Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Local indicators of child poverty after housing costs, 2019-20, published by Loughborough University Centre for Research and Social Policy in May 2021, if she will commission a report to identify the reasons for the North East experiencing the largest increase in England in child poverty from 2014-15 to 2019-20.
Answered by Will Quince
No.
The Loughborough University Centre for Research and Social Policy report ‘Local indicators of child poverty after housing costs, 2019/20’ makes an assessment of poverty figures based on relative poverty. This Government believes, and has always believed, that absolute poverty is a better measure of living standards than relative poverty which can provide counter-intuitive results. In particular, relative poverty tends to fall when median income shrinks, such as during economic downturns, which is particularly relevant in the current circumstances.
To monitor poverty for different groups and regions the Department publishes the annual Households Below Average Incomes (HBAI) publication which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/households-below-average-income-for-financial-years-ending-1995-to-2020
This Government is wholly committed to supporting those on low incomes, including by increasing the living wage, and by spending £111 billion on welfare support for people of working age in 2020/21. This included around £7.4 billion of Covid-related welfare policy measures.
As the economy recovers, our ambition is to help parents move into, and progress in, work as quickly as possible, based on clear evidence around the importance of parental employment, particularly where it is full-time, in substantially reducing the risks of child poverty. The In Work Progression Commission published their report on the barriers to progression for those in persistent low pay on 1 July 2021. Government will consider the recommendations and respond later in the year.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
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 total pay withheld from people referred to Bespoke Patterns Ltd under the Kickstart scheme.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Department for Work and Pensions arranges grant agreements with employers. The grant agreement requires the employer to put in place a contract of employment with each young person that takes up a Kickstart job. DWP is not a party to these contracts because Kickstart jobs are real jobs and subject to all relevant employment law.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she taking to support people referred to Bespoke Patterns Ltd under the Kickstart scheme in response to that employer's failure to pay those workers.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Department for Work and Pensions Work Coach support is available for young people employed with Kickstart employers. The Grant Funding Agreement between DWP and employers makes clear that they should carry out their obligations in accordance with all applicable law including employment law.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many businesses participating in the Kickstart scheme have been investigated by her Department for failing to meet their obligations to participants.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Under the terms of the Kickstart Scheme Grant Funding Agreement, employers and Kickstart Gateways have a responsibility to carry out their obligations in accordance with all applicable law. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will investigate any organisation where there is evidence of a failure to meet obligations. To date we have rescinded 10 grant agreements as a result of our investigations.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 14 June 2021 to Question 12107 on Work Capability Assessment, how many face to face assessments have been carried out at (a) Elvet House Assessment Centre in Durham, (b) Park Tower Assessment Centre in Hartlepool and (c) The Bridges Assessment Centre in Sunderland since 17 May 2021.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The number of face to face assessments carried out at (a) Elvet House Assessment Centre in Durham, (b) Park Tower Assessment Centre in Hartlepool and (c) The Bridges Assessment Centre in Sunderland since 17 May 2021, is shown in the table below;
Assessment Centre | Number of face to face assessments completed since 17 May 2021 to 15 June 2021 |
Elvet House, Durham | 52 |
Park Tower, Hartlepool | 24 |
The Bridges, Sunderland | 58 |
The department has worked with providers to put a range of measures in place to control and manage Covid-19 risk in assessment centres in line with Government Guidance, so that assessments can take place safely. These measures include, changes to assessment booking procedures to stagger appointment times and limit the number of people in an assessment centre at any one time and additional touchpoint cleaning within assessment rooms following each assessment. These procedures have an effect on the number of face to face assessments providers can conduct daily, whilst maintaining compliance with Covid-19 health and safety measures.
At present, face to face assessments are only being carried out for claimants we have been unable to assess by other means. We continue to conduct paper-based assessments, telephone assessments and some video assessments where suitable.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 7 June 2021 to Question 7143 on Work Capability Assessment, how many people have received a face to face assessment in Easington constituency since 17 May 2021.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The information requested is not available.