Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities report entitled Inquiry concerning the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland carried out by the Committee under article 6 of the Optional Protocol to the Convention, published in 2016, what steps his Department have taken to respond to that reports findings.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
This Government is committed to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and to improving the lives of disabled people.
Our latest response to the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was submitted in 2022, and published on GOV.UK with accessible formats in December 2022. This report and previous ones can be found here (Link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/disabled-peoples-rights-uk-2022-follow-up-report-to-uncrpd-2016-inquiry (opens in a new tab)).
UK Government representatives will provide further information on the UK’s progress, as agreed by the Committee, at a hearing at the Committee’s session in March 2024.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether representatives of the Government were invited to attend the meeting of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Geneva on 28 August 2023.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities informed the UK Government of the public hearing which was held on 28 August 2023. It was arranged in relation to the Committee’s review of the UK Government’s follow-up reports to the 2016 inquiry under the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
This Government has followed all of the Committee’s rules and procedures, and agreed with the Committee to attend this non-compulsory hearing at the Committee’s session in March 2024. At this hearing, representatives of the UK Government will provide further information on the UK’s progress, as agreed by the Committee. We remain strongly committed to implementing the Convention and improving the lives of disabled people.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether their Department has a Chief Risk Officer responsible for national security risks relating to the work of their Department.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions has a dedicated Chief Risk Office (CRO) who is accountable for risk management across the Department. This includes responsibility for assuring effective identification, management and reporting of key risks including those of national security. Specific risks are owned by accountable specialists which in this instance would be a combination of the Chief Security Officer, the Director for Resilience or the Digital Director who leads on security, depending on the specific national security issue. The CRO constantly keeps the National Security Risk Assessment (NSRA) under review.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps they are taking to help ensure that their Department (a) gives sufficient attention to long term strategic challenges, (b) does not allow current events to slow down work on long term strategic issues and (c) consistently undertakes horizon scanning.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department ensures it gives sufficient attention to long-term strategic issues through its Departmental Board, chaired by the Secretary of State, which brings together the Ministerial Team, the Executive Team and senior non-executive members from outside of government. The Board supports and advises ministers and the Department on strategic issues linked to the development and implementation of the Government’s objectives.
The Department’s Outcome Delivery Plan sets out how we plan to deliver outcomes for customers in the short term – responding at pace to emerging risks – and the long term regardless of current events. Our aims include maximising employment and in-work progression, improving people’s quality of life and delivering excellent services for citizens and taxpayers.
As we deliver our aims in the Outcome Delivery Plan, one of the tools we apply is horizon scanning across the Department and with other government departments. The Departmental Board scans for emerging issues, monitoring performance and overseeing the management of risks – setting the overall strategic direction for the Department in the long term in light of ministerial priorities and our Departmental Plan.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether their Department has purchased products manufactured by (a) Hikvision and (b) Dahua in the last three years.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We can confirm that the DWP has not contracted directly with either of the named suppliers during the period in question. As has been the case under successive administrations, it is not government policy to comment on the government’s security arrangements. This includes any specific details regarding the make and model of security systems, which are withheld on national security grounds. Each Department is responsible for their own procurement decisions. Details of Government contracts above £10,000, and £25,000 in the wider public sector, are published on Contracts Finder here.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Written Ministerial Statement of 24 November 2022 on Security Update on Surveillance Equipment, WMS 386, whether they have (a) ceased deployment of visual surveillance systems produced by companies subject to the National Intelligence Law of the People’s Republic of China onto sensitive sites, (b) ensured no such equipment is connected to their departmental core network, (c) considered whether there are sites outside the definition of sensitive sites to which they would wish to extend risk mitigation and (d) put in place any additional controls or taken any further steps.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
On 24 November 2022, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster published a Written Ministerial Statement noting that departments had been instructed to take a series of actions relating to surveillance equipment subject to the National Intelligence Law of the People’s Republic of China. This Government Department has been implementing this policy along with other protective security controls. At Report Stage of the Procurement Bill, the Government committed that, within six months of Royal Assent, the Government will set out the timeline for the removal of surveillance equipment supplied by companies subject to the National Intelligence Law of China from sensitive sites. This department will be providing information to the Cabinet Office to support this commitment. It is a longstanding Government policy that specific security arrangements regarding Government estates are withheld on security grounds.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an estimate of the number of adults who have left the workforce as a result of the cost of childcare.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We know that the cost of childcare remains a significant barrier for people entering and remaining in work. For this reason, the government announced a series of measures at the Spring Budget to support parents with these costs.
The number of people with dependent children who were working in Jan-Mar 2023 (12.100m) is slightly higher than in the same quarter in 2019 (11.825m), before the pandemic.
The number of 16- to 64-year-olds who were economically inactive due to looking after family or home in Feb-Apr 2023 was 1,640,000, down 199,000 on pre-pandemic period (Dec-Feb 2020), and down 728,000 on the 2010 election
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the impact of childcare costs on people in receipt of Universal Credit.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We understand that providing financial support with childcare costs to help parents back into work is crucial. That is why we will be significantly increasing the Universal Credit childcare element caps from £646.35 to £950.92 for one child and from £1,108.04 to £1,630.15 for two or more children.
We also acknowledge that, for some parents, a key barrier when moving into work, or moving from part-time to full-time work, can be finding the money to pay their childcare costs in advance. To help eliminate this barrier, UC claimants who are eligible to receive a Flexible Support Fund payment for relevant childcare will be able to claim up to 85% of this payment, as if they had paid it themselves. This will ease the household into the childcare costs payment cycle, enabling parents to pay their next set of childcare costs much more easily.
Further information on the costs associated with the policy to pay Universal Credit childcare support upfront for parents moving into work was published in the Spring Budget 2023: Policy Costings document, Chapter 2, page 8. It can be found here.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) fossil fuel-, (b) electric- and (c) hybrid-powered road-legal vehicles their Department purchased in the last 24 months.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP has not purchased any vehicles in the last 24 months, as the DWP policy is to lease vehicles.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the covid-19 outbreak on the ability of the Child Maintenance Service to carry out enforcement activity with non-compliant parents.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
During COVID-19 pandemic the CMS ability to recover arrears via enforcement activity was affected as Enforcement Agents and the Courts were operating at a reduced capacity. Temporary changes were made to the Child Maintenance Service to ensure it could continue to deliver its priorities supporting separated parents.
The CMS worked with His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service to establish alternatives to face to face court hearings by setting up video / phone hearings where outcomes were received digitally.
The CMS has now reinstated a full service and is committed to making sure that over time everyone pays or receives the right amount of child maintenance.
In 2021-22 we made more referrals to enforcement agents than in any other year and the number of liability orders applied for each year is back to pre-pandemic levels.