Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of the benefit cap on people living in regions with high housing costs outside of Greater London; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) aligning the benefit cap with Local Housing Allowance rates and (b) exempting housing-related benefits from a benefits cap set at a lower rate.
Answered by Jo Churchill
No assessment has been made and there are no current plans to change the policy.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has plans to distinguish between (a) studio and (b) one bedroom apartments in Local Housing Allowance rates.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
A one-bedroom rate for the calculation of Local Housing Allowance is defined as accommodation where the tenant has the exclusive use of only one bedroom and exclusive use of a kitchen, a bathroom, a toilet and a room suitable for living in. This includes studio apartments. There are no plans to change this definition.
Housing support is calculated according to the number of bedrooms a person needs based on the size of their household.
The maximum housing costs support is the lower of the actual rent and service charges or the relevant Local Housing Allowance rate.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Health and Safety Executive has plans to update its guidance on workplace transmission of blood borne viruses.
Answered by Paul Maynard
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), is the regulator of workplace health and safety and publishes guidance aimed to assist employers in controlling workplace risks, including those from blood-borne viruses where this is relevant to their work activities.
HSE’s approach to developing guidance is led by intelligence to ensure it remains appropriate. Whilst there is no evidence to suggest changes to workplace risks, HSE is currently working with experts from scientific advisory committees to review the guidance and will update it as necessary in due course.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the timing of a decision on the continuation of the Household Support Fund on the operation of local authority support services.
Answered by Jo Churchill
The current Household Support Fund runs from April 2023 until the end of March 2024, and the Government continues to keep all its existing programmes under review in the usual way.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he has taken to reduce waiting times for PIP assessments.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
We are committed to ensuring people can access financial support through Personal Independence Payment (PIP) in a timely manner. Reducing customer journey times for PIP claimants is a priority for the department and we are working constantly to make improvements to our service.
We always aim to make an award decision as quickly as possible, taking into account the need to review all available evidence, including that from the claimant.
We have seen a decrease in PIP clearance times, with the latest statistics showing that the average end-to-end journey has reduced from 26 weeks in August 2021 to 15 weeks at the end of July 2023. This is because we’re:
In addition, the Health Transformation Programme (HTP) is modernising health and disability benefit services to create a more efficient service, to reduce processing times and improving trust in our services and decisions. As part of this, from July 2023, a limited number of claimants have been able to begin their claim for PIP entirely online, which we aim to roll out across England, Wales and Northern Ireland by the end of 2024.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Department of Work and Pensions, whether he plans to accept the invitation from Garden Court Chambers to attend mediation talks with Joanne Welch from CEDAWinLAW on an alternative dispute resolution for women born in the 1950s who were affected by changes in the State Pension age.
Answered by Laura Trott - Shadow Secretary of State for Education
In the legal challenge on changes to State Pension age, both the High Court and Court of Appeal have found no fault in the actions of the DWP, under successive governments dating back to 1995, finding Government acted entirely lawfully and did not discriminate on any grounds.
Additionally, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman has not completed his investigation into communication of changes to women’s state pension. It would be inappropriate to enter into Alternative Dispute Resolution with third parties or comment while the PHSO investigation is ongoing. Section 7(2) of the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967 states that Ombudsman investigations “shall be conducted in private”.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether employees of the Pension Regulator will receive the government-wide 4.5% pay increase deal.
Answered by Laura Trott - Shadow Secretary of State for Education
DWP does not play a role in determining the awards TPR will pay to their workforce, beyond reviewing proposals to ensure that they comply with the parameters set by the Civil Service Pay Remit Guidance and securing Secretary of State approval to proceed into negotiations. This year, the remit guidance allowed a maximum average increase of 4.5%, and an additional 0.5% could be used to target lower grades.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to guarantee that the Household Support Fund will continue to be provided to county councils and unitary authorities in England after March 2024.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
I refer the honourable Member to the answer given to PQ196466.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Government plans to renew the Household Support Fund in the next financial year.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
There are currently no plans to extend the Household Support Fund which runs to the end of March 2024. As with all policies, this is kept under continuous review and has included recent discussion with Local Authorities including Brighton and Hove City Council.
We are proud that, the Household Support Fund has been used to support many households in need in England with the cost of essentials. For example, over 10 million awards were made between 1 October 2022 to 31 March 2023.
The government continues to focus on the Prime Minister’s priority to halve inflation by the end of the year. Through the ambitious package announced at the Spring budget we are also delivering measures that are designed to support people to enter work and increase their earnings.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of personal independence payment reassessments due to take place in 2022 were outstanding on 1 September 2023.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
Data on Personal Independence Payment (PIP) Award Reviews cleared or outstanding after April 2023 cannot be released as PIP data after this point is intended for publication at a future date.