Tag: Chris Bryant

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

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

Elizabeth Truss

Government-funded early education for three- and four-year-olds is already a universal entitlement, so there would be no cost of extending the entitlement. Universal Credit will be fully rolled out in the next Parliament, and spending decisions for that period have not been taken. This means it is, therefore not possible to estimate the potential cost on early learning for two-year-olds.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of extending entitlement to funeral payments to all claimants of universal credit once universal credit has been fully rolled out.

Steve Webb

The additional cost of extending entitlement to Funeral Payments to all Universal Credit claimants who satisfy all the relevant criteria once Universal Credit is fully rolled out would be around £1.5 million per annum.

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 the Warm Home Discount to all claimants of universal credit once universal credit has been fully rolled out.

Gregory Barker

The Warm Home Discount is funded by energy suppliers, rather than Government, with scheme spending controlled through the levy control framework. We have committed to a Warm Home Discount spending target of £320 million in 2015/16. We will consult shortly on scheme rules for that year, including the eligibility criteria and the value of the rebate (which is set at £140 in 2014/15). We expect to see the scheme continue to support more than 2m households per year.

The introduction of Universal Credit does not in itself imply any significant changes to the operation of the Warm Home Discount. We estimate that 8 million people will be in receipt of Universal Credit once it has been fully rolled out to all benefit claimants. Any policy decision taken to extend entitlement to Warm Home Discount to all Universal Credit recipients would need to be accompanied by a decision on the value of the rebate. Overall scheme costs would, broadly speaking, be the number of eligible households multiplied by the value of the rebate.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much his Department spent on legal fees in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12, (c) 2012-13 and (d) 2013-14.

Steve Webb

The figures below detail the Department’s spend on external legal costs incurred for the financial years 2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-2014. These figures include all invoices for fees authorised by the Department’s internal Legal Services, including but not limited to the case management services provided by the Treasury Solicitor’s Department, external legal representation and external training and professional development of the Department’s Legal Service. The figures represent actual cost to the Department and therefore only include VAT to the extent such VAT is irrecoverable. The difference in the figures between 2011/2012 and later years is largely as a result of DWP prosecutions work being transferred to the Crown Prosecution Service in April 2012.

2010/11 – £13.59m

2011/12 – £14.45m

2012/13 – £9.38m

2013/14 – £7.718m

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.