Asked by: Stephen Flynn (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if her Department will make an estimate of the potential impact of removing the two-child benefit cap on the number of children in poverty.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Recognising the wide-ranging causes of child poverty, our new Ministerial Taskforce will explore how we can use all the available levers we have across government and wider society to drive forward the change our children need.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many families use foodbanks in Blyth and Ashington constituency.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Statistics for the total number of families using foodbanks is not available at a constituency level.
Figures for families using foodbanks in the North East in the past 30 days and 12 months is available on Stat-Xplore: Stat-Xplore - Home (dwp.gov.uk)
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Wyre)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when she plans to publish her Department's response to the consultation entitled Modernising support for independent living: the health and disability green paper, published in April 2024.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The consultation on the Modernising Support Green Paper closed on Monday 22 July. Over 16,000 responses have been received and we will review these responses.
The proposals in this Green Paper were developed by the previous government. We will be considering our own approach to social security in due course.
Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she is taking steps to incorporate the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in (a) policy and (b) legislation.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The rights of disabled people under this Convention are largely reflected in domestic policies and legislation, including the Equality Act 2010 in England, Scotland and Wales, and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 in Northern Ireland.
We are committed to championing the rights of disabled people. Our Equality (Race and Disability) Bill will enshrine in law the full right to equal pay for disabled people, including disability pay gap reporting for large employers. Additionally our Employment Rights Bill will support people - including disabled people - to access flexible working and break down barriers to opportunity.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many families in Blyth and Ashington constituency are impacted by the two child benefit cap.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The number of Universal Credit households affected by the policy to provide support to a maximum of 2 children, in Blyth and Ashington in April 2024 was 770.
The equivalent figure for Child Tax Credits is not held by this department as it is administered by HM Revenue & Customs.
Notes:
1. The new 2024 Parliamentary Constituencies are derived by using postcode lookup data against the claimant address however, this is only available for England and Wales and is not present for all households in this data source.
2. 2024 Parliamentary Constituencies are approximate and therefore figures may not match exactly with the previous 2019 Parliamentary Constituencies they correspond to.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 23 July 2024 to Question 706 on Unemployment, what the headline level of economic inactivity was in (a) March-May 2010 and (b) the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The headline UK economic inactivity level was 9.433 million in March-May 2010 (based on people aged between 16 and 64). In March-May 2024 (the latest month for which figures are available) the UK economic inactivity level was 9.383 million.
The headline UK economic inactivity rate was 23.4% in March-May 2010 (this is also estimated on a 16-64 basis). In March-May 2024 (the latest month for which figures are available) the UK economic inactivity rate was 22.1%.
The UK has experienced a rise in economic inactivity since the pandemic. The economic inactivity level has risen by 833,000 since the pre-pandemic level, with economic inactivity due to long-term sickness rising to 2.8m. The UK remains the only nation in the G7 with an economic inactivity rate higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) people, (b) children and (c) pensioners were in absolute poverty in (i) May 2010 and (ii) the last month for which figures are available.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Statistics on the total number of people living in relative and absolute poverty both before and after housing costs are published annually in the Households Below Average Income statistics Households below average income (HBAI) statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Figures are produced on an annual basis and available for the breakdowns requested.
Asked by: Jess Asato (Labour - Lowestoft)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many exemptions to the two-child benefit limit due to rape have been (a) requested and (b) granted since that exemption was introduced.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The requested information is not available. However, figures are published showing the number of households in receipt of an exception for children likely to have been born as a result of non-consensual conception, which for this purpose 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. Table2, provides this information.
The full statistics tables and supporting narrative are published here: Universal Credit and Child Tax Credit claimants: statistics related to the policy to provide support for a maximum of 2 children, April 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of introducing a maximum workplace temperature.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government is committed to modernising health and safety guidance including that addressing workplace temperatures. The Government will work with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to bring forward detailed proposals for consultation on workplace temperature.
Asked by: Sorcha Eastwood (Alliance - Lagan Valley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department will continue the work of the Department’s Children in Hospital Stakeholder Group.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Supporting parents with care and compassion whilst they navigate some of the toughest moments a parent can face is something all in this house would believe in. We will consider the work done by the previous Government before making a decision on next steps.