Tag: Chris Bryant

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Bryant on 2014-06-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of extending entitlement to WaterSure to all claimants of universal credit once universal credit has been fully rolled out.

Dan Rogerson

I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

The WaterSure tariff lowers the bills of low-income, metered customers that have unavoidably high water use. WaterSure is provided by all water companies in England to qualifying customers and caps their water bills at the average for their region. WaterSure customers will continue to benefit from the scheme when their qualifying benefit or tax credit is replaced by Universal Credit. The WaterSure tariff is funded through cross subsidy between water customers; there is no cost to the public purse.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Bryant on 2014-07-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many officials are currently working on the universal credit programme.

Mr Mark Harper

Current resource data shows a full time equivalent of 465 staff currently working on the Universal Credit Programme.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Bryant on 2014-06-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of extending entitlement to (a) free prescriptions, (b) free eye tests and (c) free dental care to all claimants of universal credit once universal credit has been fully rolled out.

Jane Ellison

The cost to the public purse of extending entitlement to free prescriptions, eye tests and dental care to all claimants of Universal Credit once Universal Credit has been fully rolled out will depend on the number of claimants at that time. This number will depend on a range of factors. The Government intends that broadly the same number of individuals will be passported via Universal Credit as are currently passported.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Bryant on 2014-07-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much his Department spent on (a) accommodation, (b) taxis or private cars and (c) alcoholic beverages in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12 and (iii) 2012-13.

Steve Webb

The Department is a geographically-dispersed organisation employing around 90,000 staff across some 870 sites, delivering services directly to around 22 million customers. The table below shows the expenditure on accommodation and taxis for the years in question. The average spend per head on accommodation for 2012-13 was in the region of £70.

The expenditure on taxis includes reimbursement of the cost of actual fares to support our disabled staff travelling to and from their place of work.

Date	(a) Accommodation	(b) Taxi
2010/11	£6,932,231	£1,539,581
2011/12	£5,281,218	£1,201,506
2012/13	£6,571,462	£1,288,034

In the years 2008/09 and 2009/10 the Department’s spend on hotels under the previous administration was £11,264,324 and £11,694,697 respectively. This has almost halved under this administration. Spend on taxis for the year 2009/2010 was £1,526,863.

As the purchase of alcohol is exceptional, there is no separate finance code to identify this spend.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Bryant on 2014-06-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of extending entitlement to Healthy Start vouchers and vitamins to all claimants of universal credit once universal credit has been fully rolled out.

Dr Daniel Poulter

We plan to provide access to Healthy Start for pregnant women, new mothers, and children under four in the lowest earning families receiving Universal Credit. Our intention is to ensure that a broadly similar number, and range, of Universal Credit families will qualify as currently do so through income based benefits and tax credits.

The current annual delivery cost of Healthy Start throughout the United Kingdom (vouchers, vitamins and administration) is approximately £100 million. We estimate that if eligibility were extended to pregnant women, new mothers, and children under four in all families claiming Universal Credit it would increase the total spent annually to around £290 million.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Bryant on 2014-06-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of extending entitlement to (a) legal aid and (b) remission from court costs to all claimants of universal credit once universal credit has been fully rolled out.

Mr Shailesh Vara

The information requested is contained in a letter that I sent on 10 June to the Rt Hon Member for East Ham in response to his earlier Parliamentary Question on the same subject. That letter has now been deposited in the Library of the House. (Deposit Reference: DEP2014-1040)

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Bryant on 2014-06-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of extending entitlement to court fees exemptions to all claimants of universal credit once universal credit has been fully rolled out in Scotland.

David Mundell

The Scottish Government is responsible for defining the entitlement criteria for these passported benefits. They will need to consider the current eligibility criteria and make arrangements to ensure that they can continue to deliver these benefits as Universal Credit is introduced.

There is ongoing engagement between the Scottish Government and the Department for Work and Pensions to ensure that any solution is simple, fair, easy to understand and affordable.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Bryant on 2014-06-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of extending entitlement to repayment of children’s welfare loans to all claimants of universal credit once universal credit has been fully rolled out in Scotland.

David Mundell

The Scottish Government is responsible for defining the entitlement criteria for these passported benefits. They will need to consider the current eligibility criteria and make arrangements to ensure that they can continue to deliver these benefits as Universal Credit is introduced.

There is ongoing engagement between the Scottish Government and the Department for Work and Pensions to ensure that any solution is simple, fair, easy to understand and affordable.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Bryant on 2014-06-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of extending entitlement to education maintenance allowance to all claimants of universal credit once universal credit has been fully rolled out in Scotland.

David Mundell

The Scottish Government is responsible for defining the entitlement criteria for these passported benefits. They will need to consider the current eligibility criteria and make arrangements to ensure that they can continue to deliver these benefits as Universal Credit is introduced.

There is ongoing engagement between the Scottish Government and the Department for Work and Pensions to ensure that any solution is simple, fair, easy to understand and affordable.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Bryant on 2014-06-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of extending entitlement to the energy assistance package, stage 3, to all claimants of universal credit once universal credit has been fully rolled out in Scotland.

David Mundell

The Scottish Government is responsible for defining the entitlement criteria for these passported benefits. They will need to consider the current eligibility criteria and make arrangements to ensure that they can continue to deliver these benefits as Universal Credit is introduced.

There is ongoing engagement between the Scottish Government and the Department for Work and Pensions to ensure that any solution is simple, fair, easy to understand and affordable.