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 staff the Health and Safety Executive (a) employed in 2019-20 and (b) employs in 20202-21; and how many of those staff were dedicated to working in Scotland in each of those years.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
On 31st March 2020 HSE employed 2343 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff, 222 of whom were based in Scotland, and a further 28 contingent labour staff [1].
On 31st December 2020 HSE employed 2345 FTE staff, 211 of whom were based in Scotland, and a further 133(p) contingent labour staff.
HSE is a national regulator and regulatory effort is not necessarily confined by geographical region. HSE has specialists who work across geographical regions such as those regulating major hazard sectors. Regions are also able to draw on the support of HSE’s Science Directorate to assist investigations and to support important health and safety research and HSE’s Engagement and Policy Division who develop regulatory policy and design communications strategy.
[1] ‘Contingent labour’ is defined as temporary staff not on HSE’s payroll, which may include agency workers, specialist contractors, interim managers etc.
(p) Provisional - due to the early reporting of this figure final reconciliation of contingent labour staff is still ongoing and may be subject to change once this is complete.
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 effect of the decision not to extend the covid-19 emergency £20 funding for universal credit claimants to those on legacy benefits.
Answered by Will Quince
As part of the Government’s strategy to support people affected by COVID 19, DWP has made a number of changes to make sure people can self-isolate, and to ensure people who need financial help have access to the benefit system. We have announced measures that benefit those experiencing the most financial disruption and which can be quickly and effectively operationalised, these include:
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 recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of personal independence payment evaluation criteria for evaluating (a) chronic fatigue syndrome, (b) fibromyalgia and (c) other chronic illnesses.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
All health professionals carrying out assessments are clinically qualified and registered practitioners in their own field. DWP requires health professionals to have a broad training in disability analysis as well as awareness training in specific conditions, which includes chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia and other chronic illness.
The PIP consultation is not a medical assessment requiring the health professional to diagnose a condition or its severity and recommend treatment options. Instead it requires the assessor to look at the impact of conditions and impairments on an individual’s daily life. This helps ensure that assessment reports are fit for purpose, clinically justified and sound, and provide sufficient information for the department to make a reasonable decision on entitlement to benefit.
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 12 February to Question 15027, whether her Department collects data on the correlation between the number of people borrowing from loan sharks and the roll-out of universal credit in an area.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department does not collect data about the use of loan sharks.
The Government is creating a Breathing Space scheme to help people experiencing problem debt. Breathing Space will be implemented in early 2021 and provide access to advice and allow people the time and space to fully engage with professional support, helping them identify a sustainable solution to their debts. The scheme will cover a broad range of debts, including not only financial services debts but also arrears owed to utility companies and to central and local government.
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 he has made of the effect of the roll-out of universal credit in Sheffield on (a) the number of people borrowing from loan sharks and (b) the amount of money being borrowed (i) by claimants and (ii) non-claimants.
Answered by Will Quince
The latest caseload data shows Universal Credit is supporting 2.8 million claimants, including those in Sheffield, to more easily start work and access smoother incentives, such as the work allowance and taper, to increase hours. We have scrapped the cliff edges and complicated hours’ rules of the legacy benefit system to ensure claimants have flexibility to access the opportunities offered in the labour market. It will provide an extra £2.1bn a year once full rolled out, compared to the legacy benefits it replaces.
During a claimant’s first interview, Work Coaches identify those who require immediate financial assistance and will offer access to a New Claim Advance. Around 60% of new claims take up an advance, which are repayable, interest free, over a 12-month period. From October 2021, the repayment period on advances will be further extended to 16 months.
For claimants who require additional support, Work Coaches and Case Managers can signpost individuals to specialist support for personal budgeting, money guidance and debt advice if required, including through the Money and Pensions Service.
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 potential merits of amending her Department's requirements on the use of audio recording equipment to make it easier for claimants to record benefits assessment interviews.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
DWP remains committed to improving the assessment process, especially around trust and transparency. We are currently developing an approach to provide consistency for claimants across audio recording of Work Capability Assessments and PIP assessments.
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, whether her Department has departmental responsibility for local welfare assistance schemes.
Answered by Will Quince
Local welfare assistance is an umbrella term used describe local authority provision for people who are in need of urgent help. Local authorities’ abilities to act in this area are provided under various powers, for example, section 2 of the Local Government Act 2000 enables local authorities to provide financial assistance to any individual.
Since the reforms to the Social Fund in 2013 which abolished Crisis Loans and Community Care Grants, the Local Government Financial Settlement has included a notional amount relating to local welfare provision in each upper-tier and unitary authority’s general grant. The settlement for 2015-16 set this amount at £129.6 million for England in each year until 2019/20.
The Department for Work and Pension's (DWP) 2014 review found that local authorities delivered support more effectively than the previous provision and that councils are best placed to decide how to target flexible help to support local welfare needs. The Government has no further plans to review provision.
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 (a) affordability and (b) adequacy of provision of childcare for parents subject to the benefit cap.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The Department for Work and Pensions has not undertaken a specific assessment of the affordability and adequacy of provision of childcare for parents subject to the benefit cap. As part of its evaluation of the benefit cap policy, we have commissioned the National Centre for Social Research to conduct a survey of capped households to assess the effects of the cap on claimants’ behaviours toward employment and the drivers behind different responses to the cap, which will include childcare availability and costs. We anticipate publishing the findings in the Autumn.
The department recognises that high childcare costs can be a real barrier to parents taking up employment or increasing their working hours. To help overcome this, Universal Credit is more generous than legacy benefits in the support it provides towards childcare costs, with an increased level of support for childcare costs from 70% in legacy to up to 85% in Universal Credit.
In addition, significant work has been undertaken within the department to raise awareness and understanding of the UC Childcare Offer amongst work coaches and work continues across Government to support take up of the different childcare offers, ensuring information is readily accessible for parents, providers and employers, including via digital channels. The Government now provides more support than ever before to help parents with the costs of childcare and will be spending a record amount of around £6 billion on childcare support in 2019-20.
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 effect of the benefit cap on the income of families with more than two children.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
In May 2019, 49,700 households had their Housing Benefit claim capped in Great Britain, of which 44,800 households had 2 or more dependent children. Claimants are exempt from the cap in Housing Benefit if they are entitled to Working Tax Credits. UC households are exempt if they have earnings of at least £569 per month. There are also exemptions for the most vulnerable groups such as severely disabled claimants and carers. In addition, households are exempt from the cap for 9 months (the grace period) if there is a previous consistent work history.
The average weekly cap amount for households with 2 or more dependent children deducted from the Housing Benefit award was £56 in May 2019, compared to an average cap amount of £55 for all capped households.
(Source: DWP Stat Xplore portal, ‘Benefit cap average amount by family type’ table)
In May 2019, 25,700 households had their Universal Credit claim capped in Great Britain, of which 89% (23,000) had dependent children. Statistics on the Universal Credit capped caseload, by number of dependent children in the household, will be published for the first time on the DWP Stat-Xplore portal during the w/c 9th September.
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 recent discussions she has had with the Social Security Advisory Committee on the requirement for national advice organisations to receive explicit consent from a claimant to assist with their universal credit claims.
Answered by Will Quince
The most recent discussions with SSAC took place on 12th July 2019 and 21st August 2019.
The Department is continuing to work with SSAC and third party organisations to understand how Universal Credit can support organisations who help our claimants.