Asked by: Ruth George (Labour - High Peak)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to her oral contribution to the Work and Pensions Committee, of 24 July 2019, whether claimants will be required to repay the loan for upfront childcare costs by the end of their assessment period.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government is committed to supporting parents with moving into work and, as part of this, we have increased the level of ongoing financial support for childcare costs from 70 per cent in legacy benefits to up to 85 per cent in Universal Credit, which is called the ‘childcare element’. The Universal Credit childcare policy aligns with the wider government childcare offer, which includes free childcare hours and tax free childcare. This offer means that reasonable childcare costs should not form a barrier to work.
Beyond the Universal Credit childcare element, there is other financial support to help with childcare costs: the Flexible Support Fund and Budgeting Advances. Claimants are able to discuss eligibility for these with their jobcentre work coach.
Where initial upfront childcare costs or deposits may prevent a claimant from starting work, work coaches have the discretion to use the Flexible Support Fund to support the transition into work until a claimant receives their first wage. Individual claimant circumstances are considered each time assistance may be appropriate.
A budgeting advance can help with one-off urgent financial events for Universal Credit claimants, such as upfront childcare, and is repayable over a period of up to 12 monthly instalments. Only one Budgeting Advance will be paid at a time and further advances will be unavailable until the balance of the previous Budgeting Advance is cleared.
The Department is working hard to ensure that the Universal Credit childcare offer continues to operate effectively for claimants. Since February 2018, Universal Credit claimants have been able to upload digital copies of their childcare cost receipts or invoices through their online Universal Credit account. When parents have good reason for late reporting of their childcare costs, the Department is piloting a more flexible approach to enable parents to be reimbursed at a later point.
Asked by: Ruth George (Labour - High Peak)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to her oral contribution to the Work and Pensions Committee, of 24 July 2019, whether claimants will be entitled to claim the childcare element of universal credit in the same month that they have received support for upfront childcare costs.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government is committed to supporting parents with moving into work and, as part of this, we have increased the level of ongoing financial support for childcare costs from 70 per cent in legacy benefits to up to 85 per cent in Universal Credit, which is called the ‘childcare element’. The Universal Credit childcare policy aligns with the wider government childcare offer, which includes free childcare hours and tax free childcare. This offer means that reasonable childcare costs should not form a barrier to work.
Beyond the Universal Credit childcare element, there is other financial support to help with childcare costs: the Flexible Support Fund and Budgeting Advances. Claimants are able to discuss eligibility for these with their jobcentre work coach.
Where initial upfront childcare costs or deposits may prevent a claimant from starting work, work coaches have the discretion to use the Flexible Support Fund to support the transition into work until a claimant receives their first wage. Individual claimant circumstances are considered each time assistance may be appropriate.
A budgeting advance can help with one-off urgent financial events for Universal Credit claimants, such as upfront childcare, and is repayable over a period of up to 12 monthly instalments. Only one Budgeting Advance will be paid at a time and further advances will be unavailable until the balance of the previous Budgeting Advance is cleared.
The Department is working hard to ensure that the Universal Credit childcare offer continues to operate effectively for claimants. Since February 2018, Universal Credit claimants have been able to upload digital copies of their childcare cost receipts or invoices through their online Universal Credit account. When parents have good reason for late reporting of their childcare costs, the Department is piloting a more flexible approach to enable parents to be reimbursed at a later point.
Asked by: Ruth George (Labour - High Peak)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what data her Department holds on the effect on family members of silicosis sufferers.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Dependants of silicosis sufferers who have died can claim compensation under the Pneumoconiosis etc. (Workers' Compensation) Act 1979 scheme. Under this scheme, the Department has paid £10,871 to dependants over the 17/18 and 18/19 financial years.
Arrears of Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB) may also be claimed by the spouse or civil partner of a deceased sufferer of silicosis. Information on the amount of IIDB paid to in these circumstances is not immediately accessible, and would require the merging, filtering and quality assuring of complex datasets, data on these claimants could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Ruth George (Labour - High Peak)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what data her Department holds on the effect of silicosis on (a) productivity in the UK and (b) productivity of the construction industry in the UK.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Health and Safety Executive does not have data on the effects of silicosis on productivity, either generally or for any specific sector.
Asked by: Ruth George (Labour - High Peak)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department has taken to regulate exposure to silica; and what recent assessment her Department has made of the extent of compliance with those regulations.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) regulates exposure to silica primarily through the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH). COSHH requires employers to ensure substances which may be harmful to people’s health through their work activities are identified and assessed; and processes are put in place to eliminate or control risks. Silica is also subject to workplace exposure limits (WELs), which set out maximum exposure levels to hazardous substances. The most harmful form of silica is respirable crystalline silica (RCS).
HSE has produced a range of freely available guidance to demonstrate what compliance with COSHH and good control practice looks like across a range of industries, available at http://www.hse.gov.uk/coshh/index.htm.
HSE has also produced internal operational guidance that outlines the initial enforcement expectations where HSE’s inspectors encounter problems related to RCS during regulatory interventions. These form a benchmark against which compliance can be measured on an intervention-by-intervention basis.
Overall compliance is assessed on an industry-by-industry basis. In 2009, HSE published Research Report RR689 ‘Silica Baseline Survey’ that provided intelligence on exposure and control of RCS in key industry sectors. In the intervening period, RCS has remained an important issue within HSE’s inspection programme for the relevant high-risk sectors. For example, HSE recently conducted an inspection initiative between 17th June 2019 – 12th July 2019 that focussed on RCS and other dusts in the construction industry. The extent of compliance is considered as part of HSE’s evaluation work of such workstreams alongside other significant risks.
Asked by: Ruth George (Labour - High Peak)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what data her Department holds on the groups most vulnerable to silicosis.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Evidence from a body of epidemiological research shows that the risk of silicosis increases according to the extent of exposure to respirable crystalline silica. Groups most vulnerable to developing silicosis are those with the highest exposures. A range of sources of evidence – including reports of silicosis cases from chest physicians, cases assessed for Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit, and epidemiological studies – have identified specific worker groups that are at likely to be at highest risk. These include: quarrying; slate works; foundries; potteries; brick and tile making; stonemasonry; construction work involving cutting or breaking stone, concrete or brick; abrasive blasting and tunnelling; and industries that use silica flour to manufacture goods.
Asked by: Ruth George (Labour - High Peak)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps have been taken to encourage the construction industry to protect workers from exposure to silica.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Protecting construction workers from exposure to silica has been a priority for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for a number of years. During this time, HSE has used a range of approaches to influence the construction industry. These include:
Silica exposure amongst construction workers will continue to be a priority for HSE while it remains a significant issue. HSE will look to evolve the intervention approaches it uses during this period to maximise its influence.
Asked by: Ruth George (Labour - High Peak)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the effect of silicosis on the NHS budget and resources.
Answered by Seema Kennedy
This information is not held in the format requested.
Asked by: Ruth George (Labour - High Peak)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data his Department holds on whether there is a (a) genetic, (b) socio-economic and (c) ethnic bias to the condition of silicosis.
Answered by Seema Kennedy
Information about genetic bias in patients with silicosis is not held centrally.
The following table shows the number of finished admission episodes where there was a primary diagnosis of silicosis, as well as the ethnicity specified by the patient in each episode, over five years.
Ethnicity | 2013-14 | 2014-15 | 2015-16 | 2016-17 | 2017-18 | |
A | British (White) | 17 | 20 | 17 | 11 | 14 |
B | Irish (White) | 3 | 1 | - | - | - |
C | Any other White background | - | - | - | 1 | - |
D | White and Black Caribbean (Mixed) | - | - | 1 | 1 | 1 |
H | Indian (Asian or Asian British) | 1 | - | - | - | - |
J | Pakistani (Asian or Asian British) | - | 1 | - | - | - |
M | Caribbean (Black or Black British) | 2 | 1 | - | 1 | - |
N | African (Black or Black British) | - | - | 2 | - | - |
S | Any other ethnic group | - | - | - | - | 1 |
Z | Not stated | - | - | 3 | - | - |
99 | Unknown | - | - | 4 | - | 2 |
Total |
| 23 | 23 | 27 | 14 | 18 |
Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), NHS Digital | ||||||
The following table shows the number of finished admission episodes where there was a primary diagnosis of silicosis, as well as the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) decile relating to each episode, over five years.
IMD Decile | 2013-14 | 2014-15 | 2015-16 | 2016-17 | 2017-18 |
Least deprived 10% | - | 2 | - | 1 | - |
Less deprived 10-20% | 3 | 2 | 4 | 1 | - |
Less deprived 20-30% | 1 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
Less deprived 30-40% | - | - | - | 1 | 3 |
Less deprived 40-50% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
More deprived 40-50% | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | - |
More deprived 30-40% | 5 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
More deprived 20-30% | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
More deprived 10-20% | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
Most deprived 10% | 2 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 5 |
Unknown | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - |
Total | 23 | 23 | 27 | 14 | 18 |
Source: HES, NHS Digital |
Note:
Finished admission episodes |
A finished admission episode (FAE) is the first period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. Admissions do not represent the number of patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the period. |
IMD Decile |
This field uses the IMD Overall Ranking to identify which one of ten groups a Super Output Area belongs to, from most deprived through to least deprived. IMD version 2010 is used from 2010-11 onwards. |
Asked by: Ruth George (Labour - High Peak)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information her Department holds on the effect of silicosis on her Department's budget.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Under the Industrial Injuries Scheme (IIS), silicosis is compensated for under the Pneumoconiosis etc. (Workers' Compensation) Act 1979 lump sum scheme and Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB).
Under the 1979 Act lump sum scheme, the department has paid out £41,382 over the financial years 17/18 and 18/19 to claimants and their dependants affected by silicosis.
Under IIDB, awards for silicosis are made under prescribed diseases which include other medical conditions. Unfortunately, as this information is not immediately accessible, and would require the merging, filtering and quality assuring of complex datasets, data on these claimants could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
For Personal Independence Payment (PIP) the latest data on claims in payment can be broken down by month from April 2013 to April 2019 and by disability (including silicosis) can be found on Stat-Xplore: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/.
The latest data on PIP expenditure broken down by disability subgroup including pneumoconiosis, of which silicosis is one disease, is published and can be found at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/741592/pip-expenditure-by-medical-condition-2017-18.ods
For Employment Support Allowance (ESA), there is high level data stored on medical conditions on the Department’s data base; Stat-Xplore. However, at present this data has not been broken down to include conditions such as silicosis.
Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html