This petition was submitted during the 2019-2024 parliament

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Petition Remove the minimum earnings threshold for Statutory Sick Pay

The £94 per week statutory sick pay (SSP) is only available to those who earn over £118 pounds a week. We demand the government scraps this minimum earning threshold to provide SSP for all who need it.

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This country needs structural change to ensure every worker feels supported should they fall ill or be advised to self-isolate, especially in times of emergency. The minimum earnings threshold of £118 per week leaves an estimated 2 million people who work low income jobs or zero hours contracts with no financial support available to them should they fall ill or be advised to self isolate, disproportionately affecting women, ethnic minorities and migrants. Everybody deserves fairer sick pay.

This petition is closed This petition ran for 6 months

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Petitions Committee questions Government on its response to coronavirus

Last week the Petitions Committee put some of the most popular questions from the public about coronavirus to the Government Minister for Schools, the Minister for Disabled People and the Deputy Chief Medical Officer. These included:

  • How long will schools be closed for and what will the impact be on exams and grades?
  • What financial support will be available for the self-employed?
  • What financial support will be offered to people who are unable to pay their rent or bills due to self-isolation or loss of work?
  • What support will be offered to the events, creative and hospitality industries now that pubs, clubs and cultural venues have been closed?
  • What clear, practical steps can people take to make sure they are following Government guidance on social distancing, household isolation and self-isolation?
  • Who is being tested and why, and will tests be made freely available to everyone?
  • What is the Government doing to ensure that everyone is getting the right information?

Watch the session on YouTube: https://youtu.be/aPLXJcZEfi8

Read the transcript: https://committees.parliament.uk/work/192/the-governments-response-to-coronavirus/publications/written-evidence/

Because of the large number of petitions that we continue to receive on coronavirus we have sent more questions to the Government to answer.

Read our letters to different Government Ministers: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/326/petitions-committee/publications/3/correspondence/

Some of the questions we’ve asked include:

  • When will testing capacity will be increased; who will testing be available for and will it be free?
  • What is being done to tackle the spread of disinformation?
  • How quickly will support for self-employed people be made available?
  • What will happen to the school year? Will summer holidays be cancelled so that children can catch up?
  • How are foodbanks being supported to continue operating during the outbreak?
  • What is being done to address panic buying and prevent price hikes of key items?
  • Will trains, buses and flights continue to operate? For how long?

We’ll email you again to let you know when we get a response to these questions, and to let you know about any more action the Committee takes.

Who are we?

We are the House of Commons Petitions Committee. We are a cross-party group of MPs that looks at e-petitions submitted on petition.parliament.uk. We are independent from Government. You can find out more about us and our work on our website.

You can follow the Petitions Committee on Twitter: @HoCpetitions.

Further information

You can read impartial House of Commons Library information about coronavirus here: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/coronavirus/

You can find out more about coronavirus and how you can protect yourself and others here:

https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

You can read NHS tips to help if you are worried about coronavirus here: https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/coronavirus-covid-19-anxiety-tips

Share your experiences of using the benefits system during the coronavirus outbreak

A group of MPs called the Work and Pensions Committee would like to hear about people’s experiences of using the benefits system during the coronavirus outbreak.
 
They’d like to hear from you if:
 
- you’ve started to claim benefits during the coronavirus outbreak (for example, Universal Credit or Employment Support Allowance)
- you were already claiming benefits before the coronavirus outbreak
- you needed support but weren’t able to claim benefits
 
You can share your experiences here: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=nt3mHDeziEC-Xo277ASzSjmyhv4Lz8tPuToBKZcY2O9UNVJNRzM0M1E1RVk3U0EzWkRDR1czQ1U3Ri4u
 
They’d like to hear from you by Wednesday 15 April. Your answers will help them to understand the issues people are facing and what questions MPs need to ask the Government. 
 
They might publish some or all of your responses, or read them out when they’re asking questions in a public Committee meeting or in the House of Commons. So please don’t share any personal information that you don’t want to be public.
 
You can get updates on their work by following the Committee on Twitter @CommonsWorkpen or on their website: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/164/work-and-pensions-committee

What is the Work and Pensions Committee?

The Work and Pensions Committee looks at and questions how the Government Department for Work and Pensions:

· is run
· spends money
· decides on its policies

It's a cross-party committee and is independent of the Government.

This is a ‘select committee’. Find out how Select Committees work:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_2RDuDs44c