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  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect on the UK’s influence in the world of the UK leaving the EU.

    Mr Philip Hammond

    The Government believes that the UK will be stronger, safer and better off remaining in a reformed EU. That way, the UK can play a leading role in one of the world’s largest organisations. Membership of the EU, like our membership of NATO and the UN, amplifies, not diminishes, the UK’s influence in the world.

  • Nick Thomas-Symonds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Nick Thomas-Symonds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Thomas-Symonds on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many safety inspections the Health and Safety Executive carried out in the last year for which figures are available; and what estimate he has made of the number of such inspections the Executive will be able to make with the planned budget for 2019-20.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The Health and Safety Executive undertook approximately 18,000 targeted inspections in 2015/16, and will seek to maintain current levels of its core regulatory activities, including inspection, each year.

  • Ronnie Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Ronnie Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ronnie Campbell on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in receipt of (a) disability living allowance and (b) personal independence payments have (i) lost or (ii) gained the higher rate mobility allowance since 2014.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The information requested could only be provided at a disproportionate cost.

  • Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, on how many occasions has the personal independence payment (PIP) telephone has been unobtainable to the public in 2016; and how many people calling to enquire about PIP have been affected by those incidents.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The total number of calls made to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) Claims and Enquiry lines that were unable to access our services due to heavy demand at peak periods including customers receiving a busy or engaged tone are set out below, this covers the period 1 January to 30 April 2016:

    Calls Received

    Calls not Connected

    % Not connected

    PIP Claims

    411,147

    168

    0.04%

    PIP Enquiries

    1,113,803

    18,949

    1.70%

    The department employs the following contingency arrangements to reduce the level of unanswered calls::

    • assigning staff that are undertaking clerical work to take calls for busy periods,
    • opening extra hours and ask for staff to volunteer to take additional calls
    • postponing non-priority offline time (L+D, team meetings etc.) to meet the demands of the customers
    • increasing the amount of open lines before a call is blocked by the network.
  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Answer of 13 April 2016 to Question 32812, whether the figures provided for sums to be spent annually and in total are additional to each other; and if he will make a statement.

    Priti Patel

    The 2015 Spending Review agreed funding rising to £130m per year for the Work and Health Programme, focussing support for people with a disability or health condition and the long term unemployed (over 24 months). This figure is separate and in addition to the Prime Minister’s announced plans to provide further support and funding for people with mental health issues to retain or regain employment.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Answer of 8 December 2015 to Question 17583, on child maintenance, for what reason there is a difference between the estimated costs of (a) caseworker activity to review and update Child Support Agency (CSA) arrears and (b) establishing arrears on the CMS system set out in paragraph 93 of the Department’s final impact assessment on CSA case closure, dated 10 April 2013, and those supplied in that Answer.

    Priti Patel

    The estimates given in the answer to question 17583 differ from the figures in the Impact Assessment (£123m) because:

    i. The actual caseload has been slightly smaller than was forecast at the time of the Impact Assessment and

    ii. There has been improved analysis of the effort required to close cases, informed by the actual experience of closing cases.

  • David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the progress that has been made in the rollout of universal credit in Northampton.

    Priti Patel

    Universal Credit live service rolled out to Northampton Jobcentre Plus on 23 November 2015. Official Universal Credit statistics can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/universal-credit-statistics.

    Every jobcentre across the country is now delivering Universal Credit for single people. The full Universal Credit service begins its national expansion from May 2016.

    “

  • Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many universal credit claimants there were in Blackpool South constituency in (a) June 2015, (b) December 2015 and (c) the latest month for which figures are available.

    Priti Patel

    The information you have requested is available in the official Universal Credit statistics: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/universal-credit-statistics.

    “

  • Ian Blackford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Ian Blackford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Blackford on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will (a) review and (b) slow down the rate of increase in pensionable age for women.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The State Pension age changes, which were made to put pensions on a more financially sustainable footing given increases in life expectancy, were fully debated and voted on when the legislation was before Parliament.

    During the Pensions Act 2011 a concession, worth £1.1 billion, was introduced to limit the impact of the rising State Pension age on those women most affected. These transitional arrangements capped the maximum delay at 18 months rather than two years, relative to the previous timetable.

    Unwinding any of these changes means asking young people to assume more of the cost, and after they’ve already borne their fair share of the tough decisions made last Parliament to bring Government spending under control.

    Therefore, the Secretary of State is clear that there are no plans to bring forward further concessions or changes.

  • Ian Blackford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Ian Blackford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Blackford on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what account his Department is taking of future levels of healthy life expectancy in making decisions on future levels of pension age.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The Pensions Act 2014 provides a statutory framework, which commits future governments to regular and structured review of the State Pension age at least once every six years. The first review, due to report by May 2017 will take into account up to date life expectancy data and the findings of the independently led review.