Tag: Frank Field

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-03-24.

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 processed within (i) 10 days and (ii) 16 days in the most recent 12 months for which data is available.

Priti Patel

The information requested is shown in the table below.

	Mar 2015	Apr 2015	May 2015	Jun 2015	Jul 2015	Aug 2015	Sep 2015	Oct 2015	Nov 2015	Dec 2015	Jan 2016	Feb 2016
ESA claims processed in 16 days	75,437	61,547	57,693	64,304	66,640	57,921	67,286	68,608	66,937	59,671	65,356	65,799
ESA % claims processed in 16 days	94.3%	94.0%	93.6%	94.2%	94.2%	94.2%	94.0%	93.5%	94.0%	93.0%	94.0%	93.8%
ESA claims processed in 10 days	71,039	57,797	54,564	60,980	63,350	54,751	63,448	64,874	63,172	56,129	62,445	61,682
ESA % claims processed in 10 days	88.8%	88.3%	88.5%	89.3%	89.6%	89.1%	88.6%	88.5%	88.7%	87.5%	89.8%	87.9%
JSA claims processed in 16 days	162,277	145,388	128,763	140,397	152,020	125,789	140,787	140,113	129,424	106,747	135,544	119,028
JSA % claims processed in 16 days	96.9%	97.1%	97.7%	97.9%	97.7%	97.7%	97.6%	96.9%	97.6%	97.8%	98.0%	95.5%
JSA claims processed in 10 days	152,973	137,019	122,136	132,386	142,162	118,331	130,165	130,794	122,034	100,038	125,329	102,447
JSA % claims processed in 10 days	91.4%	91.5%	92.6%	92.3%	91.4%	91.9%	90.2%	90.5%	92.1%	91.7%	90.6%	82.2%

Source

Management Information System Programme (MISP). MISP is a Departmental performance management, data capture and reporting tool.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-05-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of introducing cell-free DNA testing on the NHS on the number of women choosing to terminate their pregnancies.

Jane Ellison

There is a long established Fetal Anomaly Screening Programme (NHS FASP) that prospective parents can choose whether to participate in.

The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) has recommended that non-invasive prenatal testing for Down’s syndrome should be introduced as an additional test into the NHS FASP as part of an evaluation. Ministers are currently considering this important recommendation from the UK NSC which would give pregnant women and their partners more accurate information and should reduce the number of women having to undergo unnecessary invasive testing which carries a risk of miscarriage.

The UK NSC recommendation does not change the offer to prospective parents of participating in the programme, nor the options and choices available when testing identifies a fetus with Down’s, Edwards’ or Patau’s syndrome.

Existing guidance from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists already makes it clear that women and their partners should receive appropriate information and support from a properly trained multidisciplinary team, who must adopt a supportive and non-judgemental approach regardless of whether the decision is to terminate or continue the pregnancy. This should include referral to other professional experts (including palliative care) and referral for counselling when this can help, as part of a co-ordinated package of care.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-07-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many people working for her Department or its executive agencies on a (a) directly employed, (b) agency or (c) outsourced basis are paid less than the living wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation; and how many of those people are employed on zero-hours contracts.

Matt Hancock

All employees are by law required to be paid the National Living Wage. No directly employed or agency staff are employed on zero hour contacts.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the (a) specific functions and (b) scope of the recently established International Modern Slavery Fund will be.

Sarah Newton

The Prime Minister has announced £33.5 million of Official Development Assistance (ODA) funding over five years. The fund be will be used to prevent slavery in ODA eligible countries and bring perpetratorsto justice; helping communities to fight modern slavery. We have already announced that:

• The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association UK has been funded to work with parliaments across the Commonwealth to support them in considering legislation similar to the UK’s world-leading Modern Slavery Act 2015.

• £2.4 million has been allocated to the £3 million Child Trafficking Protection Fund.

Some funding will be used to support innovative programmes to reduce the prevalence of modern slavery and improve the evidence base on what works. A call for proposals on the innovation fund will be issued later this year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-10-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the effect of bringing into force the costs sanctions under section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013 on individual press titles that have joined the Independent Press Standards Organisation.

Matt Hancock

The Secretary of State and I are currently considering s.40 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013 and we are meeting interested parties as part of these considerations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2015-10-27.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many existing tax credit claimants have been in continuous receipt of tax credits for (a) one, (b) two, (c) three and (d) four years or more.

Damian Hinds

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

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2015-11-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he expects the business case for universal credit to be signed off in full.

Priti Patel

The 2^nd Permanent Secretary to the Treasury explained to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on the 10 December 2014 (see link below), the process for Business Case approvals within Government. The first stage of this process, the Strategic Outline Business Case, was agreed in September 2014. The next step, the Outline Business Case, has been agreed at official level and is now with Treasury Ministers for approval. The Full Business Case will follow for approval by the end of 2017. This is in line with the process within Government and a Programme of the scale and complexity of Universal Credit.

http://data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/public-accounts-committee/universal-credit-progress-update/oral/16340.html

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2015-11-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to publish the report on overseas domestic worker visas by James Ewins before 17 December 2015.

James Brokenshire

Mr Ewins’s report has been submitted to the Home Office and will be published shortly.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-01-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure that benefit claimants who are sanctioned receive a written notification of the sanction before their benefit payment is withdrawn.

Priti Patel

We recently reintroduced automated sanction notifications (from Monday 23^rd November 2015) to ensure that all claimants who are sanctioned receive a written notification of the sanction.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-01-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether universal credit claimants working 35 hours per week and being paid at the level of the national minimum wage will be entitled to request support from his Department’s in-work progression pilot.

Priti Patel

Subject to certain exclusions (including people who are unable to work or earn more due to caring or because of health conditions or disabilities; who are recent victims of domestic violence; who provide medical evidence of unfitness for work pending a work capability assessment; prisoners; claimants absent from GB for medical treatment; claimants who are recently bereaved; and claimants undergoing treatment for drug or alcohol addiction), claimants would be eligible for selection into the In-work Progression Randomised Control Trial if they have monthly employed earnings above the Administrative Earnings Threshold (£338 per month for a single person or £541 per month for a couple in 2015/16); and have earnings below the Conditionality Earnings Threshold, which is individually set but up to a maximum of the equivalent of 35 hours work at the national minimum wage.

In order to maintain the integrity of the randomised control trial, individuals who are ineligible for selection are not able to participate in the trial.