The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-06-16.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many and what proportion of people over 50 had been out of work for over a year in each year since 1994.
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 2014-03-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he received the Work Programme Evaluation: Interim meta-report; what his plans are for its publication; and if he will make a statement.
Esther McVey
Draft findings from the phase of the evaluation covered by the interim report were received by the Department in August 2013. The Department will publish findings once the independent evaluation of the Work Programme is complete.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-03-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people on incapacity benefit who have been given a prognosis that engagement in work is unlikely in the longer term have been placed in the work-related activity group since October 2010.
Mike Penning
The information requested is 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 |
|
Incapacity Benefit Reassessments |
73,100 |
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 and Incapacity Benefit (IB) claims reassessments. 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 reassessment of existing incapacity benefits claimants started in October 2010 with a trial in the Burnley and Aberdeen areas. These are included in the table.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-03-28.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate has been made of how much his Department is likely to save annually as a result of the removal of warm phones from Jobcentre Plus offices.
Esther McVey
We estimate ongoing yearly total savings of £1.92m from 14/15.
Savings will be reinvested in providing extra digital equipment to support the delivery of an assisted service for vulnerable claimants.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-04-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many households have seen their income from benefits reduced by (a) 10, (b) 20 to 49 and (c) 50 per cent or more as a result of benefit changes since May 2010.
Esther McVey
The requested information is not available.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-04-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have benefited from Youth Contract wage incentives, by region, in each year since the Youth Contract was introduced.
Esther McVey
The latest information that we hold on Youth Contract Wage Incentives was published in February 2014 and can be found at the link below. We do not collect payment data in a form that allows it to be reported at regional level.
“
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, what progress has been made on the review of connections from HS2 to the Continent announced in that Statement.
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 2014-06-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants of employment and support allowance referred to the Work Programme since June 2011 had an estimated period before they were fit for work of (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
|
ESA Prognosis Customer Group |
Referrals |
Attachments |
|
All ESA WRAG |
242,510 |
234,210 |
|
ESA (c) WRAG Mandatory |
10,470 |
9,990 |
|
ESA (c) WRAG Voluntary |
1,060 |
1,040 |
|
ESA (IR) WRAG 12Mth Mandatory |
37,370 |
35,560 |
|
ESA (IR) WRAG 12Mth Voluntary |
1,970 |
1,900 |
|
ESA (IR) WRAG 3/6Mth Existing |
5,470 |
5,230 |
|
ESA (IR) WRAG 3/6 Mth Mandatory |
98,290 |
96,100 |
|
ESA (IR) WRAG 3/6 Mth Voluntary |
750 |
730 |
|
ESA (IR) WRAG 3/6 Mth Mandatory ExIB |
23,230 |
22,590 |
|
ESA (IR) WRAG 3/6 Mth Voluntary ExIB |
210 |
210 |
|
ESA Mandatory (IR) WRAG 12m |
42,710 |
40,840 |
|
ESA (IR) WRAG 12m Mandatory EXIB |
20,980 |
20,040 |
|
ESA Credit Only |
230 |
210 |
|
ESA (IR) Support Group |
360 |
350 |
|
ESA (c) Support Group |
100 |
100 |
|
ESA (IR) Support Group ExIB |
100 |
100 |
|
ESA (c) Support Group ExIB |
100 |
90 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-06-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of jobseekers excluded from the claimant count because their benefit has been sanctioned; and if he will make a statement.
Esther McVey
No-one is excluded from the claimant count simply due to their benefit being sanctioned.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-03-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the operation of the Work Programme in rural areas.
Esther McVey
The independent evaluation of the Work Programme includes providers and participants in a range of geographical areas. The Department will publish findings once the evaluation is complete.