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Written Question
Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing
Tuesday 19th July 2016

Asked by: Eilidh Whiteford (Scottish National Party - Banff and Buchan)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of extending the Shared Accommodation Rate to social rented housing on the ability of single people under the age of 35 to access general needs social rented housing.

Answered by Caroline Nokes

Full impact and equality impact assessments will be undertaken in due course.

Single people under 35 will be exempt from the Shared Accommodation Rate if they fall into one of the categories below:

  • They have children or a non-dependent living with them;
  • They qualify for a severe disability premium;
  • If they have left care and are under the age of 22;
  • If they have an extra bedroom for a non-resident carer providing overnight care;
  • If they are a foster carer;
  • They are aged 25 to 34 years old and have spent at least 3 months in a homeless hostel or hostel specialising in rehabilitation and resettlement;
  • They are aged 25 to 34 years old who are an ex-offender managed under a multi-agency MAPPA agreement.

For those who are not covered by these exemptions, they will be able to apply for Discretionary Housing Payments if they need help meeting the shortfall in their rent.

Written Question
Social Security Benefits
Thursday 7th July 2016

Asked by: Eilidh Whiteford (Scottish National Party - Banff and Buchan)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will publish updated mortality statistics for employment and support allowance, incapacity benefit and severe disablement allowance.

Answered by Priti Patel

The Department has no plans to update these statistics.

Written Question
Work Capability Assessment
Tuesday 31st May 2016

Asked by: Eilidh Whiteford (Scottish National Party - Banff and Buchan)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidelines his Department issues to its staff on carrying out Genuine Prospect of Work assessments.

Answered by Priti Patel

Guidance for Department for Work and Pensions staff responsible for carrying out Genuine Prospect of Work tests can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/510008/dmgch0703.pdf

Written Question
Employment and Support Allowance: Work Capability Assessment
Tuesday 31st May 2016

Asked by: Eilidh Whiteford (Scottish National Party - Banff and Buchan)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Answer of 28 April 2016 to Question 34944, on Employment and Support Allowance, if he will publish the guidance on all aspects of the Work Capability Assessment including the application of Regulation 35 of the Employment Allowance Regulations 2008.

Answered by Priti Patel

The revised version of the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) Handbook, which contains written guidance on all aspects of the Work Capability Assessment including the application of Regulation 35, will be published in due course.

Written Question
Jobseeker's Allowance
Tuesday 31st May 2016

Asked by: Eilidh Whiteford (Scottish National Party - Banff and Buchan)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people (a) successfully made an application for Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) and (b) were unsuccessful in an application for JSA following a Genuine Prospect of Work assessment in the last two years.

Answered by Priti Patel

The Department does not record statistics on applications for Jobseeker’s Allowance following a genuine prospect of work assessment.

To collate the information requested would take the costs of responding to the question over the disproportionate cost threshold.

Written Question
Construction: Industrial Health and Safety
Thursday 26th May 2016

Asked by: Eilidh Whiteford (Scottish National Party - Banff and Buchan)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many unplanned Health and Safety Executive inspections were conducted at construction sites in (a) Scotland, (b) England, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland in each of the last five years.

Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

HSE does not carry out unplanned inspections, but targets its proactive visits (the majority of which are unannounced) based on intelligence about industry risk profiles and duty holder performance. The following table provides the available data for the last 5 years (HSE does not hold data for inspections in Northern Ireland):

Inspections1

Scotland

England

Wales

Region not recorded3

2011/12

HSE

2215

18010

1289

200

Construction2

1290

9883

942

173

2012/13

HSE

2787

18177

1125

151

Construction2

1283

9009

627

128

2013/14

HSE

2124

19869

1448

157

Construction2

958

10384

541

136

2014/15

HSE

1700

16980

1320

120

Construction2

649

8987

526

110

2015/16

HSE

2082

14774

1170

105

Construction2

873

7794

453

97

Notes:

1 – The data provided is based on live, operational records as at 25 May 2016.

2 – This represents inspections of construction activities carried out by inspectors in Construction Division and by inspectors in other HSE divisions at sites with the Standard Industrial Classifications 41-43.

3 –The regional location is determined by local authority area, which may not have been confirmed at the time of recording.

Written Question
Industrial Health and Safety
Thursday 26th May 2016

Asked by: Eilidh Whiteford (Scottish National Party - Banff and Buchan)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many unplanned Health and Safety Executive inspections took place in (a) Scotland, (b) England, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland in each of the last five years.

Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

HSE does not carry out unplanned inspections, but targets its proactive visits (the majority of which are unannounced) based on intelligence about industry risk profiles and duty holder performance. The following table provides the available data for the last 5 years (HSE does not hold data for inspections in Northern Ireland):

Inspections1

Scotland

England

Wales

Region not recorded3

2011/12

HSE

2215

18010

1289

200

Construction2

1290

9883

942

173

2012/13

HSE

2787

18177

1125

151

Construction2

1283

9009

627

128

2013/14

HSE

2124

19869

1448

157

Construction2

958

10384

541

136

2014/15

HSE

1700

16980

1320

120

Construction2

649

8987

526

110

2015/16

HSE

2082

14774

1170

105

Construction2

873

7794

453

97

Notes:

1 – The data provided is based on live, operational records as at 25 May 2016.

2 – This represents inspections of construction activities carried out by inspectors in Construction Division and by inspectors in other HSE divisions at sites with the Standard Industrial Classifications 41-43.

3 –The regional location is determined by local authority area, which may not have been confirmed at the time of recording.

Written Question
Occupational Health
Thursday 26th May 2016

Asked by: Eilidh Whiteford (Scottish National Party - Banff and Buchan)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Government plans to take to reduce the number of occupation illnesses.

Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Tackling ill health is one of six strategic themes in the new strategy for the health and safety system, ‘Helping Great Britain work well’. The strategy is available at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/strategy/index.htm

Written Question
Employment and Support Allowance
Thursday 28th April 2016

Asked by: Eilidh Whiteford (Scottish National Party - Banff and Buchan)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants have been awarded employment and support allowance (ESA) under regulation (a) 29 and (b) 35 of the Employment and Support Allowance Regulations 2008; and how many such claimants were originally in the ESA support group.

Answered by Priti Patel

Information on the outcomes of initial Employment and Support Allowance claims awarded under regulation 35 of the ESA Regulations 2008 can be found in Table 5 of the published statistics:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/esa-outcomes-of-work-capability-assessments-claims-made-to-jun-2015-and-appeals-to-dec-2015.

The rest of the information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Written Question
Employment and Support Allowance
Thursday 28th April 2016

Asked by: Eilidh Whiteford (Scottish National Party - Banff and Buchan)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance his Department provides to health care professionals on applying the power in regulation 35 of the Employment Allowance Regulations 2008 to award employment and support allowance to claimants in the support group in exceptional circumstances.

Answered by Priti Patel

Healthcare professionals who carry out the Work Capability Assessment are trained in all aspects of their role including the application of Regulation 35. They are also issued with written guidance on all aspects of the Work Capability Assessment including the application of Regulation 35.