic element of Working Tax Credit did not impact on a claimant’s Housing Benefit award.
We legislated to allow access to Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) from day one of a claim for Covid-19 related cases and we have made it easier to access ESA by launching a portal for new style ESA online claims.
In addition to the above, legacy benefits were increased by £600m (1.7%) from April 2020 and will receive a further £100m (0.5%) increase from April 2021 as part of the Government’s annual up-rating exercise.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applications her Department has (a) received and (b) approved for Kickstart Scheme funding in (i) each UK region and (ii) the Sheffield City Region.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
I refer the honourable member to the Parliamentary Question HL10193, answered on 12 November. We are not yet able to break Kickstart data down by region.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many job placements have been (a) created and (b) filled through the Kickstart Scheme in (a) each UK region and (b) the Sheffield City Region.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
I refer the honourable member to the Parliamentary Question HL10193, answered on 12 November. We are not yet able to break Kickstart data down by region.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of Kickstart Scheme applications are assessed within the stated timeframe of one month; and what the average time taken is for an employee to begin a placement after an application has been approved under that scheme.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
We are not currently able to share this information. Our aim is to process applications within four weeks, although they may take longer if we have to seek additional information from the bidder.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley North)
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 economic effect on self-employed workers claiming universal credit of the reintroduction of the minimum income floor.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
After careful consideration of the ongoing public health situation and the national working environment, the current easement of the suspension of the Minimum Income Floor in Universal Credit that was due to expire on 12th November 2020 has been extended to the end of April 2021.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of universal credit claimants who would be affected by the reintroduction of the minimum income floor in (a) the Barnsley Central constituency, (b) the Sheffield city region and (c) Yorkshire and the Humber. .
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
After careful consideration of the ongoing public health situation and the national working environment, the current easement of the suspension of the Minimum Income Floor in Universal Credit that was due to expire on 12th November 2020 has been extended to the end of April 2021.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the National Insurance number application process for EU citizens; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has continued to monitor all aspects of the National Insurance Number (NINo) process throughout recent months, as we continue to respond to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on our services.
When applying for a NINo, all applicants are required to have their identity verified. For those applicants whose identity has already been verified by another UK Government Department, primarily the Home Office, their applications are dealt with by post. For those who have not had their identity verified, primarily EU/EEA nationals, the current process requires them to attend a face to face interview with DWP to verify their identity.
Due to COVID-19, the face to face interview process was suspended from 17th March 2020. This enabled us to retrain and redeploy a large number of staff to help process the substantial number of benefit claims received during this period.
It is not possible, due to the requirement to examine customers’ ID documents, to offer a virtual service. However, we are working on a digital solution that should enable us to restart the process incrementally by the end of September 2020.
Employers are required to conduct mandatory Right to Work checks on all prospective employees. Having a NINo is not part of these checks, and the possession of a NINo does not prove that an individual has a right to work. Indeed, an individual can apply for a job and take up employment without a NINo and the HMRC standard process allows payment of salary and collection of tax and NI without a NINo.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans her Department has to increase personal independent payment in line with the temporary increase in universal credit during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The Government has announced a suite of measures that can be quickly and effectively operationalised to benefit those facing the most financial disruption during the pandemic. Personal Independence Payment (PIP), a tax-free extra costs benefit worth up to £151.40 a week, was not subject to the benefits freeze and was most recently uprated by 1.7 per cent from 6 April.
PIP can be paid in addition to other financial support that those with a health condition or disability may be eligible for such as Employment and Support Allowance, Universal Credit, additional amounts and premiums paid within the income-related benefits, Carer’s Allowance or financial help with NHS travel costs.