The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-01-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he plans to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Birkenhead to him dated 19 January 2016 on the state pension.
Justin Tomlinson
The information requested in the Rt. Hon Member’s letter was sent to the Work and Pensions Select Committee on Friday 29 January 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-02-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Government uses the Food Insecurity Experience Scale survey to monitor UK households’ vulnerability to hunger.
George Eustice
Defra does not use the Food Insecurity Experience Scale survey to monitor UK households’ vulnerability to hunger.
There is no single definition of food insecurity and Defra does not estimate numbers of households experiencing food insecurity. The factors that impact on household food security are complex. There are multiple indicators such as quality, variety and desirability of diet as well as total intake, not all of which are measured consistently. It is therefore very difficult and potentially misleading to develop a single classification of food insecurity.
However Defra does publish statistics annually to show the proportion of household income spent on food by (a) all households and (b) the lowest income 20% of households. The most recent statistics are in the food statistics pocketbook 2015 on the GOV.UK website.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-02-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will include the Food Insecurity Experience Scale survey in the next Family Food survey in order to assess households’ vulnerability to hunger.
George Eustice
We do not intend to measure household food insecurity because there is no single definition of food insecurity. The Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) is one method, but the factors that impact on household food security are complex. There are multiple indicators such as quality, variety and desirability of diet as well as total intake, not all of which are measured consistently. It is therefore very difficult and potentially misleading to develop a single classification of food insecurity.
The OECD ‘Society at a Glance 2014’ report published figures showing that the proportion of those who say they are finding it difficult to afford food in the UK declined over the past 5 years 2007 – 2012: from 9.8% to 8.1%. This was based on Gallup World Poll data which actually used one of the questions which form part of the FIES.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-03-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 11 March 2016 to Question 30251, how much expenditure has been incurred on back payments to universal credit claimants; and how much additional expenditure would have been incurred had back payments been allowed to exceed one month.
Priti Patel
The information is not centrally collated to this level of detail.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much the NHS has spent on overseas recruitment exercises in each of the last five years for which data is available.
Ben Gummer
Local National Health Service organisations are best placed to decide how many staff they employ and how best to recruit those staff to meet services tailored to the needs of their patients and local communities, to deliver safe care. Information on the costs that NHS trusts may have incurred when seeking to employ staff either within the United Kingdom or overseas is not collected by the Department.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-05-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the taper arrangements will be for the proposed phasing in of EU migrants’ entitlement to in-work benefits.
Mr Shailesh Vara
I refer the right hon. Member to the February European Council Conclusions. The restrictions on in-work benefits will apply to each newly arriving EU worker for a period of four years from the commencement of employment, with the limitation tapered “from an initial complete exclusion but gradually increasing access to such benefits to take account of the growing connection of the work with the labour market of the host Member State”. Precise details are a matter for the implementation of the proposal, and further announcements will be made in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-07-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, 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.
George Eustice
There are no direct employees paid less than the Living Wage in core-Defra, Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), Rural Payments Agency (RPA) and Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD).
There are 2 direct employees currently paid less than the Living Wage in the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS), none of which are employed on zero-hours contracts. One is an apprentice and the other is about to have their salary increased to the Living Wage rate.
There are no employment agency staff paid less than the Living Wage in core-Defra, APHA, and VMD.
There are 95 employment agency staff paid less than the Living Wage in RPA. None are employed on zero-hours contracts. All are paid at least the National Living Wage as defined by the Government.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-09-05.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much tax and national insurance revenue was received from the self-employed courier sector in each of the last three years; and how much tax credit expenditure that sector received in each of those years.
Jane Ellison
Income tax and national insurance contributions are charged on total income after allowances and reliefs therefore it is not possible to determine how much income tax or national insurance contributions were generated solely from self-employment income sources from the courier sector.
Tax credit expenditure received by this sector could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-10-21.
To ask the Rt. hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington representing the House of Commons Commission, on how many days under the current Travel Office contract the ticket machines situated in the House have been unable to print hon. Members’ travel tickets.
Tom Brake
The Trainline ticket machine situated in the Parliamentary Travel Office has been unable to print tickets on six separate days since September 2014, the latest period being 17–19 October 2016. The machine is owned by Trainline but it is CTM’s responsibility to ensure that they report any faults so that they can be fixed quickly and efficiently.
The ticket machine situated in the Members’ Centre in Portcullis House is maintained by IPSA and therefore the Commission does not hold records on the operation of that machine. However, officials are aware that the machine has been out of service since the beginning of September 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2015-10-27.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many and what proportion of in-work households in receipt of tax credits with an underlying entitlement to Working Tax Credit in each of the last five tax years had not had a claim with an underlying entitlement to Working Tax Credit in the preceding tax year.
Damian Hinds
The information requested is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.