Blog

  • Alan Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Alan Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2015-10-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the schedule of comparable programme objects in HM Treasury’s publication, Funding the Scottish Parliament, National Assembly for Wales and Northern Ireland Assembly: Statement of Funding Policy, published in October 2010, what the total expenditure was on how many claims relating to pneumoconiosis in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) Kilmarnock and Loudon constituency between 2010 and 2015; and how many such claims were unsuccessful.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

    Benefit expenditure for Pneumoconiosis at a Great Britain level is available in our published expenditure tables which are available at:
    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/benefit-expenditure-and-caseload-tables-2015

    The number of monthly Pneumoconiosis claims and expenditure at a Great Britain level by type of claimant and payment is available from here:
    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/industrial-injuries-disablement-benefit-quarterly-statistics

    “

  • Alan Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Alan Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2015-10-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to expenditure on (a) DWP Administration, (b) the Government Equalities Office, (c) the Health and Safety Executive, (d) the Work Welfare and Equalities Group and (e) the Working Age Client Group in the schedule of comparable programme objects in HM Treasury’s publication, Funding the Scottish Parliament, National Assembly for Wales and Northern Ireland Assembly: Statement of Funding Policy, published in October 2010, (i) how much of that expenditure in which locations was on (A) property and (B) personnel and (ii) how many people in which locations were employed through such expenditure between 2010 and 2015.

    Priti Patel

    The level of disaggregation is not readily available. DWP Expenditure for the years 2010-11 to 2014-15 is shown in the table below.

    DWP, Departmental Expenditure Limit Resource Outturn, £million

    2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15
    DWP 9,152 7,624 7,497 7,615 7,152
    Of which:
    Health and Safety Executive (net) 203 175 162 155 139
    Operational Delivery 1,294 2,487 2,865 2,866 2,191
    Employment Programmes 1,814 876 802 1,037 950

    More information is available in the Department’s report and accounts which are available at gov.uk. A link to the latest report is provided below:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-annual-report-and-accounts-2014-to-2015

    “

  • Kirsten Oswald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Kirsten Oswald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2015-10-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what effect the introduction of universal credit will have on funding for care available to older people with a disability whose principal carer is engaged in education for no more than 20 hours per week.

    Justin Tomlinson

    A person in full time education will normally not meet the basic conditions for Universal Credit. There are however exceptions to this condition for some people; including people with limited capability for work, those in receipt of Personal Independence Payment, and people with care of dependent children.

    There is no entitlement to Carer’s Allowance for people in education 21 hours or more a week because in order to be eligible they would need to be providing care for a severely disabled person for 35 hours a week.

  • Kirsten Oswald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Kirsten Oswald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2015-10-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what effect the introduction of universal credit will have on the incomes of those spending more than 21 hours per week in education and who are the principal carers for elderly relatives with a disability.

    Justin Tomlinson

    A person in full time education will normally not meet the basic conditions for Universal Credit. There are however exceptions to this condition for some people; including people with limited capability for work, those in receipt of Personal Independence Payment, and people with care of dependent children.

    There is no entitlement to Carer’s Allowance for people in education 21 hours or more a week because in order to be eligible they would need to be providing care for a severely disabled person for 35 hours a week.

  • Kirsten Oswald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Kirsten Oswald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2015-10-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what effect the introduction of universal credit will have on the income of those working in a job from which they derive net earnings of at least £111 per week and who are the principal carers for elderly relatives with a disability.

    Priti Patel

    Carer’s Allowance ceases when the claimant earns more than £110 a week. There is not a similar cliff-edge effect in Universal Credit. Carers who combine caring with paid work will continue to have the Carer Element included in the calculation of their overall award for as long as they provide care for at least 35 hours per week for a severely disabled person.

    In Universal Credit, earned income by members of the household is subjected to a work allowance. Different amounts are disregarded from earnings in order to reflect the needs of different types of household and to support the aim that work pays. Carers are entitled to one of these work allowances depending on their family type, although there is not a work allowance specifically for carers.

    Carers who combine work with caring will be able to earn up to their work allowance without their Universal Credit entitlement being affected. If earnings exceed that allowance then the Universal Credit award will reduce gradually as earnings increase.

  • Kirsten Oswald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Kirsten Oswald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2015-10-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what effect the introduction of universal credit will have on the income of those working in a job from which they derive net earnings of less than £110 per week and who are the principal carers for elderly relatives with a disability.

    Priti Patel

    Carer’s Allowance ceases when the claimant earns more than £110 a week. There is not a similar cliff-edge effect in Universal Credit. Carers who combine caring with paid work will continue to have the Carer Element included in the calculation of their overall award for as long as they provide care for at least 35 hours per week for a severely disabled person.

    In Universal Credit, earned income by members of the household is subjected to a work allowance. Different amounts are disregarded from earnings in order to reflect the needs of different types of household and to support the aim that work pays. Carers are entitled to one of these work allowances depending on their family type, although there is not a work allowance specifically for carers.

    Carers who combine work with caring will be able to earn up to their work allowance without their Universal Credit entitlement being affected. If earnings exceed that allowance then the Universal Credit award will reduce gradually as earnings increase.

  • 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 2015-10-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of the morale of his Department’s staff.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The morale of the Department’s staff is not measured although the related concept of Employee Engagement is measured regularly through the Department’s annual People Survey.

    The People Survey is conducted in the Autumn every year and we are currently in the middle of completing this year’s survey.

    Results will be available and made accessible to the public through the Gov.uk website in mid-November.

    Last year’s results can be found at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/397958/dwp-people-survey-2014.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 2015-10-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many days were lost to sickness in his Department in each of the last 10 years.

    Justin Tomlinson

    We have greatly reduced sickness absence in DWP from an average of 11.1 days per employee eight years ago to just 6.4 days per employee now. This is below the figure for the public sector of 7.9 days on average per employee, which was independently reported by the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development in its latest sickness absence report.

    The number of working days lost to sickness within the Department for Work and Pensions in each of the last 10 years is recorded in the following table.

    Period

    Working Days Lost to Sickness Absence

    Average Working Days Lost per Employee

    2014/15

    527,961

    6.5

    2013/14

    620,122

    6.9

    2012/13

    699,731

    7.4

    2011/12

    671,412

    7.3

    2010/11

    846,168

    8.1

    2009/10

    911,809

    8.5

    2008/09

    849,448

    8.9

    2007/08

    1,053,768

    10.1

    2006/07

    1,361,196

    11.1

    2005

    1,233,162

    10.1
  • 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 2015-10-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of pensioners who will not be exempt from the size criteria of universal credit.

    Priti Patel

    The information requested is not available.

  • Owen Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Owen Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2015-10-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the increase in the number of people relying on temporary accommodation since 2010.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    Provision of temporary accommodation ensures that homeless households in priority need are not left without a roof over their heads.

    We have provided more than £500 million since 2010 to support local authorities and the voluntary and community sector to tackle and prevent homelessness. This has helped prevent homelessness for 935,000 households.

    Households leaving temporary accommodation now spend, on average, 7 months less in temporary accommodation than they did in 2010.

    The numbers of households in temporary accommodation remain well below their peak, when they hit 101,000 in 2004.