Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact that the Principles of Process Safety Leadership for the offshore UK Continental Shelf energy industry agreed between the Health and Safety Executive and offshore oil and gas industry representatives on the management of safety critical maintenance programmes at contractor level.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Principles of Process Safety Leadership programme for the offshore UK Continental Shelf energy industry was focused on improving process safety leadership for offshore oil and gas installation operators. Safety critical maintenance programmes at contractor level are managed by these oil and gas operators.
There has been sustained focus on offshore oil and gas operators since the pandemic including an annual request to report to Health and Safety Executive, their overall maintenance backlog position, including deferred workscopes. There has been an improving trend in these backlog numbers over the past four years. An agreed set of industry KPIs is now in place and a Maintenance Backlog Task/Finish Group was established to address the challenges including sharing good practice in the delivery of maintenance work.
Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which oil and gas (a) duty holders and (b) installations on the UK Continental Shelf were subject to enforcement action by the Health and Safety Executive in relation to the management of safety critical maintenance work in each year between 2022-23 and 2024-25.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
As a result of the review of maintenance backlog data and targeted offshore installation and HQ interventions over the recent years Improvement Notices have been served on the following installation operators (for both single and multiple installations). These are accessible on Health and Safety Executives’s enforcement database:
For 2022/23:
Ithaca Alba
Eni Douglas
CNR multiple installations
Perenco multiple installations
Total Gryphon
Harbour Armada
For 2023/24:
Repsol Auk
Total Dunbar
Apache multiple installations
For 2024/25:
Total Culzean
Dana Triton
Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many families in receipt of Universal Credit that include an award for Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity due to physical or mental health conditions have (a) no children, (b) one child, (c) two children and (d) three or more children.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This data is published and accessible using the following link: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/
Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Government Response to the Work Capability Assessment: Activities and Descriptors Consultation, CP973, updated on 22 November 2023, if she will publish (a) her Department's Impact Assessment and (b) any estimates made by her Department of the impact of the proposals on (i) the number of people in poverty, (ii) the number of children in poverty and (iii) the number of disabled people in poverty.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In January 2025 the High Court determined that the Work Capability Assessment: Activities and Descriptors consultation was unlawful. The court found the previous government failed to explain their proposals adequately or to allow people sufficient time to respond.
As the previous consultation has been struck down, we will reconsult on the WCA changes as part of our Green Paper in spring 2025 that will bring forward wider proposals to reform the health and disability benefits system.
Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Child Poverty Strategy will take into account the potential impact of the planned reforms to the Work Capability Assessment on children living in households where at least one parent or guardian is in receipt of Limited Capability for Work or Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity allowances.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Delivering our manifesto commitment to tackle child poverty is an urgent priority for this Government, and the Ministerial Taskforce is working to publish a Child Poverty Strategy which will deliver lasting change.
The Strategy will look at levers across four key themes of increasing incomes, reducing essential costs, increasing financial resilience; and better local support especially in the early years. This will build on the reform plans underway across government and work underway in Devolved Governments.
As part of the Strategy's development, the Taskforce is considering the potential impact of policies across government, including the potential impacts of the planned reforms to the Work Capability Assessment.