Speech in Commons Chamber - Wed 17 Oct 2018
Universal Credit
"My hon. Friend is absolutely right. That brings me to my next point. It is important that the Government continue to listen and to make the changes that were needed over the past three years, as my hon. Friend the Member for South Cambridgeshire (Heidi Allen) mentioned, particularly on the …..."Richard Graham - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Wed 17 Oct 2018
Universal Credit
"Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I was trying to make two crucial points. First, scaremongering is being organised by certain lobbying groups who are sending emails to our constituents that, frankly, they should be ashamed of. I would like the Minister later on to confirm that this sentence is as …..."Richard Graham - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 15 Oct 2018
Oral Answers to Questions
"23. The Secretary of State knows that one of the difficulties with trying to correlate the people on universal credit with those who go to food banks is that there is no precise data to compare the two. I know anecdotally that the number of foreigners claiming food bank vouchers …..."Richard Graham - View Speech
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Written Question
Thursday 6th September 2018
Asked by:
Richard Graham (Conservative - Gloucester)
Question
to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress her Department has made on the roll-out of the Pensions Dashboard.
Answered by Guy Opperman
On Tuesday 4 September 2018, I published a written statement providing an update on pensions including the pensions dashboard. This can be found here: : https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2018-09-04/HCWS933/
We will shortly report on the findings of the Feasibility Study, and will engage with industry, consumer groups and other stakeholders to agree timelines for delivery.
Speech in Commons Chamber - Wed 05 Sep 2018
Widowed Parent’s Allowance
"When I served on the Work and Pensions Committee, under the chairmanship of the excellent right hon. Member for Birkenhead (Frank Field), whose party no longer seems to find room for him, although he remains Chairman of the Committee, we looked at various issues to do with the widowed parent’s …..."Richard Graham - View Speech
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Written Question
Monday 30th July 2018
Asked by:
Richard Graham (Conservative - Gloucester)
Question
to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress has been made in supporting people with disabilities into work since May 2015.
Answered by Sarah Newton
This Government is committed to supporting disabled people and those with health conditions to reach their potential. Since 2015 there has been a steady increase in the number of disabled people in work. From April-June 2015 to April-June 2017 (the latest period for which the Office for National Statistics has published estimates without ‘health warnings’), the number of disabled people in work increased by 235,000 from 3.3 million to 3.5 million. The disability employment rate in this period increased by 3.3 percentage points, from 45.9% to 49.2%.
Universal Credit helps people with a disability or health condition who are already in work, to remain and progress in work. It is specifically designed so that we can engage with and support people early in and throughout their claim, to give them advice and support – and not to lose contact with them. All work coaches delivering Universal Credit will receive training on supporting claimants with health conditions.
On 30 November 2017, we published ‘Improving Lives: the Future of Work, Health and Disability’, which sets out actions we’re taking in the welfare system, in the workplace and in health services to realise our commitment to see one million more disabled people in work by 2027.
Our programme is supported by a wide range of ‘test and learn’ activity designed to build the evidence about what works to support disabled people and those with health conditions to get into and stay in work. Projects worth up to around £1 billion have been launched, including:
- up to £500m of investment in the new Work and Health Programme, which we expect to help around 275,000 people over five years, with the majority (around 220,000) being disabled people;
- our Personal Support Package, including the investment of £330m for those on the UC/ESA health journey, delivering a range of new interventions and initiatives designed to provide support tailored to the individual needs of claimants;
- health-led trials in Sheffield City Region and the West Midlands Combined Authority, which build on the internationally-recognised Individual Placement and Support (IPS) approach to provide employment support in a health setting for people with mild-to-moderate mental and physical health conditions;
- more than doubling the number of Employment Advisers in NHS Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) services, providing support to adults with depression and a range of anxiety disorders through integrated employment advice and psychological treatment;
- recruiting 300 additional Disability Employment Advisers, and introducing 200 new Community Partners to bring more specialist advice and support into the Jobcentre; and
- supporting Greater Manchester and the Scottish Government with early intervention initiatives that make it easier and quicker for people to access the right support through a needs assessment, and rapid access to interventions such as occupational health support, mental health and musculoskeletal treatment, and job brokerage.
We have also recently introduced the new Tech Fund in Access to Work, offering employers significant support with the cost of assistive technology; and we’re continuing to build our engagement with employers through Disability Confident, which is growing strongly and now has over 6,800 employers signed up.
Speech in Commons Chamber - Wed 11 Jul 2018
The Secretary of State’s Handling of Universal Credit
"Let me start by welcoming my near neighbour and old friend the Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, my hon. Friend the Member for North Swindon (Justin Tomlinson), back to his place on the Front Bench.
Today there was a fantastic opportunity for the Opposition to hold a debate …..."Richard Graham - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Wed 11 Jul 2018
The Secretary of State’s Handling of Universal Credit
"Or, indeed, the World cup. Unfortunately, however, the Opposition chose none of those issues, and have fallen rather than risen to the occasion by tabling a motion containing two censures and a personal attack, in the name of the Leader of the Opposition, in relation to something for which the …..."Richard Graham - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 04 Jun 2018
Personal Independence Payments
"I welcome the Secretary of State’s announcement today because I do not believe that fighting these cases in court is in the long-term benefit of anyone in this country, so I congratulate her on that. Clearly any of these PIP assessments can be incredibly stressful for our constituents and the …..."Richard Graham - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 26 Mar 2018
Oral Answers to Questions
"2. What assessment she has made of the efficacy of the roll-out of universal credit. ..."Richard Graham - View Speech
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