Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
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 devolving (a) the Kickstart scheme and (b) other employment schemes and resources to local authorities.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions’ Kickstart Scheme is providing job placements for 16-24 year olds across the UK. Many local authorities have been successful in bidding to participate directly in the scheme. Beyond this, local authorities are working with us acting as Kickstarters gateways to facilitate local businesses who would like to take on less than 30 participants to ensure that as many young people benefit as possible.
We have made available a number of additional labour market provisions over recent months which are evidenced through the recent Spending Review and July Plan for Jobs announcements. The principle remains that we look to local partners to complement the national government offer where possible.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what sanctions are available to the Pensions Regulator in cases where an employer has consistently withheld pension contributions from an employee's workplace pension.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Pensions Regulator (TPR), as the compliance authority for workplace pensions, has a range of statutory powers including the ability to issue fixed and escalating penalty fines to employers for failure to comply with the law.
Information about the use made of those enforcement powers can be found in TPR’s quarterly automatic enrolment compliance and enforcement bulletins, the most recent of which is published on its website, here: https://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/en/document-library/enforcement-activity/enforcement-bulletins/compliance-and-enforcement-quarterly-bulletin-april-to-june-2020
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that all employers fulfil their legal duties to make contributions to workplace pension schemes.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Automatic enrolment duties continue to apply to all employers with eligible workers.
The Pensions Regulators latest message on reporting duties and enforcement is published on its website, here: https://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/en/covid-19-coronavirus-what-you-need-to-consider/covid-19-an-update-on-reporting-duties-and-enforcement-activity
Government is monitoring the implications of Covid-19 for savers, employers and the pension industry. And as part of supporting the United Kingdom’s economic recovery, our aim remains to help workers achieve greater financial resilience for the long term.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 16 July 2020 to Question 73027 on Universal Credit: Coronavirus, what progress has been made on the Government target to double the number of work coaches.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Work Coach recruitment commenced in June with an initial cross government campaign and followed by a further 12 targeted external campaigns at the beginning of July. Additional external campaigns will be launched on Wednesday 9 September with further adverts launching on a weekly basis over the following 4 weeks.
Over 300 new work coaches have now started and our plans will see over 4500 start by 31 October with a further 9000 starting by 31 March 2021.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made on the preparedness of her Department to (a) process a potential increase in the number of universal credit applications and (b) provide support to those applicants in an adequate time frame in the event of an increase in unemployment as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department continues to keep the services it provides to customers and the resources to support that service under review: this includes our response to the effect of COVID-19 on the labour market.
We are rapidly making provision, in line with public health guidance, for jobseekers to be offered face-to-face appointments with our work coaches, as we re-open our jobcentres across the country.
We have already committed to the doubling of the number of work coaches, the majority of these [13500] roles will be new posts.
The ‘Job Finding Support’ online service will provide tailored support for those who have lost their job to improve their employability, as well as skill-matching them with employers.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many new applications for universal credit were made (a) online and (b) by telephone in June 2020.
Answered by Will Quince
The number of claims made between 01 June 2020 and 23 June 2020 are as follows:
(a) online 254,840
(b) telephone 4,280
Notes:
1. Figures provided to 23 June 2020 in line with published Universal Credit Management Information
2. Figures are GB and rounded to nearest 10
3. Based on claims declared between 01 June 2020 and 23 June 2020
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has plans to allocate emergency funding to food banks to provide support for claimants of social security benefits that need additional support.
Answered by Will Quince
Food banks are independent charitable organisations and, as such, are best placed to decide on the most appropriate arrangements for supporting people who use them. As both the Prime Minister and the Chancellor have made clear, the Government will do whatever it takes to support people affected by COVID 19 and we have been clear in our intention that no one should be penalised for doing the right thing. These are rapidly developing circumstances, we continue to keep the situation under review and will keep Parliament updated accordingly.
I also refer the honourable member to the response given by the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in response to an oral question made on 19 March:
Additionally announcements were made at the Prime Minister’s daily briefings on 21 and 22 March in relation to food supply.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will produce a national strategy to ensure that existing and new users of foodbanks will be fed by the food bank networks during the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by Will Quince
Food banks are independent charitable organisations and, as such, are best placed to decide on the most appropriate arrangements for supporting people who use them. As both the Prime Minister and the Chancellor have made clear, the Government will do whatever it takes to support people affected by COVID 19 and we have been clear in our intention that no one should be penalised for doing the right thing. These are rapidly developing circumstances, we continue to keep the situation under review and will keep Parliament updated accordingly.
I also refer the honourable member to the response given by the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in response to an oral question made on 19 March:
Additionally announcements were made at the Prime Minister’s daily briefings on 21 and 22 March in relation to food supply.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will review the merits of the higher deduction from universal credit payments for maternity allowance than for maternity pay.
Answered by Will Quince
Universal Credit is a means tested system of support and where claimants have income available to meet their everyday living costs, such as maternity allowance, it is right that their entitlement to UC is adjusted accordingly (as currently is the case with other DWP legacy means tested working age benefits).
Statutory maternity pay is paid by an employer and is a form of earnings. As a result, statutory maternity pay is therefore subject to the work allowance and tapering within Universal Credit, as are other earnings.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has plans to introduce the Pensions Bill before summer 2019.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
This Government has recently published responses to a series of consultations, and have engaged extensively with key stakeholders and the Pensions Regulator.
In these we have committed to strengthen the Pensions Regulator’s powers to both enforce pension’s legislation and to punish those who have acted recklessly or failed to comply with their obligations. We have committed to facilitate industry to make pensions dashboards a reality. We are also compelling pension schemes to make consumers data available to them and to facilitate collective defined contribution schemes.
The Government will bring forward legislation to introduce these measures as soon as parliamentary time permits.