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 2015-11-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of the number of people who have been affected by the under-occupancy penalty.
Justin Tomlinson
Current numbers of people affected by this measure can be found using the following link to Stat-Xpore:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/
Following on from the 2012 impact assessment an independent two year evaluation was commissioned that looked at the effects of this policy. The interim report was published last July and the final report is due to be published before the end of the year.
A link to the interim evaluation can be found below:-
The full report will be published by the end of the year.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2016-01-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the results were of temperature tests to determine eligibility to receive winter fuel allowance of people living abroad in 2015.
Justin Tomlinson
The winter fuel payment eligibility criteria for people who normally live in the EEA, was changed for winter 2015-16. A temperature criterion was introduced by the DWP using information from a report it commissioned from the Met Office. This report showed the average winter temperature data for each EEA country and Switzerland and for the regions of the UK. The Met Office report was produced in 2012 and used information from a dataset for the reference period 1961-1990 available through the Climatic Research Unit of the University of East Anglia.
The average winter temperature in the warmest part of the UK, the South West, is 5.6oC. This point is the basis for the changes made to the winter fuel payment eligibility criteria. People living in countries with an average winter temperature of no more than 5.6oC, or a temperature that is close enough to that to be statistically equivalent, are eligible for a winter fuel payment.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2016-02-08.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what preparatory work his Department has undertaken on the administration of differential rates of child benefit across 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, pursuant to the Answer of 16 March 2016 to Question 30330, if he will publish examples of the feedback received on the placing of work coaches in foodbanks.
Priti Patel
The Department has shared findings from the food bank initiative with Jobcentre District Managers. There are no plans to publish the Lalley Community Centre findings externally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2016-04-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many new staff have been appointed to his Department since 21 March 2016.
Justin Tomlinson
A total of 337 new employees were appointed to the Department for Work and Pensions during the period 21 March 2016 to 25 April 2016.