Tag: Owen Smith

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2016-04-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many staff are employed in delivering the Fit for Work programme in (a) Sheffield, (b) Nantgarw and (c) the UK.

Justin Tomlinson

As at 31 March 2016, Health Management Limited (HML), which delivers in England and Wales, employs 83.93 staff at its Sheffield office, 18 staff at its Nantgarw office and a further 19.6 staff elsewhere in England and Wales. Fit for Work Scotland employs 46.4 staff in Scotland. The total for the UK is therefore 167.9.

(Staffing numbers are given in full-time-equivalent figures)

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2016-04-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his oral contribution of 21 March 2016, Official Report, column 1269, whether his Department plans to proceed with the removal of housing benefit for people aged between 18 and 21 years old.

Justin Tomlinson

The Government will be taking forward its plans to remove the automatic entitlement to housing support for new claims in Universal Credit for 18-21 year olds who are out of work from April 2017; as announced in the 2015 Summer Budget. The planned changes will ensure that vulnerable young people who are in need of support for their housing needs continue to receive it whilst maintaining a system that is fair to the taxpayer

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2015-11-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he plans to respond to the Fourth Report from the Work and Pensions Committee, on Support for housing costs in the reformed welfare system, Session 2013-14, HC 720, published on 2 April 2014.

Justin Tomlinson

I refer my Hon Member to the answer I gave on 15 October 2015 to Question UIN 11314.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2016-01-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when her Department plans to respond to the recommendations in the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission’s 2015 State of the Nation Annual Report.

Mr Sam Gyimah

The government is grateful to the Commission for its wide-ranging and comprehensive report and will study the findings and recommendations very carefully. As the Prime Minister announced on 11 January, we are committed to publishing a Life Chances Strategy in the Spring.The Strategy will set out a comprehensive plan to fight disadvantage and extend opportunity, including a wider set of non-statutory measures on root causes of child poverty such as family breakdown, problem debt, and drug and alcohol dependency. The government looks forward to working with the new Social Mobility Commission, which will continue to play a very important role in the drive to promote and increase social mobility in the years to come.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2016-02-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what funding his Department has allocated to the Flexible Support Fund for each year of the present Parliament.

Priti Patel

The allocation for FSF for 2015/16 is £69.0m. The allocation for FSF for the rest of this parliament has not been agreed.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Lifetime ISA will be included in assessments of savings under universal credit.

Priti Patel

Further details about how the Lifetime ISA will work will be announced in the autumn. Following this the Government will confirm how it will be treated for Universal Credit purposes.

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 15 March 2016 to Question 30624 and with reference to the First-Tier Tribunal General Regulatory Chamber Information Rights decision of 11 March 2016, if his Department will publish the Risk Register prior to the universal credit re-set in 2013.

Priti Patel

Following the first tier tribunal decision that the Universal Credit risk register for April 2012 should be released, the document was shared with the requestor.

The government’s view remains that is not in the public interest to publish risk registers because it will compromise the ability to conduct a full and frank assessment of risks and therefore increase the risk to successful delivery of major programmes.

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.