Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Government is taking to support people in the workplace who have increased vulnerability to covid-19.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) was involved in cross-government work, Safer Workplaces, coordinated by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), which produced guidance on the safety measures businesses will need to adopt. This includes advice for Vulnerable workers.
HSE guidance on practical steps to support workers in higher-risk groups, including those who are Clinically Extremely Vulnerable and pregnant workers, can be found at https://www.hse.gov.uk/coronavirus/working-safely/protect-people.htm.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what financial support is available to people who are extremely vulnerable to covid-19 who cannot work from home and choose to shield themselves.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Those who are clinically extremely vulnerable will previously have received a letter from the NHS or their GP informing them of this and may have been advised to shield in the past. Individuals who receive a new notification that they need to shield should work from home where possible and if not possible follow their respective Government’s advice on not going to work.
Employees who are clinically extremely vulnerable can be furloughed under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. Where they are not furloughed, and they are unable to work, for example where they cannot work from home, they may be eligible for Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) from their employer.
Employees who are not eligible for SSP and the self-employed, may be eligible for New Style Employment and Support Allowance, subject to the wider eligibility criteria.
Where an individual’s income is reduced while off work sick and they require further financial support, they may be able to receive Universal Credit, depending on their personal circumstances.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to support universal credit claimants at risk of being unable to work due to being unable to pay for childcare costs upfront.
Answered by Will Quince
Childcare costs should not be a barrier to getting into work – this Government is committed to helping parents into work. Universal Credit pays up to 85% of childcare costs, compared to 70% in legacy benefits and can be claimed up to a month before starting a job. For families with two children this could be worth up to £13,000 a year.
Help with upfront childcare costs for starting work is available through a non-repayable Flexible Support Fund (FSF) award for eligible Universal Credit claimants up to the limits set. This does not apply for claimants already in work. We have issued guidance to Work Coaches in Jobcentres to ensure that eligible claimants, who require help with upfront childcare costs in order to start work, are directed to the Government’s FSF. The FSF received an additional £150m this financial year to help support Universal Credit claimants to move closer to, or into work. Budgeting Advances are also available to eligible claimants who require help with upfront costs.
Support with eligible childcare costs is based on reporting actual childcare costs that a household incurs as soon as those costs have been paid. Childcare costs can be reported in the same assessment period they were paid or in the following assessment period. Claimants are then reimbursed for their eligible costs within their Universal Credit award. Monthly reporting helps to support accuracy of payment, whilst also avoiding the levels of error in the Tax Credit system and the possibility of overpayments.
The Universal Credit childcare policy aligns with the wider Government childcare offer, which includes free childcare hours for children between 2 and 4 years and tax free childcare. Eligibility for children aged 2 requires household income to be less than £15,400 a year after tax, not including benefit payments. Universal Credit claimants can utilise both the free childcare entitlement and Universal Credit childcare costs in conjunction with each other for the relevant hours.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will take steps to ensure that the Child Maintenance Service responds to the letter of 24 June 2020 from the hon Member for West Lancashire, reference 121027357794.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
A substantive reply was sent to the hon. Member by the Child Maintenance Service on 21 September; I apologise for the long delay.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions she has had with the Home Secretary on the effect of the frozen pension policy on the livelihoods of members of the Windrush generation.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues, including the Home Secretary, on a range of issues.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans the Government has to review the regulation of sales of hand sanitiser products to (a) help ensure they are (i) safe and (ii) effective and (b) tackle price gouging of those products.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The EU Biocidal Products Regulation 528/2012 (BPR) has applied since 2013. In line with the EU Exit Withdrawal Agreement, the BPR is being retained with changes to reflect the position at the end of the Transition Period. This process does not allow the UK to make policy changes. Thus, there are no current plans to review the procedures within the UK biocides legislation. HSE has no evidence that the current regulatory approach is ineffective.
BPR requires that all the active substances used in hand sanitiser products are reviewed for their safety, both to people and the wider environment. Only products containing active substances that are undergoing that review process are allowed to be marketed.
Once the review of an active substance has been completed and the active is approved as being suitable to continue being used, each product containing that substance is then assessed, both for safety and for efficacy. While the review of an active substance is ongoing, products containing that substance can continue to be marketed subject to the requirements of general legislation relating to product safety and the supply of chemicals.
The BPR does not regulate the price of hand sanitiser products.
There are no current plans to review the regulation of sales of hand sanitiser products.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he plans to respond to the letter from the Hon. Member for West Lancashire dated 5 November 2019 in relation to a constituent's employment and support allowance.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
I can only apologise to the hon. Member for the continued delay in this matter. I can assure her a substantive reply will be posted to her tomorrow.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to Age UK's briefing entitled Poverty in later life, published September 2019, what steps her Department is taking to tackle the rise in pensioner poverty.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
As a result of the triple lock, from April 2020 (subject to Parliamentary approval) the full yearly amount of the basic State Pension will be around £700 higher than if it had been just up-rated by earnings, since April 2010. From April 2020, the Standard Minimum Guarantee in Pension Credit will increase by average earnings. This is the equivalent of over £2,100 per year higher in cash terms for single people, and over £3,200 per year higher in cash terms for couples than it was in 2010.
The Government is committed to action that helps to alleviate levels of pensioner poverty. There are 100,000 fewer pensioners in absolute poverty (before housing costs) than in 2009/10. Rates of material deprivation for pensioners are also at a record low. Since 2009/10 material deprivation for pensioners has fallen from 10% to 7% in 2017/18, and in 2019/20 the Government will spend around £100 billion on the State Pension.
1.6 million people are already claiming around £5.4 billion in Pension Credit. The Government wants to make sure that all pensioners eligible can claim the Pension Credit to which they are entitled. That is why on the 10 February 2020 we launched a nationwide campaign to raise awareness of Pension Credit and encourage those over State Pension age to check whether they are eligible.
To assist customers to prepare for retirement, the Government has introduced a number of initiatives including the launch of the online mid-life MOT page https://www.yourpension.gov.uk/mid-life-mot/ which provides guidance on how to obtain the right information to plan for retirement.
The employer led strategy on fuller working lives https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/587654/fuller-working-lives-a-partnership-approach.pdf aims to maximise the labour market opportunities for people to earn and save for longer reducing the risk of poverty once they have retired permanently from the labour market.
We are also committed to enabling more people to save while they are working, so that they can enjoy greater security and independence when they retire. Automatic enrolment into workplace pensions has succeeded in transforming workplace pension saving for millions of today’s workers. Participation in workplace pension saving rose from 55 per cent in 2012 to 87 per cent of eligible employees in 2018, showing the positive impact of the workplace pension reforms.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to (a) support older renters and (b) increase the uptake of pension age housing benefit.
Answered by Will Quince
The rates of pensioner benefits, including Housing Benefit (HB), tend to be higher than some working-age income-related benefits, as pensioners as a group are likely to be reliant on benefits for a longer period and less able to change their circumstances or improve their income through work.
Local Authorities are responsible for administering HB and the take up of HB by pensioners is shown to be higher than the take up of Pension Credit.
The Department publishes an annual report detailing latest available statistics regarding the estimated take-up of HB and other income-related benefits.
The latest version can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/income-related-benefits-estimates-of-take-up-financial-year-2016-to-2017
The next report containing 2017/18 data will be published in due course.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
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 increase the uptake of pension credit.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
1.6 Million people are already claiming some £5.4 billion in Pension Credit. The Government wants to make sure that all pensioners eligible can claim the Pension Credit to which they are rightly entitled. That is why from the 10 February we are launching a nationwide campaign to raise awareness of Pension Credit and encourage those over State Pension age to check whether they’re eligible. The campaign includes a short, animated video that will be shown in GP waiting rooms and in Post Offices. It will also be shown to Facebook users over State Pension Age and be supported by messaging on social media.
We regularly work with our stakeholders to help spread the key messages from the campaign because we know that often the best ways to reach eligible pensioners is through trusted stakeholders working in the community. The Pension Credit toolkit is being updated with the campaign materials to supplement the resources it already contains for those working with pensioners, such as guides to Pension Credit and guidance designed to help older people understand how they could get Pension Credit. The toolkit is designed to help organisations support someone applying for Pension Credit as well as provide ideas for encouraging take-up. It can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pension-credit-toolkit
The Department for Work and Pensions continues to use a wide range of channels including information on www.gov.uk, in leaflets and by telephone to communicate information about benefits including Pension Credit to potential claimants. We target activity on engaging with people who may be eligible to benefits at pivotal stages, such as when they claim State Pension or Attendance Allowance or report a change in their circumstances which may mean that they could be eligible for Pension Credit. In addition, the Pension Credit calculator https://www.gov.uk/pension-credit-calculator enables potential claimants to check if they are likely to be eligible and get an estimate of what they may receive. People wishing to claim Pension Credit can do so by calling the free phone number 0800 99 1234.