Asked by: Richard Burgon (Labour - Leeds East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the impact of the two-child benefit cap on trends in the level of child poverty.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
No such assessment has been made of the impact of the two-child benefit cap on trends in the level of child poverty.
The Government has committed to annual statistics releases related to the operation of the policy to provide support for a maximum of two children. Statistics up to April 2022 can be found here:
The latest child poverty figures (2019/20) demonstrate that absolute poverty rates (before housing costs) have not changed since 2016/17 when the two-child benefit cap was introduced. In 2019/20, 16% of children were in absolute poverty (before housing costs), the same level as in 2016/17.
This government believe that work is the best way out of poverty, and the latest statistics (2019/20) show that children in workless households are around 6 times more likely to be in absolute poverty, before housing costs, than those where all adults work. In 2019/20, the absolute poverty rate (before housing costs) of children, where both parents work full-time was only 3%, compared to 42% where one or more parents in a couple were in part-time work.
The government feels it is proportionate to provide support through Universal Credit for a maximum of two children. A benefits structure adjusting automatically to family size is unsustainable.
On 9 July 2021, the Supreme Court handed down its judgment in the judicial review of the two-child policy. The court found the two-child policy lawful and not in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights.
This policy ensures fairness by asking families on benefits to make the same financial decisions as families supporting themselves solely through work. We recognise that some claimants are not able to make the same choices about the number of children in their family, which is why exceptions have been put in place to protect certain groups, including those likely to have been born as a result of non-consensual conception. This includes rape or where the claimant was in a controlling or coercive relationship with the child’s other biological parent at the time of conception. In this case, before a claim is approved, claimants are asked to contact a suitable third-party professional who can confirm the claimant’s circumstances, as described by them, are consistent with the criteria for the exception. The third-party professional does not judge the credibility of the claimant’s statement or require any further evidence.
Asked by: Richard Burgon (Labour - Leeds East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what her planned timescale is for the consultation on the National Strategy for Disabled People; and when her Department plans to begin consultation with (a) disabled people's organisations, (b) representatives of disabled workers and (c) trade unions as part of that process.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is committed to transforming the lives of disabled people, and will publish the National Strategy for Disabled People this year.
It will be informed by insights from the lived experience of disabled people, and will focus on the issues that disabled people say are most important across all aspects of life, from transport to education, and housing to employment. On Friday 15th January, we launched the online UK Disability Survey, which complements the range of engagement already undertaken and ongoing, including lived experience research with disabled people, discussions with the Disabled Charities Consortium, the Regional Stakeholder Networks and others. Contributions to the survey will feed not only into the development of the strategy but also its delivery.
Asked by: Richard Burgon (Labour - Leeds East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what targets her Department has in place for processing an Access to Work application for each stage of that process; whether her Department keeps a record of such targets that have not been met; and what steps her Department takes to inform disabled workers of the status of their application in the event that the processing their application has been delayed.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Access to Work does not have any formal targets for elements of the journey as it offers a personalised service which involves regular contact with customers at the appropriate points throughout their application. Customers are provided with updates on the progress of their case, via their agreed method (letter, e-mail, text or phone). If there is any delay to their case customers will be updated via their communications with the nominated adviser, or through accessing information available on the inbound telephony line.
Asked by: Richard Burgon (Labour - Leeds East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many new claims for housing benefit were made in week since 1 March 2020.
Answered by Will Quince
The available information on the number of new claims processed for housing benefit is published quarterly and is available at:
The latest statistics were published in April 2020 and provide data to December 2019.
New claims for Housing Benefit can only be made by people over pension age and working age people living in temporary or supported accommodation. Otherwise, if a working age person requires help with their housing costs they must claim Universal Credit.
Asked by: Richard Burgon (Labour - Leeds East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many court buildings were referred to the Health and Safety Executive because of (a) the presence of asbestos and (b) other concerns in each year since 2010.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) receives circa 26,000 health and safety concerns a year. HSE does not receive this information in a format which enables customisable searching (e.g. type of business, premises, or subject matter), as most of the data is provided in a free-text format to make it as easy as possible for members of the public, and employees to report health and safety matters.
HSE’s Corporate Intelligence System holds data about our interactions with employers and details about any enforcement action taken. We have identified 21 health and safety concerns about UK Courts
| Year | Asbestos | Other concerns |
| 2012/13 | 1 | 2 |
| 2013/14 | 0 | 3 |
| 2014/15 | 0 | 5 |
| 2015/16 | 0 | 5 |
| 2016/17 | 0 | 2 |
| 2017/18 | 0 | 1 |
| 2018/19 | 0 | 2 |
Total |
| 1 | 20 |
Asked by: Richard Burgon (Labour - Leeds East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the highest hourly rate was that (a) her Department and (b) each of her Department's arms-length bodies paid for legal advice in 2018.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The information requested is not in the public domain due to it being commercially sensitive and should not be disclosed. If disclosed it would be likely to impact the commercial interests of the Department and arms-length bodies, and the ability to obtain goods and services on the best possible commercial terms.