Productivity: Work-related Stress
Lord Hylton Excerpts(6 years, 1 month ago)
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Lord Henley
My Lords, if the noble Lord can be patient, he will get a further response to the Taylor review in due course. I assure him that there is no stress in the Conservative Party or the Government at the moment.
Lord Hylton (CB)
My Lords, have the Government considered the impact on stress and mental health of zero-hours contracts? Does the Minister agree that although they may suit students and semi-retired people, they are not good for the rest of the population?
Lord Henley
My Lords, I am very glad that the noble Lord highlighted the fact that zero-hours contracts have a part to play in our economy. As he suggested, they are of considerable benefit to a great many people, such as students and retired people. They also benefit others. Again, if the noble Lord can be patient, he will hear more from the Government in due course.
Fuel Poverty
Lord Hylton Excerpts(7 years, 2 months ago)
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Lord Prior of Brampton
I assure the noble Baroness that we take fuel poverty extremely seriously. Interestingly, there are 835,000 fewer fuel-poor homes within bands E, F and G than there were in 2010, so there are signs that targeting the energy company obligation more specifically at lower-income families is having an effect. With the Digital Economy Bill having gone through the House of Commons, I hope that we can target our resources more accurately to ensure that we meet the obligations set out in the sustainable growth paper that came out last week.
Lord Hylton (CB)
My Lords, will the Minister confirm that the delay in paying universal credit when it has been approved will be cut from six weeks to four weeks? What are the prospects of further reductions in that time delay?
Lord Prior of Brampton
My Lords, I am not able to answer that question. It is not specifically related to the Question in front of us, but it is none the less extremely important and I will write to the noble Lord later.