Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department is taking to support (a) young workers, (b) women and (c) workers not born in the UK that are subject to zero-hour contracts.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Zero hours contracts are an important part of the UK’s flexible labour market, they are use-ful where there is not a constant demand for staff, allowing flexibility for both employers and individuals – like carers, people studying, or retirees. For this small group, a ze-ro hours contract may be the type of contract which works best for them.
To support lower paid workers we have extended the ban on exclusivity clauses, which restrict staff from working for multiple employers, to contracts where the guaranteed weekly income is equivalent to or below the Lower Earnings Limit of £123 a week. On 1 April 2023, the Government increased the National Living Wage (NLW) for workers aged 23 years and over by 9.7% to £10.42.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of zero-hour contracts on the (a) health and (b) well-being of workers.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Zero hours contracts are an important part of the UK’s flexible labour market, they are useful where there is not a constant demand for staff, allowing flexibility for both employers and individuals – like carers, people studying, or retirees. For this small group, a zero hours contract may be the type of contract which works best for them.
Research from CIPD found that 62% of zero hours contract workers are satisfied or very satisfied with their jobs, which is similar to the proportion of employees as a whole (66%) (2022).
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has made an assessment of the effectiveness of charities commissioned by local authorities to provide (a) housing support and (b) rehabilitation services.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Local authorities are responsible for the commissioning and assessment of local housing-support and rehabilitation services. They are best placed to understand local need and to assess the effectiveness of charities they commission.
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities plans to evaluate the effectiveness of our work are set out in our evaluation strategy.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department makes assessments of the effectiveness of charities commissioned by local authorities to provide (a) housing support and (b) rehabilitation services.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Local authorities are responsible for the commissioning and assessment of local housing-support and rehabilitation services. They are best placed to understand local need and to assess the effectiveness of charities they commission.
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities plans to evaluate the effectiveness of our work are set out in our evaluation strategy.
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 recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of increasing the state pension age on the financial situation of people approaching retirement age.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The latest assessment of the impact of increasing State Pension age can be found in the 2023 State Pension age review published in March 2023.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/state-pension-age-review-2023-government-report
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many nurses currently work (a) permanent (b) bank and (c) permanent and bank work patterns.
Answered by Will Quince
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department is taking steps to help improve the quality of (a) social and (b) private rented housing in Northumberland.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
The Levelling Up White Paper set out our ambition to reduce the number of non-decent homes by 50% by 2030 with the biggest improvements in the lowest performing areas, highlighting our commitment to level up the sector and ensure all renters have good quality homes. We are committed to ensuring that rented home are decent, regardless of whether tenants have received housing benefit or not.
In the Social Housing White Paper: Charter for Social Housing Residents the government committed to a range of measures to drive up the quality of social housing, including through the introduction of a new, proactive consumer regulation regime and a review of the Decent Home Standard. Our Social Housing (Regulation) Bill will bring in a rigorous new regime where the Regulator of Social Housing will proactively inspect landlords and will have the power to issue unlimited fines. It will be able to intervene in cases where tenants' lives are being put at risk and, in the very worst cases, it will have the power to instruct that properties are brought under new management.
The Renters (Reform) Bill will deliver a fairer, more secure, and higher quality private rented sector that is fit for the 21st century. It will deliver the government's commitment to 'a better deal for renters' - improving the system for responsible tenants and good faith landlords. The Bill will legislate to abolish section 21 'no fault' evictions so that tenants have greater security in their homes and are empowered to challenge poor conditions. We remain fully committed to implementing these reforms and will bring forward legislation at the earliest opportunity to apply the Decent Homes Standard in the private rented sector to give renters safer, better value homes and remove the blight of poor-quality homes in local communities.
The English Housing Survey shows that between 2010 and 2021 there was a reduction in non-decent homes in the private and social housing sectors of 22 per cent, from 1.8 million to 1.4 million.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department is taking steps to help improve the quality of (a) social and (b) private rented housing in Northumberland.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
The Levelling Up White Paper set out our ambition to reduce the number of non-decent homes by 50% by 2030 with the biggest improvements in the lowest performing areas, highlighting our commitment to level up the sector and ensure all renters have good quality homes. We are committed to ensuring that rented home are decent, regardless of whether tenants have received housing benefit or not.
In the Social Housing White Paper: Charter for Social Housing Residents the government committed to a range of measures to drive up the quality of social housing, including through the introduction of a new, proactive consumer regulation regime and a review of the Decent Home Standard. Our Social Housing (Regulation) Bill will bring in a rigorous new regime where the Regulator of Social Housing will proactively inspect landlords and will have the power to issue unlimited fines. It will be able to intervene in cases where tenants' lives are being put at risk and, in the very worst cases, it will have the power to instruct that properties are brought under new management.
The Renters (Reform) Bill will deliver a fairer, more secure, and higher quality private rented sector that is fit for the 21st century. It will deliver the government's commitment to 'a better deal for renters' - improving the system for responsible tenants and good faith landlords. The Bill will legislate to abolish section 21 'no fault' evictions so that tenants have greater security in their homes and are empowered to challenge poor conditions. We remain fully committed to implementing these reforms and will bring forward legislation at the earliest opportunity to apply the Decent Homes Standard in the private rented sector to give renters safer, better value homes and remove the blight of poor-quality homes in local communities.
The English Housing Survey shows that between 2010 and 2021 there was a reduction in non-decent homes in the private and social housing sectors of 22 per cent, from 1.8 million to 1.4 million.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made a recent assessment of the adequacy of housing benefit in the context of trends in the level of average rents.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Housing Benefit supports tenants in both the private rented sector (PRS) and social rented sector (SRS).
For Housing Benefit claimants in the PRS, the majority are subject to their Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rate. The LHA policy is kept under regular review and in 2020 we spent almost £1 billion increasing LHA rates to the 30th percentile. The significant investment at that time has been maintained ensuring that everyone who benefited continues to do so however, LHA rates are not intended to cover all rents in all areas.
Claimants in receipt of the housing benefit living in the social rented sector have their eligible rent paid in full, unless it is reduced because of their income or savings, contributions from non-dependants, or limited by the benefit cap or the removal of the spare room subsidy.
We recognise that rents are increasing. However, the challenging fiscal environment means that difficult decisions have been necessary to ensure support is targeted effectively.
For those who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs and need further support. Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) are available from local authorities. Since 2011 the Government has provided nearly £1.6 billion in DHP funding to local authorities
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has made a recent equality impact assessment on the Personal Independence Payment in the context of the ethnicity of people who have been awarded that payment.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) places a legal duty on the DWP to consider how its decisions impact differently on different people and in particular those with protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010. While an Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) is not a legal requirement of the PSED, it is one of the ways a department can demonstrate consideration of, and compliance, with its duty.
Prior to the introduction of Personal Independence Payment (PIP), an EIA, including against ethnicity, was completed which can be found here Disability Living Allowance reform – equality impact assessment - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). EIAs are carried out in relation to significant proposals or changes to PIP, the most recent of which was in 2022. The Family Resources Survey, published annually, also contains ethnicity data by benefit, including PIP.