Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many serious health and safety incidents at oil refineries and petrochemical plants have been reported in the UK over the last five years.
Answered by Lord Freud
The table below shows health and safety incidents reported in the manufacture of refined petroleum products sector over the 5 years 2011/12-2015/16, for Great Britain. Each year is from 1 April to 31 March.
Incident | 2011/12 | 2012/13 | 2013/14 | 2014/15 | 2015/16p |
Fatal injuries to workers | 5 | - | - | - | - |
Non-fatal injuries to workers | 42 | 32 | 24 | 20 | 22 |
Dangerous Occurrences | 47* | 33 | 27 | 17 | 19 |
Source: RIDDOR (The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations);
p=provisional
Notes:
For fatal injuries, the data provided is based on the site of where the death occurred.
For non-fatal injuries and dangerous occurrences, the data is reported according to Standard Industrial Classification (SIC), namely ‘SIC 19.2 – manufacture of refined petroleum products’. For non-fatal injuries reporting is made by the employer of the injured person.
Non-fatal injuries to workers are defined under RIDDOR, and cover specified injuries such as amputation or most bone fractures; prior to October 2013 these were known as Major Injuries. The non-fatal injury figures also include injuries resulting in more than seven days off work (the reporting threshold was over-3-days until April 2012).
Also from October 2013, some legislative changes were made to the “Types of Dangerous Occurrences” reportable under RIDDOR.
Dangerous Occurrences include incidents such as an explosion, fire or the release of flammable or other dangerous substances.
* Due to a reporting system change in September 2011, figures for Dangerous Occurrences in 2011/12 only cover seven months.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their latest assessment of health and safety in the agricultural sector.
Answered by Lord Freud
The number of fatal injuries in the agriculture sector fluctuates each year, and as such it is not possible to draw conclusions from figures for individual years. The annual number of deaths averaged over a five year rolling period is broadly static and remains a cause for concern for the Health and Safety Executive, the Farm Safety Partnerships (FSP) in England, Scotland and Wales, the Agriculture Industry Advisory Committee (AIAC) and the industry itself.
The Health and Safety Executive publishes figures on health and safety in the agriculture sector in the attached document “Statistics on fatal injuries in the workplace in Great Britain 2016”. Further information can also be found in the published report “Health and safety in agriculture, forestry and fishing in Great Britain, 2015/16”, which is also attached.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that they meet their target of halving the disability employment gap.
Answered by Lord Freud
In the last three years, the number of disabled people in work has increased by almost half a million. But we recognise that the gap between the employment rates of disabled people and non-disabled people remains too large. That is why we are committed to halving it.
Last year the Work and Health Unit was established to lead the drive for improving work and health outcomes for people with health conditions and disabilities, as well as improving support for people absent from work through ill health and those at risk of leaving workforce.
The Unit has begun work to build the evidence base of what works to support disabled people and people with health conditions to obtain and remain in work. We are increasing the reach of Access to Work which provide support to an additional 25,000 people per year by 2021, and we have recently launched the Access to Work Digital Service which as so far received an average of 500 claims per week. We are more than doubling Disability Employment Advisors in job centres to help disabled people into employment and embedding employment advisers in IAPT, so that individuals with mental health conditions can receive timely and tailored employment advice.
We will soon publish a Green Paper that will explore a range of options for long-term reform across different sectors enabling everyone to realise their aspirations, regardless of their health condition or disability. We will engage with disabled people, their representative organisations and a wide range of other stakeholders, who all have an important part to play in making the transformative changes required for long-term reform on supporting disabled people into work.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of support services for people with complex needs when entering the labour market; and what steps they are taking to make recruitment processes accessible for all.
Answered by Lord Freud
We have been engaging with a variety of stakeholders and partners, including those with an interest in people with complex needs, to understand their view of current employment support. We will soon publish a Green Paper to explore a range of options for long-term reform across different sectors enabling everyone to realise their aspirations, regardless of their health condition or disability.
The Government is committed to enabling all disabled people to fulfil their potential. Work is an important part of this, and the Government wants all disabled people and people with a long term health condition to go as far as their talents will take them.
We are supporting this through Access to Work, which has specialist teams to provide a dedicated service to particular groups of people including those with complex needs.
Our new Disability Confident employer scheme went live on 14 July 2016. When employers sign up as Disability Confident they are asked to make specific meaningful offers of opportunities for disabled people such as jobs, apprenticeships, internships, and work experience opportunities.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the latest figures they have of the number of fatal and serious accidents occurring in the farming industry.
Answered by Lord Freud
These figures are published on the Health and Safety Executive’s website: http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/industry/agriculture/index.htm. They can also be found in the published report attached, “Health and safety in agriculture in Great Britain, 2014” on pages 6 and 7.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the number of housing tenants in arrears since changes to the rules regarding access to Housing Benefit.
Answered by Lord Freud
The latest figures from the Homes and Community Agency (HCA) show that housing association rent arrears in England up to the end of March this year had fallen for the second quarter in a row and that average rent collections remain at 99%.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the progress of the Credit Union Expansion Project.
Answered by Lord Freud
The DWP Credit Union Expansion Project contract began in May 2013. Around 80 credit unions are currently participating in the project. ABCUL has started delivering the Automated Loan and decision tool to participating credit unions and feedback is that the tool is ensuring loan decisions are faster, consistent and more efficient to deliver. Procurement of an IT banking platform is also being progressed but much remains to be done particularly on achieving sufficient growth for Credit Unions, and DWP continue to support and monitor the project closely