Asked by: Rob Roberts (Independent - Delyn)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department has taken in this Parliament to help disabled people get into work and close the disability employment gap.
Answered by Chloe Smith
A range of DWP initiatives are supporting disabled people and people with health conditions to live independent lives and start, stay and succeed in work. These include the Work and Health Programme, the Intensive Personalised Employment Support programme, Access to Work, Disability Confident. and support in partnership with the health system, including Employment Advice in NHS Improving Access to Psychological Therapy services.
Over the next three years we will invest £1.3bn in employment support for disabled people and people with health conditions.
In 2017 the Government set a goal to see one million more disabled people in employment between 2017 and 2027. The latest figures released for Q1 2022 show that between Q1 2017 and Q1 2022 the number of disabled people in employment increased by 1.3m – meaning the goal has been met after only five years.
The disability employment gap was 28.2 percentage points in Q1 2022. This is a decrease of 0.2 percentage points on the year, a decrease of 0.5 percentage points since Q1 2020 and an overall decrease of 5.6 percentage points since the same quarter in 2014.
Asked by: Rob Roberts (Independent - Delyn)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent steps her Department has taken to reduce the level of child poverty across the UK.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The latest available data on in-work poverty shows that in 2019/20, children in households where all adults were in work were around six times less likely to be in absolute poverty (before housing costs) than children in a household where nobody works. Compared with 2010, there are nearly 1 million fewer workless households and almost 540,000 fewer children living in workless households in the UK. Since 2010, there are also 200,000 fewer children in absolute poverty before housing costs.
This Government is committed to reducing child poverty and supporting low-income families, and believes work is the best route out of poverty. With a record 1.3 million vacancies across the UK, our focus is firmly on supporting people to move into and progress in work. This approach is based on clear evidence about the importance of parental employment - particularly where it is full-time – in substantially reducing the risks of child poverty and in improving long-term outcomes for families and children.
Our multi-billion-pound Plan for Jobs has protected, supported and created jobs across the country. This includes our Way to Work campaign, which between January 31 and June 21, we estimate has seen at least 485,000 unemployed Universal Credit claimants have moved into work.
Asked by: Rob Roberts (Independent - Delyn)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent steps her Department has taken to ensure that there are appropriate sanctions for people who commit benefit fraud.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
On 19 May 2022, we published our plan for Fighting Fraud in the Welfare System, setting out how the Department will root out existing fraud in the system and prevent new fraudulent claims being made. The £600 million plan will boost the counter-fraud frontline with 2000 additional staff, and is estimated to save taxpayers £2 billion over three years.
The plan also outlines a range of additional strong measures that we intend to introduce, when Parliamentary time allows, to future proof our work tackle fraud and error. This includes the commitment to introduce a new civil penalty for cases of fraud which can be applied where cases meet a civil burden of proof, sitting below criminal fraud but above error.
This action will ensure that fewer people escape punishment when they have committed wrongdoing, and that the consequence reflects the cost to the taxpayers.
DWP has a published penalty policy [Penalties policy: in respect of social security fraud and error - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)), which sets out the range of penalties currently available for benefit fraud. This includes financial penalties, prosecution, loss of benefit penalties and seeking redress through proceeds of crime.
Asked by: Rob Roberts (Independent - Delyn)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent steps he has taken to close the pension benefits loophole affecting workers with net pay pension schemes who earn between £10,000 and £12,500.
Answered by Simon Clarke
At Autumn Budget 2021, the government announced that it will introduce a system to make top-up payments in respect of contributions made in 2024-25 onwards directly to low-earning individuals saving in a pension scheme using a Net Pay Arrangement. These top-ups will help to better align outcomes with equivalent savers saving into a pension scheme using Relief at Source. An estimated 1.2 million individuals could benefit by an average of £53 a year. The government will set out more detail on the implementation of this policy in due course.
Asked by: Rob Roberts (Independent - Delyn)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to help increase the quality and affordability of (a) breakfast clubs, (b) after-school clubs and (c) childcare during school holidays.
Answered by Will Quince
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
The department is committed to continuing our support for school breakfast clubs, announcing up to £24 million to continue our national programme until July 2023. This funding will support up to 2,500 schools in disadvantaged areas, meaning that thousands of children from low-income families will be offered free nutritious breakfasts to better support their attainment, wellbeing, and readiness to learn.
The department understands that good-quality wraparound childcare has a positive impact on children’s outcomes. Research shows that participating in organised sports and joining after school clubs can help to improve children’s academic performance, as well as their social, emotional, and behavioural skills.
All schools are encouraged to make their facilities available for use by the wider community, and many schools already do so. To support with the costs of childcare, for example for the use of wraparound childcare such as afterschool clubs, working families can access support through Tax-Free Childcare, with up to £500 every three months for each child and rising to £1,000 every three months for families of disabled children. Working families may also be able to claim back up to 85% of their childcare costs if they are eligible for Universal Credit. This is worth up to £646 for one child, and £1,108 for 2 or more children a month.
Children who are in receipt of free school meals are eligible for a free place on the holiday activities and food programme. Backed by more than £200 million available, we are providing access to healthy food and enriching activities during the longer school holiday periods for more than 600,000 children across the country.
Asked by: Rob Roberts (Independent - Delyn)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps his Department has taken to promote physical literacy and competitive sport in (a) primary schools, (b) secondary schools and (c) schools for children with special and other educational needs.
Answered by Will Quince
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
The physical education (PE) national curriculum is designed to ensure that all pupils develop competence to excel in a broad range of physical activities, are physically active for sustained periods of time and lead healthy and active lives. From key stage 1 to 4, pupils are expected to master various fundamental skills relating to physical education.
The PE and sport premium has supported primary schools to deliver high quality PE, sport and physical activity since 2013. We are also developing tailored support to improve the teaching of PE at primary school which, along with a programme to support schools to open up their facilities, will be funded by nearly £30 million a year.
The department funds secondary school initiatives to encourage diverse groups of pupils to take part in and enjoy sport. This includes the Girls Competitive Sport contract, worth up to £980,000 over the next three years, which aims to improve and increase opportunities for girls aged 8 to 16 to access competitive sport and sport leadership opportunities. The Inclusion 2024 grant provides practical support to schools to increase opportunities for disabled young people and those with special educational needs to engage in sport and physical activity.
To support schools to take part in competitive sport, the government has funded the School Games since 2010. The School Games reaches over 95% of schools in England supporting four distinct levels of competition in over 40 sports and activities to cater for different ability levels, intra-school, inter-school, county level and a National Finals. Many schools also take part in their own inter-school competitions and National Governing Bodies of Sport run school sports events.
Asked by: Rob Roberts (Independent - Delyn)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many free schools there are as of 16 June 2022; what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the free schools programme; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Robin Walker
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
There are 613 open free schools which, based on the latest Ofsted judgements, will create more than 155,000 good and outstanding school places for children when at full capacity. Mainstream primary and secondary free schools are more likely to be rated good or outstanding by Ofsted than state-funded mainstream schools nationally and all open 16 to 19 free schools with an Ofsted judgement are good or outstanding.
The free schools programme remains an important part of the department’s plan to level up standards and respond where there is need for more school places.
The department launched a further round of free school applications on 10 June 2022 covering mainstream, special, and alternative provision free schools. The mainstream wave is seeking to approve free schools where there is the greatest need for new school places, prioritising proposals in Education Investment Areas. This will include a targeted number of new academic 16 to 19 free schools to help talented children from disadvantaged backgrounds get to leading universities.
Further information on free school application rounds is available here: https://www.gov.uk/education/set-up-a-free-school.
Asked by: Rob Roberts (Independent - Delyn)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress the Government has made on its stated commitment that no person needing care should be forced to sell their home to pay for it.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
From October 2023, the new £86,000 cap and higher capital limits will mean that more people will be able to preserve more of their assets if they need care.
When assessing the contribution towards care, housing assets are only considered if the individual is receiving care in a residential home and no eligible adult continues to live in the residence. Where accessing these assets is required to pay for care, a Deferred Payment Agreement is available, with any costs deducted from the estate after death. This will ensure that no-one will need to sell their home to pay for their care in their lifetime.
Asked by: Rob Roberts (Independent - Delyn)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans his Department has to introduce an arts premium to fund enrichment activities in secondary schools.
Answered by Robin Walker
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
The department is committed to high-quality education for all pupils, and the arts and music are integral to this. With the significant impact of COVID-19 on children’s learning, the department’s priorities have been to focus on education recovery in the recent Spending Review. The government remains committed to the ambitions in the Plan for Cultural Education published in 2013 and will give consideration for a future arts premium in due course.
In recognition of the merit of these subjects and how they contribute to a broad and balanced education in and out of school settings, the department will continue to invest around £115 million per annum in cultural education over the next three years, through music, arts, and heritage programmes.
The above funding is on top of core schools funding. The department has already committed to a real-terms per pupils increase in core schools funding, amounting to a £7 billion increase in the 2024/25 financial year compared with the 2021/22 financial year and nearly £5 billion in education recovery. This should support state-funded schools to provide a broad, ambitious curriculum, which includes cultural education and the arts.
The department has also committed to the publication of a Cultural Education Plan in 2023, working with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and Arts Council England.
Asked by: Rob Roberts (Independent - Delyn)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding his Department has allocated for dementia research in each of the (a) last and (b) next five years.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Department funds research on dementia through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Between 2017/18 and 2021/22, the NIHR allocated over £42 million in funding for dementia research. The following table shows the funding allocated to dementia research in each of the last five years.
2017/18 | £7.7 million |
2018/19 | £3.1 million |
2019/20 | £7.8 million |
2020/21 | £11.8 million |
2021/22 | £11.9 million |
Information on expenditure through the NIHR’s infrastructure is not held in the format requested.
The Government has committed to invest £375 million in neurodegenerative disease research over the next five years to fund projects into a range of diseases including dementia. However, it is not usual practice to ring-fence funds for expenditure on particular topics, therefore the information requested on funding dementia research for the next five years is not currently held. The NIHR relies on researchers submitting high-quality applications to access funding.