The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-02-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how much his Department spent on training in each of the last three financial years.
Alun Cairns
The Wales Office spend in 2011-12 was £27,091, £6,043 in 2012-13 and £11,148 in 2013-14.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-02-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what guidance his Department provides to its managers on how many days training should be made available to staff.
Alun Cairns
In line with the Civil Service Reform Plan, the Wales Office has recommended since 2013 that each member of staff should be spending at least five days a year on their own learning and development. The days should be used to target those skills that staff most need for their current and future roles and include a range of learning opportunities not just formal training.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-02-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance his Department provides to its managers on how many days training should be made available to staff.
Esther McVey
There is no specified number of days an individual should have for training as it would depend on an individual’s job role, the length of time they have been in post, any changes to their job role and their personal capability level and developmental needs.
Training can be undertaken as attendance at formal classroom based events recorded as training days but developmental needs can also be met through less formal activities – job shadowing, mentoring, on the job learning, downloading resources from Civil Service Learning and so on.
In line with the Departmental People Performance Policy, development needs are set and reviewed as part of regular discussion between an individual and their line manager looking at continuous development to maintain and potentially enhance performance. From these discussions the amount of developmental activity necessary (including formal training days) will emerge for each person.
In addition the Civil Service Reform Plan outlines a Civil Service wide commitment to each individual having at least 5 days a year of developmental activity but this will not be just training – many other activities would contribute to an individual’s 5 days a year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2015-02-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much the Government has loaned to the insurance industry to assist with the costs of the Diffuse Mesothelioma Payment Scheme in the first year of its operation.
Mr Mark Harper
The Government has not provided a loan to the insurance industry to assist with the costs of the Diffuse Mesothelioma Payment Scheme.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2015-02-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the value is of (a) awards under the Diffuse Mesothelioma Payment Scheme and (b) benefits recovered from payments made under that Scheme by the Compensation Recoveries Unit in the period from the commencement of that Scheme to 11 February 2015.
Mr Mark Harper
The information requested is not currently available. However, information from the commencement of the Scheme up to 31 January 2015 is available and is provided below.
a) The gross value of awards under the Diffuse Mesothelioma Payment Scheme between April 2014 and the end of January 2015 is approximately £24,700,0001.
b) The value of benefits recovered from gross payments made under the Scheme by the Compensation Recovery Unit for the same period is approximately £5,300,0001.
Notes:
1 Figures are rounded to the nearest £100,000.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tessa Munt on 2015-02-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many individual cold weather payments were made to recipients in the UK in winter 2013-14.
Steve Webb
Only one trigger was recorded in the 2013/14 Cold Weather season and an estimated 1,100 payments paid. Further details can be found in the ‘Social Fund Cold Weather Payments for Great Britain from 1st November 2013 to 31st March 2014’ update on Gov.uk which may be found at
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-02-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what targets his Department has is place for processing customer claims for (a) income support, (b) jobseeker’s allowance, (c) employment and support allowance and (d) universal credit.
Esther McVey
The Department currently uses a suite of measures to track and manage the timeliness of processing for the range of benefits it administers. These measures are supported by business information systems and used to help manage and improve performance. Going forward, the Department plans to retain these measurements for working age benefits and is developing a processing time measure for Universal Credit along similar lines.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-02-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect of raising the participation age on the take up of apprenticeships by 16 to 19 year olds.
Nick Boles
The latest participation data shows there was an increase in the proportion of 16-18 year olds taking an apprenticeship in 2013/14. The proportion of 16 year olds – the first cohort affected by the raising of the participation age (RPA) – was unchanged. Participation data for 2014/15 is not yet available
There are a number of factors that may affect the take up of apprenticeships, and no assessment has been made of the distinct impact of the introduction of RPA.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-02-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect of raising the participation age on the level of youth unemployment.
Esther McVey
Raising the participation age was legislated for in 2008 with the aim of ensuring young people have the skills and qualifications they need to succeed in the workplace. The number of young people in work is increasing, up by over 100,000 in the last year and by over 125,000 since 2010. A higher participation age should help to cut youth unemployment in the short-term, as it means more young people are studying full-time, and in the longer term, by increasing the level of skills and qualifications of the workforce. Over the last year 16-17 year olds and 18-24 year olds have both seen significant falls in unemployment, with unemployment down both for those studying full-time and for those who have left full-time education. During 2014 overall youth unemployment recorded the largest annual fall on record and the youth claimant count has now fallen for 38 consecutive months.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2015-02-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Written Statement of 10 February 2015, HCWS 269, on Diffuse Mesothelioma Payment Scheme, what the additional administrative safeguards referred to in that statement are.
Mr Mark Harper
The administrative safeguards are related to audit, management information and ongoing support of the Employers’ Liability Tracing Office. They provide additional insight into the live running of the Scheme for the insurance industry, but do not impact in any way upon the Scheme itself.