Tag: Debbie Abrahams

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people flowed off IB/SDA with a work capability assessment decision of fit for work since December 2011; and how many such people’s death was at the same time defined in Mortality Statistics: Employment and support allowance, incapacity benefit or severe disability allowance, published in August 2015.

Priti Patel

The information as requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2016-01-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many recipients in the (a) work related activity group and (b) support group were also in receipt of the severe disability premium in (i) 2013-14, (ii) 2014-15 and (iii) 2015-16 to date.

Priti Patel

The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2016-02-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to ensure that people who have been convicted of a child sex offence cannot serve as a local authority or parish councillor.

Mr Marcus Jones

During the passage of the then Cities and Devolution Bill we undertook to review the legislation on the disqualification of local authority members and to consult on proposals for change to bring the legislative rules into line with modern sentencing guidelines. Our intention is to launch the consultation as soon as practicable this year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many care leavers as identified through the self-identified marker used by his Department between the ages of 18 and 25 had their (a) jobseeker’s allowance and (b) employment and support allowance sanctioned in 2013-14 and 2014-15.

Priti Patel

The information requested in respect of care leavers is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when she plans to respond to the correspondence from the hon. Member for Oldham East and Saddleworth on 4 August 2015, and followed up on 11 December 2015, on behalf of a constituent, with regard to Government support for small-scale hydro power.

Amber Rudd

Unfortunately officials in the Department of Energy and Climate Change were unable to locate the original correspondence from the hon. Member for Oldham East and Saddleworth’s constituent. I can confirm that following an electronic copy being sent from your office on 12 April 2016, I have now responded on 13 April 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2016-06-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discretion is available to local authorities to grant blue badges to disabled people who are in receipt of the enhanced mobility rate of personal independence payment other than through the moving around criteria; and what steps he has taken to monitor local authorities in their exercise of that discretion.

Andrew Jones

It is set out in the Disabled Persons (Badges for Motor Vehicles) (England) Regulations 2000 (as amended), that to qualify for a badge via a Personal Independence Payment (PIP) award the applicant must score at least 8 points in the “moving around” activity of the mobility component. There is no discretion for local authorities to issue badges for other PIP awards.

However, where a person fails to qualify for a badge through PIP, they may still apply to their local authority for a badge under the other eligibility criteria; these include any permanent and substantial disabilities (including non-physical disabilities) which cause very considerable difficulty in walking.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2016-07-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many employers have been advised that their pay cycles might affect universal credit payments; how many employers have altered their pay cycles as a result of that advice; and how many employees have been affected by such alterations.

Damian Hinds

Throughout the life of Universal Credit, officials and Ministers have consulted and liaised with employers about Universal Credit and its interaction with labour market and employers’ processes.

We are currently implementing a test and learn approach to understand the interaction of Universal Credit and employer pay cycles and its effect on awards. This work will include discussions with employers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2015-11-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with Ofcom on introducing requirements on communications providers to improve access to relay video services since Ofcom’s review of relay services on 2011-12.

Mr Edward Vaizey

DCMS has had several discussions with Ofcom to promote the provision of video relay services in the UK. In addition we have hosted meetings of the eAccessibility ForumVideo Relay Services Providers Working sub-group and have written to the FTSE 100 companies to challenge them to introduce the service.

We welcome the increasing number of companies offering video relay services. Public facing Government departments will continue to work with interested parties to ensure this positive progress continues.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people who were at any time included in the universal credit in-work conditionality pilot are no longer receiving any element of that credit.

Priti Patel

National roll-out of the In-Work Progression Randomised Control Trial commenced in December 2015 and is likely to be completed in summer 2016. We are unable to provide the information requested at this early stage.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2016-02-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the implications for his policies are of the effect of the Localism Act 2011 on the discretion of parish councils and local authorities in disqualifying councillors convicted of child sex offences whose punishment is lower than the three month suspended or custodial sentence threshold for disqualification.

Mr Marcus Jones

Further to my answer to the hon Member on 29 February (PQ28306), our review of the legislation on the disqualification of local authority members, legislation in the Local Government Act 1972, will consider whether the provisions of the Localism Act 2011 have any implications for any new legislative rules on disqualification.