Asked by: Chris Elmore (Labour - Ogmore)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what data her Department collects on the use of food banks in Ogmore.
Answered by Will Quince
The Government does not collect official data on the use of food banks. We have worked with the Scottish Government, food insecurity experts, and the Office for National Statistics to introduce a new set of food security questions in the Family Resources Survey starting from April 2019. This means that we will in future be able to able to monitor the prevalence and severity of household food insecurity across the UK and for specific groups, to better understand the drivers of food insecurity and identify which groups are most at risk.
Asked by: Chris Elmore (Labour - Ogmore)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment her Department has made of a potential link between the rollout of universal credit and use of foodbanks in (a) Wales and (b) Ogmore.
Answered by Will Quince
There are many reasons people use foodbanks and agreement that growth in the use of foodbanks cannot be attributed solely to Universal Credit.
Under Universal Credit no claimant has to wait for their money: advances of up to 100 per cent of their award are available to all claimants from day one of their claim. Advances are paid back over a period of 12 months and in the Autumn Budget 2018, we announced that from October 2021, the payback period for these advances will be extended further, up to 16 months. This is just one of a number of measures the Department has put in place to support claimants, such as paying those claimants moving from Housing Benefit onto Universal Credit a two week ‘transitional housing payment’. We are also introducing a two-week run on for eligible claimants of Income Support, Jobseeker’s Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance from July 2020.
Asked by: Chris Elmore (Labour - Ogmore)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Justice on improving access to employment for ex-offenders.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Secretary of State attended the Ministerial Reoffending Board on 26th November, along with the Secretary of State for Justice. A range of issues were discussed, including improving access to employment for ex-offenders.
This Government recognises that supporting ex-offenders into work is a crucial part of effective rehabilitation. DWP officials work closely with their counterparts in MoJ to improve the outcomes for ex–offenders. The DWP has dedicated Prison Work Coaches based in resettlement prisons across Great Britain, who work with prisoners, prison services, local partners and employers to help secure training, work experience and employment opportunities. Ex-offenders are also entitled to tailored support from Jobcentre Work Coaches and early, priority access to the Work and Health Programme.
Asked by: Chris Elmore (Labour - Ogmore)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many work coaches currently work in UK prisons on a full-time basis.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
Currently, there are 130 work coaches based in prisons in England, Scotland and Wales. Of these, 49 work in prisons on a full time basis and the others work on a part time basis. In total this is the equivalent of 107 full time members of staff.
Asked by: Chris Elmore (Labour - Ogmore)
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 effectiveness of policies to help former prisoners find employment.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
This Government recognises that supporting ex-offenders into work is a crucial part of effective rehabilitation. That is why Ministry of Justice launched the Education and Employment strategy to create a system where each prisoner is set on a path to employment as soon as they enter prison.
It is also why the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has dedicated Prison Work Coaches based in resettlement prisons across Great Britain, who work with prisoners, prison services, local partners and employers to help secure training, work experience and employment opportunities for prisoners at the start of their sentence, during their sentence and after release.
Ex-offenders are also entitled to tailored support from Jobcentre Work Coaches and early, priority access to the Work and Health Programme, to ensure they receive more intensive employment support.
DWP does not currently collate data to identify an ex-offender in a way that allows robust reporting. We are therefore committed to gathering better data to support claimants with complex needs and has prioritised this as part of the wider work programme for Universal Credit.
Asked by: Chris Elmore (Labour - Ogmore)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she has taken to reduce the number of people declaring incorrect incomes to avoid child support payments in the last 12 months.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Department does not collect data on paying parents who use limited companies. The Child Maintenance Service obtains income information directly from HMRC and includes almost all sources of income declared to that Department for tax purposes. The specially trained Financial Investigation Unit (FIU) is able to look into cases where there is concern about a parent’s income. The FIU has been expanded since it was set up in 2014; and between October and December 2017 it opened over 1200 complex earner investigations. We recently consulted on a new Child Maintenance Compliance and Arrears strategy which proposed further improvements to the treatment of the income of complex earners, such as high value assets owned by a parent being used to create a notional income. Our response to the consultation will be published in due course.
Asked by: Chris Elmore (Labour - Ogmore)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of people using limited companies to declare incorrect incomes to avoid child support payments in the last 12 months.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Department does not collect data on paying parents who use limited companies. The Child Maintenance Service obtains income information directly from HMRC and includes almost all sources of income declared to that Department for tax purposes. The specially trained Financial Investigation Unit (FIU) is able to look into cases where there is concern about a parent’s income. The FIU has been expanded since it was set up in 2014; and between October and December 2017 it opened over 1200 complex earner investigations. We recently consulted on a new Child Maintenance Compliance and Arrears strategy which proposed further improvements to the treatment of the income of complex earners, such as high value assets owned by a parent being used to create a notional income. Our response to the consultation will be published in due course.
Asked by: Chris Elmore (Labour - Ogmore)
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 Industry Injury Advice Council's guidance that Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease can only be diagnosed for miners who have worked for more than 20 years in an underground environment.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The Secretary of State is advised by the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council (IIAC) which is a non-departmental public body made up of independent experts, representatives of employers and employees on matters relating to the Industrial Injuries Scheme.
The Council’s primary role is to make recommendations about which diseases should be included in the list of diseases covered by the Industrial Injuries Scheme and the prescription criteria for those diseases.
The legal framework underpinning the Industrial Injuries Scheme makes it clear that compensation should not be paid for a disease unless a link between a particular occupation and the disease can be established or presumed with reasonable certainty. A link is presumed where there is evidence that, on the balance of probabilities, work in the prescribed job or occupational exposure doubles the risk of developing the disease.
The Council’s recommendations around Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease are that to establish a presumed link between occupation and disease, a miner would have to work for a minimum of 20 years underground to have sufficient exposure to coal dust. This recommendation was accepted when the disease was added to the scheme and was reflected in the prescription criteria.
Asked by: Chris Elmore (Labour - Ogmore)
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 effectiveness of safeguards to ensure pensions are inherited to the intended recipient.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The administration and payment of survivor benefits in occupational pension schemes is the responsibility of individual pension schemes and is not a matter for government.
Asked by: Chris Elmore (Labour - Ogmore)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if his Department will take steps to ensure pensions are inherited by the intended recipient.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The administration and payment of survivor benefits in occupational pension schemes is the responsibility of individual pension schemes and is not a matter for government.