Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
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 adequacy of the implementation of health checks on a regular basis by employers of night workers in the context of the Working Time Regulations; and what guidance his Department holds on the interpretation of what a regular basis constitutes to in carrying out these checks.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is responsible for the Working Time Regulations (WTR) 1998 which place duties on employers in respect of health assessments for night workers. Regulation 7 requires employers to ensure that each night worker employed by them has the opportunity of a free health assessment at regular intervals. It is not mandatory for workers to take up this offer.
There is no prescribed procedure for conducting a health assessment, but as a minimum, employers should construct a screening questionnaire compiled with guidance from a qualified health care professional. HSE online guidance does not define the term “regular basis” but states that “the requirements in Regulation 7 complement the duty in the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 reg.3 to make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to the health and safety of employees.” The frequency of the health assessment should therefore be guided by an assessment of the specific risks to each individual worker. HSE would review health assessments on a case-by-case basis as required.
HSE guidance on shift working supports employers by outlining their legal duties. Where workers are concerned about risks to their health and safety, they can raise this with HSE via its website.
Employers should seek specialist advice from a suitably qualified health care professional, when devising and assessing the results of health assessments. If a worker suffers from health problems that are caused or made worse by night work, the employer should, where possible, transfer the employee to day work.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has plans to means test Personal Independence Payments.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 14 November 2022 to Question UIN 80882.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when will he respond to the correspondence of 21 October 2022 from the hon. Member for North Durham.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The department issued a response to correspondence from the Hon. Member for North Durham on Wednesday 9th November 2022.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has plans to reduce the number of hours carers must undertake their care work in order to be eligible for Carer's Allowance.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
There are no plans to change the eligibility conditions for Carer’s Allowance with respect to the number of hours that care is provided for.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to increase the Carer's Allowance in line with trends in the level of the (a) Consumer Price Index and (b) Retail Price Index.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has an annual statutory duty to review the rates of benefits and state pensions. The Social Security Administration Act 1992 sets out the requirements with respect to Carer’s Allowance. Her review will commence shortly and her decisions will be announced to Parliament by 25 November.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to increase the level of the Carer's Allowance.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has an annual statutory duty to review the rates of benefits and state pensions. The Social Security Administration Act 1992 sets out the requirements with respect to Carer’s Allowance. Her review will commence shortly and her decisions will be announced to Parliament by 25 November.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Government has plans to increase statutory maternity pay.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The standard rate of Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) is reviewed annually, alongside state benefits, and is generally increased in line with the Consumer Prices Index (CPI). From April 2022 the standard rate of SMP increased to £156.66, in line with the September 2021 CPI rate of 3.1%.
Government already spends approximately £3 billion a year on maternity payments. Any changes to the rate of SMP would have to take account of economic circumstances and affordability for taxpayers and could not be made without consultation with businesses and other stakeholders.
The Government has no plans to increase the rate of SMP outside of the annual review of uprating.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent discussions her Department has had with representatives of the Women Against State Pension Inequality group on the effectiveness of her Department's communication of changes to women's state pension age.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
There have been no recent discussions with representatives of the Women Against State Pension Inequality group.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason the money students receive through maintenance loans from Student Finance is being deducted from universal credit payments.
Answered by Will Quince
Students cannot normally satisfy the entitlement conditions for Universal Credit (UC). Exceptions are made where students have additional needs that are not met through the student support system. Primary financial support for students comes from this student support system which is designed for their needs, unlike the social security system. It is important that UC does not duplicate this support and UC broadly mirrors the treatment of most of the legacy benefits it replaces. This safeguards fairness whilst also ensuring simplification of the benefit system. Eligible claimants receiving legacy benefits whose circumstances remain the same will be considered for transitional protection to protect entitlement at the point of transition to UC.
Where UC is paid to a student, any student loan or grant paid to meet living costs is subject to a £110 disregard in each Assessment Period where student income is taken into account, equivalent to that provided under Legacy Benefits. Any reduction is only for living costs as loans or grants for other things, such as tuition fees or books, are fully disregarded. Any Special Support loan/grant is also fully disregarded as this specifically covers the costs of the course
Whilst it is acknowledged that maintenance loans are to be paid back, if they were not treated as income and were disregarded this would result in UC (and most legacy benefits) duplicating support already provided through the student finance system.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Government takes to ensure that face painters use paint that is compliant with the CE standards required under Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 on cosmetic products.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Cosmetic products, including face paints, must comply with Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 on cosmetic products and must be safe before they can be placed on the market. Local Authority Trading Standards have responsibility for enforcement of these regulations.
In the workplace, health and safety laws apply only to those who offer face painting services commercially (employing organisations, those they employ and the self-employed). The requirements do not apply to members of the public or to those who carry out face painting on a voluntary, non-commercial basis e.g. at a community fete.
Employers and the self-employed have general responsibilities under Section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (HSWA) to manage the risks presented by their business to ensure, so far as is reasonably practical, the safety and health of members of the public affected by their business. Whilst HSWA does not specify the standard of face paint to be used in meeting these legal duties, commercial face painters would be expected to ensure that the paints used on clients meet the relevant standards and are safe for use eg that they do not cause harmful skin reactions.
Whilst the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) holds the national policy lead for the leisure and beauty industries, responsibility for enforcing health and safety legislation at individual work premises in these sectors rests primarily with the Local Authority Environmental Health Department where the premises are located. HSE would enforce where a peripatetic commercial face painter carries out their work in domestic premises e.g. at a children’s party.
Local Authorities and HSE take a risk-based approach to targeting their regulatory activities and in terms of occupational health and safety, face painting would generally be deemed as low risk. However, where there is evidence that risks are not being properly managed e.g. as a result of concerns being raised or incidents reported, the appropriate enforcing authority is able to intervene and take appropriate enforcement action to ensure that employees and customers are protected.