Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what additional resources she will make available to help manage the backlog of industrial injuries disablement benefit cases; and how her Department will prioritise the outstanding cases.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The suspension of face-to-face assessments for the Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB) means the majority of new claims are not being assessed at present. We are urgently exploring approaches to safely progress new IIDB claims awaiting an assessment. We will restart face to face assessments in a safe manner with adherence to the latest public health guidance as soon as we are able to. As part of this work, we will carefully consider the demands on our services to manage the cases.
For claimants with the most serious or terminal conditions, claims continue to be processed and decisions made as normal. Furthermore, reassessment case awards have been extended to ensure that payments continue unhindered on those cases. Any deteriorations which would have meant an increase in award, will be backdated once face-to-face assessments recommence, to ensure no one is left out of pocket.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to assess whether there has been an increase in the number of children living in poverty due to the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Will Quince
We understand that this is a difficult time for people on low incomes and we’ve taken significant action to support those affected by coronavirus, including through income protection schemes, mortgage holidays and additional support for renters. For those most in need we’ve injected more than £9 billion into the welfare system, which includes an increase to Universal Credit of up to £1,040 this financial year. These policies implemented in response to the outbreak have made a huge difference, particularly to those with low incomes.
This was shown in HMT’s recently published distributional analysis about the Impact of covid-19 on working household incomes. This publication shows that the lowest income decile of working households has seen no fall in income due to Government measures that have been put in place. This is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/impact-of-covid-19-on-working-household-incomes-distributional-analysis-as-of-may-2020
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many reports on the safety of workplaces were received by the Health and Safety Executive on each day since 23 March 2020.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The attached table provides numbers of all reports of safety in the workplace, received by HSE, for each day since 23 March until the latest data available on 18 May.
This table includes reports of incidents that are reported under the RIDDORs (Reporting of Injuries Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013) by employers, and reports of safety workplace concerns raised by the public.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when she plans to respond to Question 48435, asked by the hon. Member for Wansbeck on 18 May 2020.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
I apologise for the delay and refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave for question 48435 on 1 July 2020.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many reports in relation to the safety of workplaces were received by the HSE in (a) the UK, (b) England (c) the North East and (d) Wansbeck constituency in each month in 2020.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The tables below provide numbers of all reports i.e. reports of incidents under the Reporting of Injuries Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDORs) and reports of workplace concerns received this year. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is the regulator for Great Britain (GB) only and there is a separate regulator in Northern Ireland. HSE is unable to analyse data at constituency level, so data for Wansbeck is not provided.
1) RIDDOR Reports
| HSE | Local Authorities | ONR | ||||||
Month reported (2020) | GB | England | NE | GB | England | NE | GB | England | NE |
January | 6016 | 5082 | 243 | 2776 | 2442 | 92 | 7 | 5 | - |
February | 6072 | 5134 | 278 | 2639 | 2292 | 99 | 7 | 5 | - |
March | 5196 | 4351 | 235 | 2185 | 1941 | 69 | 7 | 6 | - |
April | 4334 | 3692 | 191 | 1308 | 1217 | 44 | 2 | 2 | - |
1st – 18th May | 3682 | 3109 | 196 | 1295 | 1174 | 35 | 1 | - | - |
Grand Total | 25300 | 21368 | 1143 | 10203 | 9066 | 339 | 24 | 18 | - |
2) Workplace Concerns
Month reported (2020) | GB | England* | Concerns received for Counties: ‘Durham / Northumberland / Tyne & Wear / Cleveland’* |
January | 2396 | 2084 | 62 |
February | 2494 | 2178 | 74 |
March | 4584 | 3968 | 163 |
April | 3809 | 3313 | 180 |
1st – 18th May | 2118 | 1845 | 94 |
Grand Total | 15400 | 13388 | 573 |
*Country and County are given by the notifier. 2 records in the same dataset had no ‘Country’ and 699 records in the same dataset had no ‘County’.
RIDDOR puts duties on employers, the self-employed and people in control of work premises (the Responsible Person) to report certain serious workplace accidents, occupational diseases and specified dangerous occurrences (near misses).
Figures represent all RIDDOR types of notifications made each day, as received in a HSE-managed system. These are as reported, no assessment has been made whether individual reports are reportable under RIDDOR, as some reports may not meet the reporting criteria. Reports relate to incidents occurring within Great Britain, excluding any made directly to the Office of Rail and Road about railways-related reports.
The RIDDOR reporting system is managed by HSE, so includes reports made which are enforced by others who access the system, namely local authorities (LA), and a small number assigned to the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR).
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much has been paid in working-age benefits to claimants in (a) Wansbeck constituency and (b) postcode areas (i) NE61, (ii) NE62, (iii) NE63, (iv) NE64 and (v) NE22 in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Information relating to payments of Working Age Benefits to claimants in Wansbeck Constituency can been sourced from DWP’s Published Benefit expenditure by Parliamentary Constituency 2018/19. This can be found by following the URL link below:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/benefit-expenditure-and-caseload-tables-2019
DWP are unable to split out the specific amount that’s been paid for Working Age Benefits only as the Housing Benefit award is paid as a whole, rather than by different elements. Therefore we are unable to give the requested payments for Working Age benefits only by constituency, the information requested could only be made available at a disproportionate cost.
Information in respect of Working Age Benefits to claimants in Wansbeck Constituency by postcode area is not provided. The information requested could only be made available at a disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans she has to make changes to universal credit.
Answered by Will Quince
Universal Credit is a modern, flexible and personalised benefit reflecting the rapidly changing world of work. It replaces six outdated and complex benefits with one, simplifying the benefits system and making work pay.
The Department regularly gathers and analyses feedback from our stakeholders which helps drive improvement to the service we deliver; ensuring welfare payments reach those who need them most, and effectively supporting those with insecure or fluctuating incomes.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people are in receipt of disability living allowance in (a) Wansbeck constituency, (b) Northumberland and (c) England.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The information requested on Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is published and is available at:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/jsf/login.xhtml
Guidance for users is available at:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people are in receipt of personal independence payment in (a) Wansbeck constituency (b) Northumberland and (c) England.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The information requested on Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is published and is available at:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/jsf/login.xhtml
Guidance for users is available at:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of attendance allowance claims are due to dementia.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The information is published and available at:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk
Guidance for users is available at:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html