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1122422

	registered interest
	date	23/04/2019
	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 investigatory powers are available to officials in her Department to calculate the (a) income of a parent due to pay child maintenance, (b) amount a parent is able to pay; and what criteria her Department uses to authorise those powers.
	tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
	tabling member printed	Frank Field
	uin	246453
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/04/2019 answer text <p>When the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) makes a calculation it is based initially on income information received directly from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). Having access to HMRC income information allows the Child Maintenance Service to capture a much wider range of income types received by paying parents. In addition to a parent’s gross annual income, we can capture income derived from property, savings and investments (including dividends) and other miscellaneous income. This is unearned income can be included in the calculation if a request is made to vary the calculation. In December 2018 we introduced new powers which also enable us to target complex earners via a calculation of notional income based on their assets.</p><p> </p><p>Cases involving complex income or suspected fraudulent behaviour can be looked into by the Financial Investigation Unit (FIU). This specialist team can request information from a range of financial institutions to check the accuracy of information the Child Maintenance Service is given. The financial institutions are legally bound to supply the information. When an investigation finds evidence of criminality, the FIU will seek to prosecute or forward to HMRC for fraud action.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 29/04/2019 12:09:12 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

1123569

	registered interest
	date	29/04/2019
	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, which groups of parents are not required to pay child maintenance; and what estimate her Department has made of the number of parents who are primary carers for children who do not receive child maintenance.
	tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
	tabling member printed	Frank Field
	uin	248589
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/05/2019 answer text <p>All parents have a responsibility to support their children. Where an application is made to the Child Maintenance Service, a liability will be calculated based on the gross taxable income of the paying parent, provided all the relevant parties can be identified and are classed as habitually resident in the UK.</p><p> </p><p>In certain circumstances, where the paying parent: has a gross a weekly income below £7 per week; is a child; is in prison; is aged 16-17 years old and in receipt of prescribed benefits; is receiving a work based training allowance; is in a care home, hospital or receiving home care; this liability will be nil.</p><p /><p>The following publication includes statistics on the child maintenance arrangements of separated families:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/separated-families-population-statistics" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/separated-families-population-statistics</a></p><p> </p><p>Information on the number of parents who are primary carers for children but do not receive child maintenance is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 07/05/2019 12:05:38 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

1124248

	registered interest
	date	01/05/2019
	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, whether her Department plans to collect and publish (a) the number of deductions from benefits and (b) instances of sharing non-compliant parents' information with credit reference agencies.
	tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
	tabling member printed	Frank Field
	uin	249881
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/05/2019 answer text <p>This question has been interpreted as referring to actions taken by the Child Maintenance Service. The Department does hold information regarding:</p><ol><li>deductions from the benefits received by a paying parent on the Child Maintenance Service in order to pay Child Maintenance;</li><li>instances in which the details of non-compliant paying parents on the Child Maintenance Service have been shared with credit reference agencies.</li></ol><p>The Department has no immediate plans to publish this information. However, with the completion of the Child Support Agency case closure programme, and the implementation of the new Child Maintenance compliance and arrears strategy, the Department continues to review what information is included in regular publications.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 07/05/2019 15:39:15 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

1124257

	registered interest
	date	01/05/2019
	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, pursuant to the Answer of 29 April 2019 to Question 246453, on Children: Maintenance, how many times each of the powers listed in the Answer have been used.
	tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
	tabling member printed	Frank Field
	uin	249882
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/05/2019 answer text <p>We do not keep information on the number of times Financial Investigation Unit (FIU) request information from financial institutions to check the accuracy of information.</p><p> </p><p>Regarding the number of times Financial Investigation Unit (FIU) will seek to prosecute or forward to HMRC for fraud action. I can confirm there has been one prosecution in 2019 with 3 other cases are being investigated by Crown Prosecution Service. The arrangements with HMRC to provide them with information regarding Child Maintenance Group investigations has been finalised and the first transfer of data will occur in mid May.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 10/05/2019 14:47:10 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

1128235

	registered interest
	date	22/05/2019
	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, what the timescale is for her Department to publish the findings of the study it commissioned on the links between Government policy and demand on food banks.
	tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
	tabling member printed	Frank Field
	uin	257456
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/06/2019 answer text <p>We are currently carrying out a literature review on the factors driving the use of food banks which will be published in due course.</p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 05/06/2019 13:48:15 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

1135376

	registered interest
	date	27/06/2019
	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	Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she will make an assessment of the potential merits of exempting care leavers under the age of 25 from the under-occupancy penalty in the social rented sector.
	tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
	tabling member printed	Frank Field
	uin	270290
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/07/2019 answer text <p>Care leavers up to the age of 22 are exempt from the Local Housing Allowance shared accommodation rate in the Private Rented Sector. There are no plans to extend this exemption or to introduce an exemption for care leavers to the removal of the spare room subsidy policy in the Social Rented Sector.</p><p>For those individuals who may require more support and whose circumstances may make it difficult for them to share accommodation, Discretionary Housing Payments are available.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 270291 question first answered 02/07/2019 11:19:53 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

1135377

	registered interest
	date	27/06/2019
	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	Local Housing Allowance: Care Leavers
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the local housing allowance exemption for care leavers up to the age of 25.
	tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
	tabling member printed	Frank Field
	uin	270291
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/07/2019 answer text <p>Care leavers up to the age of 22 are exempt from the Local Housing Allowance shared accommodation rate in the Private Rented Sector. There are no plans to extend this exemption or to introduce an exemption for care leavers to the removal of the spare room subsidy policy in the Social Rented Sector.</p><p>For those individuals who may require more support and whose circumstances may make it difficult for them to share accommodation, Discretionary Housing Payments are available.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 270290 question first answered 02/07/2019 11:19:53 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

1123047

	registered interest
	date	25/04/2019
	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	National Insurance Contributions
	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 in each constituency have incomplete national insurance records for their pension because they have omitted to pay the contributions in past contributory years.
	tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
	tabling member printed	Frank Field
	uin	247595
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/04/2019 answer text <p>Although the Government holds data on National Insurance records, it is based on a 1 per cent sample of the National Insurance and PAYE System (NPS) which is not sufficient to provide data at a constituency level. So the specific information requested is not available.</p><p> </p><p>It is worth noting that over the course of someone’s working life it is possible to have some gaps in their National Insurance record and still get the full amount of State Pension. For example, in the case of the new State Pension, if we assume around a 50 year working life, this allows for roughly 15 years of gaps.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 30/04/2019 15:13:29 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

1125889

	registered interest
	date	10/05/2019
	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	Winter Fuel Payment
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if his Department will make an estimate of the potential cost of amending annual Winter Fuel Payment letters to include a paragraph inviting recipients to donate their payment to a charitable cause.
	tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
	tabling member printed	Frank Field
	uin	252837
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/05/2019 answer text <p>Recipients of Winter Fuel Payments are free to use them in the way they choose, including donating them to a charity of their choice. There is evidence that some people choose to do this already.</p><p> </p><p>Currently the Department cannot estimate the potential cost of this specific proposal, but is always open to suggestions from the chair of the WPSC. Digital reform of the Winter Fuel Payment Service is underway and will mean that from 2020/21 the Department could consider using newer technologies that may offer more flexibility over making improvements to the letters. As with the development of all digital services, user research will be an important factor in improving the letters to ensure they meet everyone’s needs, and in particular that the needs of vulnerable people are carefully considered.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 20/05/2019 14:21:20 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

1128240

	registered interest
	date	22/05/2019
	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	Personal Independence Payment
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether it is her Department's policy to require that people applying for personal independence payments provide proof of identity prior to processing a completed application form.
	tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
	tabling member printed	Frank Field
	uin	257460
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/06/2019 answer text <p>It is critical that DWP verifies a customer's identity correctly in all circumstances. Effective identity verification and authentication, using commonly applied standards across the Department, will protect the personal data of customers and make a direct contribution to the prevention of identity fraud.</p><p> </p><p>DWP does require people applying for Personal Independence Payment to provide proof of identity. This is sought prior to processing a completed application form to ensure any benefit awarded is paid to the right person. This proof is initially sought verbally at the start of the claim process when the customer will be asked security questions from the information DWP already holds. If we are unable to establish Identity Verification verbally then DWP will ask the customer to provide evidence of ID such as a Passport or Birth Certificate.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 07/06/2019 13:02:11 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead