Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the report by the Resolution Foundation entitled A fraying net, what steps the Government is taking to (a) reform and strengthen the social security safety net for young adults and (b) ensure that parents under the age of 25 do not lose out financially when moving from the previous benefit system to universal credit.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government is committed to providing targeted support for young people. We aim to ensure that everyone, no matter what their start in life, is given the very best chance of getting into work. To support this, the Department delivers the Youth Obligation Support Programme, Jobcentre Plus Support for Schools and the recently introduced Mentoring Circles for young people.
Universal Credit is designed to replicate the world of work through the introduction of a range of measures such as monthly assessment periods. Setting a clear benefit rate for claimants under the age of 25 reflects the lower wages that younger workers typically receive. This is intended to maintain the incentive for younger people to find work.
The lower rates for younger claimants who are under the age of 25 years reflects the fact that they are more likely to live in someone else's household and have lower living costs and lower earnings expectations. It also reinforces the stronger work incentives that Universal Credit creates for this age group. Universal Credit also includes separate elements to provide support for housing costs, children and childcare costs and support for disabled people and carers.
Those who naturally migrate to Universal Credit will do so because they will have had a significant change in their circumstances which previously would have led to a new claim to another existing benefit. In these situations, it has always been the case that the assessment of their new benefit will be based on their new circumstances and under the rules of their new benefit without regard to their previous entitlement. As their circumstances will have changed it is not possible to make a meaningful comparison between their previous entitlement to their existing benefit and their new entitlement to Universal Credit.
Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent steps she has taken to ensure that universal credit claimants have access to support throughout the application process; and whether she plans to increase the number of universal credit telephone advisers.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department takes seriously the need to support vulnerable claimants, and wants the application process for Universal Credit to be as quick and easy as possible, ensuring that claimants receive money at the earliest opportunity. To support this, we keep staffing levels under constant review and at the required levels, ensuring we have the right number of people available to answer customer calls and to respond to forecasted demand.
All Jobcentres across the country have Wi-Fi and computers available for claimants to access the internet. These devices are being upgraded in a programme due to be completed by the end of October 2019. For those that are still unable to access or use digital services, or are not able to travel, assistance to make and maintain their claim is available via the Freephone Universal Credit helpline. In certain circumstances, a home visit can be arranged to support a claimant in making and maintaining their claim
Additionally, Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland have been delivering the ‘Help to Claim’ service on a pilot basis since April 2019, supporting claimants with making a new claim to Universal Credit. The Citizens Advice Help to Claim service offers tailored, practical support to help people make a Universal Credit claim up to receiving their first full correct payment on time, and is available online, on the phone and face-to-face through local Citizen’s Advice services.
Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the final report from the Young people's future health inquiry entitled A healthy foundation for the future published in October 2019, what steps the Government is taking to establish a job market that offers young people secure and rewarding work.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government is committed to supporting young people into work. We aim to ensure that everyone, no matter what their start in life, is given the very best chance of getting into work.
The DWP Youth Obligation Support Programme is currently delivered to young people aged 18-21 making a new claim to Universal Credit. We provide additional tailored support to enable young people to achieve their goals.
In January 2019 we announced the extension of the Mentoring Circles initiative from the ethnic minority community to all young people who could benefit from such support. Mentoring circles support 16-24 year olds by giving them an opportunity to build on their employability skills. By facilitating an interaction with employers this initiative helps to provide young job seekers with access to and interaction with role models in the workplace.
Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to help businesses increase access for disabled people to (a) apprenticeships and (b) jobs.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
In respect of apprenticeships, we have undertaken a number of actions to improve access to apprenticeships for people with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. We have made British Sign Language (BSL) an alternative to English Functional Skills for those who have BSL as their first language and we have adjusted the minimum English and maths requirements for those who are able to meet the occupational standard of their apprenticeship but would struggle to achieve the regular English and maths minimum requirements.
It is encouraging to see that 36,900 apprenticeships were started by individuals with learning difficulties and/or disabilities in the first three quarters of 2018/9. This is 12.3 per cent of all apprenticeship starts and an increase from 11.5 per cent at the same point in 2017/18.
We continue our work with Mencap and our Pacesetters group, made up of a range of organisations and local authorities to identify what further support we can give those with learning difficulties and/or disabilities.
With regard to jobs help, we offer a range of programmes and schemes that offer employment support to disabled people. These include:
The Intensive Personalised Employment Support Programme (IPES) will launch by the end of 2019. It will provide highly personalised packages of employment support for disabled people with complex and multiple barriers to work who are at least a year away from moving into work without the support on the programme.
Our Jobcentres offer tailored and personalised support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers, backed by the Personal Support Package which is a 4-year, £330 million package of employment support targeted at claimants with disabilities and health conditions.
Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
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 proportion of Job Centre Plus offices that have (a) British Sign Language and (b) language interpreters.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Under the Equality Act 2010, DWP must make suitable provision to communicate with claimants who do not speak English or Welsh (for people residing in Wales), or who are deaf, hard of hearing or speech impaired.
It is DWP policy to use an interpreter when we need to communicate with a claimant who:
Since the 1st January 2018 Thebigword has provided Foreign Language and British Sign Language (BSL) services for the DWP staff and customers. All Jobcentres are able to access the service provided by Thebigword.
The services available for BSL are face to face interpreting and Video Relay Service. The services available for foreign language interpreters are face to face interpreting, telephone interpreting and written translations.
Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent steps her Department has taken to increase access to employment for people aged over 50.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Employment for older people is at a record high. There are now 10.6 million workers aged 50 and over, compared to 9.1 million five years ago.
We have already removed the Default Retirement Age, meaning that most people can choose when to retire and we have extended the right to flexible working beyond carers, to all employees with 26 weeks’ continuous service with their employer.
In 2017, Government published our Fuller Working Lives strategy which set out the role employers, individuals and government can play in supporting older workers. Additionally, we appointed a Business Champion for Older Workers to engage and influence employers on a practical and strategic level, promoting the benefits of an older workforce.
Through the National Retraining Partnership, a partnership between Government, the Confederation of British Industry and the Trades Union Congress, Government is developing the National Retraining Scheme. The National Retraining Scheme will help prepare adults for future changes to the economy, including those brought about by automation, to help them retrain into better jobs.
In February this year, we launched our online mid-life MOT page which encourages more active planning in the key areas of work, wellbeing and finances. Business in the Community have created MOT toolkits to enable employers to deliver an MOT.
Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of trends in the number of non-UK EU citizens being refused universal credit in the last six months.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Eligibility for Universal Credit depends on a person’s immigration status in the UK. In line with EU law, EEA nationals must be exercising a legal right to reside, such as worker or self-employed status, and be habitually resident in the UK to be eligible for income-related benefits. EEA nationals may now apply to the EU Settlement Scheme to protect their entitlement to access UK benefits and public services.
The Department is committed to monitoring its policies, regularly reviewing and analysing the relevant data. The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of lifting the freeze on local housing allowance to ensure that it covers at least the cheapest third of rents to improve housing security.
Answered by Will Quince
There are no current plans to extend or maintain the Benefit Freeze after March 2020. Specific decisions on how to uprate the Local Housing Allowance from April 2020 will form part of the discussions in support of fiscal events later this year.
Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005, what steps she is taking to ensure that employers protect employees' hearing.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government’s policy on ensuring that employers protect their employees’ hearing is well established. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has responsibility for occupational health and safety legislation which includes the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005. The Regulations impose duties which, depending on the level of risk, require employers to:
HSE focuses its activities on industries where there are high numbers of workers who are exposed and/or where there is evidence of a high incidence rate of noise induced hearing loss. It does this through a range of approaches and interventions, specifically:
Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to require employers to provide sun cream for employees that predominantly work outdoors.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is responsible for regulating health and safety risks arising from work activities and has no plans to introduce additional legislation to require employers to provide sun cream to their employees.
HSE provides specific advice aimed at employers and employees on preventing health risks due to exposure to the sun at http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg337.pdf and www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg147.pdf. This includes following the “APC approach” (Avoid, Protect, Check) which can help to reduce the chances of developing skin cancer, whether work related or not.