Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many asbestos-related deaths have occurred in England in the last year; and what steps the Health and Safety Executive is taking to help reduce the number of asbestos-related deaths in England.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government recognises the devasting impact on those who have asbestos related disease and their families.
In total, there were over 4000 deaths due to asbestos-related diseases in England in 2023, the latest year for which statistics are available, due to past exposures to asbestos. This total includes 1975 mesothelioma deaths, and a similar estimated number due to asbestos-related lung cancer. There were in addition 401 deaths where the death certificate mentioned the non-malignant asbestos-related disease of asbestosis.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is actively tackling Great Britain’s asbestos legacy using a variety of regulatory interventions including licencing of removal contractors and inspection of the management of asbestos in situ, stakeholder engagement, public campaigns (including, ‘Asbestos & You’ for trades people to know what to watch for and what to do when they come across asbestos) as well as research activities.
Collectively, this supports dutyholders and other stakeholders to manage asbestos safely to avoid further exposure to risk and work towards an asbestos-free built environment. HSE is giving further consideration to the recommendations in the 2022 Work and Pensions Select Committee report, “The Health and Safety Executive’s Approach to asbestos management”.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people receive Universal Credit in (a) Romford constituency and (b) the London Borough of Havering.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The latest available statistics on the number of people who are on Universal Credit, by Westminster parliamentary constituency and by local authority, are published in the ‘People on Universal Credit’ dataset on Stat-Xplore.
Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access general guidance on how to extract the information required. For guidance on the Universal Credit datasets on Stat-Xplore, see the Universal Credit Official Statistics Stat-Xplore User Guide.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to help reduce youth unemployment.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As part of our plan to Get Britain Working, we are launching a new Youth Guarantee for all young people aged 18-21 in England to ensure that they can access quality training opportunities, an apprenticeship or help to find work. The Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Education are working closely with the eight Mayoral Strategic Authorities in England, which began mobilising the Youth Guarantee Trailblazers in April 2025. The eight areas delivering Trailblazers are: the West of England, Tees Valley, East Midlands, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, Liverpool City Region, West Midlands and two areas within the Greater London Authority. The trailblazers will run for 12 months, and we will use the learning to inform the future design and development of the Youth Guarantee as it rolls-out across the rest of England.
This is part of a broader package of reforms, including introduction of a new jobs and careers service to help get more people into work, the development of work, health and skills plans for the economically inactive, and the launch of Skills England to open up new opportunities for young people. We will work in partnership with organisations and businesses at the national and local level to offer exciting and engaging opportunities to young people. This could include work experience, training courses or employability programmes.
In addition, DWP continues to provide young people aged 16-24 with labour market support through an extensive range of interventions at a national and local level. This includes flexible provision driven by local need, nationwide employment programmes and support delivered by work coaches based in our Jobcentres and in local communities working alongside partners.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
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 Carer’s Allowance rates.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the honourable member to the answer I gave on 6 February 2025 to question UIN 28443.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has taken steps to notify British pensioners retiring abroad that their pension may be frozen.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The UK's policy on the up-rating of the UK State Pension for recipients living overseas is a longstanding one. The UK state pension is payable worldwide without regard to nationality and is uprated abroad where we have a legal requirement to do so.
Up-rating is based on levels of earnings growth and price inflation in the UK which has no direct relevance where the pensioner is resident overseas.
Over many years, priority is given to those living in the United Kingdom when drawing up expenditure plans for additional pensioner benefits.
Information on what will happen when people emigrate to certain countries is available on www.gov.uk and this includes advice on the impact on State pension for people who do. Further advice can be obtained by calling the International Pension Centre on 0191 218 777 or the Pension Service on 0800 731 7898.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many pensioners have returned to the UK from countries where their state pension has been frozen in each of the last five years.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Department does not hold the information to be able to answer this question.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will hold discussions with Anne Puckridge on the exclusion of certain countries from the annual uplift to the UK State Pension during her visit to the UK in December 2024.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
There are currently no plans to hold discussions with Anne Puckridge on this issue.
The UK's policy on the up-rating of the UK State Pension for recipients living overseas is a longstanding one. The UK state pension is payable worldwide and is uprated abroad where we have a legal requirement to do so, for example in countries with which we have a reciprocal agreement that provides for up-rating.
Up-rating is based on levels of earnings growth and price inflation in the UK which has no direct relevance where the pensioner is resident overseas.
Over many years, priority is given to those living in the United Kingdom when drawing up expenditure plans for additional pensioner benefits.
People move abroad for many reasons and this can have an impact on their finances. However, the decision to move abroad is voluntary and remains a personal choice dependent on the circumstances of the individual. For a number of years, advice has been provided to the public that the UK State Pension is not uprated overseas except where there is a legal requirement to do so. HM Revenue and Customs and the Department for Work and Pensions publish information on the Government website.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applications her Department received from pensioners living in countries where the UK State Pension is not uprating yearly requesting that their pension be temporarily uprated because they are visiting (a) the UK or (b) travelling to a country where the State Pension is uprated in each year since 2021; and what the cost to the public purse was of maintaining a team in her Department to administer such requests in the same period.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to encourage employers to hire people with disabilities.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Employers are crucial in enhancing employment opportunities and supporting disabled people and those with health conditions to thrive in the workforce. Our forthcoming employment White Paper explores ways to improve employment outcomes and experiences for these groups.
Current support to employers includes the Disability Confident scheme which provides advice, support, and free resources to help employers attract, recruit, retain and develop disabled people in the workplace. The scheme encourages employers to think differently about disability and to take positive action to address the issues disabled employees face in the workplace. As of the 31 October 2024 there are over 19,000 employer members of the scheme and they report over 12 million employees working in their organisations.
At a local level, as part of their duties, Disability Employment Advisers promote, collaborate and advocate for our customers and department services, such as the Disability Confident scheme, with external partners, service providers and employers.
Nationally, DWP Strategic Relationship Team work with Disability Confident employers to demonstrate actively how they are bringing their Disability Confident commitments to life as part of their recruitment arrangements.
Current support to employers also includes a digital information service for employers which offers tailored guidance on supporting health and disability in the workplace.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to help fill job vacancies in Romford constituency.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Romford Jobcentre team deliver a bespoke service to employers, including candidate matching and screening, employer interviews on site, and group information sessions to help customers into work, as well as job fairs targeting specific sectors and customer groups, such as events for older workers, National Care Leavers Week, and Disability Confident. The team also arrange employer-led insight days and webinars, such as the current collaboration with Voice, an adult social care provider, to boost awareness and interest in this sector.
In the constituency and across the London Borough of Havering, Romford Jobcentre partners with both local and national employers to meet their recruitment needs, creating Sector Based Work Academy Programmes tailored to their requirements, including pre-employment training and work experience placements, allowing employers to assess whether the participant is a good match for the role and the company.
The weekly job club at Romford Jobcentre supports residents in CV preparation, job applications, interview preparation, and techniques. We also host information sessions on topics to aid customers in finding employment, including insights into different job sectors, childcare advice, support for individuals with additional health needs, and motivational sessions.
The Romford team work closely with the London Borough of Havering, recently co-hosting two job fairs. More job fairs are planned, including those with money management and cost of living support. We actively engage with the Local Authority Regeneration Team, sharing local labour market intelligence and collaborating with further education providers and local independent providers to shape provisions that meet the current and emerging demands of employers.