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  • Owen Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Owen Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 22 March 2016 to Question 30765, when his Department plans to publish its White Paper on improving support for disabled people.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Improving support for disabled people and people with health conditions to get into and stay in work is a key priority for Government.

    The Secretary of State has outlined that he is starting a new conversation with disabled people and people with health conditions, their representatives, healthcare professionals and employers. He is listening to all of their ideas and this will help inform our plans.

    These will be set out in due course.

  • Owen Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Owen Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for Pontypridd of 15 April 2016 on assessments for personal independence payments.

    Justin Tomlinson

    I replied to the hon. Member on 21 April 2016.

  • Will Quince – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Will Quince – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Will Quince on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 21 April 2016 to Question 34465, if his Department will take steps to allow web-users to include honours when completing Government online forms.

    Justin Tomlinson

    We only collect information that is relevant for an online service. As information on honours is not needed for a user to complete any of our online services we have no plans to collect this information.

  • Owen Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Owen Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to paragraph 10 of the explanatory memorandum to the Universal Credit (Work Allowance) Amendment Regulations 2015, if he will publish the calculations used to estimate savings arising from the introduction of those regulations.

    Priti Patel

    The savings were estimated using DWP’s and HMRC’s models of the tax and benefit system. Extracting the full details of the calculations carried out within the models would only be possible at disproportionate cost.

  • Marion Fellows – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Marion Fellows – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Marion Fellows on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what mechanisms his Department has put in place for redress and backdated payments to the parent with care in the event that it is found that the non-resident parent (a) provided false information about their income and (b) failed to inform the relevant body of an increase in their income under (i) the Child Support Agency scheme and (ii) the Child Maintenance Service scheme; and what the timescales are for such redress or payments.

    Priti Patel

    All three statutory maintenance schemes allow the Secretary of State to revise any maintenance liability decision found to be incorrect as a result of misrepresentation by either parent. There is no timescale within which the misrepresentation must be discovered, before a revision may be completed.

    Under the 2012 scheme, in the first instance maintenance is assessed using historic income information from HMRC. Annual reviews are carried out using HMRC income data and liabilities are adjusted accordingly. Over the lifetime of a case changes to income should therefore be reflected appropriately.

    Where an individual is assessed on current income, they are obliged to inform the Child Maintenance Service of any increase to their income of 25% or over. If they fail to do so and the Child Maintenance Service subsequently becomes aware of an increase in their income, the Secretary of State may still calculate a new assessment, taking effect at the point the income increased.

    Any arrears that result from such “retrospective” action will nonetheless be due and CMS will take enforcement action if the Paying Parent does not arrange to pay them themselves. The CMS has a comprehensive range of enforcement actions at its disposal, to help ensure that parents fulfil their obligations.

    All maintenance liability decisions carry an underlying right of appeal to an independent Tribunal.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the number of recipients of the state pension living overseas in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Estimates of the number of recipients of the State Pension living overseas in each of the last 10 years are published on the DWP Tabulation Tool. The numbers from November 2012 can be seen in the column ‘Claimants living abroad’, and prior to this in the column ‘Unknown’ of this table:

    http://tabulation-tool.dwp.gov.uk/100pc/sp/ccdate/ccgor/a_carate_r_ccdate_c_ccgor.html

    “

  • Owen Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Owen Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many new staff have been appointed to his Department since 21 March 2016.

    Justin Tomlinson

    A total of 337 new employees were appointed to the Department for Work and Pensions during the period 21 March 2016 to 25 April 2016.

  • Owen Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Owen Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 4 February 2016 to Question 25156, if he will publish the list of circumstances that would trigger natural migration from tax credits to universal credit.

    Priti Patel

    The events that can trigger a change of circumstances depend on many factors. They are similar to the circumstances that would trigger a new claim to existing benefits or tax credits.

  • Owen Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Owen Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 15 March 2016 to Question 30624 and with reference to the First-Tier Tribunal General Regulatory Chamber Information Rights decision of 11 March 2016, if his Department will publish the Risk Register prior to the universal credit re-set in 2013.

    Priti Patel

    Following the first tier tribunal decision that the Universal Credit risk register for April 2012 should be released, the document was shared with the requestor.

    The government’s view remains that is not in the public interest to publish risk registers because it will compromise the ability to conduct a full and frank assessment of risks and therefore increase the risk to successful delivery of major programmes.

  • David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department has taken to encourage transport operators to provide services that are accessible to disabled people.

    Andrew Jones

    The Department for Transport is committed to building transport networks which work for everyone, ensuring that disabled people have the same access to transport services as non-disabled members of society

    Compliance with bus accessibility Regulations was 89% in England in 2015; while 60% of rail vehicles, up from 46% in 2013, were built or fully refurbished to modern access standards.

    By the end of this year Access for All will have completed more than 150 step-free routes at rail stations against a target of 125. More than 1,200 stations have received smaller scale improvements. To build on this success £160m has been allocated to another 68 stations to be delivered by 2019.

    We plan to require that taxi and private hire vehicle drivers provide assistance to wheelchair users and refrain from charging extra by commencing sections 165 and 167 of the Equality Act 2010 by the end of the year.

    The Department works closely with its statutory advisors on the needs of disabled people, the Disabled Persons’ Transport Advisory Committee, such as on a project to develop best practice guidance on the delivery of disability awareness training for bus and coach drivers.