Asked by: Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party - Lanark and Hamilton East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether asylum seekers are able to access tailored job search support upon resettlement in the UK.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Most asylum seekers in the UK do not currently have the right to work and are therefore not eligible to access DWP employment services.
Employment support is however available to refugees and those entering the UK as part of a resettlement scheme which is delivered by the Home Office. Local Jobcentre Managers have considerable flexibility and expertise to provide tailored support to meet individual needs as required.
Asked by: Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party - Lanark and Hamilton East)
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 potential impact of the removal of the £20 universal credit uplift on child poverty in (a) Lanark and Hamilton East constituency and (b) other areas of deprivation.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
It is not possible to produce a robust estimate of the impact of removing the £20 uplift on child poverty. This is particularly the case at the moment given the uncertainty around the speed of the economic recovery, and how this will be distributed across the population.
The Chancellor announced a temporary six-month extension to the £20 per week uplift at the Budget on 3 March to support households affected by the economic shock of Covid-19. Universal Credit has provided a vital safety net for six million people during the pandemic, and the temporary uplift was part of a COVID support package worth a total of £407 billion in 2020-21 and 2021-22.
There have been significant positive developments in the public health situation since the uplift was first introduced. With the success of the vaccine rollout and record job vacancies, it is right that our focus is on helping people back into work. Helping parents to move into and remain in work offers the best opportunity for families to move out of poverty and to improve children’s long-term outcomes. A child living in a household where every adult is working is about 5 times less likely to be in absolute poverty (before housing costs) than a child in a household where nobody works.
Through our Plan for Jobs, we are targeting tailored support schemes of people of all ages to help them prepare for, get into and progress in work. These include: Kickstart, delivering tens of thousands of six-month work placements for Universal Credit claimants aged 16-24 at risk of unemployment; Restart, which provides 12 months’ intensive employment support to Universal Credit claimants who are unemployed for a year; and JETS, which provides light touch employment support for people who are claiming either Universal Credit or New Style Jobseekers Allowance, for up to 6 months, helping participants effectively re-engage with the labour market and focus their job search. We have also recruited an additional 13,500 work coaches to provide more intensive support to find a job. In total, our Plan for Jobs interventions will support more than two million people.
This Government is wholly committed to supporting those on low incomes, and continues to do so through many measures, including by increasing the living wage, and by spending over £111 billion on welfare support for people of working age in 2021/22.
This year, we are also investing up to £220m in the Holiday Activities and Food programme, which has been expanded to every Local Authority across England. Participating children will benefit from a range of support, including a healthy and nutritious meal as well as fun and engaging activities covering the Easter, summer and Christmas holidays in 2021. We also increased the value of Healthy Start Food Vouchers from £3.10 to £4.25 in April, which helps eligible low income households buy basic foods like milk, fruit and vitamins.
Asked by: Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party - Lanark and Hamilton East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what financial support is available to people who have been diagnosed with long covid.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
People who are under State Pension Age and have a disability or health condition that affects their ability to work can apply for New Style Employment and Support Allowance (NS ESA), subject to the wider eligibility criteria.
Where an individual is not furloughed, and they are sick or incapable of work, they may be eligible for Statutory Sick Pay from their employer subject to satisfying entitlement conditions.
In addition, where an individual’s income is reduced while off work sick and they require further financial support, they may be able to receive Universal Credit, depending on their personal circumstances. Those with long term health conditions may also be eligible for help with the additional costs that can arise from a long-term health condition or disability through Personal Independence Payment, Attendance Allowance or Disability Living Allowance, depending on their age.
Asked by: Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party - Lanark and Hamilton East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people are in receipt of (a) employment support allowance and (b) personal independence payment as a result of a long covid diagnosis.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
In relation to your question on Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), Information on lower level medical conditions is not currently available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
The available information on the number of Employment and Support Allowance claimants by high level medical conditions is published here:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk
Guidance for users is available at:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html
In respect of your question on Personal Independence Payment (PIP), the information you requested is not held by the Department. A specific diagnosis code for Long Covid does not exist in the PIP Computer System. Claimants who experience Long Covid symptoms will have a disability recorded that links with the claimant’s functional needs.
Statistics on the number PIP Claims with Entitlement broken down by disability for each month from April 2013 – October 2020 is published on Stat-Xplore:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk
Guidance for users is available at:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html