Tag: Graeme Morrice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graeme Morrice on 2014-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what processes his Department has in place to monitor the welfare of personal independence payment applicants awaiting a decision on their claim.

Mike Penning

The Department does not routinely monitor the welfare of people applying for benefits.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graeme Morrice on 2014-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has any plans to end the employee trade union membership dues check-off system.

Anna Soubry

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister for Defence Equipment, Science, and Technology (Mr Philip Dunne) on 2 April 2014 (Official Report, column 730W) to the hon. Member for Leicester South (Mr Jonathan Ashworth).

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graeme Morrice on 2014-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many days were lost due to illness among Jobcentre Plus staff in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland, (c) West Lothian local authority area and (d) Livingston constituency in each of the last five years.

Mike Penning

DWP has robust and effective measures in place for managing sickness absence and has succeeded in cutting sickness absence from an annual average of 11.1 days per employee in 2007 to 6.9 days per employee currently. To place this in context the Civil Service average is 7.6 days.

Jobcentre Plus was re-structured and absorbed into a revised Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Operations structure in October 2011. Since that point, it has no longer existed as a separate organisation. This means the information beyond September 2011 is not available.

In accordance with cross government arrangements; the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) reports sick leave expressed as average working days lost (AWDL) per employee, over a rolling 12 month period

The following table shows Jobcentre Plus AWDL for 2009/10 and 2010/11. Information was not available for the period April to September 2011 because this was less than a 12 month period.

*Information by Parliamentary Constituency is not held directly but information is available by office, therefore we have created a combined figure for the two offices in the Constituency – Livingstone Jobcentre and Broxburn Jobcentre.

To put these reductions into context, if Average Working Days Lost in DWP was still at the level it was in 2007, the Department would be paying over £27.5m more in sick pay than it is at present.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graeme Morrice on 2014-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has any plans to end the employee trade union membership dues check-off system.

Elizabeth Truss

I refer the hon. Member to the response published 1 April 2014, Official Report, Column 632W.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graeme Morrice on 2014-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many meetings (a) officials and (b) Ministers in his Department have had with (i) disability groups and charities and (ii) providers of the Work Capability Assessment in each of the last five years.

Mike Penning

Ministers and officials meet regularly with a range of stakeholders about the Work Capability Assessment, including our health assessment providers, disability representative groups and charities.

The current contractual agreement between DWP and Atos Healthcare contains a number of key performance indicators. DWP monitors and discusses performance with Atos on a weekly basis.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graeme Morrice on 2014-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether his Department has any plans to end the employee trade union membership dues check-off system.

Gregory Barker

My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State reviewed the situation on 23 January 2014 and was content for no action to be taken on this matter.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graeme Morrice on 2014-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what criteria his Department uses to measure the performance of each Jobcentre Plus office.

Esther McVey

Jobcentre Plus offices’ performance are measured in a variety of ways including in respect of how quickly they help get people off benefits and into work.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graeme Morrice on 2014-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has any plans to end the employee trade union membership dues check-off system.

Dan Rogerson

I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Leicester South on Thursday, 03 April 2014: Official Report column 765w.

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether his Department is (a) undertaking or (b) plans to undertake a review of the check-off union subscription provision. [194039]

Dan Rogerson: DEFRA is currently reviewing the provision of check-off for trade union subscriptions.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graeme Morrice on 2014-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what budget is allocated to each Jobcentre Plus office to reimburse jobseekers’ travel expenses; and how each such budget is decided.

Esther McVey

Each jobcentre is allocated funding to support claimants move towards and into work, and this could include meeting their travel expenses. For internal planning purposes each District Manager will estimate of the likely number of claimants requiring additional support and the cost within that locality but the information is not routinely collated and reported centrally. District plans are reviewed regularly to ensure they make best use of available funding and all local priorities can be met.