Asked by: Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the number of people placed on the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme whose income fell below the Lower Earnings Limit and as a result have gaps in their National Insurance contributions that will affect their state pension entitlement.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Where the furlough scheme operated, individuals may have also been entitled to claim Universal Credit. Those eligible for Universal Credit will have had a National Insurance credit applied to their record for this period, protecting their future State Pension entitlement. There may also be people whose total income across a tax year meant that they received a National Insurance qualifying year, even if there were periods where their earnings were below the Lower Earnings Limit.
There are a wide range of National Insurance credits available, ensuring people can achieve the best possible State Pension outcome when they reach State Pension age.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has made an assessment of the potential effect of increasing statutory sick pay on compliance with self-isolation measures.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The government has put in place support to help individuals to comply with public health advice on self-isolation.
This includes extending Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) to those who are sick or self-isolating due to coronavirus. SSP is also now payable from the first day of absence, rather than the fourth, where an employee is sick or self-isolating due to coronavirus.
Alongside this, to ease financial barriers to self-isolating, we are providing the £500 Test and Trace Support Payment. This policy has been extended until the end of March 2022
SSP is just one part of our welfare safety net and our wider government offer to support people in times of need. Where an individual’s income is reduced while off work sick and they require further financial support they may be able to claim Universal Credit and new style Employment and Support Allowance, depending on their personal circumstances.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has received representations from the Welsh Government on the impact of receipt of the NHS and social care financial recognition scheme by primary care workers in Wales on income tax liabilities and/or benefit payments.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Frontline health and social care workers make a valuable contribution to our society and we are so grateful for their continued work.
Income Tax is a tax paid on income and is therefore applied to grants and support payments made because of Coronavirus, including the NHS and social care financial recognition scheme.
Receiving a bonus may reduce the amount of support a claimant receives through means-tested benefits such as Universal Credit. This is because if a claimants’ earnings increase, they therefore have more money available to support themselves. It is a long-standing principle of means-tested benefits that as a person’s earnings increase their Government support decreases.
HM Treasury officials regularly discuss these, and similar issues, with the Welsh Government and other devolved administrations.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will publish the results of any impact assessment her Department has conducted on the reintroduction of the universal credit minimum income floor.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department was always clear that the change to the Minimum Income Floor as a result of the coronavirus pandemic was temporary, and that it would be reinstated when appropriate. As the reintroduction of the Minimum Income Floor is a return to an existing policy, the Department does not intend to publish an impact assessment.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to page 49 of Scotland’s Economic and Fiscal Forecasts, published by the Scottish Fiscal Commission in December 2021, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for its policies of the increase in PAYE employees between February 2020 and October 2021 being substantially lower in Scotland than other regions and nations in the UK.
Answered by Simon Clarke
In July 2020, the Government launched the Plan for Jobs to protect, support and create jobs across the country. As demonstrated in the Plan for Jobs Progress Update, it is clear that the plan is working.
This includes the Kickstart Scheme, which funds jobs for young people at risk of long-term unemployment, to improve their chances of progressing into long-term and sustainable work. As of 5th December, around 112,000 Kickstart jobs have been started by young people across Great Britain, of which 9,730 were in Scotland.
In addition to Kickstart, the Youth Offer provides a guaranteed foundation of support to 16- and 17-year-olds on in the Intensive Work Search group on Universal Credit in Great Britain.
The Job Entry Targeted Support Scheme (JETS) provides personalised support to those in Great Britain who have been unemployed for 3-12 months. So far, JETS has supported over 176,000 jobseekers across England, Scotland and Wales, with over 43,000 job outcomes achieved.
JETS support is worth around £1,000 per claimant.
Additionally, over 910,000 jobs have been protected by the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) in Scotland since March 2020.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to raise the rate of statutory sick pay to equate to either the (1) national minimum, or (2) living, wage.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
The Government currently has no plans to increase the rate of Statutory Sick Pay (SSP). SSP provides a minimum level of income for employees when they are sick or incapable of work.
SSP is just one part of our welfare safety net and our wider Government offer to support people in times of need. Where an individual’s income is reduced while off work sick and they require further financial support, they may be able to claim Universal Credit and new style Employment and Support Allowance, depending on their personal circumstances.
As part of the Government’s response to coronavirus, we have extended SSP to those who are sick or self-isolating due to coronavirus; for example, where they or a member of their household has tested positive. SSP is also payable from the first day of absence, rather than the fourth, where an employee is sick or self-isolating due to coronavirus. Some employers may also decide to pay more, and for longer, through Occupational Sick Pay.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to provide additional support for those unable to pay their (1) rent, or (2) mortgage, due to COVID-19.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
According to the Household Resilience Study (Wave 3, Apr-May 2021), three quarters (76%) of private renters found it easy to afford their rent, and the vast majority (93%) are up to date with their payments. However, we understand that affordability may be an issue for some and that they may require additional support.
The Government has put in place an unprecedented £407 billion financial package to support businesses and families through the pandemic and this includes support for renters to sustain tenancies and to afford their housing costs during the Coronavirus pandemic.
Individuals who are unable to afford their rental payments may be eligible for a range of support through the Universal Credit system. We invested nearly £1 billion in raising Local Housing Allowance rates to the 30th percentile of local rents in April 2020, a change that has benefited 1.5 million households, and maintained them at this increased cash level for 2021/22.
For those who need it most, support is available through Discretionary Housing Payments, as well as £65 million in funding to help renters in arrears, which is in addition to the £310 million already available to councils through the Homelessness Prevention Grant. Vulnerable households are also able to access the £500 million Household Support Fund, of which £421 million will go to help people in England to cover the cost of essentials over the winter.
During the pandemic, the Government worked with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to oversee an unprecedented package of forbearance for homeowners, including the option for mortgage customers to access a mortgage holiday of up to six months as well as a ban on bailiff enforcement of evictions. In total, 2.9 million payment holidays were provided to mortgage borrowers. FCA guidance outlines that firms should continue to provide tailored support for customers experiencing ongoing financial difficulty as a result of Covid-19.
The Government will continue to support mortgage borrowers by offering Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) loans to homeowners in receipt of an income-related benefit, and helping people avoid repossession through protection under the Mortgage Pre-Action Protocol which makes it clear that repossession must always be the last resort for lenders.
Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the impact of the end of support under the Coronavirus Job retention Scheme on levels of in-work poverty.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The Government continues to monitor and publish trends in poverty across the UK. The Household Below Average Income (HBAI) publication looks at household incomes and poverty levels in the UK, but the latest available figures only cover up to the financial year 2019/20 and so do not capture the time period in which the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme has ended. These can be found here:
However, we have taken recent steps to ensure work pays. We are doing this by reducing the Universal Credit taper rate from 63% to 55%, and increasing Universal Credit work allowances by £500 p.a. This is essentially a tax cut for the lowest paid in society worth around £2.2 bn in 2022-23. This change also means that 1.9m households will on average keep around an extra £1,000 on an annual basis. We are also increasing the National Living Wage to £9.50 per hour from April 2022 for workers aged 23+, which is expected to benefit more than 2 million workers.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
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 statutory sick pay in response to the resumption of required quarantine and self isolation.
Answered by Chloe Smith
As part of the Government’s response to Covid-19, we have extended Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) to those who are sick or self-isolating due to coronavirus; for example, where they or a member of their household has tested positive. SSP is also payable from the first day of absence, rather than the fourth, where an employee is sick or self-isolating due to coronavirus. Individuals are not eligible for SSP where they are self-isolating or quarantining after entering or returning to the UK after travelling abroad.
SSP is just one part of our welfare safety net and our wider government offer to support people in times of need. Where an individual’s income is reduced while off work sick and they require further financial support they may be able to claim Universal Credit and new style Employment and Support Allowance, depending on their personal circumstances.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made made of the potential merits of classifying Long Covid as a disability, for the purposes of giving employment protections under the Equality Act 2010 to affected people.
Answered by Chloe Smith
‘Long Covid’ is not classed as a disability. COVID is still a relatively new condition and work is ongoing to understand its long-term effects. Making such a determination would therefore be premature.
As research into the long-term health symptoms and impacts of COVID-19 is ongoing, we will continue to monitor and consider the Government’s support provisions and approach in line with the emerging evidence.
As part of the Government's response to the pandemic, individuals may be eligible for SSP where they are sick or self-isolating due to coronavirus, including where they have tested positive for coronavirus but otherwise feel well. Statutory Sick Pay is payable from the first day of sickness absence from work, rather than the fourth, where an individual is self-isolating due to coronavirus. The usual eligibility criteria continue to apply.
If an individual requires further financial support while off work sick, for example where their income is reduced while on Statutory Sick Pay, they may be able to claim Universal Credit depending on their personal circumstances. Where they are not eligible, for example because they earn below the Lower Earnings Limit, they may also be able to claim New Style Employment and Support Allowance and Universal Credit.