Tag: Emily Thornberry

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people in receipt of universal credit who were already in work had their entitlement reduced as a result of increasing the number of hours they worked in the most recent month for which figures are available.

Priti Patel

The information you have requested is not currently available. The Department published its strategy for releasing official statistics on Universal Credit (UC) in September 2013. As outlined in the strategy, officials are currently quality assuring data for UC therefore it is not yet possible to give a definitive list of what statistics will be provided in the future. These statistics however will be published in accordance with the relevant protocols in the Code of Practice for official statistics.

The latest official experimental statistics on UC and the Departments release strategy can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/universal-credit-statistics.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people in receipt of universal credit receive help with mortgage costs.

Justin Tomlinson

The information requested is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Universal Credit (UC) does not currently accept claims from owner occupiers. Once this claimant group starts claiming UC we expect that the numbers of any potential owner occupiers making a claim to be small.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many times participants in the Mandatory Intervention Regime under the Help to Work scheme are required to attend appointments at Jobcentre Plus each week.

Priti Patel

The Mandatory Intervention Regime (MIR) under the Help to Work scheme delivers all the employment support measures available through the JCP Offer and, to supplement those, provides more intensive, personalised support through increased work coach interviews. The length, nature and frequency of these additional interviews is determined locally on a case by case basis and may vary over time.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans he has to improve employment support for people who are classed as economically inactive due to long term sickness or disability.

Priti Patel

In the Autumn Statement on Wednesday 25 November, the Chancellor announced a real terms increase in funding to help people with health conditions and disabilities including those in receipt of the support component of Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), return to, and remain in, work.

Government will be launching a new ‘Work and Health Programme’ – restructuring our current provision so that it provides the best possible support for people with health conditions or disabilities, including those classed as economically inactive due to long term sickness or disability.

At least £115m of funding will go to the Work and Health Unit, including a work and health innovation fund to test new ways to join up health and employment to help people with disabilities and health conditions to return to and stay in work.

Government will publish a White Paper in the New Year that will set out further reforms to improve support for people with health conditions and disabilities and further reduce the disability employment gap.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-25.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many full-time equivalent staff were employed within HM Revenue and Customs’ (a) National Minimum Wage Risk Unit, (b) National Minimum Wage compliance teams and (c) Criminal Investigations Directorate in each of the last six years.

Mr David Gauke

The Government is determined that everyone who is entitled to the National Minimum Wage (NMW) receives it. Anyone who feels they have been underpaid NMW should contact the confidential Acas helpline on 0300 123 1100. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) review all complaints that are referred to them. However, some complaints may not lead to the commencement of an investigation. This might be due to incomplete information being provided, or the worker subsequently wishing to withdraw their complaint. Similarly, multiple complaints about the same employer would only be recorded under one investigation.

In 2014/15, 2489 worker complaints and 691 pieces of third party information were referred to HMRC. However, I reiterate that not all complaints will lead to an investigation. In previous years, HMRC did not record statistics by complaints received, but by investigations completed. In 2014/15, HMRC completed 2204 investigations. I refer the honourable member to the answer provided to her on 6 May 2014 at Hansard Column 110W for information on prior years.

Staff across HMRC contribute to enforcing NMW, including people who work in legal advice, debt management, technical support and criminal investigation amongst others, but HMRC does not record the specific numbers of those staff involved beyond this. The budget allocated to HMRC by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) is provided as an overall amount. I therefore refer the honourable member to the answers provided to her at UIN 16853 for budget details & UIN 16938 for information on staffing.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-02.

To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to the Answer of 24 November 2015 to Question 16871, what the budget allocated to the Specialist Fraud Division was in each of the last six years.

Robert Buckland

The budget allocated to the Specialist Fraud Division in each of the last six years was:

2009/10 – £7.3m

2010/11 – £23.4m

2011/12 – £22.1m

2012/13 – £26.8m

2013/14 – £25.6m

2014/15 – £23.6m

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much his Department has spent in total on the Help to Work scheme to date; and what estimate he has made of the cumulative total cost of Help to Work over the duration of the current contracts.

Priti Patel

The Help to Work scheme contains a number of initiatives and programmes, delivered through Jobcentre Plus and Contracted Employment Provision.

It is not possible to identify the costs of Help to Work activities separately from the total expenditure in Jobcentre Plus.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect of the proposed reduction in the maximum length of time for which housing benefit is payable for tenants travelling overseas on claimants required by their employers to work overseas for extended periods; and what exemptions he plans to put in place to protect claimants in such circumstances.

Justin Tomlinson

We are aligning treatment of temporary absences from Great Britain in housing benefit with the current treatment in Universal Credit.

We plan to make a number of easements for people in work, including for members of the armed forces, mariners and continental shelf workers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people, excluding people participating in the Work Programme, who were claiming employment and support allowance and were previously in receipt of incapacity benefit, ended their claim for employment and support allowance after moving into work during the most recent period for which figures are available.

Priti Patel

Detailed information on the reason for leaving Employment and Support Allowance is not available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of patients referred to the Fit for Work service since its launch have since returned to work.

Justin Tomlinson

An evaluation strategy is in place for Fit for Work. As part of this, a formal process evaluation is being undertaken. The formal evaluation will include feedback from employee users of the service, GPs and employers. Return to work will also be covered. Monthly performance group meetings take place between the Department and the providers in both England/Wales and Scotland together with weekly meetings to discuss management information and performance issues.