Tag: Stephen Timms

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-05-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, from what date he plans that the refusal of a job on a zero hours contract will be sanctionable by Jobcentre Plus advisers; and if he will provide protection to claimants with caring responsibilities which limit their work availability.

Esther McVey

JSA claimants are not required to apply for zero hours contract jobs and therefore will not be sanctioned if they do not apply for such jobs.

Universal Credit means that claimants can accept any offer of work without fear of their benefits or the support they receive from the Jobcentre being negatively affected. They will always be better off in work.

Under Universal Credit, if a claimant turns down the offer of employment without good reason a sanction can be applied. Claimants always have the opportunity to provide a good reason.

Claimants who turn down the offer of employment under a zero hours contract because of an exclusivity clause will always be considered to have good reason and no sanction will apply.

Decision Makers will also consider whether the job was suitable for the claimant taking into account the specifics of the role, the type of work, any agreed restrictions on hours and the claimant’s particular circumstances, including any caring responsibilities.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-06-11.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the (a) mean and (b) median age was of people who were registered as self-employed in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011, (iii) 2012 and (iv) 2013.

Mr David Gauke

The average age of self-employed individuals in the UK is 46 years old. This median age is also 46 years old and these figures are consistent across the three years from 2009-10 to 2011-12.

These estimates are based on the Survey of Personal Incomes (SPI) for the years concerned. The SPI for 2012-13 will be available later in the year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-06-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much his Department has spent assisting people with the costs of (a) travel to interview and (b) clothing for interviews or to commence work in each year since 2005.

Esther McVey

The information requested is only available from 2007. (a) The costs of assisting people travel to job interviews for each year from 2007 are:

(b) Expenditure for equipment to assist people taking up work, including clothing, for each year from 2007 is in the table below. This expenditure also includes assistance with other equipment e.g. health and safety related workwear, work tools and equipment, bicycles and accessories, laptops and mobile phones.

Expenditure totals are not available solely for clothing and would incur disproportionate cost to identify separately.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-05-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he takes to monitor whether Work Programme prime providers fulfil their minimum service standards; and if he will make a statement.

Esther McVey

The Department has developed a clearly defined compliance monitoring regime which commits to an appropriate level of checking for each of the 40 Work Programme contract package areas.

The compliance management team work closely with Work Programme performance managers to ensure clear factual information is available for consideration as part of monthly Contract Performance Reviews with providers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-06-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants in the Employment and Support Allowance Work Related Activity Group are currently on the Work Programme; and how many such claimants had the period before they were fit for work assessed as (a) up to three months, (b) three to six months, (c) six to 12 months and (d) over 12 months.

Esther McVey

The information we have in respect of both referrals and attachments, by prognosis group, are given in the table below:

Number of Work Programme Referrals and Attachments by ESA prognosis Customer Groups, Great Britain: 1 June 2011 – 31 December 2013