Guy Opperman: An increased prevalence of disabilities within the UK population is a driver of the forecast; but more recent trends in health conditions have risen further than expected, which is reflected in the difference between caseload forecasts and outturn. To note, DWP only produce a forecast of claimants that receive the health element of Universal Credit and not a forecast of people with ill health.
Tom Pursglove: ...for the opportunity to hear from the Chairman of the Work and Pensions Committee. It is important to recognise that both the Minister for Employment, my hon. Friend the Member for Hexham (Guy Opperman), and I are set to appear before the Committee next week. What I will not do this afternoon is make specific commitments, but I can say—I have said this regularly now, including in the...
Guy Opperman: ...We should be very proud of the work they are doing to address both mainstream employment and older-worker employment. I am sorry I cannot be at the jobs fair for older workers that she is hosting, but I encourage everyone on the island to go along to that.
Guy Opperman: Normally, the Secretary of State would make a statement at this stage, but, on behalf of the whole ministerial team, I will say just two things. First, overall, measures from the Department for Work and Pensions in the Budget represent an investment of £3.5 billion over five years to boost workforce participation. That includes: £2 billion of investment in support for disabled people and...
Guy Opperman: ...and Northeast Lincolnshire. The scheme offers participants up to 12 months of support to move into sustained employment. Participants complete the scheme at the end of the 12 months support period but can do it sooner if they achieve a job outcome prior to that point. A job outcome is achieved when a participant either:Earns the equivalent of working 16 hours per week for 26 weeks at the...
Guy Opperman: ...that claimants are serving in or have served in in the past. Data is not held on the total number of UC claimants who are currently serving in the Armed Forces or who have served in the past, but data is held on those who have identified themselves so far. The way the data is collected means the claimants for whom an Armed Forces status is recorded are not representative of the UC...
Guy Opperman: ...been categorised as unknown. Although care is taken when processing and recording SWAP starts, the data collected might be subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any clerical recording system, but is provided in the interests of transparency. Attachment (xlsx, 47.7KB)
Stephen Doughty: ..., we know the value of small business: we would cut business rates for small firms, give grants to go green and tackle late payments from big businesses. The Chancellor also brushed over the contribution the co-operative sector makes to our economy—here I declare an interest as a Co-operative MP and draw the House’s attention to my past interests. There are currently 7,000...
Guy Opperman: .... It is an honour to respond to this debate secured by the hon. Member for East Dunbartonshire (Amy Callaghan). We are in Brain Tumour Awareness Month; I know she did not suffer a tumour as such, but as a fellow recoverer from neurosurgery, I join her in celebrating the month. We say many thanks to Headway and the Stroke Association, which have done great work supporting her, and I put on...
Guy Opperman: ...to tailor support based on the claimant’s needs and the eligibility criteria set for the pilot. The eligibility criteria are designed to focus this support on claimants who are able to start work but struggling to find work or increase their earnings. Vulnerable claimants and those whose circumstances prevent them from being available for work are not required to participate.
Guy Opperman: The eligibility criteria are designed to focus this support on claimants who are able to start work but struggling to find work or increase their earnings. Vulnerable claimants, and those whose circumstances prevent them from being available for work are not required to participate.
Guy Opperman: Can I start by adding my tribute to Betty Boothroyd, who was a role model to so many in this House? As a former chair of Women2Win, I can certainly say that she made a massive difference to so many candidates. Can I also urge colleagues to get behind World Book Day this Thursday? Unlike the hon. Member for Wirral South (Alison McGovern), I would like to thank all colleagues who have...
Mel Stride: ...in how it can be administered by local authorities. We place a particular emphasis on making sure that that assistance goes to those who may not have benefited from the measures I am outlining, but who are still in need. In addition to the taper, we recognise that pensioners need additional support where it is appropriate. My Department has thrown itself into promoting the uptake of...
Guy Opperman: ...percent. The sum of individual low level geographies may not sum to the total figure due to rounding. 2. Deductions include advance repayments, third party deductions and all other deductions, but exclude sanctions and fraud penalties which are reductions of benefit rather than deductions. 3. Children are defined here as being people who are declared as living in the same household as the...
Guy Opperman: ...right way forward. On pensioners, it is rich of the Labour party to criticise. I continue to defend Labour’s actions during its 13 years in government in respect of the women’s state pension, but I was reminded of the 75p increase, which my hon. Friend the Member for North Swindon (Justin Tomlinson) highlighted in his outstanding speech. Bear in mind that in 2009-10, the state pension...
Stephen Timms: ...importance and enormous public interest. I am delighted that the Pensions Minister, the hon. Member for Sevenoaks (Laura Trott), and the former Pensions Minister, the hon. Member for Hexham (Guy Opperman), are in their places on the Front Bench. I agree with much of what the hon. Member for Amber Valley said. The idea of spending a third of adult life in retirement is a sensible...
Mims Davies: ...more to come. The Government are committed to reducing poverty and supporting low-income families, and we will spend £111 billion on welfare support for working-age people between 2022 and 2023. But let us balance this up, because progression is not only about benefits. I say this as a former Employment Minister, and with the current Minister for Employment, my hon. Friend the Member for...
Guy Opperman: ...family in the circumstances that my hon. Friend has outlined to me, both in private and in public today. I can assure him that this matter will be reviewed. It is clearly a cross-Government matter, but it will be resolved by the summer at the latest.
Guy Opperman: I welcome my hon. Friend’s work in Halesowen. He is right that jobs fairs, not just by the DWP but by individual Members of Parliament, are a vital way to drive greater employment. He is also right to say that the in-work progression offer that we are developing will truly make a difference to those already in work.
Laura Trott: ...(Dean Russell), for North Devon (Selaine Saxby), for Wantage (David Johnston) and for North East Bedfordshire (Richard Fuller). I will endeavour to deal with as many of his questions as I can, but I will write to him on any I am unable to address. I also pay tribute to my predecessors in this role, my hon. Friends the Members for Hexham (Guy Opperman) and for Brentwood and Ongar (Alex...
