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  • Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Government plans to set targets for measuring progress towards the goal of halving the disability employment gap.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Progress against the disability employment gap commitment is a key factor in progress towards full employment. This is consistent with the Government’s manifesto commitment which said ‘as part of our objective to achieve full employment, we will aim to halve the disability employment gap’. The annual report on progress towards full employment will include an update on the Government’s progress towards halving the disability employment gap.

    Disability is defined in the Equality Act 2010: “A person has a disability if (a) [they] have a physical or mental impairment, and (b) the impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on [their] ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.”

    Employment in the UK is measured by the Labour Force Survey (LFS). Statistics on disabled employment are published quarterly by the Office for National Statistics, based on internationally agreed definitions.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how he plans to define (a) disability and (b) employment for the purposes of measuring the Government’s progress towards halving the disability employment gap.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Progress against the disability employment gap commitment is a key factor in progress towards full employment. This is consistent with the Government’s manifesto commitment which said ‘as part of our objective to achieve full employment, we will aim to halve the disability employment gap’. The annual report on progress towards full employment will include an update on the Government’s progress towards halving the disability employment gap.

    Disability is defined in the Equality Act 2010: “A person has a disability if (a) [they] have a physical or mental impairment, and (b) the impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on [their] ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.”

    Employment in the UK is measured by the Labour Force Survey (LFS). Statistics on disabled employment are published quarterly by the Office for National Statistics, based on internationally agreed definitions.

  • Alison McGovern – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Alison McGovern – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison McGovern on 2015-11-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many disability discrimination tribunals have been brought against his Department as an employer in each of the last five years.

    Justin Tomlinson

    In the years since 2011 staffing levels in DWP have reduced from 109,445 to 84,610.

    The number of disability discrimination tribunals DWP lost in the years 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015 is 5, 6, 13, 2, and 2 respectively.

    The number of disability discrimination tribunals dismissed in the years 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015 is 14, 23, 17, 25, and 19 respectively.

    The number of disability discrimination tribunals withdrawn in the years 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015 is 36, 57, 50, 14, and 10 respectively.

    The number of disability discrimination tribunals settled in the years 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015 is 28, 24, 16, 14, and 6 respectively.

    The number of disability discrimination tribunals DWP won in the years 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015 is 21, 30, 23, 6 and 2 respectively.

  • Norman Lamb – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Norman Lamb – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Norman Lamb on 2015-11-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of new claimants of employment and support allowances who will be placed in the work-related activity group from April 2017 to May 2020; and whether he has made an estimate of the number of those claimants who will be people with cancer.

    Priti Patel

    Information regarding the number of new claimants who will be placed in the work related activity or limited capability for work groups can be found in the following table, for each of the financial years in the time period requested :

    2017/18

    2018/19

    2019/20

    2020/21

    Total work related activity or limited capability for work group decisions from new claims to ESA or UC

    100,000

    100,000

    100,000

    100,000

    Figures are consistent with the Autumn Statement 2015 forecasts, which do not separate out ESA and UC.

    We do not hold estimates on the number of claimants we expect with specific conditions.

  • Owen Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Owen Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2015-11-19.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reasons expenditure on personal tax credits has increased since 2009.

    Damian Hinds

    The OBR’s Welfare Trends Report 2014 sets out how historical spending changes have been driven by, for example, changes to caseloads and average awards.

    As it sets out, policy decisions between 2003 and 2009 increased the caseload of tax credit claimants and increased discretionary uprating of the child element, contributing to expenditure as a percentage of GDP increasing from 1.1% in 2003/04 to 1.9% in 2009/10.

    By 2010, 9 out of 10 families with children were eligible for tax credits. Reforms under the Coalition government decreased this to 6 out of 10.

    http://budgetresponsibility.org.uk/wordpress/docs/Welfare_trends_report_2014_dn2B.pdf

  • Owen Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Owen Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2015-11-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the increase in the number of in-work recipients of housing benefits in the last five years.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Under this Government the number of out-of-work Housing Benefit claimants has fallen and one key reason for this is that they have made the positive move into work. In this way it is unsurprising, therefore, that the number of in-work recipients of Housing Benefit should rise.

  • Owen Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Owen Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2015-11-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many voluntary redundancies there have been in his Department in 2015.

    Justin Tomlinson

    To date in 2015 there have been no voluntary redundancies in the Department for Work and Pensions.

  • Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-11-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether it is his Department’s policy that a jobseeker who is telephoned by a Jobcentre Plus adviser and does not answer the telephone on more than one occasion should be considered for a sanction.

    Priti Patel

    Under JSA, claimants are not sanctioned for failing to answer their telephone. In Universal Credit, claimants who have a prearranged telephone interview with their Work Coach, and who fail to participate without good reason, can be referred for a sanction decision.

  • Jamie Reed – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Jamie Reed – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2015-11-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make transitional arrangements for women affected by changes to the state pension age introduced during the 2010 Parliament.

    Justin Tomlinson

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 20 November 2015 to Gavin Newlands (Paisley and Renfrewshire North), Question UIN 15476

  • Frank Field – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Frank Field – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2015-11-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when his Department last audited the amount of unused space within each Jobcentre Plus.

    Priti Patel

    The Department for Work and Pensions occupies the majority of its estate under a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) known as the PRIME Contract. Under this PFI, the Department leases fully serviced accommodation from its private sector partner Telereal Trillium. The Department pays an inclusive unitary price for the space occupied. The Department does not own any of the buildings that it occupies. As such, we continually review our space and utilisation within Jobcentre Plus.