Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Regulatory Management Options Analyses on potential substances for inclusion on the Substances of Very High Concern Candidate List does the Health and Safety Executive have the capacity to conduct per year.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The number of Regulatory Management Options Analysis (RMOA) that the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) will progress each year depends on a number of factors. These include the information available to HSE on chemicals of concern, the likely impact of HSE’s actions, wider strategic priorities within the REACH framework for risk management activity and available capacity. HSE plans to undertake 5 RMOAs during 2023/24.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will publish her Department's Regulatory Management Options Analysis on the four substances it was considering for inclusion on UK’s Substances of Very High Concern Candidate List; and if he will take steps to review the new entries to the EU’s Substances of Very High Concern Candidate List in (a) 2022 and (b) January 2023 for potential inclusion on the UK Candidate List.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
All Regulatory Management Options Analyses (RMOAs) produced by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) are published on HSE’s website following agreement with the Appropriate Authorities. HSE will review new entries to the EU’s SVHC candidate list as part of their work programme.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what (a) staffing and (b) other costs were incurred by the Health and Safety Executive for work relating to UK REACH in the (i) 2021-22 financial year and (ii) 2022-23 financial year to 31 January 2023.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
Please see the table below for costs relating to UK REACH.
Financial Year | Staff (£M) | Other (£M) | Total (£M) |
2021/2022 | £2.94 | £0 | £2.94 |
2022/2023 (to Jan 31) | £3.2 | *£0.04 | £3.24 |
*£40,000, relate to payroll and expenses costs for members of the REACH Independent Scientific Expert Pool who advise HSE on its UK REACH work.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate his Department has made of the level of the disability employment gap.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The latest estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that the disability employment gap was 29.6 percentage points in October to September 2022. This is an increase of 0.6 percentage points on the year and an overall decrease of 4.2 percentage points since the same quarter in 2013.
Source: A08: Labour market status of disabled people - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk).
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of increasing the Administrative Earnings Threshold of Universal Credit on people with health conditions.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The Department has completed an Equality Analysis for the AET.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions she has with Cabinet colleagues on supporting disabled people in Newport Bills with rising energy bills for electrical equipment, including medical equipment.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Shadow Minister (Equalities)
The Secretary of State and I have regular discussions across Government on a range of issues.
The government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living, including disabled people, and has taken further, decisive action to support people with their energy bills. We have taken action though our new Energy Price Guarantee from 1 October. This is in addition to the over £37bn of cost of living support announced earlier this year which includes:
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many members of staff have left her Department since 12 December 2019.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
Between 13 December 2019 and 30 August 2022 (inclusive) 24,415 headcount (21,833.44 FTE) left the Department for Work and Pensions.