The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-09-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 16 September 2015 to Question 10000, whether the milestone set in autumn 2014 of reaching 100,000 universal credit claims by May 2015 was achieved; and if he will make a statement.
Priti Patel
The Universal Credit programme has hit, or is on target to achieve, all of the milestones the Secretary of State set out in Autumn 2014.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-06-25.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many jobseeker’s allowance claimants aged 18 to 24 years have home addresses in each region of the UK; and what proportion of all young people in each such region that figure represents.
Mr Nick Hurd
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 2015-01-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans he has to improve employment support for Work Programme participants claiming employment and support allowance who have a 12 month prognosis of a return to work.
Esther McVey
The Work Programme performance is improving for Employment and Support Allowance claimants with a 12 month prognosis, but we do want it to do better. To this end we have asked all providers to come to us with a clear plan setting out the steps they are going to take to improve performance further.
Of those completing a year on the programme, 1 in 10 ESA New Claimants have had at least three months in work since joining the scheme – this compares to 1 in 25 for the earliest cohorts.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Oral Answer of 8 December 2014, Official Report, column 638, what progress his Department has made in raising awareness among benefit claimants of interim payments.
Esther McVey
I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 5 January 2015 to Question UIN 218961
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-06-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 12 June 2014, Official Report, column 247W, on Jobcentre Plus, whether Jobcentre Plus is required to obtain the consent of a voluntary employment support project which receives no statutory funding before issuing a jobseeker’s direction requiring a jobseeker’s allowance claimant’s engagement with that project.
Esther McVey
In return for receiving benefits we expect jobseekers to do everything they can to find work. This could include engaging with an employment support project. We expect districts to work in partnership with organisations that offer opportunities which will help improve a claimant’s employment prospects, but they are not legally obliged to gain their consent before issuing a Jobseeker’s Direction.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-01-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what conclusions about effective approaches to universal credit in work conditionality he has drawn from the labour market trials which started between May 2013 and January 2014; and if he will make a statement.
Esther McVey
The purpose of the initial Jobcentre Plus-led trials tested within Jobcentre Plus were to help inform and shape the design of larger-scale Randomised Controlled Trials that we plan to run in Universal Credit from April 2015, from which conclusions about effective in-work support will start to be drawn.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 9 February 2015 to Question 223098, what the value is of overpayments recovered from Work Programme providers since June 2011.
Esther McVey
The overpayments recovered from Work Programme providers since June 2011 to 31st January 2015 is £30m, which is less than 2% of total expenditure on the programme.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-06-30.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on the effect of universal credit on the self-employed.
Esther McVey
There have been no recent meetings with Ministers but there have been extensive discussions between DWP officials and officials at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills whilst designing the approach to supporting those who are self-employed in Universal Credit.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-01-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to publish evaluations of the universal credit in work conditionality pilots.
Esther McVey
The Department is currently developing the evaluation strategy, including publication plans, for the large-scale Randomised Controlled Trials that we will deliver in Universal Credit. The first of these trials will be launched in April this year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proposals his Department has to measure the time between a benefit claim being made and the claimant receiving their first payment.
Esther McVey
The Department currently uses a suite of measures to track and manage the timeliness of processing for the range of benefits it administers. These measures are supported by business information systems and used to help manage and improve performance. Going forward, the Department plans to retain these measurements for working age benefits and is developing a processing time measure for Universal Credit along similar lines.