Asked by: Angela Richardson (Conservative - Guildford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department plans to take to support Universal Credit claimants who are in work with varying paydays each month affecting the benefit assessment period.
Answered by Jo Churchill
There are no plans to change the way universal credit treats earnings received in a claimant’s assessment period.
As Universal Credit is paid monthly, those who are also paid their earnings monthly will normally get one payment in each assessment period. For those who are paid differently such as weekly, fortnightly, or four-weekly, the frequency of their pay will have an effect on how much Universal Credit they will receive in some assessment periods and means that for some months these claimants will receive two or more sets of earnings during one Universal Credit assessment period. This may reduce, or in some cases, end the Universal Credit award the claimant receives that month.
The issue of receiving two sets of monthly earnings affects a small minority of claimants in very specific circumstances, we know that this can occur when a claimant’s monthly pay date and the last day of their assessment period are close together.
In recognition of the impact that having double calendar monthly earnings in an assessment period can have on this small number of individual households, we have introduced legislation to address the issue. This legislation came into force on the 16th November 2020 and means that for cases affected by this issue monthly earnings can be reallocated to another assessment period, which means that only one set of earnings should be taken into account rather than two.
I hope you find this answer helpful.
Asked by: Angela Richardson (Conservative - Guildford)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many ballots for strike action have been held by registered trade unions since the Trade Union Act 2016 came into force; and what information his Department holds on the number of ballots for strike that did not reach the threshold established under the Act.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
Available data relating to ballots for industrial action held by registered trade unions since the Trade Union Act 2016 came into force can be found on gov.uk under the Certification Officer’s official list of trade unions and their annual returns.
Asked by: Angela Richardson (Conservative - Guildford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to include (a) financial education and (b) capability in the allocation of the dormant assets identified by the Dormant Assets Act 2022; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
I refer the honourable Member to the answer I gave on 26 June 2023, in my capacity as a Department for Culture, Media and Sport Minister, to Question UIN 190569.
Asked by: Angela Richardson (Conservative - Guildford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of parental controls in video games; and whether she is taking steps to promote the use of such controls.
Answered by Julia Lopez
This Government is committed to ensuring that the UK is one of the safest places to be online - this includes video games.
Parental controls are one of a number of tools that can be used to protect children from inappropriate or potentially harmful content on video game platforms.
The use and impact of such protections is being considered as part of this Government’s call for evidence on loot boxes in video games. The Government’s response to the call for evidence on loot boxes in video games will be published in the coming months.
Asked by: Angela Richardson (Conservative - Guildford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the new environmental land management scheme will provide specific rewards for evidence of actions that contribute towards reaching net zero.
Answered by Victoria Prentis
We are introducing three Environmental Land Management schemes that reward the delivery of environmental benefits: the Sustainable Farming Incentive; Local Nature Recovery; and Landscape Recovery. These schemes will be vital to supporting the delivery of our environmental targets, including achieving net zero emissions by 2050.
Through these schemes, we will support farmers to significantly reduce agricultural emissions, for example, through reduced use of inorganic fertiliser through more efficient and sustainable nutrient management. We anticipate that the collective actions of farmers under our environmental land management scheme agreements, together with the Farming Innovation Fund which will fund the deployment of new technologies, and our other farming offers we will decarbonise agricultural emissions by up to a total of 6 MtCO2e per annum in Carbon Budget 6 (2033-2037) in England. Further to this we will also continue to pursue more opportunities through the schemes to support farmers and land managers' contribution to delivering our Carbon Budgets, including through tree planting and peat restoration.
Asked by: Angela Richardson (Conservative - Guildford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans Natural England have to extend the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty; what the Government policy is on expanding the AONB designation; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The Government’s response to the independent Landscapes Review, made in the Written Ministerial Statement 24 June 2021, contributes to the vision set out in the Government’s Ten-Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution, to start the process for designating more of England's beautiful and iconic landscapes as safeguarding these areas for future generations and bringing more people within closer reach of nature. Two of England’s most iconic landscapes, the Yorkshire Wolds and Cheshire Sandstone Ridge, will be considered to become new Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Extensions to the Surrey Hills and Chilterns AONBs are also being considered.
Natural England has statutory responsibility for the designation of areas as AONB under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 and will be beginning this work with immediate effect.
The Government will be working closely with our partners over the coming months including local authorities and National Park Authorities, to address the Landscapes Review’s recommendations in full and consult on draft proposals later this year.
Asked by: Angela Richardson (Conservative - Guildford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the announcement by his Department that people who have lived in a homeless hostel will be exempt from the shared accommodation rate, whether that exemption will include people living in supported accommodation.
Answered by Will Quince
The exemption is for those who have spent at least three months in a specialist hostel (or hostels) for homeless people, where the main purpose of that hostel is to provide accommodation, care, supervision or support, with a view to assisting homeless people to be rehabilitated or resettled in the community. Further, to be eligible for this exemption they would need to have been offered and accepted support services to enable them to be rehabilitated or resettled in the community during their time in the hostel.
Supported housing covers a broad range of accommodation types including sheltered housing for older people and long-term housing for people with care needs. However, short-term supported housing could meet the definition above if it is hostel accommodation and its main purpose is to support and re-habilitate or resettle homeless people into the community.
Asked by: Angela Richardson (Conservative - Guildford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress has been made on the development of a southern link to Heathrow Airport.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
Work is underway to complete the Pre-Strategic Outline Business Case alongside the continued development of an appropriate commercial model to enable a ‘market involved’ approach for Southern Access to Heathrow (SAtH).
The Department intends to provide further guidance to the market regarding the proposed commercial direction and next steps, including the process for selection of a development partner in Summer 2021.
Government remains committed to SAtH’s status as a ‘pathfinder’ project that can harness ideas and expertise from the private sector to fund, finance and deliver this scheme.
Asked by: Angela Richardson (Conservative - Guildford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the judgment in relation to (a) R (Jackson and Simpson) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2020] EWHC 183 (Admin) and (b) i n the matter of an application by Siobhan McLaughlin for Judicial Review (Northern Ireland), what progress her Department’s has made on amend her Department's policies on (i) bereavement support payment and (ii) widowed parents allowance.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
It is our intention to take forward a Remedial Order to remove the incompatibilities from the legislation governing Widowed Parent’s Allowance and Bereavement Support Payment by extending these benefits to cohabitees with children. We intend to lay the Order before the House in due course.
Asked by: Angela Richardson (Conservative - Guildford)
Question to the Scotland Office:
What recent assessment he has made of the value of trade between Scotland and the rest of the UK.
Answered by Douglas Ross
Scottish exports to the rest of the UK increased in 2018 by £1.2 billion to £51.2 billion.
The official Scottish Government figures show that more than 60 per cent of all Scottish exports go to England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
As a result, the rest of the UK continues to be Scotland’s largest market for exports and accounting for three times the value of exports to EU countries.