Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
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 increasing the carer element of Universal Credit for unpaid carers, in the context of recent trends in the cost of living.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is required by law to undertake an annual review of benefits and State Pensions. The outcome of the Secretary of State’s review will be announced in the usual way.
No assessment has been made of the merit of increasing the carer element of Universal Credit outside of the annual review.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of linking the Carer's Allowance earning limit to increase in the national living wage.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government recognises the challenges unpaid carers are facing and is determined to provide them with the help and support they need and deserve. It is looking closely at how the benefit system currently does this. The Carer’s Allowance earnings limit for 2025/26 will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
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 Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill on the level of support provided by the Government to businesses for health and safety initiatives.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities
With the introduction of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) remains focused on ensuring that regulatory frameworks maintain the United Kingdom’s high standards of health and safety protection and continue to reduce burdens for business.
HSE’s approach aligns closely with the Government’s pledge to do more for business to help promote growth by removing disproportionate burdens and simplifying the regulatory landscape whilst maintaining our existing high standards of health and safety.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people that were are (a) economically inactive and (b) claiming benefits in (i) 2010 and (ii) the most recent year for which figures are available in Bolton South East constituency; and what assessment his Department has made of trends in that constituency in the level of (a) employment and (b) benefit usage since (i) 2013, (ii) 2018 and (iii) the onset of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The information requested on employment and inactivity is published and available here
The information requested on benefits is published and available here
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate she has made of the unemployment rates in (a) Bolton South East constituency and (b) the Borough of Bolton.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities
The information requested is published and available at:
https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/default.asp
Guidance for users can be found at:
https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/home/newuser.asp
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department took to ensure that disabled people were adequately engaged during the recent Health and Disability green paper consultation.
Answered by Chloe Smith
In the 18 months prior to the formal launch of the consultation, we ran a significant engagement programme to ensure that the views of disabled people and their representatives shaped the content of the consultation.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, we continued to engage with a series of virtual events organised with national charities, and a series hosted by MPs from across the political spectrum, attended by individuals and organisations from their constituencies.
The Green Paper was published on 20 July 2021 in a variety of accessible formats. These include braille copies, a British Sign Language video with an audio track and subtitles, a large print version, a full audio version available digitally and on CD and an easy read version.
Throughout the consultation period itself, we held more than 40 events with disabled people, people with health conditions and their representatives, including a series of virtual events as well as face-to-face events across the UK.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
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 support benefit claimants in meeting increased living costs.
Answered by David Rutley
This Government is wholly committed to supporting those on low incomes, and continue to do so through many measures, including by spending over £111 billion on welfare support for people of working age in 2021/22.
With the success of the vaccine rollout and record job vacancies, our focus now is on continuing to support people into and to progress in work. Our multi-billion-pound Plan for Jobs, which has recently been expanded by £500 million, will help people across the UK to find work and to boost their wages and prospects.
Universal Credit recipients in work will soon benefit from a reduction in the Universal Credit taper rate from 63% to 55%, and increasing the work allowance by £504 per year means that 1.9m working households will be able to keep substantially more of what they earn. These measures effectively represent a tax cut, worth around £2.2bn a year in 2022-23, for the lowest paid in society, and are combined with a rise in the National Living Wage to £9.50 per hour.
We recognise that some people may require extra support over the winter as we enter the final stages of recovery, which is why vulnerable households across the country will now be able to access a new £500 million support fund to help them with essentials. The Household Support Fund will provide £421 million to help vulnerable people in England with the cost of food, utilities and wider essentials. The Barnett Formula will apply in the usual way, with the devolved administrations receiving almost £80 million (£41m for the Scottish Government, £25m for the Welsh Government and £14m for the NI Executive), for a total of £500 million.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of Universal Credit deductions on the risk of poverty among benefit claimants.
Answered by David Rutley
No recent assessment has been made of the potential impact of Universal Credit deductions on the risk of poverty among benefit claimants.
To enable households to retain more of their Universal Credit award towards day to day living costs we have reduced the normal maximum amount that can be deducted from Universal Credit, from 40% of the Universal Credit Standard Allowance, to 30% and from April 2021 to 25%. As a result, there were 792,000 people in May 2021 who potentially have had reduced deductions due to the most recent policy change. Customers can also contact DWP Debt Management if they are experiencing financial hardship to discuss a reduction in their rate of repayment of benefit overpayments, or a temporary suspension, depending on financial circumstances.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the State Pension in tackling pensioner poverty; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The Government is committed to alleviating levels of pensioner poverty.
In the latest statistics there were 200,000 fewer pensioners in absolute poverty, after housing costs, compared to 2009/10.
The State Pension is the foundation of support for older people, providing the basis on which people can build additional private savings for their retirement. Under this Government, the full yearly amount of the basic State Pension is now over £2,050 higher than in 2010.
In addition, Pension Credit provides invaluable financial support for the most vulnerable pensioners and is a passport to a range of other benefits.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
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 assist young people aged 16 to 25 to find work in Bolton.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities
Our 13-week Youth Employment Programme (YEP) delivers wrap-around support for many of the Plan for Jobs initiatives, and helps young people to take up work-related training or a job. This includes jobs created through the Kickstart scheme, which has seen over 180,000 job placements approved. The YEP is live and our dedicated Work Coaches are delivering the programme to young people, supporting them moving into work, a traineeship, an apprenticeship, or to take part in one of our Sector-based Work Academy Programmes.
The Jobcentre team in Bolton have partnered with a number of local employers and organisations to provide a varied network of support for young people aged 16-25 in the Bolton area, including Mentoring Circles, Sector Work Academy Programmes, Kickstart Opportunities, a Work Academy with the University of Bolton, and provision for young people that are not currently in education or employment with Bolton College and Connexions.
In addition, Bolton has two Youth Hubs, based in Westhoughton and Farnworth, providing outreach support for young people, and our Jobcentre Youth Employability Coaches are providing flexible support to young people with significant complex needs and barriers to help them move into employment and offering six weeks of in-work support when they start work.