Tag: Frank Field

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2014-06-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many personal independence payments applications made by people not suffering with a terminal illness were made in each of the three months to June 2014.

Mike Penning

The available data on the number of claims and decisions made up to 28 March 2014 has been published and is available from: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/317425/pip-statistical-release-june-2014.pdf. Entitlement data to PIP up to 28 February 2014 are available using the Stat-Xplore tool: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk. Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at: https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Stat-Xplore_User_Guide.htm

.

These statistics and data will be updated in due course.

“

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2014-05-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many universal credit budgeting advances were made between April 2013 and April 2014.

Esther McVey

Budgeting support is available at the start of a Universal Credit claim. The requested information is not currently available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to help blind and partially sighted passengers travel on buses.

Stephen Hammond

The Department for Transport is committed to ensuring that all disabled people have the same access to transport services and opportunities to travel as other members of society. The Public Service Vehicles Accessibility Regulations 2000 (PSVAR) outline specific requirements for the bus industry to ensure that buses are as accessible as possible for disabled passengers. Latest statistics (September 2013) show that 78% of buses in England now meet PSVAR accessibility requirements, while 92% operate with a low floor facility and these figures continue to grow steadily.

The Department also recognises that blind and partially sighted passengers find audio and visual announcements particularly useful when travelling on buses. We will therefore continue to encourage bus operators and local authorities to invest in audio/visual announcement systems for their buses where possible. However, we also understand that this technology comes at a considerable cost.

With this in mind, my noble colleague, Baroness Kramer wrote to bus operators on 4^th February 2014 to encourage the development of simpler, more affordable audio/visual announcement systems for buses that can provide benefits to as many passengers as possible. Alongside this, the Department for Transport is also looking into the possibility of establishing a research initiative involving small businesses and academic institutions through the ‘Transport Systems Catapult’to encourage further innovation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2014-06-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applications for personal independence payments have been made by claimants whose disability living allowance payments have been terminated; and what interim financial support his Department makes available to such claimants.

Mike Penning

There is no data available on claims to personal independence payment (PIP) by claimants in receipt of, or previously in receipt of, disability living allowance (DLA).

Exisiting recipients of DLA claiming PIP do not have their DLA terminated at the point of claim but continue to recieve their DLA while the PIP claim is being assessed.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2014-05-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 28 April 2014, Official Report, columns 526-7, on student visas, if she will publish details of the successful pilot with one university on ensuring overseas students return home once their course is completed.

James Brokenshire

Foreign national students who had been served with an adverse immigration
decision were, at times, encountering a delay in receiving their travel
documents back from the Home Office. On occasion this resulted in their
immigration status changing to an overstayer.

The pilot referred to was conducted through an informal relationship between
the South Central Immigration Compliance and Enforcement (ICE) team and the
International Student Advisors embedded within two local Universities. Through
this link, those whose leave has been curtailed, have had an adverse decision,
or wish to depart the UK are provided with local assistance by the Immigration
Enforcement team. The pilot has enabled the local ICE team to facilitate the
return of travel documents quickly, resulting in an earlier departure for the
student. This has benefits for both the student and University as becoming an
overstayer could jeopardise future applications from students to continue their
studies. During 2013/14, fifty students were assisted in this way from two
Universities (this is local data taken from local records that has not been
sourced from an official database).

The Government is looking at how this example of local good practice can be
extended nationally.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he expects Mr Andrew Cottrell of Prenton, to undergo his medical examination as part of his application for the personal independence payment.

Mike Penning

The Department cannot respond to the House of Commons with regards to a specific case.

I will write to the hon. Gentleman.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2014-06-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure claimants experiencing delays in their personal independence payments assessments are kept better informed of the status of their applications.

Mike Penning

We have taken immediate action to ensure that claimants receive all the information they need.

This includes a number of actions:

– SMS updates acknowledging receipt of the ”How your disability affects you” form.

– Updated Gov.uk to include clear information.

– Detailed information on estimated journey times.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2014-04-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of local authorities have higher than average not known rates for young people not in employment, education or training; and what steps he is taking to address such gaps in data.

Matthew Hancock

It is local authorities who are responsible for collecting data about the activity of young people in their area.

The Department for Education regularly publishes locally collected data on young people’s activities, including the proportion of young people whose activity is not known. The latest quarterly figures covering young people of academic age 16 and 17 as at the end of December 2013 are available online at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/participation-in-education-and-training-by-local-authority. These include both the average for England and the figures for each local authority.

The Department published statutory guidance in March 2013 setting out the requirement of local authorities to track young people’s participation so that those who are not in education or training can be identified. The guidance is available online at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/participation-of-young-people-education-employment-and-training.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number and proportion of vacancies on Universal Jobsmatch classified as employer confidential; and what checks are in place to ensure that such vacancies are not bogus, fraudulent or otherwise inappropriate.

Esther McVey

Universal Jobmatch revolutionises the way jobseekers look for work and it has already helped many jobseekers find the jobs they want through the millions of vacancies posted since 2012. It is part of the government’s plan for providing easy online access to government services for all.

There are various circumstances where an employer may wish to keep their details confidential – for example, if they are employing a Personal Carer or another role where they are using their home address. We estimate that there are 42,544 employer confidential vacancies currently on Universal Jobmatch. This equates to 7.1% of the total live vacancies as at 5 June 2014.

The security of a user’s data is of the utmost importance to us and built into the service are monitoring tools and vacancy checks, which help to detect, deter and remedy inappropriate use of the site. Checks are made to identify inappropriate, fraudulent and bogus jobs and employers in order to block them from being posted.

There are also warnings to users of the service advising them they should not be asked to reveal personal information i.e. bank details, as this information is not relevant to the application process.

Additionally, a ‘Contact Us’ facility is provided so users can quickly highlight any employers that users may have concerns about. DWP then investigate such concerns.

These checks are in place for all vacancies, including employer confidential vacancies.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2014-06-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many calls the Metropolitan Police human trafficking hotline received from victims of human trafficking in each of the last three years; and what the annual cost of running the hotline is.

Karen Bradley

The table below shows the number of calls received by the Metropolitan Police
human trafficking hotline since it was set up in June 2011.

Year Number of calls
2014 29 (to 19 June)
2013 41
2012 52
2011 34 (June to December)

The freephone hotline number (0800 783 2589) is funded by Stop The Traffik and
therefore has no cost to the Metropolitan Police Service other than the £15 per
month line rental.