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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2014-03-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to prevent married couples from fraudulently claiming council and housing tax-related benefit available only for single people.

Steve Webb

There are no social security benefits relating to housing costs or council tax that are available only to single people. There is a reduction of 25% in the council tax payable available to those who live alone, but the administration of this is a matter for local authorities.

Generally, suspicions that claimants may be living together as if they were married or in a civil partnership without informing the relevant benefit payer come from various sources, including members of the public and members of staff. The Department currently does not investigate cases that only involve housing benefit as these are a matter for local authorities.

Council tax benefit ceased to exist on 1 April 2013 and has been replaced by the local council tax reduction (LCTR) scheme, the administration of which is a matter for local authorities.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2014-03-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have been signed off work in the UK as a result of having obsessive compulsive disorder.

Mike Penning

The Department for Work and Pensions does not hold information on the number of people taking sickness absence from work as a result of having obsessive compulsive disorder.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2014-03-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to help people with mental illnesses find appropriate work.

Mike Penning

Each Jobcentre Plus District is resourced to have a Mental Health and Wellbeing Partnership Manager, they identify the availability of local support that advisers may refer to and provide a support role to advisers who work with customers with mental health conditions.

In January 2014 we launched the Employment and Wellbeing toolkit which offers practical support to Jobcentre advisers to help them work with claimants affected by mental health problems. The toolkit enables advisers to establish a clear employment focus and identify appropriate interventions and actions which enable claimants with mental health issues to progress into employment as quickly as possible.

Disability Employment Advisers (DEAs) and Work Psychologists also offer specialist advice in Jobcentres. DEAs can act as an advocate for the customer with prospective employers, aiming to identify work solutions that will overcome or minimise any difficulties related to an individual’s disability in the work place and Work Psychologists, can provide advice and guidance on effective provision and complete an Employment Assessment for claimants.

Many benefit claimants with mental health problems will be referred to, or may have access to, a range of support including the Work Programme or specialist disability employment programmes including Work Choice and Access to Work.

Work Programme advisors have access to the Working for Wellbeing toolkit which was developed by an expert group of Work Programme and specialist providers to improve employment outcomes for claimants who have mental health problems.

Work Choice is a programme for disabled people with more intensive support and can provide specialist support for people with mental health conditions.

Access to Work includes a specific Mental Health Support Service for people who require support while in work to help them to stay in work. 90 per cent of the people who have been on the MHSS programme for six months (though not always needing six months of support) are still in work. Employer engagement is a key element of the service.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2014-03-11.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many migrants from EU countries living in the UK receive child benefit.

Nicky Morgan

HMRC are not able to provide the information in the manner requested. HMRC do not record the nationality of the claimant receiving Child Benefit for children living in another member state.

Published Child Benefit statistics provide annual estimates of the number of families and children claiming. The latest available (August 2012) show that there were 7.92 million families, responsible for 13.77 million children and qualifying young people receiving Child Benefit.

The main purpose of Child Benefit is to support families in the UK. Consequently, the rules generally do not provide for them to be paid in respect of children who live abroad.

Nevertheless, Child Benefit is a family benefit under EC Regulation 883/2004. This regulation protects the social security rights of nationals of all member states of the European economic area, including the UK, and Switzerland when they exercise their rights of free movement under EU law.

HMRC holds information on the number of Child Benefit awards under EC Regulation 883/2004. As at 31 December 2013, there were 20,400 ongoing Child Benefit awards under the EC Regulation in respect of 34.268 children living in another member state.

This is a fall of 3,682 (15.3%) awards in respect of 5,903 (14.7%) fewer children since 31 December 2012.

The breakdown by member state is as follows:

*We have withheld the number where it is fewer than 5, as there is risk that the information could be attributed to an identifiable person, which would prejudice their right to privacy and would therefore be a breach of Principle 1 of the Data Protection Act.

Child Benefit

Country of residence of children	Number of awards	Number of children
Austria	23	37
Belgium	75	140
Bulgaria	186	245
Croatia	*5	*5
Cyprus	39	61
Czech Republic	124	203
Denmark	13	23
Estonia	45	65
Finland	12	23
France	789	1429
Germany	283	495
Greece	44	69
Hungary	136	196
Iceland	*5	*5
Italy	156	273
Latvia	797	1091
Liechtenstein	0	0
Lithuania	1215	1712
Luxembourg	7	14
Malta	15	22
Norway	30	61
Poland	13174	22093
Portugal	202	309
Republic of Ireland	1231	2505
Romania	230	392
Slovakia	692	1232
Slovenia	11	21
Spain	600	1019
Sweden	49	95
Switzerland	77	150
The Netherlands	142	288
Totals	20400	34268

As announced in the 2014 Budget, to prevent EEA migrants claiming benefits they are not entitled to, the Government will increase compliance checks to establish whether EEA migrants meet the entitlement conditions to receive Child Benefit

Under domestic law, in order to claim Child Benefit EEA Migrants must be present in the UK, ordinarily resident and have a right to reside in the UK and their children must live in the UK.

The recent changes to migrants’ access to benefits announced by the Government sends a strong message that the UK benefit system is not open to abuse, as well as deterring those who may seek residence in the UK primarily to claim benefits.

Strengthening compliance checks will help prevent EEA migrants from claiming, and continuing to claim, benefits they are not entitled to. Checks will be applied to both new claims and existing awards.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2014-03-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many migrants from non-EU countries claim benefit payments.

Esther McVey

The information requested is not available in the form requested however the department has published some statistics on working age benefit recipients. This information is known as “Nationality at point of National Insurance number registration of DWP benefit claimants” and is included in the Statistical Bulletin on National Insurance Number Allocations to Adult Overseas Nationals Entering the UK – registrations to March 2013, available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nino-allocations-to-adult-overseas-nationals-entering-the-uk-registrations-to-march-2013

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2014-03-11.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people living in the London Borough of Havering have moved off unemployment benefit as a result of gaining employment in 2013.

Nick Hurd

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

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2014-03-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to penalise those who fail to attend scheduled meetings at jobcentres.

Esther McVey

Where a person is required to attend an interview as part of their obligations as a benefit claimant, and subsequently fails to attend that interview, a sanction will be applied to their benefit unless they can show good reason/cause for their failure.