Tag: Stephen Timms

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-01-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people with (a) cystic fibrosis, (b) rheumatoid arthritis, (c) motor neurone disease, (d) multiple sclerosis and (e) Parkinson’s disease have had at least one repeat work capability assessment by year of initial assessment since the introduction of employment support allowance in 2008.

Priti Patel

The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at a disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many units of housing he expects to be built in the London borough of Newham in each year to 2020.

Brandon Lewis

The Department does not publish forecasts of house building. It is for local planning authorities to ensure that they plan for the full, objectively assessed housing needs in their area.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-02-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether telephones with a direct connection to the universal credit helpline are available to use free of charge in every job centre.

Priti Patel

We no longer have customer access phones in Jobcentres. However, should a claimant need to use a telephone in connection with their claim or job search, they will be given access to a phone by their work coach.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-02-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, for what reasons the Advisory Group on Freedom of Religion and Belief was not re-established after the 2015 General Election; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Lidington

Since the General Election, we have adopted a new strategic approach to human rights, refocusing our work around three themes: democratic values and the rule of law; strengthening the rules-based international system; and human rights for a stable world. Our work on freedom of religion or belief is an integral part of each of these themes.

The Advisory Group on Freedom of Religion or Belief, as with our other former thematic human rights advisory groups, provided important contributions to our policy and activities. Under our new approach, our thematic advisory groups remain part of the expert constituency to which we turn when designing and delivering human rights initiatives. For example, we involved members of the former Advisory Group on Freedom of Religion or Belief in a workshop on Christians in the Middle East that we held in November 2015. We put forward another expert to form part of the Independent Review Panel of the Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund. We continue to convene regular meetings of the Foreign Secretary’s Advisory Group on Human Rights to discuss a range of topics of interest to its members.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-02-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2016 to Question 24803, whether Jobcentre work coaches are able to advise universal credit claimants of their eligibility for council tax reductions.

Priti Patel

Due to minor variations between different Local Authorities’ council tax reduction schemes, only the individual local Authority can advise claimants on eligibility requirements for their scheme.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-03-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people who had been classified as unfit to work because of a mental health problem were issued with a benefit sanction in each year since 2010.

Priti Patel

The information requested for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) sanctions is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Please note that the medical condition recorded on the claim form does not itself confer entitlement to ESA so, for example, a decision on entitlement for a customer claiming ESA on the basis of a mental health condition is based on the claimant’s ability to carry out the range of activities related to physical and mental function, assessed by the Work Capability Assessment.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-03-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support her Department provides for local authorities to share best practice on children’s social work.

Edward Timpson

Supporting innovation and creating the right environment to drive excellence and radically transform the lives of children and their families are essential to delivering our vision for children’s social care between now and 2020.

The Department’s £100 million Children’s Social Care Innovation Programme, established in 2013, supports 53 projects to develop, test and spread more effective ways of supporting children and families who need help from children’s social care services. The Department has invested around £7 million to evaluate the projects and these studies will provide findings for local authorities over the next year as well as making a significant contribution to establishing an evidence base for driving change.

Supporting the sector to share best practice is at the heart of our What Works Centre (WWC) and Partners in Practice (PiP) initiatives. WWC will build an evidence base to show the best practice available to help social workers and other practitioners to better support children and families. PiPs represent a genuine partnership between national and local government to support long term improvement through exploring greater freedoms in the design and delivery of services; evidence about new structural models and innovations; and modelling best practice, sharing learning and supporting the wider sector.

In addition, the Chief Social Worker for Children and Families provides support to the profession and offers independent expert advice to Ministers on social work reform.

The Department also commissions research and evaluation studies that local authorities can draw on to inform and improve their practice. A recent example is the research review of Parents’ Capacity to Change (Ward et al 2014).

All studies are published on the Department’s research pages on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-education/about/research#publications

“

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-03-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which is the first year in which he expects welfare spending to be contained within the welfare cap.

Priti Patel

The Government believes it is right to monitor welfare spending carefully. We will review the level of the Welfare Cap at the Autumn Statement, which is when the Office for Budget Responsibility will formally assess spending against the Welfare Cap.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-03-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 22 March 2016 to Question 31496, how many appeals were (a) withdrawn and (b) adjourned at the First-Tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support) due to his Department not sending a representative in (i) 2012-13, (ii) 2013-14 and (iii) 2014-15.

Justin Tomlinson

I refer the Rt. Hon. Member to the Answer given by the Minister for Justice, my Rt.Hon. Friend, Shailesh Vara, Question UIN 32293

“

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-04-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of claims for universal credit were made online in each year since that benefit was introduced.

Priti Patel

A year by year breakdown of the information requested is not available for publication. We can say that since its introduction, around 90% of Universal Credit claims have been made online.