Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department has taken to support (a) small and (b) independent theatres.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
His Majesty’s Government is committed to supporting the arts and cultural sector, including theatres. This is primarily through the Arts Council England whose funding for National Portfolio Organisations has increased to £444.6 million per annum, funding a record 985 organisations, including 214 new organisations outside of London.
Arts Council England invests in nearly 200 theatres or theatre companies that produce, commission, and present theatre, in addition to arts centres, festivals and outdoor theatre companies. These range from large theatres in cities - Liverpool Theatres, Manchester Royal Exchange, Sheffield Theatres - to smaller theatres and theatre companies often with a particular specialism, such as theatre for children, theatre with a disability focus, theatre companies that co-create with different communities or theatre companies that are designed to tour. Overall investment in theatre has increased through the current round of the Arts Council’s National Portfolio programme – both in terms of the number of organisations supported, and the volume of funding which is now more than £110 million per annum.
A number of theatres are also regularly supported through the Arts Council’s open access National Lottery Project Grants programme which has a budget of £116.8 million a year. This is a rolling programme and is open to artists and companies across the country.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
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 potential impact of his Department's report entitled Shaping Future Support: The Health and Disability Green Paper, published on 20 July 2021 on the finances of people with complex disabilities.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In Shaping Future Support: The Health and Disability Green Paper, we explored how the benefits system can better meet the needs of claimants now and in the future, by improving claimant experience of our services, enabling independent living, and improving employment outcomes.
We received over 4,500 written responses to the Green Paper, and held consultation events with disabled people and people with health conditions and their representatives. These included both virtual and face-to-face events, with events in Scotland, Wales and every region of England.
We carefully considered the feedback we received to our consultation in developing the next steps set out in the Transforming Support: The Health and Disability White Paper, published in March 2023. As stated in the White Paper, we are continuing to develop and refine our policy proposals.
Asked by: Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party - Lanark and Hamilton East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that PIP assessments accurately assess claimants with mental health issues.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessment identifies the needs arising from physical, sensory, mental, intellectual or cognitive issues, or any combination of these. The assessment criteria were developed over a decade ago in conjunction with independent health, social care, and disability experts.
All health professionals performing PIP assessments receive comprehensive training in disability analysis including specific training on mental health conditions and how to identify their impact on claimants’ ability to carry out the activities in the assessment. Our assessment providers have Mental Health Function Champions (MHFC) to support assessors when reviewing evidence and provide advice to DWP Case Managers. MHFCs are specialist practitioners who have at least 2 years of post-registration clinical experience in a mental health or learning disability role.
No assessment has been made of the potential mental health impact of PIP assessments, although customer experience is something that is continually monitored. It would be extremely difficult to objectively separate the specific impact of assessments on mental health from other contributory factors.
Asked by: Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party - Lanark and Hamilton East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of PIP assessments on the mental health of claimants.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessment identifies the needs arising from physical, sensory, mental, intellectual or cognitive issues, or any combination of these. The assessment criteria were developed over a decade ago in conjunction with independent health, social care, and disability experts.
All health professionals performing PIP assessments receive comprehensive training in disability analysis including specific training on mental health conditions and how to identify their impact on claimants’ ability to carry out the activities in the assessment. Our assessment providers have Mental Health Function Champions (MHFC) to support assessors when reviewing evidence and provide advice to DWP Case Managers. MHFCs are specialist practitioners who have at least 2 years of post-registration clinical experience in a mental health or learning disability role.
No assessment has been made of the potential mental health impact of PIP assessments, although customer experience is something that is continually monitored. It would be extremely difficult to objectively separate the specific impact of assessments on mental health from other contributory factors.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to expand support available through Jobcentres in Southport constituency.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The local Jobcentre team are collaborating with a range of partners to support people into work and help employers fill vacancies. In addition to hosting job fairs, delivering Sector-Based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs), and hosting employer Group Information Sessions, Southport Jobcentre is working with Sefton Council, local colleges, care & childcare providers, manufacturing, retail, education, agriculture, and hospitality companies, to provide an employment and skills offer to help meet the recruitment needs of local employers.
Southport Jobcentre has been working closely with employers such as Sainsbury’s and McDonald’s to hosts SWAP’s for Southport residents to have direct access to live vacancies. The Jobcentre has also collaborated with Southport College to hosts job fairs to bring together national and local employers for job opportunities as well as providers to support customers with breaking down barriers to work. Additionally, the Jobcentre looks forward to supporting Southport’s future regeneration and exciting projects which includes the Southport Enterprise Arcade, the Garrick Theatre development and the Marine Lake Events Centre.
Disability Employment Advisers (DEA’s) offer advice and expertise on how to help disabled people and people with health conditions into work, alongside close working with Merseycare, The Peer Mentoring Service, Life Rooms, and Sefton Council. Southport Jobcentre colleagues also attend local events to highlight the support available, including Access to Work, Disability Confident and the Working Health Pioneer programme.
Asked by: Baroness Grey-Thompson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government (1) how many, and (2) what proportion, of disabled people who travelled by train over the past 12 months used assistance (a) with, and (b) without, pre-booking.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We do not hold data on the number and proportion of disabled people travelling by train over the past year who used assistance, with and without, pre-booking. Official statistics for booked assistance numbers published by the Office of Rail and Road are currently unavailable whilst data quality issues with the supplier are resolved. The Office of Rail and Road aim to publish the latest available full year and historic data for booked assistance in July.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
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 and proportion of disabled people facing one-off extra costs related to their disability.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on the 14th of May to PQ24769.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has (a) made an assessment of the potential impact of Universal Credit migration on disabled people and (b) put support in place for disabled people affected by that migration.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The DWP continue to learn and iterate our approach as we progress our Move to Universal Credit activity. We remain committed to ensuring that the transition to Universal Credit works as smoothly as possible for all customers, including the most vulnerable in society. Our latest insight publication is available on GOV.UK - Move to Universal Credit – insight on Tax Credit migrations and initial Discovery activity for wider benefit cohorts - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
We have developed an enhanced support journey for ESA and Income Support customers and remain confident that this provides effective support for our most vulnerable customers.
All customers can also use the independent Help to Claim service run by Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland which provides support across England, Scotland, and Wales as well as accessing face to face support at job centres.
Also, we continue to work with a broad range of external stakeholders to gather their insight and experience of working with our mutual customers, to learn and develop our approach for moving legacy benefit customers to Universal Credit.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps she is taking to increase levels of home insulation; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact of poor home insulation on health.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government is supporting increased levels in home insulation through our ‘help to heat’ schemes. Evidence of the health benefits of Government insulation schemes is gathered as part of those schemes’ evaluations. Recent evaluations show that schemes had a positive impact on general health.
For example, the evaluation of ECO Phase 3 showed 24% of households reported that the measures had a positive impact on the health of anyone within the household. This was higher among households that had someone living there who had a long-standing illness, disability or infirmity (31%) Details of the evaluation can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/653f8705d10f3500139a6b2f/eco-evaluation-phases-2t-3.pdf.
Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to support job creation schemes in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry and (c) the West Midlands.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP supports people across the country to move into and progress in work and is committed to reducing economic inactivity. We want everyone who can work to be able to find a job, progress, and thrive in the labour market, whoever they are and wherever they live. The Department delivers comprehensive employment support including through face-to-face time with work coaches in our Jobcentres and via more intensive contracted employment programmes.
Our Employment Advisor team are working with employers to generate employment opportunities for all residents across Coventry. By working with local stakeholders such as Coventry & Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, Coventry City Council and WMCA, we are encouraging employers to think more widely in their workforce planning activity through devolution projects such as the Job Rotation Pilot and other local initiatives to help employers grow their businesses whilst recruiting through a more inclusive approach for example through Disability Confident.
Recent recruitment campaigns across the retail sector include B&M and Iceland. Particular focus is ongoing with the logistics sector including Halfords, Menzies, Co-op and Tesco.