The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-05-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 4 May 2016, to Question 35962, what estimate he has made of the number of tenants with spare rooms who have moved to smaller accommodation following removal of the subsidy.
Justin Tomlinson
The information requested is not available.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-05-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Answer of 9 May 2016 to Question 36333, on employment schemes, how much was spent on each of the programmes referred to in that Answer in the most recent financial year for which data is available.
Priti Patel
The most recent actual spend data available is for the financial year 2014-15, a breakdown of spend on the Employment Programmes listed in the answer to Question 36333 can be found in the attached table.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-06-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what support his Department is offering to small and medium-sized enterprises to assist with the cost of setting up an apprenticeship programme.
Nick Boles
The government provides £1,500 per apprentice to smaller employers taking on new apprentices aged 16-24 through the Apprenticeships Grant for Employers. Additional support provided for employers includes funding training for 16-18 year old apprentices, those young people who are aged 19-24 who have been in the care of the Local Authority, apprentices with additional learning needs, and apprentices who don’t have the level of English and maths that is required to meet the minimum standard. Further funding detail and provisional funding rates are due to be published in June.
Since April, employers have not been required to pay employer National Insurance contributions for almost all apprentices aged under 25 up to the Upper Secondary Threshold (£827 per week in 2016-17).
This change makes the business case for apprenticeships even stronger, reducing the cost of employing a young apprentice by over £500 a year on a salary of £12,000, and over £1,000 a year on a salary of £16,000.
Employers can access information about employing an apprentice on the gov.uk website https://www.gov.uk/take-on-an-apprentice
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-06-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that armed forces recruits aged between 16 and 19 without a GCSE in mathematics or English are prepared for later life outside the armed forces.
Mark Lancaster
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) provides Service personnel with a range of educational, learning and development opportunities with our Learning Centres employing English and mathematics tutors who are employed to teach in numeracy and literacy. Over 95% of recruits are enrolled into an Apprenticeship Programme each year, regardless of their age, which ensures that Service personnel gain a Level 2 in numeracy and literacy. This is the equivalent of a GCSE.
It is an Ofsted goal that we encourage our people to achieve maths and English GCSE. The Ministry of Defence does actively encourage our Personnel to gain GCSE maths and English, and provides many opportunities for them to do this in their career with classes run in learning and development centres using part time Service instructors; or using distance learning programmes for exams sat on operational units and in shore bases.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-07-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to improve the performance of multi-academy trusts in which disadvantaged pupils perform below the national average for attainment and improvement.
Edward Timpson
Academies working together in Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs) are able to share resources and expertise to support disadvantaged pupils. The department’s analysis shows, as does that of the Sutton Trust, that there are MATs that can perform significantly above average despite high percentages of their pupils being disadvantaged.
We remain committed to achieving educational excellence everywhere and where there is underperformance, the academy system enables us to take swift action to tackle it. In addition, we are targeting £2.5 billion a year of pupil premium funding to support the most disadvantaged pupils.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-07-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of how many degree apprenticeship places will be taken up by 2020.
Robert Halfon
Degree Apprenticeships are designed by groups of employers working with higher education institutions and will be driven by employer demand.
We therefore do not use a top-down estimate of how many Degree Apprenticeships will be taken up by 2020, as part of our overall commitment to 3 million starts.
Degree Apprenticeships provide a valuable route for people to obtain a degree-level qualification alongside training for a career, with employment from day one.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-09-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many academies have been removed from their multi academy trust on the initiative of (a) Regional School Commissioner and (b) Minister in each of the last three years.
Edward Timpson
The following table shows the number of academies that have been removed from MATs in the last three academic years.
|
Academic Year |
Number of academies |
|
2013/14 |
3 |
|
2014/15 |
38 |
|
2015/16 |
38 |
Academies and free schools removed from trusts in 2013/14, prior to the appointment of regional schools commissioners, would have had ministerial approval. Since September 2014, RSCs would have made this decision in the majority of cases.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-09-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress the Government has made to reduce the disability employment gap.
Penny Mordaunt
We recognise that the gap between the employment rates of disabled people and non-disabled people remains too large.
Last year the Work and Health Unit was established to lead the drive for improving work and health outcomes for people with health conditions and disabilities, as well as improving support for people absent from work through ill health and those at risk of leaving workforce.
The Unit has begun work to build the evidence base of what works to support disabled people and people with health conditions to obtain and remain in work.
We plan to produce a Green Paper later this year that will explore a range of ways to improve the prospects and transform the lives of disabled people and people with long term health conditions by removing barriers that prevent them from working, and helping ensure that they are able to obtain and remain in work.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-10-20.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the erroneous data source used by Concentrix to determine that a working tax credit claimant had an undeclared partner was provided by HM Revenue and Customs; and if he will make a statement.
Jane Ellison
HM Revenue and Customs provided cases to Concentrix where there was an indication that there may be something wrong with the tax credits claimed. Concentrix then applied their own data profiling techniques as well as data matching to identify claims that involved an increased likelihood of error or fraud. The detailed process for selecting claims for Concentrix compliance interventions is set out in sections A9 and A10 of the “specifications of requirement” annex of the Concentrix contract which can be found at: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/85d1b730-5e4e-4be8-ae4c-3ac1f359afc7
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-10-28.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to gather data on people accessing the Pension Wise service.
Harriett Baldwin
The government committed to providing free, impartial guidance through Pension Wise, to help people make informed and confident decisions about how they use their defined contribution pension savings in retirement. It is available online, via the telephone and face to face. As of 29 October 2015, there were over 20,000 completed appointments for face to face guidance and 9,000 completed appointments for telephone guidance as well as over 1.7 million visits to the website.
Pension Wise runs exit surveys of those who have completed an appointment It is not mandatory for a user to complete an exit survey. The government is committed to being open and transparent with Pension Wise data and will be making core data readily available by placing it on the government performance platform this autumn. The data will be in the public domain and updated regularly. HM Treasury is working with Pension Wise delivery partners to provide the level of detail that we require for reporting purposes.
The Financial Conduct Authority, in line with its remit to protect consumers and ensure markets function in consumers’ interests, is monitoring developments in the retirement income market closely and has committed to take action where consumers are coming to harm or where the market is not operating competitively.
The government recognises that people may wish to consult different sources of information before reaching a decision about their retirement income. In addition to Pension Wise, The Pension Advisory Service (TPAS) provides independent, impartial information and guidance about pensions, free of charge, to members of the public. The Money Advice Service also provides free and unbiased information and guidance on all money matters.
A number of pension providers offer financial guidance. Individuals can also access regulated advice from an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA). HM Treasury and the Financial Conduct Authority are jointly considering how financial advice could be made more accessible and affordable for consumers through the Financial Advice Market Review.