The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2015-10-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average length of time is that pensioners currently in receipt of the Support for Mortgage Interest scheme have been claiming that benefit.
Justin Tomlinson
A reliable estimate is not available. Consistent data on SMI claims has only been collected since 1996 and durations of claims starting before then cannot be calculated.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2015-10-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the level of administration fees and interest charges to pensioners under the Support for Mortgage Interest loan scheme.
Justin Tomlinson
The interest rate charged on the loans will be tied to the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) forecast for gilts rates, so that the interest reflects the government cost of borrowing.
The rate will be updated every 6 months and is forecast to be 2.9% in 2018/19. (OBR forecast Budget 2015).
The fees charged will reflect the forecast average cost of administering the loans scheme. Until a provider has been appointed it is not possible to state what those fees might be.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2015-10-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he will respond to the Work and Pensions Committee Report on Benefit sanctions beyond the Oakley review, Fifth Report of Session 2014-15, HC 814.
Priti Patel
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 2 July 2015 to Question3938
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2015-10-13.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of changes in the level of scam activity associated with pensions following the introduction of pensions freedoms.
Harriett Baldwin
Figures from Action Fraud, the UK’s national reporting centre for fraud and internet crime, show that there were 261 crime reports from 1st April to 30th August 2015 classified as Pension Liberation Fraud. The average number of reports per month has declined so far this financial year, with an average of 52 reports per month compared to an average of 79 crime reports for financial year 2014/2015.
However, it is too early to tell what impact the freedoms have had on prevalence of fraud. These figures relate to “reported fraud” only – figures taking account of “actual fraud” will take much longer to flow through.
Monitoring the market for scams and misselling is the responsibility of the regulators, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Pensions Regulator. The FCA, in line with its remit to protect consumers and ensure markets function in consumers’ interests, has specifically committed to monitoring developments in the retirement income market closely and to take action where consumers are coming to harm or where the market is not operating competitively. The Government remains in close contact with the regulators, and other organisations such as industry trade bodies, on these issues.
Pension Wise, the Government’s free and impartial guidance service, also helps individuals understand how to spot and avoid scams. Where its users are at risk or have been scammed, they are referred to the appropriate organisations, such as Action Fraud.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2015-10-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the increase in the number of people relying on temporary accommodation since 2010.
Mr Marcus Jones
Provision of temporary accommodation ensures that homeless households in priority need are not left without a roof over their heads.
We have provided more than £500 million since 2010 to support local authorities and the voluntary and community sector to tackle and prevent homelessness. This has helped prevent homelessness for 935,000 households.
Households leaving temporary accommodation now spend, on average, 7 months less in temporary accommodation than they did in 2010.
The numbers of households in temporary accommodation remain well below their peak, when they hit 101,000 in 2004.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2015-10-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of pensioners who will not be exempt from the size criteria of universal credit.
Priti Patel
The information requested is not available.
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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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2015-10-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment the Government has made of the potential effect on productivity of increasing the minimum wage.
Nick Boles
The Government will publish a full Impact Assessment alongside draft regulations to implement the National Living Wage.
As noted in Summer Budget 2015, at a firm level there is some evidence that previous increases in minimum wages in low paying firms may have been associated with increases in productivity.
Additionally, the Office for Budget Responsibility has published an estimate of the aggregate impact on productivity due to compositional change in the economy. They estimate an increase in hourly productivity in 2020 of 0.3 percentage points through this mechanism.