The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graeme Morrice on 2014-04-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has any plans to end the employee trade union membership dues check-off system.
Stephen Hammond
The Department has undertaken a review into the removal of check off arrangements and is considering the next steps following this review.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2014-06-13.
To ask the Prime Minister, if he will refer the matter of the release of correspondence between the Home Secretary and the Secretary of State for Education on preventing extremism to the Independent Adviser on Ministers’ Interests.
Mr David Cameron
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Barnsley East on 16 June 2014, Official Report, column 338W.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graeme Morrice on 2014-04-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many formal client complaints were brought against Jobcentre Plus staff in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland, (c) West Lothian local authority area and (d) Livingston constituency in each of the last five years.
Esther McVey
The information requested is not available prior to July 2010, however data is available as follows:
|
July 2010 – March 2011 |
April 2011 – March 2012 |
April 2012 – March 2013 |
April 2013 – March 2014 |
|
|
Scotland |
815 |
1,070 |
983 |
773 |
|
National (England, Scotland & Wales) |
6,180 |
8,979 |
16,864 |
15,481 |
DWP completed the incremental roll-out of a new complaints process in December 2012 which encouraged the recording of complaints. The data provided spans both processes.
As complaints are not recorded by local authority area or constituency, this level of data isn’t available.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Morrow on 2014-06-12.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the estimated current backlog of persons waiting to be assessed by Atos Healthcare for (1) Employment Support Allowance, and (2) Disability Living Allowance, broken down by region of England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales; what action they are taking to address the backlog; and on what evidence they base their attribution of the delays to failings within Atos.
Lord Freud
The table below shows outstanding Employment and Support Allowance new claims, existing Employment and Support Allowance recipients awaiting a review and Incapacity Benefit claimants awaiting reassessment, at the end of April 2014 for England, Scotland and Wales. The figures exclude cases referred to Atos Healthcare where the claimant has yet to return their ESA50 questionnaire.
|
Region |
ESA New claims awaiting a Work Capability Assessment |
Existing ESA recipients awaiting a review Work Capability Assessment |
Incapacity Benefit recipients awaiting reassessment |
|
England |
333,000* |
201,000* |
74,000* |
|
Scotland |
34,000* |
13,000* |
2,000* |
|
Wales |
28,000* |
20,000* |
7,000* |
* Note: figures are based on operational management information received from Atos Healthcare and are rounded to the nearest thousand.
The total Disability Living Allowance claimants’ awaiting an assessment at the end of April 2014 nationally was 800. Figures are based on operational management information received from Atos Healthcare and are rounded to the nearest hundred.This information is not routinely collated to regional area.
The Department for Social Development in Northern Ireland has a separate contract with Atos Healthcare for the delivery of assessments in Northern Ireland. Therefore, questions relating to waiting times in Northern Ireland should be addressed to the Minister for Social Development in Northern Ireland.
We are working closely with our supplier to deliver the best possible service for claimants, driving up performance and quality to help reduce waiting times and process claims as quickly as possible. We are continuing to monitor and robustly manage this contract.
Identification by the Department of a reduction in Atos Healthcare’s quality led to decisive action in the form of a retraining and re-accreditation exercise and an overhaul of audit arrangements when we instructed Atos Healthcare to introduce an improvement plan in July 2013. The quality of reports provided by Atos Healthcare has improved significantly but the Department continues to monitor quality closely.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Huw Irranca-Davies on 2014-04-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many representations he has received opposing the removal of customer access phones from Jobcentre Plus offices; which Jobcentre Plus offices serving constituents of Ogmore constituency have been affected by the removal of customer access phones from such offices; and how many people in Ogmore constituency are being serviced by each such Jobcentre Plus office.
Esther McVey
The Department has received a number of representations on the removal of Customer Access Phones. The Department operates an Operational Stakeholder Engagement Forum, made up of charities, community organisations and customer representative groups, and this issue will be discussed at the next meeting of the Forum in May.
Jobcentres provide face to face support for claimants. Following the removal of Customer Access Phones, claimants who require access to a phone in connection with their benefit or job search will still be given controlled access to a telephone in a Jobcentre.
Ogmore constituents are served by several Jobcentres as the Jobcentre network does not reflect constituency boundaries. A summary follows by Jobcentre in the constituency:
Bridgend Jobcentre
Customer Access Phones have not yet been removed.
Maesteg Jobcentre
Customer Access Phones were withdrawn, replaced by a new assisted service of face to face support in 2014.
Llantrisant Jobcentre
Customer Access Phones were withdrawn, replaced by a new assisted service of face to face support in 2014.
Porth Jobcentre
One Customer Access Phone is currently available; three were withdrawn between November 2013 and January 2014, because of falling demand.
Jobcentre boundaries do not match constituency boundaries so we can only provide a breakdown for Ogmore in total, these follow below:
· Total JSA claimants (March 2014): 1,559
(Source: ONS claimant count with rates and proportions)
· Total claimants (Working-age client group – key benefit claimants (August 2013)): 10,510
(Source: DWP benefit claimants – working age client group)
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2014-06-12.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking in South Sudan to prevent famine, to prevent the spread of cholera, and to promote humanitarian access.
Baroness Northover
The UK is a leading donor to the humanitarian response in South Sudan. We have announced £82.5 million for support inside the country, and £12.5 million for support to refugees. Improved access is critical to the effectiveness of the humanitarian response. At the Oslo Humanitarian Conference on 20 May, the DFID Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State called on all parties to facilitate safe and speedy access. The FCO Minister for Africa also raised this with senior Ministers when he visited Juba in April. UK officials raise our concerns regularly with the parties in Juba and Addis Ababa.
The UK is actively supporting work to help tackle the food security crisis and cholera. We are providing £16 million of funding to the World Food Programme (WFP) to help provide food aid or cash for around 160,000 people, and £8.3 million to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to help provide livelihoods support for 40,000 households. To help counter the growing cholera epidemic our support through the United Nation’s Children Fund (UNICEF – £4 million) will include funding for the UNICEF cholera response and for critical Water, Sanitation and Hygiene supplies. We are also funding two technical experts in the World Health Organisation (WHO) who are currently supporting the cholera response.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2014-04-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what facilities his Department has identified to allow (a) company directors, (b) bankrupts and (c) others to be interviewed locally after the closure of the Hull Official Receiver’s office.
Jenny Willott
The Insolvency Service announced its decision to close its Hull office on 27 March 2014 and indicated that the intention was to preserve the services to customers by opening an interview facility in the Hull area. Also on 27 March 2014 I wrote to local Members of Parliament to share their views on local issues that might influence the location of a local interview facility. These views, along with analysis of customer information, will be used to select the precise location. The facility will be operational by the time of the closure, in November 2014.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness King of Bow on 2014-06-12.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government which local authorities received additional Discretionary Housing Payment funding from the extra £20 million announced in October 2013; and how much was made available in each case.
Lord Freud
The information that has been requested was published on 24 March 2014 on GOV.UK and can be accessed through the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/295291/s3-2014.pdf
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2014-04-10.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many VAT431NB claims have been submitted in each of the last 32 quarters.
Mr David Gauke
Data on these forms is not kept on a quarterly basis.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rehman Chishti on 2014-06-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many company formations were recorded in (a) Gillingham and Rainham, (b) Medway and (c) Kent in the last year.
Michael Fallon
The number of company formations in (a) Gillingham and Rainham, (b) Medway and (b) Kent in the financial year 2013/14 were as follows.
|
Region |
Number of Company Formations |
|
Gillingham and Rainham |
616 |
|
Medway |
3,966 |
|
Kent |
15,583 |
These figures, which include all corporate bodies for the financial year, including limited liability companies, should be considered as approximations as the data is derived from postcode areas that can cross regional boundaries.