The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-03-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 18 March 2014, Official Report, column 547W, on the Work Programme, if he will place in the Library the draft findings of the Work Programme evaluation received by his Department in August 2013.
Esther McVey
The evaluation of the Work Programme is still on-going, and the Department will publish findings once it is completed.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-03-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many repeat employment and support allowance claimants have been placed in the work-related activity group with the prognosis that engagement in work is unlikely in the longer term since October 2008.
Mike Penning
The information requested to answer both questions are shown in the table below:
Outcomes of functional assessments by prognosis of 2 years or more for the ESA work-related activity group, Great Britain: October 2008 – September 2013
|
WRAG: Claimants with a prognosis of 2 years or more |
|
|
New Claims – Initial assessment |
11,800 |
|
New Claims – Repeat assessment |
19,700 |
Source: Data in the tables above is derived from administrative data held by the DWP and assessment data provided by Atos Healthcare.
Notes:
1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 100.
2. The outcome recorded is the final DWP Decision Maker’s decision or the recommendation made by the Atos Healthcare Professional where the Decision Maker’s decision is not yet available.
3. The data presented above comes from benefit claims data held by the Department for Work and Pensions. It related to new and repeat ESA claims. In October 2008, ESA replaced IB for new claims. Starting with a trial in October 2010, and reaching a full scale national roll-out in April 2011, existing IB claims began to be phased out, with claimants reassessed to see if they qualify for ESA instead.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-04-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many times he has written to work programme providers or their representative body about the progress of employment support allowance claimants since June 2011.
Esther McVey
It is not possible to separately identify the written correspondence from the Secretary of State, to work programme providers or their representative body about the progress of employment support allowance claimants since June 2011 other than at disproportionate costs.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-04-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much has been spent on (a) press, (b) marketing, (c) advertising and (d) other aspects of communications relating to the Youth Contract in each year since its introduction.
Esther McVey
As with any new programme it is right and responsible to ensure all who are, or could be, affected are properly informed. Since the Youth Contract was launched in April 2012 it has provided opportunities for over 250,000 people. The spend in each of the categories specified is as follows:
|
Financial Year |
2012/13 |
2013/14 |
Total |
|
Press |
£ 9,872 |
NIL |
£9872 |
|
Marketing |
£10,167 |
£ 7,578 |
£17,745 |
|
Advertising |
£72,010 |
NIL |
£72,010 |
|
Other communications |
£27,231 |
£34,650 |
£61,881 |
|
Total |
£119,280 |
£42,228 |
£161,508 |
The marketing category relates to spend on local face-to-face activity bringing together jobseekers and employers with opportunities.
In the ‘other communications’ category, we have supplied details of spend on leaflets, posters, exhibition stands and video production.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-04-30.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Written Statement of 17 March 2014, Official Report, columns 53-4WS, on the Higgins Review, who is undertaking the review of connections between HS2 and the Continent announced in that Statement; and when he expects the review to be completed.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The Secretary of State has asked HS2 Ltd and Network Rail to consider how to improve connections between the rail network and the continent, in a way that could be implemented once the initial stages of HS2 are complete. The report will explore options that will stand the test of time and will be completed before the end of next year. The remit of the work is being considered and will be finalised shortly.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-06-10.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people who were classified as self-employed and who claimed Working Families Tax Credits (WFTC) in 2010 still claimed WFTC in 2013.
Nicky Morgan
Working Family Tax Credit was abolished in 2003 and replaced by Child Tax Credits (CTC) and Working Tax Credits (WTC).
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-06-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to improve support for people over 50 provided through the Work Programme.
Esther McVey
The Work Programme is continuing to offer tailored support to those people over 50 at risk of becoming long-term unemployed and providers are continuing to design support based on their individual need.
Last year, the Government launched the Work Programme ‘Building Best Practice Group’, which is considering the best ways of addressing the particular needs of claimants, including older workers. The group will report back to Ministers later in 2014.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-03-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people referred by Jobcentre Plus to the Work Programme in each month since June 2011 failed to start on the Programme.
Esther McVey
The information we have on the number of Work Programme referrals, since June 2011, who failed to start on the Programmecan be found in table 2.6 of the Work Programme Statistical Summary through the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/work-programme-statistical-summary-december-2013
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-03-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons he has not yet placed the business case for universal credit in the public domain.
Esther McVey
In line with standard practice, as the Universal Credit Business Case includes details of a sensitive nature the Department will not be putting the Business Case into the public domain.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-03-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many new employment and support allowance claimants have been placed in the work-related activity group with the prognosis that engagement in work is unlikely in the longer term since October 2008.
Mike Penning
The information requested to answer both questions are shown in the table below:
Outcomes of functional assessments by prognosis of 2 years or more for the ESA work-related activity group, Great Britain: October 2008 – September 2013
|
WRAG: Claimants with a prognosis of 2 years or more |
|
|
New Claims – Initial assessment |
11,800 |
|
New Claims – Repeat assessment |
19,700 |
Source: Data in the tables above is derived from administrative data held by the DWP and assessment data provided by Atos Healthcare.
Notes:
1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 100.
2. The outcome recorded is the final DWP Decision Maker’s decision or the recommendation made by the Atos Healthcare Professional where the Decision Maker’s decision is not yet available.
3. The data presented above comes from benefit claims data held by the Department for Work and Pensions. It related to new and repeat ESA claims. In October 2008, ESA replaced IB for new claims. Starting with a trial in October 2010, and reaching a full scale national roll-out in April 2011, existing IB claims began to be phased out, with claimants reassessed to see if they qualify for ESA instead.