Asked by: Hugh Gaffney (Labour - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
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 effect of the benefit cap on single parent households with dependent children in Scotland.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities
The table below shows the number of households in Scotland that have had their Housing Benefit or Universal Credit capped between the introduction of cap and May 2019 (‘cumulative caseload’), and latest capped caseload in May 2019 (‘point in time caseload’), for all capped households and lone parents.
Benefit cap caseload in Scotland | Housing Benefit | Universal Credit | ||
Total | Lone parents | Total | Lone parents | |
Cumulative capped caseload (up to May 2016) | 12,500 | 6,200 | 1,100 | 600 |
% of which are lone parents | - | 50% | - | 53% |
Point-in-time capped caseload (May 2019) | 2,700 | 1,800 | 600 | 400 |
% of which are lone parents | - | 67% | - | 64% |
Source: DWP benefit cap official statistics up to May 2019, August 2019 publication
Notes:
1) All figures are rounded to the nearest 100 households.
2) Lone parents are defined are single person households with dependent children.
3) For Housing Benefit claimants, the cumulative capped caseload is the number of households that have had their Housing Benefit capped between the introduction of the benefit cap on 15 April 2013 to May 2019.
4) For Universal Credit claimants, the cumulative capped caseload is the number of households that had their Universal Credit capped between October 2016 and May 2019. Universal Credit benefit cap data is only available from October 2016 onwards.
The average weekly cap amount under Housing Benefit for lone parents in Scotland in May 2019 was £60, compared to an average of £55 for all households in Great Britain. We do not currently publish the average cap amount for Universal Credit capped households, by family type, but are planning to publish this information for the first time on the DWP Stat-Xplore portal during the w/c 9th September.
Asked by: Hugh Gaffney (Labour - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent estimate he has made of the number of workers on zero-hours contracts.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
Asked by: Hugh Gaffney (Labour - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what recent discussions he has had with the Scottish Trades Union Congress on the UK leaving the EU.
Answered by Alister Jack
I expect to have discussions with many businesses and organisations, including the Scottish Trades Union Congress, on a range of issues of relevance to Scotland in due course.
Asked by: Hugh Gaffney (Labour - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Scotland Office:
What recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on trends in the level of claims for pension credit in Scotland.
Answered by David Mundell
I have regular discussions with my Rt honourable Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on a range of issues.
Whilst the Pension Credit GB caseload stands at around 1.6 million, the number of Pension Credit claims in Scotland stands at around 150,000 - an almost 10% reduction in the number of claims since May 2017.
Asked by: Hugh Gaffney (Labour - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the supply of medicine to Scotland in the event that the UK leaves the EU without an agreement.
Answered by David Mundell
While the Government believes that leaving the EU with a deal is the best outcome, leaving without a deal remains the legal default at the end of the extension period on 31 October 2019. As a responsible Government, we have been preparing to minimise any disruption in the event of a no-deal scenario and are continuing with these preparations.
The supply of critical ‘category 1’ goods, including medicines and medical products, remains an essential element of the Government’s no-deal contingency planning. The Department of Health and Social Care is working with the Devolved Administrations to support the continuity of medical supplies and medicines for the whole of the UK, and will continue to engage with devolved administration officials and Ministers to prepare for a potential ‘no-deal’ on 31 October. The Government has also set out in a Written Ministerial Statement an update on its preparations for a no-deal scenario on 26 June 2019 (HCWS1661).
Asked by: Hugh Gaffney (Labour - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to increase access to statutory sick pay for low-paid workers.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
On Monday 15th July, the Government launched its consultation: `Health is everyone’s business: proposals to reduce ill health-related job loss.’ The consultation invites views on a range of matters including extending Statutory Sick Pay to the lowest paid. It closes on 7 October 2019 and can be found here:
Asked by: Hugh Gaffney (Labour - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to increase the level of financial support available to university students.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
Living costs support increased by 10.3% for students on the lowest incomes in the 2016-17 academic year compared to the previous system, with further inflationary increases for each year since then. The government has announced a 2.8% increase in maximum loans for living costs for the 2019-20 academic year starting in August.
An announcement on financial support for academic year 2020-21 will be made in due course.
Asked by: Hugh Gaffney (Labour - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to increase the availability of suitable homes for the elderly.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
This Government recognises that providing more homes for older people is vital to support an ageing population. Offering older people a better choice of accommodation can help enable them to live independently for longer and help reduce costs to the social care and health systems. The proposals set out in the White Paper, “Fixing our broken housing market”, underline our commitment to do more to provide the homes we need for all in our society
In the White Paper we acknowledged that older and disabled peoples’ housing needs was an issue that needed to be addressed. We have strengthened the revised National Planning Policy Framework, published in July 2018, and on 26 June 2019 we published new guidance to help councils to put these policies in place. This makes it clear that authorities should set clear policies to address the housing needs of groups with particular needs such as older and disabled people. This guidance also sets out the range of options these should consider, from housing with improved accessibility through to more specialised options.
Asked by: Hugh Gaffney (Labour - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
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 recorded workplace deaths in Scotland in each of the last three years.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
Notifications of workplace fatal injuries to workers are made under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR).
The table below provides the number of fatal injuries to workers in Scotland reported under RIDDOR over the last 3 years.
Fatal injuries to workers in Scotland 2016/17 – 2018/19
Year | Number of fatal injuries to workers |
2016/17 | 18 |
2017/18 | 17 |
2018/19 | 29* |
*Data for 2018/19 is provisional.
There has been an increase of 12 deaths between 2017/18 and 2018/19 in Scotland, mostly due to an increase in deaths in the Agriculture, forestry and fishing sector (from 3 in 2017/18 to 13 in 2018/19, though 2017/18 was a particularly low year for fatalities in the Agriculture, forestry and fishing sector in Scotland).
Numbers from one-year to the next are subject to natural variation. The increase seen in the number of workplace deaths in Scotland in 2018/19 are within bounds of natural variation.
Asked by: Hugh Gaffney (Labour - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment he has made of the accessibility of the EU Exit: ID document check android app for applicants.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
EU citizens make a huge contribution to our economy and society, and we want them to stay. The EU Settlement Scheme enables them to do so. The ‘EU Exit: Identity Document Check’ app is an optional aspect of the service which allows applicants to prove their identity remotely using their biometric identity document and an android smartphone device.
The app requires applicants to complete four quick steps – to take a photo of their identity document photo page, read the chip, complete a liveness check and take a photo of themselves using the device camera. The app process can be completed by the applicant alone, or with support from a third party, for example the applicant can choose to take the photo themselves using the front facing camera, or have a third party take the photo using the back camera.
So far, the app has undergone two separate accessibility audits, the first prior to the beta test phase and the second during the testing phase. The app development team have implemented recommendations from both audits, for example enabling users to utilise accessibility tools native to their device. User Research is ongoing, including with users with specific accessibility needs and those at the lower end of the digital inclusion scale.