Tag: Emily Thornberry

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what criteria his Department has set for referral to (a) Community Work Placements and (b) Daily Work Search Review once a claimant has joined the Help to Work scheme.

Priti Patel

Under Help to Work Jobcentre Plus Work Coaches have the flexibility to decide which of the three options that are part of the programme, Mandatory Intervention Regime, Community Work Placements or Daily Work Search Reviews, would best suit each individual jobseeker. They base their decisions on an exit report from their Work Programme provider and discussions with the jobseeker about the particular barriers still stopping them from getting work.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-18.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much funding has been provided to HM Revenue and Customs to enforce compliance with minimum wage legislation in each of the last 10 years.

Mr David Gauke

The Government is committed to increasing compliance with minimum wage legislation and effective enforcement of it. Everyone who is entitled to the minimum wage should receive it. Employers who pay workers less than the minimum wage not only have to pay back arrears of wages at current minimum wage rates but also face financial penalties of up to £20,000 per underpaid worker.

The Government has increased annual funding of National Minimum Wage enforcement by over 60% since 2010, meaning a £13.2m budget in 2015/16.

This has enabled a significant expansion of resources dedicated to enforcing the minimum wage; there are currently 237 staff (224.05 full-time equivalent) in HM Revenue and Customs’ National Minimum Wage teams, up from 171 at the start of 2014/15.

Previous years’ detail is provided in the table below:

Year	Funding allocated by BIS (or predecessor departments) (£m)	Full-time equivalent staff
2006/07	5.8	Not available
2007/08	6.8	Not available
2008/09	7.6	139.16
2009/10	8.3	140.18
2010/11	8.1	142.18
2011/12	8.3	138.88
2012/13	8.3	142.37
2013/14	8.3	157.85
2014/15	9.2*	183.47

*Increased in-year

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of new claims for (a) jobseeker’s allowance and (b) employment and support allowance made in the most recent month for which figures are available were made by a person who had been in receipt of the same benefit at any point during the proceeding 12 months.

Priti Patel

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

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department has taken since the Jobseeker’s Allowance (Homeless Claimants) Amendment Regulations 2014 came into force to increase awareness of the easement of conditionality rules among Jobcentre Plus staff.

Priti Patel

All Jobcentre Plus staff have access to comprehensive and clear procedures, instructions and learning which equips them to advise customers appropriately. These products were updated to reflect the implementation of the conditionality easement for homeless claimants.

In addition, the homeless easement was communicated separately through internal staff memos and on the Department’s internal Intranet site. More recently, an internal Homelessness ‘Ask the Expert’ telephone conference was hosted for managers and staff. The event was aimed at improving services to homeless customers and covered the conditionality easement introduced in 2014.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of homes for (a) social and (b) affordable rent which are let at rents at or below the shared accommodation rate of the local housing allowance in each region in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Justin Tomlinson

The information requested can only be provided at a disproportion cost.

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 new claims for (a) jobseeker’s allowance and (b) employment and support allowance were made by (i) UK nationals and (ii) EU nationals from outside the UK in each of the last five years.

Priti Patel

The information requested is not available.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much funding has been allocated to the Fit for Work service for the current financial year; and whether the Government plans to increase that amount.

Justin Tomlinson

Fit for Work is now fully rolled out across Great Britain. All employers and GPs are able to refer employees who are on sick leave for four weeks or more, to get a work-related health assessment and help them return to work sooner.

The Department does not routinely publish funding allocations. However, Fit for Work has been provided with sufficient funding to meet its demands for 2015/16, this financial year. Outturn spending will be detailed in DWP’s published Annual Report and Accounts. Departmental funding for future years has been settled by HMT.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans he has to evaluate the Universal Support Delivered Locally programme on completion of the pilot study.

Priti Patel

The assessment of the Universal Support trials is currently underway. The final evaluation will be published in late Spring 2016 and this will include the numbers of those who participated in the trials and the evaluation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much income his Department has received from the sale of surplus equipment in each of the last six years.

Mr Philip Dunne

Ministry of Defence equipment disposal receipts for the last six full financial years are provided in the table below:

Financial Year	Net Receipts £ million
2009-10	28.6
2010-11	46.2
2011-12	229.5
2012-13	39.8
2013-14	44.9
2014-15	32.0

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-02-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2016 to Question 24141, how many (a) unauthorised entries to military bases and (b) thefts or losses of classified material which were reported in 2015 led to further action after an initial security risk assessment.

Mark Lancaster

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

However all security incidents are passed for assessment and investigation with further action taken as appropriate. This may include investigation by Military Police, Ministry of Defence Police or local constabulary where necessary.