Tag: Stephen Timms

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-03-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 5 January 2016 to Question 20339, how a longstanding mental health condition is taken account of in assessing whether a claimant is eligible for an advance payment of universal credit.

Priti Patel

When a work coach assesses a claimant’s financial need they will take into account all of the claimant’s circumstances including any health conditions and any vulnerabilities. The Work Coach is trained to maintain an on-going conversation with the claimant about their financial capability and build up a relationship of trust with the claimant over time.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-03-21.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the mortality rate for people aged between 40 and 50 was in (a) England and Wales, (b) Newcastle, (c) Sheffield and (d) Newham in each of the last five years.

Mr Rob Wilson

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-04-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the effect on annual spending on (a) employment support by non-government providers and (b) Jobcentre Plus of the introduction of the Work and Health Programme; and if he will make a statement.

Priti Patel

Contracted provision will continue to play a crucial role in supporting the long term unemployed and those with health conditions and disabilities. The new Work & Health Programme will support those who have reached the 24 month point in their claim as well as targeted referrals of claimants with health conditions and disabilities. By 2020/21, the core funding from central government for this provision will be around £130m a year. We will work closely with the market to ensure a smooth transition from existing provision to the new provision.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-04-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 19 April 2016 to Question 34050, how much funding his Department has allocated to the work programme and work choice in the 2016-17 financial year.

Priti Patel

The total budget for Contracted Employment Programmes for 2016-17 is £402.4m. It is not possible to publish the disaggregation of this figure to individual programmes, as this is subject to change throughout the year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-04-27.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 21 April 2016 to Question 34477, whether it is possible to correct errors in PAYE real-time data submitted by employers before the point at which such errors affect universal credit claimants.

Mr David Gauke

Data validation rules are built in to stop obvious errors at the point of filing and allow customers to correct submissions. Where errors are made, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has a dedicated team who work with employers. If HMRC spots something is incorrect, it and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will work with the employer to correct that information. If the employer realises they have made a mistake, they have the opportunity to submit correct information. In addition, HMRC and DWP continually monitor the quality of Real Time Information to understand why errors occur

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-05-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many social housing tenants with spare bedrooms have had their housing benefit reduced due to the removal of the under-occupancy penalty in each of the last three years.

Justin Tomlinson

The information is not available.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-05-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to encourage more UK nationals to take up traineeships in the European Parliament and European Commission.

Mr David Lidington

The EU staffing unit, established in April 2013, promotes EU careers across the UK and supports candidates through the application process. It has increased secondments in positions of strategic importance to the UK. The European Fast Stream within the Civil Service has also been re-launched.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-06-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has developed proposals that enable academies to be re-brokered with a new sponsor or multi academy trust on the initiative of parents of children in those academies.

Edward Timpson

Our White Paper Educational Excellence Everywhere set out the Government’s intention to engage Multi Academy Trusts (MATs), sponsors, academies, dioceses and the wider schools sector to ensure that the academies legal framework for the future can achieve the right balance of intervention, review and stability. This included a commitment to consider how parents at individual schools might be able to petition Regional Schools Commissioners (RSCs) for their school to move to a different MAT where the school or its MAT is underperforming or in other exceptional circumstances.

We will be testing and consulting on proposals for the future legal framework with a wide range of stakeholders, including parents, in due course. This engagement will assess the implications of different legal framework models and ensure that any options which are taken forward are fit for purpose.

RSCs already take action to move academies to new trusts where necessary and parents should continue to escalate any concerns they have about academies to RSCs where the academy trust has not responded sufficiently to their concerns.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-07-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the (a) minutes and (b) agendas of the Regional School Commissioners Strategy Forum are published; and if she will make a statement.

Edward Timpson

The minutes and agendas of the Regional School Commissioners (RSC) Strategy Forum are for internal use and are not published.

The RSCs meet monthly for the RSC Strategy Forum. The dates on which these meetings have taken place are as follows:

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-07-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the levels of performance of (a) good, (b) satisfactory and (c) inadequate schools after becoming academies as a result of the introduction of new criteria for academisation in 2010.

Edward Timpson

We are committed to the vision of a dynamic high-performing school system where every school is an academy.

The department routinely monitors the performance of all academies and intervenes swiftly if there are signs of underperformance.

The department published analysis in 2014 which showed that schools rated good or satisfactory were more likely to improve their rating after converting to academy status, this can be found on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/performance-of-converter-academies-in-2012-to-2013

Ofsted data from December 2015 have shown that 88% of previously inadequate schools improved their rating when inspected for the first time as a sponsored academy.

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