Tag: Frank Field

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many pieces of recording equipment are available in each region of the UK for the purposes of recording work capability assessments.

Priti Patel

Centre for Health and Disability Assessments offer audio recordings to customers who request them in advance, or on the day, and recording machines are now available at every assessment centre. For every 10,000 Work Capability Assessments completed the Department receives an average of 66 requests for an audio recorded assessment.

There are currently 24 audio-recording machines in Scotland and the North East; 43 in North and Central England; 39 in Wales and the West, and; 22 in London and South England, totalling 128 for Great Britain.

(Source: Centre for Health Disability Assessments)

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

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people working for his 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.

Ben Gummer

Cabinet Office has no one paid less than the living wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation.

The Crown Commercial Service, which is an agency of the Cabinet Office, has seven staff who are paid less than the national living wage and one person paid less than the London living wage but none are on zero-hours contracts. One agency staff member working in the Cabinet Office is paid less than the national living wage but none are on zero-hours contracts.

In line with the practice of previous Administrations we do not require companies contracted to the Department to pay the living wage to the staff they employ. There are currently 63 individuals working in the Cabinet Office for companies contracted to the Department that are paid less than the Living Wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation, and 14 are on zero hours contracts.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people working for his 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.

Caroline Nokes

The Government introduced the National Living Wage on 1 April 2016. This will put over £900 more a year in the pockets of full-time workers compared to the current National Minimum Wage.

The Department ensures that all direct employees are paid at least the mandatory National Living Wage set by the Government, regardless of age. Similarly all agency staff and those on outsourced contracts are paid at least this rate. The Department reviews pay annually, setting pay at rates that will attract and motivate appropriate numbers and sufficient talent to fulfil its duties to some 22 million customers.

None of our employees nor those working for our contractors are on zero hours contracts.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-10-07.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, by when his Department plans to report its funding on a proposed breathing space mechanism for problem debt.

Simon Kirby

The Government is exploring whether some form of “breathing space” would be a useful and viable addition to the range of formal and informal debt solutions available to consumers and creditors. Officials in HM Treasury and the Insolvency Service have been asked to discuss this issue with stakeholders and the Government will report back this autumn.

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

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to lines 41 and 42 of Table 2.1 of the Summer Budget 2015 Red Book (HC 264), page 73, what the savings to the public purse would be if those measures were to be applied only to households that are not currently in receipt of tax credits or universal credit.

Damian Hinds

This Government is committed to moving from a high welfare, high tax, low wage economy to a lower welfare, lower tax, higher wage society. As the Chancellor made clear on [Monday / 26 October], the Government will set out at Autumn Statement how we plan to achieve the same goal of reforming tax credits, saving the money we need to save to secure our economy, while at the same time helping in the transition.

The Summer Budget offered a new deal for working people. A new National Living Wage for workers aged 25 and above, initially set at £7.20 per hour from April 2016, will directly benefit 2.7 million low wage workers, and up to 6 million could see a pay rise as a result of a ripple effect up the earnings distribution. The new National Living Wage will boost pay for those currently earning the National Minimum Wage by £4,800 a year by 2020 when the National Living Wage is expected to rise to over £9 per hour.

To help working families keep more of what they earn, the personal allowance will increase to £11,000 in 2016-17 and £11,200 in 2017-18. The government has committed to increase the personal allowance to £12,500 by 2020 which will mean that a typical basic rate taxpayer will see their income tax cut by £1,205 a year compared to 2010.

The government set out its assessment of the impacts of the Summer Budget policies in the Welfare Reform and Work Bill on 20th July 2015.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2015-11-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she intends to lay before Parliament her report on the steps she will take in relation to the powers conferred by section 48 of the Modern Slavery Act on independent child trafficking advocates.

Karen Bradley

Section 48(7) of the Modern Slavery Act requires the Government to lay before Parliament a report setting out the steps it proposes to take in relation to independent child trafficking advocates within nine months of Royal Assent of the Modern Slavery Act. The Government will publish this report by 16 December, whilst Parliament is sitting.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2015-11-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he plans to update the Pension Service leaflet entitled, A detailed guide to State Pensions to include the introduction of the new State Pension from 6 April 2016.

Justin Tomlinson

“A detailed guide to State Pensions” (publication NP46) was a technical guide aimed primarily at third party advisers and stakeholders, not general members of the public. This guide has not been available since 2010.

We continue to work with stakeholders to supply detailed information on the new State Pension before April 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-01-06.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the (a) average and (b) contractually-specified maximum length of time is that a claimant has to wait for their complaint to be resolved by Concentrix.

Mr David Gauke

Concentrix are obliged under their contract with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to respond to complaints which relate to the quality of their handling of compliance interventions, as distinct from complaints on the substance of these investigations which are dealt with by HMRC.

Their contract requires them to respond 80% of these complaints within 15 working days; and to reply to 100% of complaints within 40 working days. So far during 2015/16, Concentrix have received eight complaints. They replied to six of these (75%) within 15 days and seven (87.5%) within 40 days.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of households in temporary accommodation which will be affected by the introduction of the lower benefit cap; and if he will estimate the average proportion of the income of such households that will be subject to that cap.

Justin Tomlinson

The Government set out its assessment of the impacts of the policies in the Welfare Reform and Work Bill on 20th July. A link to the impact assessment is included.

http://www.parliament.uk/documents/impact-assessments/IA15-006.pdf

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-02-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people applying for personal independence payments have passed their medical in each of the most recent 24 months for which data is available.

Justin Tomlinson

The assessment for Personal Independence Payment considers the impact of conditions and impairments on individuals’ everyday lives. The assessment is not a medical one but is focussed on the claimant’s functional ability.

DWP decision-makers review the assessment report and the Claimant Questionnaire along with any other available evidence before making a decision about benefit entitlement.

Data on Personal Independence Payment registrations, clearances and award rates are available on Gov.UK and were most recently updated on 16 December: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/personal-independence-payment-statistics.

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