Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans she has to amend the Gas Safety Management Regulations to allow hydrogen blending within the main grid to levels higher than 0.1 per cent by volume; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is currently reviewing the Gas Safety (Management) Regulations 1996 (GSMR). This includes the safe composition of gas for transmission and distribution in Great Britain’s gas network. Following completion of the review, I will consider any proposals for change HSE puts forward.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons state pensions in Northern Ireland are devolved but a reserved matter for the Scottish Parliament; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
State Pension across the UK is funded from National Insurance contributions, with there being one National Insurance Fund which serves Great Britain and a separate fund serving Northern Ireland. The Northern Ireland Fund is administered in line with the principle of parity with Great Britain.
The Northern Ireland Act 1998 sets out reserved and excepted matters, and anything not specifically mentioned in these lists is deemed to be transferred to the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Assembly. This includes all pensions-related legislation. However, in general, social security and pensions in Northern Ireland operate in parity with Great Britain, and there are mechanisms in place to provide for liaison between the National Insurance Funds in Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Recommendations on which areas of social security should be devolved to Scotland, agreed by the five main parties represented in the Scottish Parliament, were contained in the Smith Commission report published on 27 November 2014. These recommendations were taken forward and formed the basis of the Scotland Act 2016.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 28 July 2020 to Question 76783 on Child Maintenance Service: Secondment, how many Child Maintenance Service staff members remain deployed to the provision of other services.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Of the total staff redeployed, there were around 1800 Child Maintenance people who were redeployed. This included 141 former CSA colleagues who were due (plans pre Covid19) to be permanently redeployed to other areas of DWP. Of the 1645 were due to return, subsequently 322 were retained on a permanent basis in legacy benefits. Recruitment is currently ongoing to back fill these staff into CMG.
1127 have returned to CMG and there are currently 196 FTE still redeployed however they are due to return later this month.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 28 July 2020 to Question 76783 on Child Maintenance Service: Secondment, how many of the 10,000 staff redeployed for the provision of frontline services are (a) still redeployed, (b) redeployed on a temporary basis and (c) redeployed on a permanent basis.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Of the total staff redeployed, there were around 1800 Child Maintenance people who were redeployed. This included 141 former CSA colleagues who were due (plans pre Covid19) to be permanently redeployed to other areas of DWP. Of the 1645 were due to return, subsequently 322 were retained on a permanent basis in legacy benefits. Recruitment is currently ongoing to back fill these staff into CMG.
1127 have returned to CMG and there are currently 196 FTE still redeployed however they are due to return later this month.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 28 July 2020 to Question 76783 on Child Maintenance Service: Secondment, how many new employees have been recruited for the provision of frontline services since the start of the covid-19 outbreak to allow Child Maintenance Service staff to return to the roles they were redeployed from.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Since March 2020 DWP has increased supply by c8500, this comprises permanent and temporary recruitment, contractors/agency workers, and loans from other Government Departments.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of staffing levels in her Department to (a) process claims and payments and (b) to provide unemployment support services effectively; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department is doing all we can to deal with exceptional levels of demand. Our priority is ensuring people get their benefit payments and that we can continue to support those who need them most. The Department has mobilised robust business continuity plans to ensure we can do just that.
We have introduced new processes to ease pressure on waiting times for identity verification over the phone and other processes. People making new claims for Universal Credit no longer need to call the Department as part of the process. Once they have completed their online application we will call them if we need to check any of the information they have given us.
Jobcentres have remained open throughout, providing support to our most vulnerable customers. In line with the easing of restrictions in England, from 1st July, people will be able to make an appointment with their Work Coach if they can’t get the help they want online or over the phone. Work Coaches, as part of the individualised approach, will be calling all claimants to engage with them. We will continue to be align with current guidance from Scotland and Wales.
The Department is continually assessing the service being offered to customers and we continue to keep staff numbers under review as part of our response to the impact of Covid-19 on the labour market and our support for jobseekers during this difficult time.
We have already committed to increasing the number of Work Coaches [13500] and Case Managers, and recruitment is already underway.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many employees have been seconded from the Child Maintenance Services (CMS) to other sections of her Department as a result of the covid-19 outbreak; when the CMS will be return to the staffing levels before the covid-19 outbreak; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
To meet the unprecedented demand for benefits during the pandemic, the Department redeployed over 10,000 staff to critical frontline work, streamlined processes and increased the capacity of our IT systems. This included approximately 1,700 out of around 6,800 members of staff from the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) to support Universal Credit (UC) and Jobseekers Allowance.
Staff began to return to the CMS from July 2020, and the Service will take a staged approach to make use of returning resource over the next few months.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether it is her Department's policy to automatically extend personal independence payment awards where medical assessments cannot be undertaken as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
From 17 March we suspended all face-to-face assessments for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) to protect vulnerable people from unnecessary risk of exposure to the coronavirus. Where an assessment has been scheduled we will be making alternative arrangements, which could involve either telephone or paper-based assessments. We expect these arrangements to be in effect for a temporary period and will be regularly reviewing the position in line with Public Health advice.
From 24 March we have also temporarily suspended all PIP reviews and reassessment activity other than for those already in progress and existing awards due to expire will be automatically extended to ensure continuity of financial support.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of paying the childcare costs elements of universal credit in advance rather than arrears as part of the coronavirus financial mitigation measures; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Will Quince
As both the Prime Minister and Chancellor have made clear, the Government will do whatever it takes to support people affected by COVID 19 and we have been clear in our intention that no one should be penalised for doing the right thing. These are rapidly developing circumstances, we continue to keep the situation under review and will keep Parliament updated accordingly.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make universal credit payable in advance for all new claimants in response to the covid-19 outbreak; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Will Quince
New Claims Advances are available to support those in immediate financial need until their first Universal Credit payment is made and the Department is committed to delivering advances as soon as possible to people who have requested them. It is for the claimant to choose to opt for an advance and it would not be appropriate for the department to require new claimants to have an advance.