Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he plans to respond to the letter of 18 October 2023 from the hon. Member for Warley relating to Mr Bashir Ali and his father Aden Ali Dine.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
On 19 March 2024, DWP provided an interim response to the MP’s office. A full response will be provided in due course.
Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)
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 reduce barriers to older workers seeking to re-enter the workforce.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is making a number of interventions to address this issue. The government is providing over 20m over the next three years for an enhanced offer for people aged 50 and over to remain in and return to work.
Eligible older job seekers on Universal Credit will receive more intensive, tailored support, on top of the support that work coaches offer all claimants.
Full-time 50+ Champions are now in every JCP district across GB, to upskill Work Coaches in supporting over 50s return to work.
We are also expanding delivery of the Mid-Life MOT, which supports those in their 40s, 50s and 60s to take stock of their finances, skills and health. As part of the expansion the Mid-Life MOTs will be delivered online, in the private sector and in Job Centres.
The introduction of this package of support illustrates the Government’s recognition of the different situations, transitions and barriers currently faced by the over 50s in the labour market. We continue to work in addition with Andy Briggs the Older worker Champion.
Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)
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 classifying long covid as a condition eligible for Personal Independence Payments.
Answered by Chloe Smith
Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is intended to act as a contribution towards the extra costs that arise from needs related to a long-term health condition or disability. It is assessed on the basis of functional needs not a diagnosis or condition. The needs arising from long Covid are assessed in the same way as for all other health conditions or disabilities.
From March 2021 we amended PIP statistical classifications to include the category “Coronavirus COVID-19”. Data on the PIP caseload by a range of factors, including main disabling condition, can be extracted from Stat-Xplore (Stat-Xplore - Log in (dwp.gov.uk)) . Information on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found at Getting Started (dwp.gov.uk).
Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will reconsider the policy of including French tropical islands in the calculation of French winter temperatures for the purposes of winter fuel payments.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Winter fuel payments were introduced in winter 1997/98 and has been honoured by successive Governments. There are no plans to review this policy.
Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the overall outturn spending on housing benefit was in the latest year for which figures are available.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
In 2020/21 the spending on Housing Benefit was £17.3bn. This includes Housing Benefit within Welfare Cap, Housing Benefit outside Welfare Cap and Housing Benefit funded by Local Authorities. Figures were published after the Autumn Budget 2021 and they are available here:
Benefit expenditure and caseload tables 2021 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when she plans to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Warley of 24 May 2021 regarding Mr W Perkin.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
A response was issued by email on 15 June 2021. A confirmation, a letter was also issued to the hon Member on 26 July 2021.
Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to promote the employment of older workers.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The government is committed to supporting older workers to remain in and return to work, where they make an important contribution to the economy as well as achieving improved personal health, wellbeing and financial outcomes.
The Government’s Business Champion for Older Workers spearheads the Government’s work to support and encourage employers in England to retain, hire and re-train older workers by highlighting the benefits of multigenerational workforces and helping employers overcome any practical barriers or concerns.
We also work closely with employer organisations representing Small and Medium Enterprises including Local Enterprise Partnerships and Employers for Carers, to highlight the benefits of employing older workers.
To support those who become unemployed, our 50 Plus Champions (formally Older Claimant Champions) network provides dedicated support to Work Coaches across all 37 Jobcentre Plus districts to raise the profile of over 50s claimants and share best practice, encouraging the full use of suitable Plan for Jobs initiatives.
To help people plan for employment in later life, we launched a Mid-life MOT in 2019, encouraging those in their 40’s, 50’s and 60’s to consider aspects of their wealth, work and wellbeing. This helps them to make informed decisions about future income provision and longer-term employment prospects, supporting individuals to stay in work for longer and to achieve the later life that they want.
Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the effect on levels of employment among older people of employers requiring non-job specific qualifications.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The vast majority, almost 90% of 50-64 year olds do possess qualifications, It is important that employers look at the experience that people have learnt over their careers, and the true value that they are able to bring to that company.
The Government is working to ensure that all employers understand the value of a workforce of all ages, engaging with them to reap the many benefits of recruiting and employing older workers and the values of a multigenerational workforce via Andy Briggs, the Business Champion for Older Workers, influencing employers both strategically and in terms of practical advice.
Where beneficial, older workers can get help from Jobcentre Plus to convert their current qualifications into more modern certifications if appropriate. Jobcentre Plus is also working alongside DWP’s National Employers Service Team to develop links with employers and challenge perceptions of older claimants
The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to upskill, including through the lifetime skills guarantee.
Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when the Child Maintenance Service plans to restart action against people who are avoiding payments.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Paying parents are still expected to pay child maintenance throughout the pandemic period. We know the vast majority of parents take their responsibilities extremely seriously and will do whatever is needed to ensure their children are supported.
Where payments have been missed we have asked parents to report the changes via the self-service portal.
In order to ensure that receiving parents do not lose out in the long run, we have started to update cases with notified changes. Where payments have been missed the Service is taking action to re-establish compliance and collect any unpaid amounts that may have accrued.
No one will get away with giving false information. Those found to be abusing the system can be subjected to the full extent of our enforcement powers and the Child Maintenance Service will pursue these, where appropriate.
Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the hon. Member for Perth and North Perthshire, representing the House of Commons Commission, when the contract for running the Commons Remote Voting system was awarded to Civica Election Services; and whether the contract was subject to open competition.
Answered by Pete Wishart
The Commons Remote Voting system is being developed and implemented entirely by existing Parliamentary Digital Service resource. No contract has been awarded for this work. A contract was awarded on 22 April to Civica Election Services to run an online ballot for the Chairs of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee and the Committee on Standards. An open competition was not required as the expected final value is below the £10,000 threshold at which the Parliamentary Procurement Rules require multiple quotes to be sought.