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 completed repeat work capability assessments there have been of people with (a) cystic fibrosis, (b) rheumatoid arthritis, (c) motor neurone disease, (d) multiple sclerosis and (e) Parkinson’s disease in each year since the introduction of employment and support allowance in 2008.

Priti Patel

The information available is shown in the table below. Repeat assessments are conducted to ensure that individuals receive the right level of support.

Calendar years:	Cystic Fibrosis	Spinal Muscular Atrophy	Parkinson’s Disease	Multiple Sclerosis	Other Rheumatoid Arthritis
Oct-08 to Dec-08	–	–	–	–	–
Jan-09 to Dec-09	–	–	–	–	–
Jan-10 to Dec-10	–	–	100	700	600
Jan-11 to Dec-11	100	100	300	1,500	1,500
Jan-12 to Dec-12	200	100	500	2,900	2,500
Jan-13 to Dec-13	100	100	400	2,400	2,500
Jan-14 to Dec-14	100	–	300	1,900	2,100
Jan-15 to June-15	–	–	–	300	300

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the European Commission’s Circular Economy Action Plan proposals, published in December 2015; and if she will make a statement.

Rory Stewart

The European Commission’s Circular Economy Action Plan sets out a large number of proposed measures to be delivered between 2015 and 2019 and we are currently considering those in more detail. An Explanatory Memorandum on the Action Plan has been submitted and can be found on the Cabinet Office’s website under European Memoranda:

(http://europeanmemoranda.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/memorandum/communication-from-the-commission-to-the-ep-council-the-eesc-cor-closing-the-loop-an)

That document provides further information on the Action Plan and outlines our current views on the policy implications of its proposals.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many qualified counsellors worked in child and adult mental health services in each of the last three years.

Alistair Burt

This information is not held centrally.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-02-08.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will have discussions with the Office of Tax Simplification on reviewing and simplifying the tax regime for contractors.

Mr David Gauke

The Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) is already considering a wide range of issues relating to the taxation of contractors as part of its small companies review. It will report on its findings ahead of Budget.

The topics of future OTS reviews will be announced in due course.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of (a) primary and (b) secondary full-time teachers have completed (i) three, (ii) five, (iii) 10, (iv) 15 and (v) 20 years of teaching since qualifying.

Nick Gibb

The information is not available in the format requested. The Department publishes statistics showing, for each calendar year since 1996, the number of teachers that have qualified and entered service and the percentage that remain in service in each following year.

The number of teachers in our schools continues to grow year-on-year. Teaching has a lower turnover rate than the economy as a whole; 90 per cent of teachers in state schools stay in the profession from one year to the next. The latest data show that 72 per cent of teachers that qualified during 2009 and were in service by March 2010 were still in service five years later. Similarly, 62 per cent of teachers that qualified during 2004 and were in service by March 2005 were still in service ten years later.

These statistics are published in table C2 of the additional tables in the School Workforce in England Statistical First Release, November 2014. This publication is attached and available on GOV.UK at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/school-workforce-in-england-november-2014

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department takes into account successful challenges to benefit sanctions retrospectively in benefit off-flow statistics.

Priti Patel

It is not necessary to retrospectively adjust the benefit off-flow statistics. The sanctions figures cover both disallowances and sanctions and neither automatically lead to an off-flow from JSA.

We ask claimants who are disallowed and who wish to continue claiming to reaffirm their circumstances and those that do so remain in the claimant count. Only those not prepared to commit to actively seek and be available for work would leave the count as an off-flow.

Claimants who are sanctioned retain their underlying entitlement to benefit and only flow off if they choose not to attend their job search reviews.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-03-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the average time taken to provide reimbursement when a benefit sanction is overturned by appeal in the last 12 months.

Priti Patel

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

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to her financial statement of 16 March 2016, Official Report, column 963, how the £500 million funding will be used to speed up the introduction of a fair national school funding formula.

Mr Sam Gyimah

The Chancellor announced at the Budget that £540 million would be provided to the Department for Education to support the school reform agenda. This will supplement the department’s Spending Review settlement.

We will spend around £500 million over the Spending Review period, over and above the per pupil protection of the core school budget, to accelerate the introduction of a fair national funding formula. All of this funding will be provided to support children’s education.

The funding means that the government will be able to accelerate gains for schools that are due to see funding increases under the formula, while continuing to offer a minimum funding guarantee for all schools. We are currently consulting on the principles and funding factors that should define the national funding formula for schools. A second consultation, later this year, will address the weighting attached to those factors and transitional arrangements, including the use of this funding.

A link to the consultation can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/schools-national-funding-formula.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many appeal hearings at the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum) were (a) withdrawn and (b) adjourned because the Home Office did not send a representative in (i) 2012-13, (ii) 2013-14 and (iii) 2014-15.

Mr Shailesh Vara

The First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) is administered by HM Courts & Tribunals Service.

There are no available data relating to numbers of appeals withdrawn where the Home Office representative did not attend the hearing.

The number of appeal hearings adjourned because the Home Office did not send a representative in (i) 2012-13 was 64 (ii) 2013-14 was 61 and (iii) 2014-15 was 68. For comparison, the figure in 2009/10 was 94.

Data provided are internal Management Information and not subject to the same quality checks as Official Statistics.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect on claimants of the time which elapses between a claim for universal credit and the first payment of that benefit.

Priti Patel

Many people who claim Universal Credit have come from the world of employment and have final earnings or other income to support themselves until their first benefit payment. With Universal Credit all claimants can get help with budgeting and those in financial need can ask for a Universal Credit advance.