Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the report by WPI Economics entitled Making Statutory Sick Pay Work, published on 12 July 2023, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of (a) offering employees statutory sick pay from the first day they are off sick, (b) widening the eligibility criteria for statutory sick pay and (c) increasing the rate of statutory sick pay.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Government’s 2019 Health is Everyone’s Business Consultation proposed a package of reforms which aimed to reduce ill-health related job loss and support disabled people and people with health conditions to stay in, and thrive in, work. This included proposals for (limited) reform of SSP.
In response to the consultation (2021), the Government maintained that SSP provides an important link between the employee and employer but that this was not the right time to introduce changes to the sick pay system. The Government is continuing to keep the SSP system under review.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of undertaking a review of statutory sick pay.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Government’s 2019 Health is Everyone’s Business Consultation proposed a package of reforms which aimed to reduce ill-health related job loss and support disabled people and people with health conditions to stay in, and thrive in, work. This included proposals for (limited) reform of SSP.
In response to the consultation (2021), the Government maintained that SSP provides an important link between the employee and employer but that this was not the right time to introduce changes to the sick pay system. The Government is continuing to keep the SSP system under review.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department plans to take steps to improve Statutory Sick Pay.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Government’s 2019 Health is Everyone’s Business Consultation proposed a package of reforms which aimed to reduce ill-health related job loss and support disabled people and people with health conditions to stay in, and thrive in, work. This included proposals for (limited) reform of SSP.
In response to the consultation (2021), the Government maintained that SSP provides an important link between the employee and employer but that this was not the right time to introduce changes to the sick pay system. The Government is continuing to keep the SSP system under review.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the report by WPI Economics, entitled Making Statutory Sick Pay Work, published on 12 July 2023, what assessment his Department has made of implications for his policies of that report's findings on the impact of low rates of sick pay.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
No assessment has been made on the report in question.
Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is designed to balance providing support to the individual when they are sick, with the costs to employers of providing such support. Many employers decide to pay more, and for longer, through Occupational Sick Pay.
The Government is continuing to keep the SSP system under review.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress her Department has made in hiring additional work coaches in (a) Stoke-on-Trent and (b) Kidsgrove.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP currently has 65 additional new Work Coaches to date for the Stoke-on-Trent area including Kidsgrove, with a further 15 to be deployed in early 2021.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans she has to improve health and disability assessments.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The Government is committed to assessing people with health conditions and disabilities fairly and accurately, which is why we keep our processes under review. Over the course of seven Independent Reviews of our disability assessments, over 100 recommendations have been made, with the vast majority accepted. To this end, we have made significant improvements to both the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) and the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessment since their introduction.
We are also expanding the range of assessment channels, including the introduction of telephone assessments in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, and are currently evaluating the different channels to inform the future strategy.
In terms of future reform, the Health Transformation Programme will deliver a new integrated Health Assessment Service covering all health and disability benefits, providing a simpler, more efficient and joined-up experience for claimants.
We know there is more we can do to improve the current system. That is why the Department will be bringing forward a Green Paper in 2021 on how to improve our services for disabled people and people with health conditions. The Green Paper will explore assessment reform options and seek views on future changes.
The Green Paper will be strongly influenced by the views of disabled people and representatives from disability organisations, drawing on the significant engagement we have conducted, and plan to continue in the future.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether there is an upper limit on the number of placements that can be created through the Kickstart Scheme; and if she will publish data on the number of employers signed up to that scheme.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Kickstart Scheme is a £2 Billion programme, planning to create hundreds of thousands of new jobs for young people aged 16-24 at risk of long term unemployment, there is no upper limit on the number of placements. I confirm that the house will be updated on statistics from the Kickstart scheme.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking with employers to help ensure as many young people as possible benefit from the Kickstart scheme in (a) Stoke-on-Trent and (b) Staffordshire.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are pleased to confirm that the department is now processing many applications from across the UK, this is currently a clerical process, so reliable management information, particularly on geographical areas, is not yet available.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support her Department is providing to help disabled people in (a) Stoke-on-Trent and (b) Kidsgrove find and stay in work during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The Government has put in place a range of provision to help disabled people find and stay in work across the country. We are already helping disabled people stay in work and enter work through a range of programmes, including Access to Work, Disability Confident, the Work and Health Programme and the Intensive Personalised Employment Support Programme. During the Covid-19 outbreak, we have provided this support remotely and made the Work and Health Programme and Intensive Personalised Employment Support programmes easier to access by allowing self-referrals as well as referrals through work coaches.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent 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 support people facing financial disruption in (a) Stoke-on-Trent and (b) Staffordshire as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Will Quince
To support those on low incomes through the COVID-19 outbreak, the Government have introduced a package of temporary welfare measures. Taken together, these measures provide over £6.5bn of additional support through the welfare system and include: increasing Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit by up to £1,040 this financial year, benefiting over 4 million households; and increasing Local Housing Allowance rates, putting an average of £600 into people’s pockets this year.
We have made changes so that Statutory Sick Pay and Employment and Support Allowance are payable to people who are self-isolating, including those who are shielding, and who satisfy the conditions of entitlement. We have removed the waiting days so these are paid from day one. Households may also be eligible for Universal Credit.
The Government has also announced a new £500 million Hardship Fund as part of the package of measures to support those affected by coronavirus so that local authorities can support economically vulnerable people and households.
An additional £63 million of funding was confirmed by the Government on 11 June 2020, to be distributed to local authorities in England to help those who are struggling to afford essentials due to COVID-19.