Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of unpaid carers in receipt of (a) carer’s allowance and (b) the carer element of Universal Credit are of working age.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
As of August 2022, around 945,000 working age unpaid carers were receiving Carer’s Allowance. Around 99% of those receiving Carer’s Allowance are of working age.
The information requested for Universal Credit is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
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 merits of introducing a dedicated work allowance for unpaid carers who are in receipt of Universal Credit and the carer element.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
There are no plans to make an assessment. The carers element is an additional amount of benefit, payable in Universal Credit, to support carers who provide care of 35 hours or more each week for a severely disabled person, and as such have no work related requirements. This payment is made in recognition of the support provided by carers for relatives, partners and friends who may be ill, frail, or disabled.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
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 adequacy of the carer's allowance for supporting unpaid carers with their living costs.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
This Government recognises and values the vital contribution made by carers in supporting some of the most vulnerable in society.
The primary purpose of Carer’s Allowance is to provide a measure of financial support and recognition for people who give up the opportunity of full-time employment in order to provide regular and substantial care for a severely disabled person. It is not a “carer’s wage” or designed to fully replace the income from work that an unpaid carer may have foregone. The current rate of Carer’s Allowance is £69.70 per week. From April, the rate will increase to £76.75 per week. This means that, since 2010, it will have increased from £53.90 to £76.75 a week, providing around an additional £1200 a year for carers through Carer’s Allowance.
In addition to Carer’s Allowance, carers on low incomes can claim income-related benefits, such as Universal Credit and Pension Credit. These benefits can be paid to carers at a higher rate than those without caring responsibilities through the carer element and the additional amount for carers respectively. From April, the Universal Credit carer element will be £185.86 per monthly assessment period, and the additional amount for carers in Pension Credit will be £42.75 a week.
Around 489,000 (November 2022 data) carer households on Universal Credit can currently receive around an additional £2,000 a year through the carer element and this will increase to an additional £2,200 a year from April. The Government has chosen to focus extra support on those carers who need it most.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
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 impact of (a) HM Revenue and Customs mileage rates, (b) uniform costs, (c) car parking charges and (d) other unavoidable costs of working on universal credit claimants who are in low-paid frontline public service roles.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
No such assessment has been made as the Department does not routinely collect data on the sectors in which Universal Credit claimants work, because this does not affect entitlement to UC However, we are currently exploring what additional information we could collect to help work coaches support claimants in their search for work.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applications made to the Access to Work Scheme had not been processed within the service delivery period in each month from January 2022 to date; and how many of those applications related to (a) claims for payment of existing awards, (b) new awards, (c) renewals, (d) changes of circumstance and (e) any other type of claim.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The information requested about Access to Work applications that have been received but not processed within the service delivery period in each month from January 2022 to date; and how many of those applications related to (a) claims for payment of existing awards, (b) new awards, (c) renewals, (d) changes of circumstance and (e) any other type of claim, is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of HMRC-approved mileage rates remaining fixed since 2011 on women.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Approved Mileage Allowance Payments (AMAPs) are used by employers to reimburse an employee’s expenses for business mileage in their private vehicle.
The government sets the AMAP rates to minimise administrative burdens. The AMAP rates applies equally to all employees, irrespective of their gender, who use their own car or van for business mileage.
The AMAP rates aim to reflect running costs including fuel, servicing and depreciation. Depreciation is estimated to constitute the most significant proportion of the AMAP rates.
Employers are not required to use the AMAPs rates. Instead, they can agree to reimburse a different amount that better reflects their employees’ circumstances. If an employee is paid less than the AMAP rate, they can claim Mileage Allowance Relief (MAR) on the shortfall. However, where payments exceed the relevant AMAP rate, there may be a tax and National Insurance charge on the difference.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether officials in his Department have had discussions with (a) HMRC and (b) HM Treasury on funding for the Scottish Government to help support an increase in mileage rates for care workers who provide support to disabled people in their own homes.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Scottish Government is well-funded to deliver all its devolved responsibilities, receiving around 25% more funding per person than equivalent UK Government spending in other parts of the UK.
It is for the Scottish Government to allocate its funding in devolved areas as it sees fit, including support for care workers, and it is accountable to the Scottish Parliament for these decisions.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has had recent discussions with industry stakeholders on the level of Government support that will be required for the implementation of the packaging extended producer responsibility scheme.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Key stakeholders from industry have been involved throughout the policy development process, through forums such as the Advisory Committee on Packaging (ACP), Defra’s Packaging and Collections Working Group and the Industry Sounding Board. We held an initial consultation on the introduction of Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging in 2019 and a second consultation in 2021.
We have recently embarked on a series of visioning sprints to provide an opportunity for industry and UK Government officials to work together to propose a shared vision and develop a strategic roadmap for the delivery of our packaging and waste reforms. We are also running fortnightly Business Readiness Forums, to ensure we capture feedback and continue to relay key information to businesses across the packaging chain. A number of deep dive sessions on specific topics have also been arranged and we will continue to offer new sessions throughout 2023 to ensure business readiness.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent estimate she has made of the potential impact of the proposed packaging extended producer responsibility scheme on business costs.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
An impact assessment, setting out the costs and benefits of Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging, was published in March 2022 alongside the Government response to our 2021 consultation. This estimates the net cost to business of these reforms at £1206.8 million per year.
An updated impact assessment will be published later this year alongside the draft Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations 2023.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to publish a plan to transition to the packaging extended producer responsibility scheme; and whether she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to mandate the scheme in law.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Packaging Waste (Data Reporting) (England) Regulations 2023 were debated in the House of Commons on 2 February 2023 and are due to come into force on the 28 February 2023. Similar regulations will be introduced in parallel in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. These regulations will require producers to collect and report data on the packaging they supply. We are not planning to publish a transition plan at this stage, but we have published guidance and an obligation checker to help obligated producers to prepare for pEPR on the gov.uk website, including outlining the data producers will need to start collecting from March and report from October 2023. This guidance will be continually updated with more detailed information.
My Department’s intention is that the regulations to introduce Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging (pEPR) will be introduced at the end of 2023. These regulations will reflect the policy set out in the Government response to the 2021 consultation, which was published in March 2022.