Tag: Cat Smith

The parliamentary question asked by Cat Smith, the Labour MP for Lancaster and Fleetwood, in the House of Commons on 6 March 2023.

Cat Smith (Lancaster and Fleetwood) (Lab)

6. What assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the fall in the level of single-parent employment between 2019 and 2022. (903873)

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Slough) (Lab)

15. What assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the fall in the level of single-parent employment between 2019 and 2022. (903882)

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Mims Davies)

We are committed to helping parents to increase their income through work. We have cut the earnings taper on universal credit and increased work allowances, meaning that families are, on average, better off by £1,000 a year. Additionally, eligible parents can claim up to 85% of their childcare costs through UC, and further assistance is available through the flexible support fund, Jobcentre Plus and work coaches.

Cat Smith

On Friday, I visited my local citizens advice bureau at its new offices on George Street in Lancaster, where I heard at first hand of the challenges that single parents are having with the amount of the childcare element of universal credit being capped at the level set in 2005 and with its being paid in arrears. What steps has the Minister taken to ensure that benefits go up in line with the cost of childcare and to look at paying this element up front?

Mims Davies

I thank the hon. Lady for that question. The UC childcare element can be used to top up a claimant’s eligible free childcare hours if more hours are worked and more childcare is required. We also use the flexible support fund to support those up-front costs, as we heard earlier. However, I would like to take this opportunity to talk about employers; this is not solely about what the Government can do on our own to help lone parents. Job design, the opportunity to progress and flexible work are really important too, as is the opportunity to return and progress. We cannot do this on our own.

Mr Dhesi

It is alarming that last year the employment rate for single parents had the biggest annual fall on record, and it is all the more worrying because the single parent employment rate has been on an upward long-term trend since the mid-1990s. Surely the Minister would agree that the eligible cost limit on childcare in universal credit needs to be uprated to reflect the ground reality of today’s soaring childcare costs.

Mims Davies

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question. Under this Government since 2010, we have seen a significant increase in lone parents in work, with the rate going up from 56.1% in 2010 to 65.5% in 2022. However, the reality—and I think he describes it—is that there are too many challenges for lone parents, and it is absolutely right that we look at this. As we have heard from the Secretary of State, we are hoping to hear more: the Chancellor is ever present in our minds. As a lone parent, I again make the plea to employers to help people come back to work, because we know it is more than just a pay packet; it is really important to see the whole of society represented in the labour market.

Mr Speaker

I call the shadow Minister.

Ms Karen Buck (Westminster North) (Lab)

Figures published today by the Centre for Progressive Policy show that the lack of affordable childcare prevented a quarter of parents of children under 10 from working more hours, with all the implications that has for family finances, but also for economic productivity. In fact, parental underemployment is estimated to cost this country over £20 billion. With expectations having been raised again this afternoon that next week’s Budget will do something about the cost of childcare, can the Minister tell us how long it will be before she expects the level of lone parent employment to rise again to where it was three years ago?

Mims Davies

I thank the hon. Lady for her question. I think we have some amazing childcare out there and some brilliant opportunities for lone parents, as I have described. It is important to let people know that, on universal credit, they can claim back 85%. It is better than legacy benefits, and they should please look at the benefits calculator on gov.uk and use the flexible support fund. We should also recognise that it is not right for everybody to go straight back to work—this needs to be individualised—and that we should support the lone parent and make sure they can get the skills and the opportunity to always be better off in work.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2015-11-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many transgender prisoners received into prison in the last 12 months have been held in the segregation unit.

Caroline Dinenage

This information is not held centrally. As my Honourable Friend, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Prisons, Probation and Rehabilitation, committed to the House on 20 November, my Department will publish data on the number of trans people in prison in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2016-02-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will conduct an assessment of the extent to which Atos and Capita use supporting letters when conducting personal independence payment assessments.

Justin Tomlinson

Healthcare Professionals and DWP Decision Makers give full consideration to all information provided when assessing Personal Independence Payment claimants.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2016-03-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the role of personal independence payment assessment providers in the increase in processing time between the case referral to assessment provider to return from the assessment provider to the government office since July 2015.

Justin Tomlinson

Following a controlled start from July 2015, full Personal Independence Payment (PIP) roll-out commenced in October 2015, with an increase in the numbers of existing Disability Living Allowance claimants being asked to claim PIP.

In addition and in order to improve the customer journey, the Department has made some changes to the way in which it monitors Assessment Provider performance. These changes mean that Providers now have more time in which to complete assessments and return reports to the Department and also gives them greater flexibility to obtain further evidence to support claims: this therefore allows more time for scheduling appointments that better suit claimants and Assessment Providers, increases accuracy in assessments and reports and ensures opportunities for paper based reviews are maximised thereby reducing the demand for face-to-face appointments. Although these changes may see slightly longer average clearance times, they remain within expected levels.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2016-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 25 April 2016 to Question 34792, when she expects the confidential advice line to become available.

Mike Penning

The Blue Light Infoline is available now and offers confidential, independent and practical support, advice and signposting around mental health and wellbeing. The Infoline is for emergency service staff, volunteers and their families and helps keep them or those they care about well for work. The infoline can be contacted on 0300 303 5999, or by email on bluelightinfo@mind.org.uk or by text on 84999

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2016-05-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will conduct an investigation into historical cases of birth defects caused by sodium valproate and the support now required by the families affected.

George Freeman

Valproate is an effective treatment for epilepsy and bipolar disorder but should only be used in girls and women of childbearing potential if other treatments are ineffective or not tolerated. For some women there may be no other treatment option. Since it was authorised, valproate was known to have risks in pregnancy. Because of ongoing concerns about women’s awareness of the risks, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has worked with professional bodies, voluntary organisations and patient groups to develop a set of materials to aid communication between health professionals and women and girls.

The valproate toolkit comprises booklets for healthcare professionals, a reminder card and a guide for women, a checklist for prescribers and clear package labelling carrying a prominent warning about use in pregnancy. It was widely disseminated on 8 February 2016 through a Central Alerting System (a web based cascade system for issuing alerts to the National Health Service) and the MHRA’s Drug Safety Update bulletin. Electronic copies of the toolkit are hosted on several websites including the Electronic Medicines Compendium. Letters and hard copies of the toolkit were sent by the marketing authorisation holder directly to general practitioners (GPs), pharmacists and relevant specialists. This included 400,000 patient cards, 81,000 patient guides and 22,000 healthcare professional booklets.

In order to monitor the effectiveness of the valproate toolkit, the MHRA has sought feedback from all stakeholders and will continue to work with the Royal Colleges, professional bodies including the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, patient groups and relevant charities to increase awareness of the toolkit among GPs, pharmacists and patients.This work will include exploring how clinical commissioning groups can help ensure the toolkit materials are being used.

So far, the MHRA has worked with voluntary organisations and patient groups to produce online patient surveys to measure awareness of the risks among patients. Furthermore, MHRA is conducting a study using the Clinical Practice Research Datalink to track changes in prescribing of valproate to women and girls following the communications to healthcare professionals and patients on the risks of valproate in pregnancy. The marketing authorisation holder is conducting Europe-wide studies to measure the changes in patterns of prescribing and awareness of the healthcare professionals of the risks. The available data will be brought together in a regularly updated dashboard that will be used to track the impact of the communications on patient and professional awareness over time.

The Government has great sympathy for those families who have been affected by the use of valproate in pregnancy. There is support available for families with children born with a disability. For many people this will involve an early intervention programme from health visitors and midwives, to help a child develop, as well as provide support to the family. This might include: speech and language therapy – to help with any problems communicating or feeding; physiotherapy – to help with any muscle weakness or movement difficulties, and individual home teaching programmes.

Where a child has a special educational need the local authority must make support available to ensure the child had access to the same educational opportunities as a child without such a need. The Children and Families Act 2014 introduced a new statutory framework for local authorities and to work together to secure services for children and young people – up to the age of 25 – who have special educational needs or disability, across education, health and social care.

The MHRA’s current priority is to work to ensure that women taking valproate are fully aware of the risks in pregnancy. Once this is achieved we will look into the history of the episode and see what lessons have been or could be usefully learnt by examining events.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2015-11-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many transgender prisoners received into prison in the last 12 months were placed in the vulnerable prisoner unit in the (a) male and (b) female estate.

Caroline Dinenage

This information is not held centrally. As my Honourable Friend, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Prisons, Probation and Rehabilitation, committed to the House on 20 November, my Department will publish data on the number of trans people in prison in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2016-02-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the effect on (a) the wellbeing and (b) access to employment and training of people who no longer have access to a motability vehicle due to moving from disability living allowance to personal independence payment.

Justin Tomlinson

We recognise that the transition from DLA to PIP can be challenging for individuals, which is why the Department worked closely with Motability as we developed our plans for the introduction of PIP. The Motability charity provides a one-off package of transitional support and advice to support customers who no longer meet the eligibility criteria for the Motability scheme. For most of these customers who entered into their first lease agreement with Motability before January 2013, Motability will provide transitional support of £2,000. This will enable many former Scheme customers to continue to meet their mobility needs by purchasing a used car.

For customers who entered into their first lease agreement with the scheme after January 2013 and up to December 2013, Motability will supply transitional support of £1,000 to assist with mobility costs. Motability is also providing help with the cost of adaptations made to non-scheme vehicles and information on non-scheme motoring and insurance. The Scheme also offers customers an opportunity to purchase their vehicle after the end of the lease.

Support with employment is available through the Access to Work Scheme, which is potentially available on application to anyone with a health condition or disability that affects the way they perform their job and who needs practical support above and beyond the reasonable adjustments that an employer has a duty to make under the Equality Act 2010. The type of support Access to Work provides is tailored to an individual’s needs and can include travel to work.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2016-03-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if she will ensure that the final determination on fracking applications is made by local authorities.

James Wharton

Local authorities lead the process for the consideration of planning applications for shale gas exploration under the Town and Country Planning regime. Under this regime an applicant has a right of appeal to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government in clearly specified circumstances. The Government has taken steps to ensure this locally led regime is effective, as set out in Written Ministerial Statements of 16 September, HCWS201 and HCWS202. Community involvement in planning applications and people’s safety and the environment will remain paramount.