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Tag: Kate Green

  • Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will publish his Department’s risk assessment of the transfer of his Department’s contract with Atos Healthcare for provision of work capability assessments to a new provider; and what steps he is taking to mitigate the risks identified in that assessment.

    Mike Penning

    The transition from Atos Healthcare to the new provider in 2015 provides a further opportunity to improve the service the Department offers to claimants and customers. The Department will manage the transition carefully to mitigate the impact on claimants and customers and to further mitigate any risks the new provider will initially use elements of the Atos infrastructure already in place, including IT, Estate and Atos employees (subject to TUPE).

    The priority for the new provider will be to deliver the best possible service for claimants, increase the volume of assessments carried out and reduce waiting times.

  • Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2014-05-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the annual cost is of the (a) administration of advisory committees, (b) HM Courts and Tribunals Service staff servicing such committees and (c) training and recruiting members of such committees.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    A local advisory committee is responsible for the recruitment of magistrates in a particular area, and for advising on issues relating to the conduct of magistrates following their appointment. The work of the committee is supported by HMCTS staff but the specific costs of administration for the committee and the costs of HMCTS staff supporting its work are not available as these are not recorded separately.

    The cost of training advisory committee members in the financial year 2013/14 was £17,401.45

  • Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many calls the Child Maintenance Options Service received in each month in the last year.

    Steve Webb

    The number of successful inbound calls received by the Child Maintenance Options Service in each month of the last year is available in the table below.

    Month

    Number of calls received by the Child Maintenance Options Service

    May-13

    7,845

    Jun-13

    8,915

    Jul-13

    10,360 1

    Aug-13

    11,990

    Sep-13

    13,835

    Oct-13

    14,835

    Nov-13

    21,375 2

    Dec-13

    22,760

    Jan-14

    26,515

    Feb-14

    25,875

    Mar-14

    26,865

    Apr-14

    24,565

    Notes:

    – Data Sourced from CMO Monthly MI Service Pack

    – Data rounded to nearest 5

    1 Child Maintenance Options started providing a ‘soft gateway’ to the 2012 statutory child maintenance scheme, offering parents applying to the 2012 Scheme the opportunity to explore the full range of options before making an application, including considering making their own arrangements.

    2 Child Maintenance Options became the automatic ‘gateway’ to the statutory 2012 child maintenance scheme, ensuring all parents who wish to access the 2012 Scheme are making a fully informed decision and have considered making their own arrangements first.

  • Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the (a) timetable and (b) process will be under which debt suspension in older Child Support Agency (CSA) cases will be reviewed during the forthcoming CSA case closure process; and what process will be put in place to enable the participation of the parents in that process.

    Steve Webb

    The Child Support Agency (CSA) plans to close all 1993 and 2003 scheme cases over a three year period starting in 2014.

    When a client’s ongoing maintenance liability has ended, the case will be reviewed to ensure any arrears balance is accurate. This process will include any suspended debt to ensure the reason for suspension remains valid and, if not, the debt will be reinstated. Whether the CSA need to contact the client during this process will depend on the circumstances of the individual case.

    When the review has been completed, both clients will be informed of the arrears balance and can contact the CSA about this should they wish to do so.

  • Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2014-05-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has issued guidance to Atos on how to prioritise work capability assessments between reassessments and new claimants for employment and support allowance.

    Mike Penning

    The Department does not issue guidance to Atos Healthcare on how to prioritise Work Capability Assessments.

  • Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what contingency arrangements have been put in place by the Department’s Child Maintenance Group to ensure that the Child Maintenance Options Service answers all calls promptly and there is a good service; and how often those contingency arrangements were invoked in the last year.

    Steve Webb

    The Child Maintenance Options service has an effective business continuity plan in place, which includes the ability to divert calls to other trained colleagues and deploy a variety of telephony-based solutions such as Interactive Voice Response.

    There were around eight occasions in which contingency measures had to be used in the last year for reasons including brief local power outages, activation of the fire alarm system and occasions where call demands exceeded forecasted volumes.

    Steps have been taken to prevent or minimise any reoccurrence of these events, including the installation of an uninterrupted power supply and better forecasting as we fully establish the impact of recent changes such as the use of Child Maintenance Options as a mandatory gateway to the statutory scheme.

  • Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Written Statement of 27 March 2014, Official Report, columns 56-7W, on Atos, how many Atos Healthcare staff currently carrying out work capability assessments are expected to carry out personal independence payment assessments in future; and if he will make a statement.

    Mike Penning

    The Department maintains separate contracts with Atos Healthcare for the delivery of work capability assessments and Personal Independence Payment assessments and these contracts require that resources for these two contracts be kept separate.

  • Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2014-05-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether Atos staff have been offered any additional retention or performance-related payments since the decision to terminate the contract to carry out work capability assessments was announced.

    Mike Penning

    The detail of any remuneration of their own staff is an issue for Atos Healthcare and not the Department.

  • Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in how many cases child support arrears have been written off under the Child Support Management of Payments and Arrears (Amendment) Regulations 2012 since November 2012; and how much has been written off in such a fashion.

    Steve Webb

    The circumstances, provided for in The Child Support Management of Payments and Arrears (Amendment) Regulations 2012, in which debt can be written off are:

    – Where the Parent with Care (PWC) requests it;

    – Where the Non-resident Parent (NRP) has died prior to 25/01/2010, or no further action can be taken to recover debt from the estate;

    – Where the PWC has died;

    – Where there is Interim Maintenance Assessment (IMA) debt and the IMA was in place between 5th April 93 and 18th April 95, and the assessment cannot be adjusted in light of a parent’s actual income for this form of debt when it arises over that period; or,

    – Where the NRP has been told that no further action would ever be taken to collect the debt.

    Since the introduction of the write off powers in November 2012 the Department has written off the following amounts:

    – Financial year ended 31 March 2013 £1,133,310

    – Financial year ended 31 March 2014 £15,480,677

    The Department does not hold information on the number of cases this relates to.

  • Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2014-03-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 13 March 2014, Official Report, column 316W, on children: maintenance, in how many cases within the Child Support Agency collection service, excluding those with a deduction from earnings order, the Agency was notified of a missed child maintenance payment in the quarter up to and including December 2013; and in what proportion of such cases the non-resident parent was contacted by the Agency within 72 hours.

    Steve Webb

    There are currently three statutory maintenance schemes. The 1993 and 2003 schemes are delivered by the Child Support Agency and the 2012 scheme is delivered by the Child Maintenance Service.

    In all schemes, our aim is to act within 72 hours of when we are notified of a missed payment where there is a current liability. The notification trigger comes after a five day tolerance period of a missed payment. This tolerance period is to allow for issues which may have caused the missed payment to be resolved (i.e. clearances through bank accounts) without the need for our intervention. While this trigger is built into the design for the 2012 system, there is no comparable automated process for the 1993 and 2003 systems.

    As such, information on (a) the number of notifications of a missed child maintenance payment in cases within the Child Support Agency collection service and (b) the proportion of such cases where the non-resident parent was contacted by the Agency within 72 hours is not available as it is not routinely recorded for management information purposes. To provide this information would require the creation of new information which could only be completed and appropriately assured at a disproportionate cost.