The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2016-04-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his Department’s total legal costs were in case EA/2013/0148/9 heard by the First-Tier Tribunal General Regulatory Chamber Information Rights on 22 February 2016.
Priti Patel
At the First Tier Tribunal on 22 February 2016 3 cases were heard together – EE/2013/0145; EA2013/0148; EA/2013/0149 . We can not break down the costs for the individual cases.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2015-11-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect of the under-occupancy penalty on people with disabilities.
Justin Tomlinson
People with disabilities are entitled to an extra bedroom for non-resident overnight carers and disabled children who are unable to share with another child.
Since 2013, we have provided local authorities with £470 million in Discretionary Housing Payments funding. This has enabled local authorities to give additional support to claimants where appropriate. This includes £175 million specifically for those affected by the removal of the spare room subsidy, of which £75 million is for those living in significantly adapted properties.
We will continue to provide additional support through Discretionary Housing Payments and have made a further £800 million in DHP funding available for the next 5 years of this Parliament.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2016-01-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people who were eligible to receive a Christmas bonus on their benefits had not received it on 24 December 2015.
Priti Patel
Everyone eligible for a Christmas bonus will receive their payment in full. A technical error meant that 327,379 people had a delayed payment.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2016-02-08.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of his Department’s capacity to administer different rates of child benefits to other EU member states.
Damian Hinds
Details of the proposals for child benefit are subject to ongoing negotiation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether transitional protection where entitlement is lower will begin as soon as tax credit recipients start migrating to universal credit.
Priti Patel
No-one already on existing benefits or Tax Credits whose circumstances remain the same will lose out in cash terms as a direct result of being moved on to Universal Credit. These claimants will be given transitional protection to avoid cash loss at the point of change.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2016-04-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 4 February 2016 to Question 25156, if he will publish the list of circumstances that would trigger natural migration from tax credits to universal credit.
Priti Patel
The events that can trigger a change of circumstances depend on many factors. They are similar to the circumstances that would trigger a new claim to existing benefits or tax credits.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2016-04-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which one of his Department’s assets Telereal Trillium are responsible for maintaining.
Justin Tomlinson
Since 1998 the Department for Work and Pensions occupies space provided through a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) known as the PRIME Contract.
Under the terms of this PFI Contract the Department sold all of its property assets and assigned all leases held to Telereal Trillium, and now leases back fully serviced accommodation from them.
As such the Department does not own any assets that are maintained by Telereal Trillium.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2015-10-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many days were lost to sickness in his Department in each of the last 10 years.
Justin Tomlinson
We have greatly reduced sickness absence in DWP from an average of 11.1 days per employee eight years ago to just 6.4 days per employee now. This is below the figure for the public sector of 7.9 days on average per employee, which was independently reported by the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development in its latest sickness absence report.
The number of working days lost to sickness within the Department for Work and Pensions in each of the last 10 years is recorded in the following table.
|
Period |
Working Days Lost to Sickness Absence |
Average Working Days Lost per Employee |
|
2014/15 |
527,961 |
6.5 |
|
2013/14 |
620,122 |
6.9 |
|
2012/13 |
699,731 |
7.4 |
|
2011/12 |
671,412 |
7.3 |
|
2010/11 |
846,168 |
8.1 |
|
2009/10 |
911,809 |
8.5 |
|
2008/09 |
849,448 |
8.9 |
|
2007/08 |
1,053,768 |
10.1 |
|
2006/07 |
1,361,196 |
11.1 |
|
2005 |
1,233,162 |
10.1 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2015-10-13.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment the Government has made of the rates of productivity of young employed people in the UK.
Mr Rob Wilson
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2015-10-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of the morale of his Department’s staff.
Justin Tomlinson
The morale of the Department’s staff is not measured although the related concept of Employee Engagement is measured regularly through the Department’s annual People Survey.
The People Survey is conducted in the Autumn every year and we are currently in the middle of completing this year’s survey.
Results will be available and made accessible to the public through the Gov.uk website in mid-November.
Last year’s results can be found at:
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