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  • John McDonnell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    John McDonnell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John McDonnell on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will place in the Library and publish the tender and bid for the Child Maintenance Options contract.

    Steve Webb

    Contract documents for the Child Maintenance Options Contract are published on the Contracts Finder website. These documents include the Contract itself, the requirements issued to bidders, and the successful bidder’s response. Contracts Finder is a publicly accessible website where contract documents are published in order to meet government transparency commitments. The specific link to this Contract is: https://online.contractsfinder.businesslink.gov.uk/Common/View%20Notice.aspx?site=1000&lang=en&noticeid=1072427&fs=true

    “

  • John McDonnell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    John McDonnell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John McDonnell on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much the Government expects to receive from (a) the 20 per cent deduction from the child maintenance payment of the paying parent and (b) the four per cent deduction of total payment of support to the child from the receiving parent.

    Steve Webb

    Paragraph 106 of the CSA Case Closure, Introducing CMS Fees, Supporting Family Based Arrangements Impact Assessment gives an estimate of the total income by year raised through the parent with care fee and the non-resident parent fee. This Impact Assessment, published on 22 November 2013, is available at

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/259694/cm-case-closure-and-charges-regs-ia-final.pdf

    “

  • Ian Austin – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Ian Austin – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of (a) the number and (b) the cost of staff redundancies resulting from the closure of his Department’s on-site nurseries from September 2014.

    Mike Penning

    DWP has no staff redundancies as a result of the nursery closures and no associated costs.

  • Ian Austin – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Ian Austin – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether employees of his Department’s Child Maintenance Group will be compensated for the loss of their childcare subsidy.

    Steve Webb

    Five Child Maintenance Group on-site nurseries are due to close on expiry of the contract at the end of September 2014. They are located at offices in Birkenhead, Dudley, Falkirk, Hastings and Plymouth.

    Child Maintenance Group childcare subsidy was made no longer available to new entrants from 1 June 2012. This brings Child Maintenance Group into line with the Department’s policy on childcare subsidy.

    As part of its remuneration package, the Department supports employees through a salary sacrifice scheme where employees can give up part of their salary in return for childcare vouchers. This scheme allows for significant savings through tax relief and gives parents support in order to make their own choices for childcare.

    Employees affected by the closure of the five on-site nurseries have been offered a day’s special leave in order to look for suitable alternatives.

  • Pamela Nash – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Pamela Nash – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Pamela Nash on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what arrears validation processes are carried out on Child Support Agency cases which do not form part of the caseload before those arrears are transferred to the Child Maintenance Service for collection.

    Steve Webb

    The Department is prioritising the closure over the next three years of cases with an ongoing child maintenance liability, and taking steps to minimise disruption as far as possible for parents who wish the statutory service to continue collecting maintenance on their behalf. Plans for handling cases where there is no ongoing liability, but arrears are owed, are still under consideration. Where there is a link between one of these arrears only cases, and an application to the 2012 scheme, action will be taken to bring that arrears only case up-to-date, before moving it across to the Child Maintenance Service.

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what sanctions his Department uses on universal credit claimants who refuse a zero hours contract.

    Esther McVey

    Universal Credit means that claimants can accept any offer of work without fear of their benefits or the support they receive from the Jobcentre being negatively affected. They will always be better off in work.

    All claimants are expected to accept reasonable offers of employment. If they do not then they may be referred for a sanction. This is the same for UC.

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which sector of the economy made greatest use of employee contracts that do not guarantee a minimum number of hours in (a) 2010 and (b) the most recent year for which information is available.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • Gareth Johnson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Gareth Johnson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Johnson on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the number of people in Dartford constituency in employment in each of the last five years.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • Pamela Nash – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Pamela Nash – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Pamela Nash on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what timetable he has set for the closure of Child Support Agency cases which do not form part of the Agency’s current live caseload.

    Steve Webb

    The Department is prioritising the closure over the next three years of cases with an ongoing child maintenance liability, and taking steps to minimise disruption as far as possible for parents who wish the statutory service to continue collecting maintenance on their behalf. Plans for handling cases where there is no ongoing liability, but arrears are owed, are still under consideration. Where there is a link between one of these arrears only cases, and an application to the 2012 scheme, action will be taken to bring that arrears only case up-to-date, before moving it across to the Child Maintenance Service.

  • Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in how many cases child support arrears have been written off under the Child Support Management of Payments and Arrears (Amendment) Regulations 2012 since November 2012; and how much has been written off in such a fashion.

    Steve Webb

    The circumstances, provided for in The Child Support Management of Payments and Arrears (Amendment) Regulations 2012, in which debt can be written off are:

    – Where the Parent with Care (PWC) requests it;

    – Where the Non-resident Parent (NRP) has died prior to 25/01/2010, or no further action can be taken to recover debt from the estate;

    – Where the PWC has died;

    – Where there is Interim Maintenance Assessment (IMA) debt and the IMA was in place between 5th April 93 and 18th April 95, and the assessment cannot be adjusted in light of a parent’s actual income for this form of debt when it arises over that period; or,

    – Where the NRP has been told that no further action would ever be taken to collect the debt.

    Since the introduction of the write off powers in November 2012 the Department has written off the following amounts:

    – Financial year ended 31 March 2013 £1,133,310

    – Financial year ended 31 March 2014 £15,480,677

    The Department does not hold information on the number of cases this relates to.