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  • Kerry McCarthy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Kerry McCarthy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2014-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance he has issued to jobcentres on how claimant commitments should take into account the caring responsibilities of single parents.

    Esther McVey

    All Advisers have access to comprehensive and clear procedures, guidance and extensive learning which equips them to agree a Claimant Commitment, taking account of each claimant’s individual circumstances, including the caring responsibilities of single parents.

    As with other claimants, lone parents are still expected to be Available and Actively Seeking Employment. However, there are restrictions that can be applied to the requirements of this group, in order to take into account their caring responsibilities.

  • Rachel Reeves – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Rachel Reeves – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachel Reeves on 2014-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the effect on the number of people subject to improved incentives to work of the introduction of universal credit.

    Esther McVey

    Universal Credit will encourage claimants to move into employment by allowing individuals to keep more of their income as they move into work and by introducing a smoother and more transparent reduction of benefits.

    Once Universal Credit is fully rolled out, the number of households losing more than 70% of their earnings when starting work of ten hours per week will fall by 800,000.

    Overall it is estimated that up to 300,000 individuals will move into work as a result of Universal Credit, through improved financial incentives, increased simplicity of the system and increased conditionality.

    These estimates are consistent with the policy assumptions underpinning the Universal Credit costings published by the Office for Budget Responsibility.

  • Graeme Morrice – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Graeme Morrice – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graeme Morrice on 2014-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many meetings (a) officials and (b) Ministers in his Department have had with (i) disability groups and charities and (ii) providers of the Work Capability Assessment in each of the last five years.

    Mike Penning

    Ministers and officials meet regularly with a range of stakeholders about the Work Capability Assessment, including our health assessment providers, disability representative groups and charities.

    The current contractual agreement between DWP and Atos Healthcare contains a number of key performance indicators. DWP monitors and discusses performance with Atos on a weekly basis.

  • Graeme Morrice – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Graeme Morrice – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graeme Morrice on 2014-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many days were lost due to illness among Jobcentre Plus staff in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland, (c) West Lothian local authority area and (d) Livingston constituency in each of the last five years.

    Mike Penning

    DWP has robust and effective measures in place for managing sickness absence and has succeeded in cutting sickness absence from an annual average of 11.1 days per employee in 2007 to 6.9 days per employee currently. To place this in context the Civil Service average is 7.6 days.

    Jobcentre Plus was re-structured and absorbed into a revised Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Operations structure in October 2011. Since that point, it has no longer existed as a separate organisation. This means the information beyond September 2011 is not available.

    In accordance with cross government arrangements; the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) reports sick leave expressed as average working days lost (AWDL) per employee, over a rolling 12 month period

    The following table shows Jobcentre Plus AWDL for 2009/10 and 2010/11. Information was not available for the period April to September 2011 because this was less than a 12 month period.

    2009/10

    2010/11

    UK

    8.8

    8.6

    Scotland

    8.2

    7.3

    West Lothian LA Area

    9.6

    7.4

    Livingston Constituency*

    10.9

    6.1

    *Information by Parliamentary Constituency is not held directly but information is available by office, therefore we have created a combined figure for the two offices in the Constituency – Livingstone Jobcentre and Broxburn Jobcentre.

    To put these reductions into context, if Average Working Days Lost in DWP was still at the level it was in 2007, the Department would be paying over £27.5m more in sick pay than it is at present.

  • Graeme Morrice – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Graeme Morrice – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graeme Morrice on 2014-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what processes his Department has in place to monitor the welfare of personal independence payment applicants awaiting a decision on their claim.

    Mike Penning

    The Department does not routinely monitor the welfare of people applying for benefits.

  • Graeme Morrice – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Graeme Morrice – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graeme Morrice on 2014-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many formal client complaints were brought against Jobcentre Plus staff in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland, (c) West Lothian local authority area and (d) Livingston constituency in each of the last five years.

    Esther McVey

    The information requested is not available prior to July 2010, however data is available as follows:

    July 2010 – March 2011

    April 2011 – March 2012

    April 2012 – March 2013

    April 2013 – March 2014

    Scotland

    815

    1,070

    983

    773

    National (England, Scotland & Wales)

    6,180

    8,979

    16,864

    15,481

    DWP completed the incremental roll-out of a new complaints process in December 2012 which encouraged the recording of complaints. The data provided spans both processes.

    As complaints are not recorded by local authority area or constituency, this level of data isn’t available.

  • Graeme Morrice – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Graeme Morrice – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graeme Morrice on 2014-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has any plans to end the employee trade union membership dues check-off system.

    Mike Penning

    These arrangements are kept under review.

  • Graeme Morrice – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    Graeme Morrice – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graeme Morrice on 2014-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, whether his Department has any plans to end the employee trade union membership dues check-off system.

    Stephen Crabb

    The Wales Office is not an employer in its own right. As the Ministry of Justice is the main employer of staff at the Wales Office, I refer the hon Member to the answer given by my hon Friend, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice on 8 April 2014, Official Report, Column 172W.

  • Richard Burden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2014-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer to the hon. Member for Newport West of 9 April 2014, Official Report, column 231W, on cycling: Greater London, how many (a) men and (b) women cyclists’ in London suffered (i) fatal and (ii) serious injuries in each of the last 10 years.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The numbers of reported a) fatal and b) seriously injured male and female cyclist casualties in Greater London for each of the last 10 years are shown in the table below.

    Reported fatal and seriously injured cyclists by gender, Greater London 2003-2012

    Number of Casualties
    Fatal Serious Injuries
    1)Male 2)Female Total 1)Male 2)Female Total
    2003 12 7 19 334 85 419
    2004 6 2 8 269 63 332
    2005 18 3 21 283 68 351
    2006 11 8 19 282 91 373
    2007 11 4 15 353 93 446
    2008 11 4 15 338

    92

    		 430
    2009 3 10 13 337 83 420
    2010 6 4 10 359 99 458
    2011 10 6 16 437 118 555
    2012 13 1 14 527 132 659

    Data for 2013 will be available in June 2014.

    “

  • Hugh Bayley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Hugh Bayley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hugh Bayley on 2014-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the Streets Ahead campaign by the charity Guide Dogs; what steps he is taking to reduce parking on pavements; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    In London, there is in general a ban on parking on the footway. Outside London, local authorities have wide-ranging powers to make Traffic Regulation Orders to prohibit pavement parking on designated lengths of highway or over a wide area. The former Transport Minister, the Hon Member for Lewes, Norman Baker, wrote to local authorities in February 2011 urging them to take up these powers. Local authorities with Civil Parking Enforcement (CPE) powers are responsible for parking enforcement, including that relating to the footway.

    In addition, the Department has developed and authorised new traffic signs for local authorities to use where pavement parking is prohibited.

    With regard to the number of parking tickets issued, individual local authorities are required to keep records of all penalty charge notices issued. The Department for Transport does not record this information centrally.