Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of universal credit deductions for (a) rent and (b) service charges have been taken at the (i) 20 per cent higher rate, (ii) between 10 per cent and 20 per cent and (iii) the 10 per cent lower rate in the last 12 months for which information is available.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average rate was of deductions from universal credit for (a) rent and (b) service charges in the last 12 months for which information is available.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of universal credit deductions for (a) fines and (b) compensation orders are taken at (i) £108.35, (ii) a rate between 5 percent of standard allowance and £108.35 and (iii) 5 per cent of standard allowance in the last 12 months for which information is available.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average rate was at which deductions from universal credit were made to pay (a) fines and (b) compensation orders in the last 12 months for which information is available.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to universal credit claimants who have deductions in their standard allowance in Part 4 of their monthly award letters, excluding managed payments to landlords, what the average proportion of claimants’ standard allowance was in the last 12 months for which information is available.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to universal credit claimants who have deductions in their standard allowance in Part 4 of their monthly award letters, excluding managed payments to landlords, what the average amount taken was from a claimants standard allowance in the last 12 months for which information is available.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information on (a) labour rights and (b) access to advice and remedy is routinely provided to workers who (i) file a complaint with and (ii) are encountered during inspections conducted by the Health and Safety Executive.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE’s) website contains the relevant information for workers who wish to file a complaint about their workplace and can be found at the ‘Report a workplace problem’ page. This page contains a link to information specifically for Whistleblowers. They will also find an explanation of what HSE will do when their concerns are received.
The HSE website also provides comprehensive free guidance on all aspects of workplace health and safety, specific webpages to support workers and translations of information on basic health and safety protections in 16 languages.
During health and safety inspections, HSE inspectors routinely make direct contact with workers to provide them with the opportunity to raise health and safety concerns, provide advice and support relevant to that workplace, and agree how the inspector will provide workers with relevant information about the inspection.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many cases of migrants working undocumented were passed from the Health and Safety Executive to Immigration Enforcement in each of the last five years.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) does not check the immigration status of workers or collect specific data on undocumented workers, as Great Britain’s health and safety law provides protection for all workers irrespective of their immigration status. If HSE inspectors observe signs of potential labour abuse in a workplace, HSE will share this intelligence with other enforcement agencies.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
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 adequacy of support made available by employers for workers with learning difficulties.
Answered by Sarah Newton
We know that people with learning difficulties have often not been well supported in employment. In Improving Lives: The Future of Work, Health and Disability, we published our analysis of Labour Force Survey (LFS) estimates that working-age disabled people with a reported main health condition of a learning difficulty (including people with a learning disability) have an employment rate of 24%.
Making a step change in the life chances of people with learning difficulties, and learning disabilities, is a cross-Government priority. Improving Lives describes the measures we have taken so far and lays out our strategy for the future, including improvements to apprenticeships, education and employment support. The details may be read here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/improving-lives-the-future-of-work-health-and-disability
Many leading employers do already create inclusive, healthy workplaces where people can thrive, and our vision is for this to become normal practice for all employers.
When employers sign up as Disability Confident they are asked to make specific meaningful offers of opportunities for disabled people such as jobs, apprenticeships, internships, and work experience opportunities. 5,550 businesses are currently signed up to Disability Confident, and this number is growing rapidly.
Access to Work provides practical and financial support for the additional costs faced by individuals whose health or disability affects the way they do their job. Access to Work has a Hidden Impairment Specialist Team which specialises in supporting people with learning difficulties, mental health conditions, learning disabilities and other less visible disabilities.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 19 December 2017 to Question 118806, on Social Fund: Credit, how many loans were provided through the Discretionary Social Fund in each of the last seven years.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Loans provided under the Discretionary Social Fund have been provided through both Budgeting Loans and Crisis Loans. However, Crisis Loans were abolished with effect from 31 March 2013 and there have been no new Crisis Loans issued after that date.
The number of loans provided each year through the Discretionary Social Fund is published in Annex 1 of the Social Fund Annual Report.
Links to the Social Fund Annual Report for each of the last seven years are given below:
2010/11:
2011/12:
2012/13:
2013/14:
2014/15:
2015/16:
2016/17: