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1002070

	registered interest
	date	05/11/2018
	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	Unemployment
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate the Government has made of the number of workless households in (a) Crawley constituency and (b) England.
	tabling member constituency	Crawley
	tabling member printed	Henry Smith
	uin	188170
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/11/2018 answer text <p>The Office for National Statistics use the Labour Force Survey to provide estimates for workless households in the UK.</p><p> </p><p>However, the percentage and number of workless households in Crawley are unavailable due to small sample sizes.</p><p> </p><p>For April-June 2018, there were 331,000 workless households in the South East region, which was 11.8% of households in the region.</p><p> </p><p>For April-June 2018, there were 2,391,000 workless households in England, which was 13.7% of all English households.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 16/11/2018 14:37:05 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	3960 label Biography information for Henry Smith

1002585

	registered interest
	date	06/11/2018
	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	Department for Work and Pensions: Energy
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the quantity was of (a) electricity and (b) natural gas used by (i) her Department, (ii) the Health and Safety Executive, (iii) the Pensions Advisory Service and (iv) the Pensions Regulator in each of the last three years for which figures are available.
	tabling member constituency	Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East
	tabling member printed	Stuart C. McDonald
	uin	188861
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/11/2018 answer text <p>Please see below electricity &amp; gas usage for 2015/16, 2016/17 &amp; 2017/18.</p><p> </p><p>(i) DWP</p><p> </p><p>Please note that 6 day opening began in 2017/18 in some areas, but has not yet been fully rolled out. To date, 6 day opening does not seem to have had a major impact on consumption or cost of energy per FTE.</p><p> </p><p>DWP energy figures are based on total consumption taken from the invoices that DWP is responsible for paying. Consumption and cost figures have then been divided by total FTE figures for the estate in each year. Please note that no adjustment has been made for recharging where there are sub-tenants within buildings DWP occupies, or for buildings at which DWP is recharged, and we do not have the facility to make that adjustment at present.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>Electricity kWh / FTE</p></td><td><p>Gas kWh / FTE</p></td><td><p>FTE Total</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015-16</p></td><td><p>1867</p></td><td><p>2308</p></td><td><p>75742</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016-17</p></td><td><p>1832</p></td><td><p>2452</p></td><td><p>75590</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017-18</p></td><td><p>1806</p></td><td><p>2459</p></td><td><p>75065</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p>(i) Health and Safety Executive</p><p> </p><p>Data based on HSE’s 28 offices, including HSE’s laboratory in Buxton. Where HSE does not know specific consumption from some of its Landlords /Holding Departments, and where HSE has government tenants whose consumption is not separately sub-metered, figures are estimated.</p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>Electricity kWh</p></td><td><p>Gas kWh</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015-16</p></td><td><p>12,051,317</p></td><td><p>13,138,923</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016-17</p></td><td><p>12,337,288</p></td><td><p>13,896,081</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017-18</p></td><td><p>11,763,810</p></td><td><p>13,849,043</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>(ii) The Pensions Advisory Service</p><p> </p><p>In a shared building, where they share the service charge &amp; payments are made centrally.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>Electricity kWh</p></td><td><p>Gas kWh</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015-16</p></td><td><p>No information held</p></td><td><p>No information held.</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016-17</p></td><td><p>No information held.</p></td><td><p>No information held.</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017-18</p></td><td><p>No information held.</p></td><td><p>No information held.</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>(iii) The Pensions Regulator</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>Electricity £</p></td><td><p>Gas £</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015-16</p></td><td><p>Not available at this time</p></td><td><p>Not available at this time</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016-17</p></td><td><p>Not available at this time</p></td><td><p>Not available at this time</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017-18</p></td><td><p>Not available at this time</p></td><td><p>Not available at this time</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 16/11/2018 14:44:45 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4393 label Biography information for Stuart C McDonald

1002586

	registered interest
	date	06/11/2018
	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	Department for Work and Pensions: Energy
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the cost was of (a) electricity and (b) natural gas used by (i) her Department, (ii) the Health and Safety Executive, (iii) the Pensions Advisory Service and (iv) the Pensions Regulator in each of the last three years for which figures are available.
	tabling member constituency	Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East
	tabling member printed	Stuart C. McDonald
	uin	188862
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/11/2018 answer text <p>Please see below electricity &amp; gas cost for 2015/16, 2016/17 &amp; 2017/18.</p><p> </p><p>(i) DWP</p><p> </p><p>Please note that 6 day opening began in 2017/18 in some areas, but has not yet been fully rolled out. To date, 6 day opening does not seem to have had a major impact on consumption or cost of energy per FTE.</p><p> </p><p>DWP energy figures are based on total consumption taken from the invoices that DWP is responsible for paying. Consumption and cost figures have then been divided by total FTE figures for the estate in each year. Please note that no adjustment has been made for recharging where there are sub-tenants within buildings DWP occupies, or for buildings at which DWP is recharged, and we do not have the facility to make that adjustment at present.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>Electricity £ / FTE</p></td><td><p>Gas £ / FTE</p></td><td><p>FTE Total</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015-16</p></td><td><p>£ 256</p></td><td><p>£ 79</p></td><td><p>75742</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016-17</p></td><td><p>£ 257</p></td><td><p>£ 78</p></td><td><p>75590</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017-18</p></td><td><p>£ 256</p></td><td><p>£ 78</p></td><td><p>75065</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>(ii) HSE</p><p> </p><p>Data based on HSE’s 28 offices, including HSE’s laboratory in Buxton. Where HSE does not know specific consumption from some of its Landlords /Holding Departments, and where HSE has government tenants whose consumption is not separately sub-metered, figures are estimated.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>Electricity £</p></td><td><p>Gas £</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015-16</p></td><td><p>£1,381,532</p></td><td><p>£443,071</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016-17</p></td><td><p>£1,373,438</p></td><td><p>£369,236</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017-18</p></td><td><p>£1,339,724</p></td><td><p>£349,858</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p><br></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>(iii) The Pensions Advisory Service</p><p> </p><p>In a shared building, where costs are estimated</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>Electricity £</p></td><td><p>Gas £</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015-16</p></td><td><p>£21,000</p></td><td><p>£8,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016-17</p></td><td><p>£17,000</p></td><td><p>£6,500</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017-18</p></td><td><p>£16,000</p></td><td><p>£7,800</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p>(iv) The Pensions Regulator</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>Electricity</p></td><td><p>Gas £</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015-16</p></td><td><p>£125,318</p></td><td><p>£7,337</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016-17</p></td><td><p>£133,383</p></td><td><p>£5,485</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017-18</p></td><td><p>£133,961</p></td><td><p>£5,434</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 16/11/2018 14:51:35 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4393 label Biography information for Stuart C McDonald

1006059

	registered interest
	date	13/11/2018
	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	Food Banks
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department plans to maintain a central record of the number of people who use foodbanks in the UK.
	tabling member constituency	Hyndburn
	tabling member printed	Graham P Jones
	uin	190860
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/11/2018 answer text <p>We have no current plans to develop official national statistics on food bank use. However, the Office for National Statistics is leading a project to improve statistics on household food insecurity by reviewing all existing official and non-official sources of data and looking at options to fill data gaps in partnership with government departments, including the Department for Work and Pensions.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 19/11/2018 16:20:30 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	3999 label Biography information for Graham P Jones

1006898

	registered interest
	date	14/11/2018
	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: Fraud
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to tackle benefit fraud.
	tabling member constituency	Upper Bann
	tabling member printed	David Simpson
	uin	191358
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/11/2018 answer text <p>The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is committed to reducing benefit fraud across all benefits administered by or on behalf DWP.</p><p> </p><p>DWP’s key focus is on preventing potential benefit fraud before it occurs. Internal and external data matches are increasingly helping inform benefit payments and alerting staff to check for any undeclared changes in people’s circumstances.</p><p>The Department’s Risk and Intelligence Service uses data and analytics to identify fraud and uses that information to direct investigations. The Department is investing significantly in this area, which will enhance its future risk assessment capability.</p><p>DWP takes effective action against people who commit benefit fraud. This includes the use of tough financial penalties referred to as administrative penalties and where appropriate prosecution. DWP convicted nearly 5,000 people of benefit fraud last year alone, as well as issuing over 5,500 Administrative Penalties.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 20/11/2018 13:58:37 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	1597 label Biography information for David Simpson

1006899

	registered interest
	date	14/11/2018
	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	Crisis Loans
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many crisis loans were awarded in 2017.
	tabling member constituency	Upper Bann
	tabling member printed	David Simpson
	uin	191359
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/11/2018 answer text <p>No Crisis Loans were awarded in 2017.</p><p> </p><p>Crisis Loans were abolished in England, Scotland and Wales from 1<sup>st</sup> April 2013 and in Northern Ireland from November 27<sup>th</sup> 2016 as part of Welfare Reform.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 21/11/2018 15:36:47 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	1597 label Biography information for David Simpson

1007131

	registered interest
	date	14/11/2018
	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	Support for Mortgage Interest
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 9 October 2018 to Question 174049, (a) what data is available on the number of people in receipt of Support for Mortgage Interest before April 2018 that continue to receive that benefit and (b) how her Department defines the term vulnerable in relation to that support.
	tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne North
	tabling member printed	Catherine McKinnell
	uin	191413
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/11/2018 answer text <p>Data on the number of people in receipt of Support for Mortgage Interest before April 2018 that continue to receive that benefit is not available.</p><p> </p><p>For the purposes of Support for Mortgage Interest a vulnerable claimant is defined as a claimant who lacks the mental capacity to make a financial decision about whether or not to take the SMI Loan.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 19/11/2018 16:06:22 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4125 label Biography information for Catherine McKinnell

1007758

	registered interest
	date	15/11/2018
	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: Maintenance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to reduce waiting times for reassessment of child maintenance following a change in circumstances.
	tabling member constituency	Crewe and Nantwich
	tabling member printed	Laura Smith
	uin	191985
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/11/2018 answer text <p>The processing of changes of circumstance remains a key priority for the Child Maintenance Service. The numbers of people working within the Child Maintenance Service is reviewed regularly to ensure we have sufficient resources to answer customer calls and progress cases.</p><p>So far in 2018, we have recruited 835 people into the Child Maintenance Service, with these people joining us between February 2018 and October 2018, and we have plans in place for a further 40 people to join the Child Maintenance Service between November 2018 and January 2019.</p><p>The performance and timeliness of progressing changes to circumstances is under regular review and forms part of our external publication offering. We continue to explore opportunities to introduce improvements and efficiencies within the Child Maintenance Service and we are currently in the process of implementing Real Time Information from HMRC which will ensure that we have access to the latest income information to make efficient changes to assessments.“</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 20/11/2018 16:33:51 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4648 label Biography information for Laura Smith

1010211

	registered interest
	date	19/11/2018
	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: Telephone Services
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many calls have been made to each of her Department's benefit telephone lines in each of the last 18 months for which data are available.
	tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
	tabling member printed	Frank Field
	uin	192733
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/11/2018 answer text <p>Information about the total calls offered to the Department’s benefit telephone lines for the 18 month period May 2017 to October 2018 for which data is available has been published in the House of Commons Library<strong>.</strong></p><p> </p><p>The total number of calls across the Department have remained at a consistent level since May 2017. During this period we have rolled out Universal Credit, the Universal Credit caseload has risen to over 1.3 million, and we have been receiving calls from Universal Credit claimants that would previously have gone to HMRC or Local Authorities.</p><p> </p><p>The requested information is in the attached document.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 27/11/2018 17:39:19 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson attachment 1 file name Telephony.docx title Telephony
	tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

1010212

	registered interest
	date	19/11/2018
	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: Telephone Services
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the (a) shortest, (b) longest and (c) average waiting times for calls to each of her Department's benefit telephone lines were in each of the last 18 months for which data are available.
	tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
	tabling member printed	Frank Field
	uin	192734
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/12/2018 answer text <p>The table below provides the average waiting times for the benefit telephone lines for comparison with PQ<a href="https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2018-05-08/141701/" target="_blank">141701</a>.</p><p> </p><p>The information is for the most recent 18 month period in which data is available for, May 2017 to October 2018.</p><p> </p><p>We are aware of a potential issue, which is being investigated, whereby a call could be terminated by a customer but potentially remain in the system and continue to be recorded as a ‘live call’. This issue produces statistical anomalies which impact on the reliability of the data available.</p><p> </p><p>Average Speed of Answer</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>Last 18 Months</p></td><td><p>October 2018</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>National DLA Adult</p></td><td><p>00:03:26</p></td><td><p>00:04:51</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Employment and Support Allowance Enquiry</p></td><td><p>00:15:19</p></td><td><p>00:11:30</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Jobseekers Allowance Enquiry English</p></td><td><p>00:08:51</p></td><td><p>00:03:43</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Income Support Enquiry</p></td><td><p>00:08:38</p></td><td><p>00:11:07</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Jobcentre Enquiry Line</p></td><td><p>00:06:05</p></td><td><p>00:04:48</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Personal Independence Payment</p></td><td><p>00:05:31</p></td><td><p>00:06:46</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Universal Credit Live Service</p></td><td><p>00:09:17</p></td><td><p>00:16:26</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Universal Credit Full Service</p></td><td><p>00:05:01</p></td><td><p>00:03:58</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>The information requested regarding the shortest and longest wait time could only be provided at disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p>Please Note:</p><p> </p><p>Data Source: BT - OPMIS and Historical Management Information (GI2 – HMI)</p><p>The data supplied is derived from unpublished management information, which was collected for internal Departmental use only and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. The data should therefore be treated with caution.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 04/12/2018 16:33:04 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead