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.
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.