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  • Clive Efford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Clive Efford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Efford on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 19 January 2016 to Question 22574, for what reasons, during the closure of the Bexleyheath rail line during the week beginning 11 January 2016, (a) Southeastern services on adjacent lines were cancelled, (b) there was a lack of information about alternative services and (c) staff had no information to pass onto customers about alternative services or when replacement bus services would arrive; what systems were put in place to communicate regular updates of information to staff so customers could be given accurate advice; what advice was given to staff regarding assistance for people with disabilities; what steps he is taking to determine whether the responses to the situation from Network Rail and Southeastern were adequate; and if he will make a statement.

    Claire Perry

    Following the unfortunate landslip at Barnehust, it was necessary to close the line serving Bexleyheath in order that repairs could be carried out.

    As a result of the Bexleyheath line closure, Southeastern have had to run more trains on the adjacent lines to provide extra capacity for passengers. This led to minimal cancellations to the scheduled timetable on adjacent lines.

    Information regarding alternative travel arrangements was provided by posters at affected stations, station announcements, on National Rail Industry systems, the Southeastern website and on social media.

    Staff were given regular updates on the alternative travel arrangements and station announcements were made where appropriate. Replacement buses were in operation between Lewisham and Dartford via Bexleyheath in both directions. Other bus services were accepting Southeastern tickets, additionally, Docklands Light Railway and London Underground were accepting tickets where appropriate. Regular updates were provided to station management, who provided briefings to their station staff. The Passenger Assist service was in effect and Southeastern staff were advised to book taxis from stations that were not accessible for those passengers who required them.

    My officials were in regular contact with Southeastern and Network Rail, who ensured that the line was opened as quickly as possible and that passengers were kept informed at all times.

  • Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with the (a) Egyptian Ambassador and (b) Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on resuming flights to Sharm El Sheikh.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Government is working closely with the Egyptian authorities with a view to a resumption of flights as soon as possible. Ministers are keeping the position under close review. There have also been regular contacts between the Government and the Egyptian Ambassador to the UK to discuss the situation.

  • Jonathan Edwards – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    Jonathan Edwards – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Edwards on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what discussions he has had with the Welsh Government on Tata Steel’s recent announcement on job losses.

    Stephen Crabb

    The recent announcement of job losses at Port Talbot is another hammer blow to the industry and the wider South Wales economy.

    I have had regular contact with the Welsh Government Minister for Economy, Science and Transport since the announcement. With the Minister for Small Business, Industry and Enterprise, I have offered the UK Government’s full commitment to working collaboratively with the Welsh Government.

    My Ministerial colleague, Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth, has also accepted an invitation from the Welsh Government to be part of a High Level Task Force charged with supporting everyone affected by the job losses at Port Talbot.

    Our immediate priority is to support those who have suffered job losses and to ensure the industry has a sustainable future in Wales.

  • Jonathan Edwards – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    Jonathan Edwards – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Edwards on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what discussions he has had with the Secretaries of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, Work and Pensions and Energy and Climate Change and with the Chancellor of the Exchequer since the announcement of job losses this week by Tata Steel.

    Stephen Crabb

    I have had discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills about the steel industry in Wales. We are committed to doing everything we can to level the playing field for the UK Steel industry. We are actively engaged with the Welsh Government and our officials are working together to support individuals affected by last week’s announcement, as a matter of priority.

  • David Crausby – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    David Crausby – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Crausby on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what monitoring his Department is undertaking to ensure that the level of service to the public is not negatively affected by the transfer of responsibilities from the Child Support Agency to the Child Maintenance Service.

    Priti Patel

    The government has introduced a new statutory Child Maintenance Service for parents who are unable to make a family-based arrangement. It will bring speedier processing of applications, simpler calculations and faster enforcement action for those that choose not to pay. This will help increase the number of payments reaching children on time and in full and will result in a better use of taxpayers’ money.

    We are contacting parents 6 months before their CSA case closes to allow them the opportunity to access the support services available to them. They receive a reminder 1 month before their CSA case ends, and a confirmation once it has actually ended. We do not transfer cases automatically to the Child Maintenance Service. We close them in a way that minimises the risk of disruption to child maintenance payments.

    Cases on the previous CSA schemes are being closed in an order determined by case characteristics. This includes the micro-management of the phases of case closure using our tried and tested pathfinder approach; sequencing and prioritising case closure to minimise disruption for clients.

    The Department set out an evaluation strategy in December 2014 which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/387584/child-maintenance-reforms-evaluation-strategy.pdf

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  • David Crausby – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    David Crausby – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Crausby on 2016-01-21.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average time taken was to resolve enquiries from hon. Members about tax credit cases; and what steps his Department is taking to reduce that time.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) Tax Credit Office aims to prioritise and respond to representations from hon. Members as soon as possible. HMRC do not routinely record and collate performance against specific timescales for such representations.

  • Ruth Cadbury – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Ruth Cadbury – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Cadbury on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of whether paragraph 20 of Schedule 9 of the Income Support (General) Regulations 1987 accurately reflects the real costs borne by a claimant who takes a boarder into their home.

    Priti Patel

    There has been no such assessment.

  • Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Patrick Grady on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons different criteria apply in the assessment of risk of self-harm or suicide to men and women in his Department’s guidance on work capability assessments.

    Priti Patel

    The guidance on work capability assessments no longer makes a distinction between men and women.

  • Emma Reynolds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Emma Reynolds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emma Reynolds on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 18 January 2016 to Question 22115, why information on the number and value of cold weather payments has not been (a) collected and (b) made available for each constituency in each year since their introduction.

    Justin Tomlinson

    We have provided the data at constituency level in the Social Fund Annual Report since 2011/12. Prior to this the information was only collected, and then published annually, at Met Office Weather Station level. To go back and recalculate the figures based on each constituency since the scheme began could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many calls to his Department’s helpline in 2015 related to universal credit; and what proportion such calls were of the total number of calls.

    Priti Patel

    There is no single Departmental helpline. The latest available figures showed that 47 million calls were answered across all DWP telephony service lines during 2015. In the same period, 400k calls were answered by Universal Credit Agents, equating to 0.9% of total calls.