Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment has she undertaken of the effect biological cleaning systems can have on (a) personal sensitisation, (b) sanitising work and (c) social places as part of work to reduce the spread of the covid-19 virus.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has taken the context of this question to mean that the term biological cleaning systems are the use of industrial enzymes (microbial and other animal sources) that are added to certain specialised healthcare and industrial cleaning products, typically used to pre-treat/clean equipment surfaces prior to finally cleaning or disinfection. HSE is not aware of the use of any biological cleaning systems like these being used to reduce the spread of COVID-19. HSE does provides guidance on Cleaning, hygiene and handwashing to reduce coronavirus (COVID-19) transmission (hse.gov.uk) as well as Disinfecting using fog, mist and other systems during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic (hse.gov.uk).’
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions she had with the Welsh Government on the process of selecting a provider to deliver the Restart Scheme in Wales.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Providers on DWP’s Commercial Agreement for Employment and Health Related Services framework were invited to bid to deliver the Restart Scheme in Contract Package Areas across England and Wales. We conducted a fair and transparent call off exercise to secure the delivery of the Restart Scheme.
Bidders were required to show how they proposed to tailor their offer to local labour market conditions, including their plans for close working with employers, local government and other service providers to identify skills gaps and growth sectors and complement the wider landscape of support.
A Stakeholder Engagement and Local Integration question which was locally tailored to the specific nuances of the individual Contract Package Area was developed in conjunction with local partners. As part of the selection process the responses for Wales were evaluated by Welsh Regional Engagement Teams from Welsh Local Authorities to ensure local expertise was incorporated into the evaluation.
DWP officials have continued to meet with Welsh Government officials to provide updates on the Restart Scheme.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
What assessment she has made of the effectiveness of statutory sick pay.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Statutory Sick Pay provides a minimum level of income for employees who are unable to work and we have made temporary changes to support people to follow public health advice on coronavirus.
Individuals can receive further financial support through the welfare system and the Test and Trace support payment scheme depending on individual circumstances.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
What assessment her Department has made of the effect on disabled people of excluding legacy benefits from the universal credit covid-19 uplift.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Legacy benefits were increased by £600m (1.7%) from April 2020 and will receive a further £100m (0.5%) increase from April 2021 as part of the Government’s annual up-rating exercise.
Claimants on legacy benefits can make a claim for UC if they believe that they will be better off. Those in receipt of the Severe Disability Premium, will be able to make a new claim to Universal Credit from January 2021.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the Government's policy is on bringing forward from 2046 the planned increase in the retirement age to 68 for state pension purposes.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Following the 2017 independent review of State Pension age by John Cridland, the Government accepted his recommendation to bring forward the increase to State Pension age to 68 from 2044-46 to 2037-39. Government committed to carry out a further review of State Pension age before legislating to do so, to enable consideration of the latest life expectancy projections. The statutory deadline for the publication for this next Government Review is 2023.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many families are affected by the two-child limit on social security benefits in Carmarthen East and Dinefwr constituency.
Answered by Will Quince
In Carmarthen East and Dinefwr 60 families on Universal Credit were affected by the policy in April 2020.
Notes:
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether it is the Government's policy to increase the state pension age to 68.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Labour government passed the Pensions Act 2007 which legislated for State Pension age to increase to 68 by 2046.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
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 potential merits of retaining the weekly £20 increase to universal credit payments beyond April 2021; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Will Quince
The Government introduced a package of temporary welfare measures worth around £9.3 billion this year to help with the financial consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. The £20 weekly increase to the Universal Credit Standard Allowance rates was introduced as a temporary measure for the 20/21 tax year, in recognition of these consequences.
Future decisions on spending will be made at the next appropriate fiscal event and Parliament will be updated accordingly.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many families with children are affected by the benefit cap in Carmarthen East and Dinefwr constituency.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The available information on the number of households, receiving Housing Benefit or Universal Credit, who are subject to the Benefit Cap, by Family Type and Parliamentary Constituency, is published and can be found at:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/
Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions she has had with (a) the Welsh Government and (b) Welsh local authority leaders on her Department's staff being asked to (i) travel to work in county boroughs which are in local covid-19 lockdown and (ii) hold face-to-face assessments in county boroughs which are in local covid-19 lockdown.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Since the start of Covid-19 as key workers, DWP employees have played a crucial role in the national effort, in line with government guidelines.
In accordance with Government social distancing guidance we have provided digital kit to our staff to enable more flexible working – in particular working from home. This has enabled us to ensure that Jobcentres are Covid secure for those customers who are best supported face to face, whilst still providing services over the phone and online.
As we double the number of Work Coaches, we will continue to expand our multi-channel engagement with claimants, including booking appointments across our network to support people face-to-face where they need it.