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61896

	registered interest
	date	13/06/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Agency Workers
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much his Department has spent on agency workers to cover uniformed operational support staff in each month since January 2014.
	tabling member constituency	Tooting
	tabling member printed	Sadiq Khan
	uin	200709
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/10/2014 answer text <p /> <p>Since April 2010 we have cut our overall spend on temporary staff by £35.5m. We only use temporary staff to fill business-critical posts and essential frontline services where they can provide a fast, flexible and efficient way to obtain necessary skills that are not currently available in-house. We will continue to examine our use of contractors and look for further reductions.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>In responding to each question we have utilised data provided by our contracted supplier of temporary clerical staff and contracted supplier of temporary operational staff. As the data provided has been supplied by two different third parties there is a slight difference in the way that the answer to question 3 and 4 has been presented.</p><p> </p><p>Temporary operational staff relate to Operational Support Grades (OSGs) used within HM Prison Service. We have contracts in place to provide temporary OSGs to fill in gaps in requirements, for building projects or to fill vacancies short term. Temporary OSGs are a very small proportion of our staff complement.</p><p> </p><p>Uniform operational support staff are Operational Support Grades (OSGs).These are uniformed staff who undertake a wide range of duties in prisons, for example operating prison gates, working in security and managing stores areas. They also escort contractors and their vehicles.</p><p> </p><p>1) The following amounts (exclusive of VAT) have been spent on clerical agency staff across -</p><p> </p><p>January 2014 - £2,983,633.14 (5 week period)</p><p>February 2014 - £2,613,023.10 (4 week period)</p><p>March 2014 - £2,591,678.87 (4 week period)</p><p>April 2014 - £2,900,742.70 (5 week period)</p><p>May 2014 - £2,398,053.57 (4 week period)</p><p>June 2014 - £658,700.28 (1 week period)</p><p> </p><p>2) The following amounts (exclusive of VAT) have been spent on uniform operational support staff –</p><p> </p><p>January 2014 - £1,082,247 (5 week period)</p><p>February 2014 - £1,420,329 (4 week period)</p><p>March 2014 - £1,137,834 (4 week period)</p><p>April 2014 - £1,249,908 (4 week period)</p><p>May 2014 - £2,282,468 (5 week period)</p><p> </p><p>The spend for May 2014 also includes the backdated annual pay rise for eligible workers from 1<sup>st</sup> April 2014.</p><p> </p><p>3) The following number of clerical agency staff have been utilised –</p><p> </p><p>January 2014 - 1571 (Average headcount)</p><p>February 2014 - 1634 (Average headcount)</p><p>March 2014 - 1624 (Average headcount)</p><p>April 2014 - 1578 (Average headcount)</p><p>May 2014 - 1644 (Average headcount)</p><p>June 2014 - 1674 (Average headcount)</p><p> </p><p>4) The following number of uniform operational support staff have been utilised –</p><p> </p><p>January 2014 - 697 (Peak worker number)</p><p>February 2014 - 845 (Peak worker number)</p><p>March 2014 - 867 (Peak worker number)</p><p>April 2014 - 853 (Peak worker number)</p><p>May 2014 - 855 (Peak worker number)</p><p>June 2014 - Peak worker number not available yet.</p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous grouped question UIN 200710 200711 question first answered 21/10/2014 16:31:41 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous previous answer version 2385 answering member constituency Kenilworth and Southam answering member printed Jeremy Wright answering member 1560
	tabling member	1577 label Biography information for Sadiq Khan

93459

	registered interest
	date	15/10/2014
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Workplace Pensions
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have been enrolled under automatic enrolment into workplace pensions scheme since the inception of that scheme.
	tabling member constituency	East Londonderry
	tabling member printed	Mr Gregory Campbell
	uin	210625
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/10/2014 answer text <p /> <p>The latest information published by the Pensions Regulator on 9 October 2014 showed that more than 33,660 employers have completed the automatic enrolment process and 4.75 million eligible workers have been automatically enrolled into a workplace pension.</p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Steve Webb question first answered 20/10/2014 11:45:21 answering member 220 label Biography information for Steve Webb
	tabling member	1409 label Biography information for Mr Gregory Campbell

91777

	registered interest
	date	12/09/2014
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Discretionary Housing Payments
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of local housing allowance claimants receive discretionary housing payments; what proportion of such claimants on the shared accommodation rate receive discretionary housing payments; and how many such shared accommodation rate claimants who were (a) female, (b) male and (c) persons aged over 25 years receive discretionary housing payments.
	tabling member constituency	Blaydon
	tabling member printed	Mr David Anderson
	uin	209233
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/10/2014 answer text <p /> <p>This information is not available.</p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Steve Webb question first answered 13/10/2014 10:32:48 answering member 220 label Biography information for Steve Webb
	tabling member	1486 label Biography information for Mr David Anderson

79791

	registered interest
	date	30/07/2014
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Children: Day Care
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Deighton on 28 July (WA 247) what specific estimates they have made of the expected "positive impact" of the childcare element of Universal Credit on work incentives for mothers and corresponding employment rates and tax receipts from mothers paying income tax and national insurance.
	tabling member printed	Lord Sutherland of Houndwood
	uin	HL1680
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/08/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p>The announced measures mean from April 2016, families with children who have childcare costs below the defined limits will see an improved financial incentive to work and to work more hours.</p><p>Once Universal Credit is fully rolled out many working families will face an improved incentive to work, including 100,000 families who will get childcare support for the first time under Universal Credit. The precise improvement an individual faces will vary according to circumstance.</p><p>We have not made a specific estimate of how this feeds through into employment rates and tax receipts.</p><p><br></p> answering member printed Lord Freud question first answered 11/08/2014 12:29:40 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
	tabling member	2173 label Biography information for Lord Sutherland of Houndwood

90227

	registered interest
	date	01/09/2014
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Social Security Benefits: Greater Manchester
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many benefit sanctions on the grounds of (a) not actively seeking employment, (b) refusal of employment, (c) failure to attend a mandatory interview, (d) failure to participate in work-related activity and (e) non-compliance with a Jobseeker's Direction were received by claimants in (i) Denton and Reddish constituency, (ii) Tameside local authority and (iii) Stockport local authority between (A) April 2011 and March 2012 and (B) April 2013 and March 2014.
	tabling member constituency	Denton and Reddish
	tabling member printed	Andrew Gwynne
	uin	207769
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p>The available information as requested is shown in the table below.</p><p> </p><p>Number of adverse benefit sanctions applied in Denton and Reddish parliamentary constituency, Tameside Local Authority, Stockport Local Authority by referral reason:</p><table><tbody><tr><td><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Denton and Reddish</p></td><td><p>April 2011 to March 2012</p></td><td><p>April 2013 to March 2014</p></td></tr><tr><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td><p>Failure to attend a mandatory interview</p></td><td><p>390</p></td><td><p>410</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Non-compliance with a Jobseekers Direction</p></td><td><p>30</p></td><td><p>20</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Not actively seeking employment</p></td><td><p>160</p></td><td><p>520</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Failure to participate in Work-related activity</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>110</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Refusal of employment</p></td><td><p>60</p></td><td><p>30</p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Stockport</p></td><td><p>April 2011 to March 2012</p></td><td><p>April 2013 to March 2014</p></td></tr><tr><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td><p>Failure to attend a mandatory interview</p></td><td><p>1,080</p></td><td><p>800</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Non-compliance with a Jobseekers Direction</p></td><td><p>20</p></td><td><p>70</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Not actively seeking employment</p></td><td><p>430</p></td><td><p>920</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Failure to participate in Work-related activity</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>280</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Refusal of employment</p></td><td><p>150</p></td><td><p>20</p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Tameside</p></td><td><p>April 2011 to March 2012</p></td><td><p>April 2013 to March 2014</p></td></tr><tr><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td><p>Failure to attend a mandatory interview</p></td><td><p>1,240</p></td><td><p>1,110</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Non-compliance with a Jobseekers Direction</p></td><td><p>150</p></td><td><p>60</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Not actively seeking employment</p></td><td><p>530</p></td><td><p>1,790</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Failure to participate in Work-related activity</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>280</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Refusal of employment</p></td><td><p>250</p></td><td><p>80</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Source (JSA and ESA): DWP Statistical Services: Sanctions and Disallowance Decisions Statistics Database.</p><p>Source (IS): Income Support Computer System</p><p>Notes:</p><p>1. Figures have been rounded to the nearest ten.</p><p>2. Data provided is up to March 2014 which is the latest available.</p><p>3. The number of benefit sanctions applied is the number of sanction or disallowance referrals where the decision was found against the claimant for those in receipt of Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA), Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) in the work related activity group, or Income Support (Lone Parents).</p><p>4. The following reasons for referral apply to JSA only: Not actively seeking employment; Refusal of employment; Non-compliance with a Jobseekers Direction.</p><p>5. Refusal of employment is defined as follows: Refusal or failure to apply for, or accept if offered, a job which an employment officer has informed him/her is vacant or about to become vacant without good reason.</p><p>6. Failure to attend a mandatory interview includes: Failure to attend a mandatory interview for ESA claimants, failure to attend/participate in a work focused interview for ISLP claimants and failure to attend an adviser interview for JSA claimants.</p><p>7. Failure to participate in Work-related activity applies to ESA claimants in the work related activity group only.</p><p>8. New sanctions rules came into force for JSA from 22 October 2012 and for ESA from 3 December 2012. The number of JSA sanctions applied for the new regime is the number of low, intermediate, and high level referrals where the decision was found against the claimant. Further information can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/jobseekers-allowance-overview-of-sanctions-rules" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/jobseekers-allowance-overview-of-sanctions-rules</a></p><p>9. New regulations for ISLP claimants came into force on 28 April 2014.</p><p>An explanation of the full regulations is provided below can be found at: <a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/1097/contents/made" target="_blank">http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/1097/contents/made</a></p><p>10. This information for JSA and ESA sanctions is published at:</p><p><a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/" target="_blank">https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/</a></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Forest of Dean answering member printed Mr Mark Harper question first answered 09/09/2014 12:36:15 answering member 1520 label Biography information for Mr Mark Harper
	tabling member	1506 label Biography information for Andrew Gwynne

45379

	registered interest
	date	26/03/2014
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect of the planned changes to pensions on the investment strategy of the National Employment Savings Trust.
	tabling member constituency	Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East
	tabling member printed	Gregg McClymont
	uin	193950
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/04/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p>The investment strategy for the National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) is the responsibility of the NEST Trustees who will consider, if in the best interests of their members, there needs to be any change in NEST's investment approach.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Steve Webb question first answered 01/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 220 label Biography information for Steve Webb
	tabling member	3949 label Biography information for Gregg McClymont

44613

	registered interest
	date	24/03/2014
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what recent steps they have taken to ensure that information on the engagement activities of pension funds and other institutional investors with investee companies is made fully accessible.
	tabling member printed	Lord Harrison
	uin	HL6270
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/03/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p /> <p>The Government supports the principles set out in the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) UK Stewardship Code including schemes becoming active stewards of their investments and reporting on that stewardship. The Code sets out a number of areas of good practice to which the FRC believes institutional investors should aspire, and operates on a 'comply or explain' basis. It includes guidance for pension schemes and other asset owners on steps they can take to protect and enhance the value that accrues to the ultimate beneficiary. The FCA requires UK authorised asset managers to report on whether or not they apply the Code.</p><p> </p><p>The UK stewardship code is voluntary, however we would encourage workplace pensions schemes to comply with the principles set out in the code. In addition we are developing governance standards of workplace defined contribution schemes, and have asked the Law Commission to investigate how fiduciary duties currently apply in the investment chain. The Pensions Regulator's defined contribution Code of Practice also sets out the legal requirements and standards they expect trustees of defined contribution schemes to attain. This includes a section on investment which also references the FRC Stewardship code. These initiatives are part of our on-going work to ensure schemes are governed and administered to deliver in members' interests.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud grouped question UIN HL6271 HL6272 question first answered 31/03/2014 12:00:00 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
	tabling member	2488 label Biography information for Lord Harrison

44614

	registered interest
	date	24/03/2014
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the case for large occupational defined contribution pension schemes to be active owners or stewards of their assets, in line with the definition of stewardship as outlined in the Financial Reporting Council's Stewardship Code.
	tabling member printed	Lord Harrison
	uin	HL6271
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/03/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p /> <p>The Government supports the principles set out in the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) UK Stewardship Code including schemes becoming active stewards of their investments and reporting on that stewardship. The Code sets out a number of areas of good practice to which the FRC believes institutional investors should aspire, and operates on a 'comply or explain' basis. It includes guidance for pension schemes and other asset owners on steps they can take to protect and enhance the value that accrues to the ultimate beneficiary. The FCA requires UK authorised asset managers to report on whether or not they apply the Code.</p><p> </p><p>The UK stewardship code is voluntary, however we would encourage workplace pensions schemes to comply with the principles set out in the code. In addition we are developing governance standards of workplace defined contribution schemes, and have asked the Law Commission to investigate how fiduciary duties currently apply in the investment chain. The Pensions Regulator's defined contribution Code of Practice also sets out the legal requirements and standards they expect trustees of defined contribution schemes to attain. This includes a section on investment which also references the FRC Stewardship code. These initiatives are part of our on-going work to ensure schemes are governed and administered to deliver in members' interests.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud grouped question UIN HL6270 HL6272 question first answered 31/03/2014 12:00:00 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
	tabling member	2488 label Biography information for Lord Harrison

44615

	registered interest
	date	24/03/2014
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the case for large occupational defined benefit pension schemes to be active owners or stewards of their assets, in line with the definition of stewardship as highlighted in the Financial Reporting Council's Stewardship Code.
	tabling member printed	Lord Harrison
	uin	HL6272
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/03/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p /> <p>The Government supports the principles set out in the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) UK Stewardship Code including schemes becoming active stewards of their investments and reporting on that stewardship. The Code sets out a number of areas of good practice to which the FRC believes institutional investors should aspire, and operates on a 'comply or explain' basis. It includes guidance for pension schemes and other asset owners on steps they can take to protect and enhance the value that accrues to the ultimate beneficiary. The FCA requires UK authorised asset managers to report on whether or not they apply the Code.</p><p> </p><p>The UK stewardship code is voluntary, however we would encourage workplace pensions schemes to comply with the principles set out in the code. In addition we are developing governance standards of workplace defined contribution schemes, and have asked the Law Commission to investigate how fiduciary duties currently apply in the investment chain. The Pensions Regulator's defined contribution Code of Practice also sets out the legal requirements and standards they expect trustees of defined contribution schemes to attain. This includes a section on investment which also references the FRC Stewardship code. These initiatives are part of our on-going work to ensure schemes are governed and administered to deliver in members' interests.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud grouped question UIN HL6270 HL6271 question first answered 31/03/2014 12:00:00 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
	tabling member	2488 label Biography information for Lord Harrison

65909

	registered interest
	date	04/07/2014
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Work Programme
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to improve the performance of the Work Programme for people over 50 years of age; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	East Ham
	tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
	uin	204109
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/07/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p /> <p>The Work Programme is continuing to offer tailored support to people over 50 and providers are continuing to design support based on each individual need.</p><p>Work programme performance has been improving. Providers are improving their own performance, in part driven by the Department's performance management regime.</p> answering member constituency Wirral West answering member printed Esther McVey question first answered 09/07/2014 13:43:02 answering member 4084 label Biography information for Esther McVey
	tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms