Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether UK state pensioners who reside in the Irish Republic will receive annual updating of their UK state pension after the UK leaves the EU; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
The details for negotiating the UK’s exit from the EU will take some time. The status of pensioners will need to be carefully considered and state pensions will be considered carefully as part of the negotiations.
Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when his Department plans to publish the findings of its forthcoming review on personal independence payments.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to his previous Question UIN39987.
Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions his Department has had with stakeholders on the terms of reference of the forthcoming review on personal independence payments.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The Department has regular discussions with stakeholders on all aspects of Personal Independence Payment (PIP).
PIP is subject to two statutory, independent reports on the operation of assessments which determine ability to carry out daily living activities or mobility activities. The terms of reference for the second report, due to be published by April 2017, will be subject to the statutory criteria and will be published in due course.
Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Government has taken to implement the health and safety requirements set out in EU Directive 2013/35/EU on the exposure of workers to risks arising from electromagnetic fields.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The Government has been working for the last three years to transpose the requirements in EU Directive 2013/35/EU by 1 July 2016. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has worked closely with industry, trade associations, unions and other affected parties in developing an implementation approach which ensures workers are properly protected and employers are not subject to unnecessary burdens.
Formal public consultation gave strong support for transposing the Directive’s requirements into standalone regulations, the Control of Electromagnetic Fields at Work Regulations 2016, which are tightly focused on areas not covered by existing legislation.
In conjunction with stakeholders, HSE has developed practical and clear guidance for employers on complying with the new regulations and managing risks from electromagnetic radiation. This will be published to coincide with the introduction of the Regulations on 1 July 2016.
Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 4 December 2015 to Question 17647, if he will carry out a survey of women's attitudes to state pension equalisation.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The Department has no plans to carry out a survey of women’s attitudes to State Pension age equalisation. It has been Government policy since 1995 that the inequality between men and women’s State Pensions Ages must be removed.
Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the contribution of the Minister of State for Work and Pensions of 23 November 2015, Official Report, column 467HL, what the evidential basis is for her statement that most of the women affected by state pension equalisation have accepted this.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
My noble friend, the Minister for Pensions, engages regularly with older workers, employers and other stakeholders. The Minister for Pensions was summarising from her frequent discussions with these groups.
All women affected by faster equalisation will reach State Pension age after the introduction of the new State Pension. Around 650,000 women reaching State Pension age in the first ten years will receive an average of £8 per week (in 2014/15 earnings terms) more due to the new State Pension valuation of their National Insurance record.
Equalisation of the State Pension age was necessary under EU law to eliminate gender inequalities in welfare provision.
Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure that disabled people are supported to participate in apprenticeship schemes.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
Apprenticeships are paid jobs with substantial training. Whilst we would not want to interfere in employers’ recruitment decisions, we believe that there is more that can be done to ensure that people from a diverse range of backgrounds are in the best possible place to apply for and secure an apprenticeship.
The Apprenticeships Equality and Diversity Advisory Group helps the Government to understand and address any apprenticeship equality and diversity issues in order to reduce barriers and make apprenticeships as inclusive as possible.
Apprentices with a learning difficulty or disability can apply for Access to Work funding for reasonable adjustments in the workplace, and individuals whose circumstances mean they were not able to undertake an apprenticeship before their 19th birthday may qualify for enhanced funding as long as they start an apprenticeship before their 24th birthday.
The National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) has also produced an employer toolkit including resources and links to help employers of disabled apprentices.
In 2012 Government published the findings from Peter Little OBE’s detailed review of the inclusiveness of apprenticeships for people with learning difficulties or disabilities. The National Apprenticeship Service is working with the Skills Funding Agency (SFA), Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and Department for Education (DfE) to meet the recommendations made by this report, which can be viewed here:
Apprenticeships are accessible - in 2013/14, 38,170 people who declared a disability or learning difficulty started an apprenticeship.
Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how his Department plans to monitor the Government's progress on halving the disability employment gap; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
Progress against the disability employment gap is a key factor in progress towards full employment. This is consistent with the Government’s manifesto commitment which said ‘as part of our objective to achieve full employment, we will aim to halve the disability employment gap’. The annual report on progress towards full employment will include an update on the Government’s progress towards halving the disability employment gap.
Bringing disabled people out of inactivity and into employment increases the productive capacity of the economy. While it is not possible to quantify exactly the economic impact of halving the disability employment gap, it would directly benefit both the individuals affected, through higher employment allowing more people to support themselves and their families, and also the wider economy, by supporting economic growth and the public finances.