The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2014-06-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of universal credit claims made in pilot areas have been based on independent self-assessment.
Esther McVey
We have interpreted the question as the proportion of people who assess their own eligibility for UC via the on-line self assessment tool.
https://www.gov.uk/browse/benefits/entitlement
The Department does not collect this data
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2014-04-28.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many and what proportion of employees hired under the Employment Allowance Scheme are (a) employed on zero-hours contracts and (b) paid below the living wage as set by the Living Wage Foundation.
Mr David Gauke
The information requested is not available.
The Employment Allowance is available to businesses and charities and is worth up to £2,000 off their total employer Class 1 National Insurance contributions (NICs) bill.
Employers are likely to use the NICs savings from the allowance in a variety of ways. Research by the Federation of Small Businesses suggests that employers may use these savings to increase wages, employ more staff or invest in their business.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to ensure access to CT scanning is more readily available to NHS patients.
Jane Ellison
All acute trusts have access to computerised tomography (CT) and NHS England is not aware of any patient access problems. The NHS England standards for seven day services support seven day access to CT. CT involves ionising radiation, so is a test that has to be justified and used in appropriate patient pathways.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2014-06-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the waiting period will be before an individual qualifies for support through universal credit; and how long he expects it will take to calculate entitlement and process new claims for universal credit.
Esther McVey
The Chancellor announced in the 2013 Spending Review that a seven day waiting period is to be introduced into Universal Credit from April 2015.
Each claim for UC is assigned an assessment period. The payment due date is a fixed day of the month that falls 7 days after the end of the assessment period and on the same day of each subsequent month. Entitlement will be assessed so that payment should arrive in the claimant’s bank account on or before the payment due date.
If any claimant is in need of support during this time they are eligible to apply for a UC Advance (New Claim).
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2014-04-28.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 10 April 2014, Official Report, column 396W, on courts, how many calls were made to higher rate telephone numbers for (a) magistrates’ courts, (b) county courts and (c) the county court bulk centre in Northampton in each year since 2009; what the average duration was of calls to the higher-rate telephone numbers in each case in the most recent period for which figures are available; how much revenue was generated from such calls; which individual numbers are used for more than one court; and how many courts are covered by each of these numbers.
Mr Shailesh Vara
Information on volumes and durations for calls to higher-rate telephone numbers for magistrates’ courts, county courts and the county court bulk centre in Northampton in each year since 2009 is not systematically collected by the service providers, and to obtain it would incur disproportionate costs.
Between November 2013 to March 2014 the percentage of higher rate calls dropped significantly from 41% to 30% with the increasing use of 0300 numbers. This figure is set to drop even further as 19 higher rate numbers to the county court bulk centre are currently being replaced by 0300 numbers.
During this period 137,763 calls to higher rate numbers were answered at the county court bulk centre with an average duration of 4 minutes 14 seconds. This figure represents 35% of all calls with the remainder being 0300 numbers.
The Department has received no revenue from higher rate telephone numbers for the period under review.
The following individual numbers are used for more than one court:
0844 892 4000 is used by Basildon, Bury St Edmonds, Cambridge, Chelmsford, Colchester, Ipswich, Kings Lyn, Norwich, Peterborough, Southend County Courts, and by Basildon, Chelmsford, Colchester, Harlow, Southend Magistrates’ Courts.
0844 892 0550 is used by Bedford, Luton, Hertford, St Albans, Watford County Courts.
0845 300 4239 is used by Aylesbury, Banbury, Bicester, East Berkshire (Bracknell), East Berkshire (Maidenhead), East Berkshire (Slough), High Wycombe, Milton Keynes, Oxford and South Oxfordshire, Reading, West Berkshire (Newbury) Magistrates’ Courts.
0845 200 2078 is used by Chester, South Cheshire (Crewe), Liverpool and Knowsley, Macclesfield, Runcorn (Halton), Sefton, St Helens, Warrington, Wirral Magistrates’ Courts.
0845 601 0485 is used by Harrogate, Northallerton, Shipton, York Magistrates’ Courts.
0845 310 0575 is used by Cambridge, Peterborough Magistrates’ Courts.
The following Magistrates’ Courts have higher-rate numbers which are not shared:
Leamington Spa (0845 521 2300)
Nottingham (0845 408 3500)
Pursuant to the Answer of 10 April 2014 (191689), 19 higher rate numbers to the County Court Bulk Centre in Northampton are in the process of being replaced by 0300 numbers. The higher-rate number for Central London Combined Court Centre has been discontinued. Taking into account these further reductions in higher-rate numbers, the percentage fall in higher-rate numbers since 2009 is 79% compared to the 55% previously stated.
Magistrates’ Courts’ and County Courts use a total of ten higher-rate numbers, sharing them for queries about fines, family matters, etc. Twenty-one of the Magistrates’ Courts’ using higher rate numbers offer alternative 0300 numbers.
As stated in previous answers to parliamentary questions, the Department’s approach is not to use higher rate numbers and instead, wherever possible, to assign 0300 numbers, for which the tariff is similar to calling an 01 or 02 (geographic) number, whether the caller is using a fixed line or a mobile phone —see: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm131120/text/131120w0001.htm#131120113000070
and
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many calls were made on higher-rate telephone numbers to (a) magistrates’ courts, (b) county courts and county court money claims centres in England in 2012-13 and 2013-14; and what the average duration was of calls to such numbers.
Mr Shailesh Vara
I refer the hon. Member to the replies given to him on 12 May 2014, Official Report, Columns 413-414W (for volume and average duration of calls), and on 10 April 2014, Official Report Columns 396-397W (for a note on money claims centres).
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2014-06-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of adverse sanction decisions taken against jobseeker’s allowance claimants in 2013 were repeat decisions.
Esther McVey
We have interpreted the question to be for the number of sanction decision reconsiderations and appeals upheld therefore resulting in a sanction still being applied following a request for a review or a formal appeal from the JSA claimant.
This information is published and can be found at:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/
Guidance for users is available at:
https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Stat-Xplore_User_Guide.htm
The proportion of adverse sanction decisions can be calculated using these figures.
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2014-04-28.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of young people participating in the Youth Contract have been offered permanent employment by their employer once they have completed their placement since the commencement of that programme.
Esther McVey
From April 2012 to November 2013 there have been 99,640 18-24 year olds who have started a work experience placement and 41,360 18-24 year olds who have started Sector based work academy pre-employment training. [Youth Contract official statistics: February 2014]Research found that 22% of WE participants who completed their placement were offered a job by placement organisers (from a base of 824 survey respondents who completed placement).
42% of sbwa participants who had a placement and completed it were offered a job by their placement organiser (from a base of 126 who completed a placement).
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of mandatory reconsideration periods have exceeded 14 days; and if he will make a statement.
Mike Penning
The Department is collecting information to understand how the introduction of mandatory reconsideration is operating, including completion timescales. However, this data is not sufficiently robust and reliable to make available.
In the production of new statistics, which all the above would be, the Department works to guidelines set by the UK Statistics Authority to ensure we are able to publish statistics that meet the high quality standards expected. Departmental statisticians need to assure themselves of the quality of administrative data sources before releasing information as Official statistics, and before the exact timing and format of statistics can be confirmed. .
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2014-06-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he intends to respond to the recommendations made by the Social Security Advisory Committee in Occasional Paper 12 published in April 2014; and if he will make a statement.
Steve Webb
The Department is currently considering its response to the Social Security Advisory Committee’s recent study “The Cumulative Impact of Welfare Reform: a Commentary“. A response will be published in due course.