Tag: Stephen Timms

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-11-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what procedure his Department has for responding to whistle-blowing reports from staff at Jobcentre Plus.

Justin Tomlinson

DWP operates the standard Civil Service whistleblowing policy, but the Department’s procedures go further by also enabling staff to raise concerns via a dedicated hotline operated by an Internal Investigations team.

DWP is committed to ensuring high standards of conduct in all that it does. For civil servants, these standards are reinforced by the Civil Service Code and the Department’s Standards of Behaviour.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-12-03.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 26 November 2015 to Question 17301, what proportion of (a) males aged 16 to 24, (b) males aged 16 to 18, (c) males aged 19-20, (d) males aged 21-22, (e) males aged 23-24, (f) women aged 16 to 18, (g) women aged 19-20, (h) women aged 21-22 and (i) women aged 23 to 34 had been unemployed for more than 12 months on the latest date for which figures are available.

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 2015-12-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 4 December 2015 to Question 18390, if she will include within the scope of character education referred to teaching on the dangers of problem gambling.

Edward Timpson

All young people need strong academic skills as well as a complementary set of character attributes to be successful in life. That is why we have invested £5 million in character and resilience and made it very clear that schools should teach personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE).

The non-statutory PSHE programme of study, published by the PSHE Association, includes teaching about all forms of gambling and its psychological and financial impact. The programme of study is available online at:

https://www.pshe-association.org.uk/

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-12-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 8 December 2015 to Question 18747, if he will publish the eligibility criteria for advance universal credit payments.

Priti Patel

To be eligible for a Universal Credit (UC) Advance payment, the claimant has to have an underlying entitlement to UC, be in financial need, and be able to afford to repay the Advance. These criteria are contained within the Social Security (Payments on Account of Benefit) Regulations 2013.

If during the initial work search interview, a work coach identifies a claimant is in financial need, or cannot manage until they receive their first UC payment, they will advise them about advance payments.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-01-07.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many (a) jobs and (b) residents in full-time employment there were in the London Borough of Newham in each year from 2010 to 2015.

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 2016-01-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many potential overlapping payments between those processed through the universal credit live service and those processed for housing benefit have been identified in the East London Jobcentre Plus district since 2013.

Priti Patel

We do not retain statistics to identify the information requested, however we have safeguards in place to ensure an effective transition in these instances to avoid overlapping benefits.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-01-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the number of people who live within 30 minutes’ travel time of Stratford International Station by public transport.

Claire Perry

The Department for Transport has made no assessment of the number of people who live within 30 minutes’ travel time of Stratford International Station by public transport.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-01-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the case for a free telephone number for those using a pay-as-you-go mobile telephone to resolve administrative errors with benefit payments.

Priti Patel

The Department has no plans to make an assessment regarding provision of free telephone numbers for those using mobile telephones to resolve administrative issues. Calls to make a claim to benefit are free at the point of use.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether the state aid approval in relation to BDUK requires BT to provide Wholesale Open Access to other communication providers for ducts and poles built with BDUK funding which are (i) over one km in length and cost more than £50,000 to build and (ii) less than one km in length and cost less than £50,000 to build.

Mr Edward Vaizey

The UK 2012 state aid Decision applied different wholesale access conditions to new and existing infrastructure. On new infrastructure over one km in length and costing more than £50,000 to build, BT must provide access for any purpose, while on existing infrastructure and on new infrastructure less than one km in length or costing less than £50,000 to build, the primary use must be retail services (with business services only permitted where it supports the primary objective.) Both cases exceed what is required by Ofcom under regulation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many state playing fields were sold in each year since 2010.

Edward Timpson

This government will only give local authorities and schools permission to dispose of school playing fields if the sports and curriculum needs of the school can continue to be met. All proceeds of any sales must be put back into improving sports or educational facilities

It is not the government or the department that instigates the disposal of school playing fields. It is the schools themselves and their local authorities that propose to convert these often surplus or unused fields to invest in school sport or education.

Details of school playing field sales are not held centrally. Schools and local authorities only need to seek consent from the department to dispose of a school playing field. Disposal includes leasing to a third party provider. We have published a list of departmental decisions on applications for consent to dispose of school playing field land since May 2010, which can be found on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-land-decisions-about-disposals

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