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1167793

	registered interest
	date	01/11/2019
	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	Maternity Allowance
	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 31 October 2019 to Question 5404, what the working day turn around for maternity allowance claims was before 15 October 2019.
	tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
	tabling member printed	Frank Field
	uin	8582
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2019 answer text <p>The working day turnaround for Maternity Allowance claims averaged 55 working days up to the end of September 2019 and increased to 60 days by 15 October 2019.</p> answering member constituency Eastleigh answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 05/11/2019 16:43:11 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

1167826

	registered interest
	date	01/11/2019
	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	Department for Work and Pensions: Honours
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of staff in his Department in receipt of each category of Honour in (a) December 2018 and (b) June 2019 were (i) from ethnic minority backgrounds and (ii) female aged (A) under 30, (B) 31 to 40, (C) 41 to 50 and (D) aged over 50.
	tabling member constituency	Feltham and Heston
	tabling member printed	Seema Malhotra
	uin	8610
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2019 answer text <p>The Government is committed to ensuring that the honours system is fully representative of UK society. The proportion of women and people from ethnic minorities receiving recognition on each honours list is available on <a href="http://gov.uk/" target="_blank">GOV.UK</a>, as is a breakdown of ethnicities of recipients, published on the Ethnicity Facts and Figures website at <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/honours-recipients-by-ethnicity" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/honours-recipients-by-ethnicity</a>. Information on ages is not correlated with other diversity factors. We also publish the proportion of honours by independent committee on GOV.UK. The numbers of honours recipients in the Department for Work and Pensions are small and vary from year to year.</p> answering member constituency Eastleigh answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 05/11/2019 16:29:43 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	4253 label Biography information for Seema Malhotra

1167614

	registered interest
	date	31/10/2019
	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, how many non-resident parents have had their passports revoked following a failure to make Child Maintenance Service payments since the new provisions came into effect.
	tabling member constituency	Romsey and Southampton North
	tabling member printed	Caroline Nokes
	uin	8252
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2019 answer text <p>The number of passports revoked by Child maintenance Service is 4. This is clerically derived data, and therefore as with all clerically derived data, is subject to caveat.</p> answering member constituency Eastleigh answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 05/11/2019 16:23:00 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes

1167615

	registered interest
	date	31/10/2019
	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 steps her Department is taking to ensure that non-maintenance-paying parents do not request mandatory reconsiderations from the Child Maintenance Service to continue to avoid making payments.
	tabling member constituency	Romsey and Southampton North
	tabling member printed	Caroline Nokes
	uin	8253
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2019 answer text <p>All clients, regardless of their role within the scheme, have the right to request a decision be reconsidered by the Child Maintenance Service (CMS). Mandatory reconsideration rights only apply to decisions relating to child maintenance liability. The standard timescale in which a revision may be requested is within 30 days of the date of notification of the decision. Our policy is that a mandatory reconsideration will only happen once in respect of any particular decision, after which a client accrues the right to appeal to an independent tribunal.</p><p> </p><p>If a client requests a mandatory reconsideration, their child maintenance liability will remain in place as usual until a decision is made. Where a mandatory reconsideration or appeal is ongoing, the Service will continue to attempt collection of any debt that is not covered by the appeal. The CMS may make a decision to suspend enforcement action on debt which is subject to an appeal, as this may result in reimbursement for the amount collected.</p> answering member constituency Eastleigh answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 04/11/2019 16:35:59 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes

1167676

	registered interest
	date	31/10/2019
	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	Department for Work and Pensions: Digital Technology
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, who is responsible for digitisation in her Department; and what mechanisms the that person uses to champion digitisation.
	tabling member constituency	North Norfolk
	tabling member printed	Norman Lamb
	uin	8207
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2019 answer text <p>Service transformation is one of the Department for Work and Pensions’ strategic objectives. Accountability is shared between the Director General for Digital and the Director General for Service Excellence. It is coordinated through the Service Transformation Board which provides governance for service improvements as well as the strategic approach to the digitalisation of the Department’s services. The work is championed across the Department, including via Transformation Portfolio Managers and Digital product owners.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Eastleigh answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 05/11/2019 11:34:51 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	1439 label Biography information for Norman Lamb

1167460

	registered interest
	date	30/10/2019
	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	Average Earnings
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of year-on-year trends in the level of average weekly earnings in each year since 2010.
	tabling member constituency	Vale of Clwyd
	tabling member printed	Chris Ruane
	uin	7644
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2019 answer text <p>Statistics on average weekly earnings growth are published by the independent Office for National Statistics.</p><p> </p><p>In August 2010, real (total) pay fell by 0.5%. In August 2019 the real (total) pay growth was 1.9% - an increase in the rate of real wage growth of 2.4 percentage points.</p><p> </p><p>The highest real (total) pay growth, between Aug 10 – Aug 19, was in Aug 15 (2.6%).</p><p> </p><p>Under the Triple Lock the basic State Pension and the full rate of the new State Pension will be raised the highest of: the rise in prices, the rise in earnings or 2.5%. The relevant measure for earnings is the year-on-year change in Average Weekly Earnings (AWE) from May to July published by the ONS in October, standing at 3.9%</p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p><p /><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Date</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Growth in nominal average weekly total pay</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>August 2010</p></td><td><p>1.8 %</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>August 2011</p></td><td><p>2.6%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>August 2012</p></td><td><p>1.6%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>August 2013</p></td><td><p>0.7%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>August 2014</p></td><td><p>0.6%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>August 2015</p></td><td><p>3.0%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>August 2016</p></td><td><p>2.4%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>August 2017</p></td><td><p>2.3%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>August 2018</p></td><td><p>2.8%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>August 2019</p></td><td><p>3.8%</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p /> answering member constituency Eastleigh answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 05/11/2019 16:45:26 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	534 label Biography information for Chris Ruane

1167461

	registered interest
	date	30/10/2019
	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	Part-Time Employment
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of people working less than 16 hours who wanted to work more in each of the last 10 years.
	tabling member constituency	Vale of Clwyd
	tabling member printed	Chris Ruane
	uin	7645
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2019 answer text <p>I refer the Hon Member to the answer given to PQ 4936 in which I give details, published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), of the number of people whose usual weekly hours are less than six hours, and between 6 and 15 hours. Details are not available for the number of people working less than 16 hours who wanted to work more in each of the last 10 years.</p><p> </p><p>ONS does publish some related data: 1) the number of people in employment who want to work more hours, are available for work and are currently working below the hours threshold (40 hours a week for those under 18, 48 hours a week for those aged 18 or over), and 2) people working part-time who gave the reason as “could not find full-time job” as reason for working part-time. The tables below give extracts from the ONS published data, however, both these data series will include both those working less than, and more than, 16 hours a week.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Table 1: The number of people in employment who want to work more hours, are available for work and are currently working below the hours threshold</strong></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Date</p></td><td><p>Level</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Apr-Jun 2010</p></td><td><p>2,754</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Apr-Jun 2011</p></td><td><p>2,841</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Apr-Jun 2012</p></td><td><p>3,061</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Apr-Jun 2013</p></td><td><p>3,090</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Apr-Jun 2014</p></td><td><p>2,977</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Apr-Jun 2015</p></td><td><p>2,786</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Apr-Jun 2016</p></td><td><p>2,601</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Apr-Jun 2017</p></td><td><p>2,460</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Apr-Jun 2018</p></td><td><p>2,390</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Apr-Jun 2019</p></td><td><p>2,479</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Source: Table EMP16, ONS, Labour Force Survey</p><p> </p><p><strong>Table 2: Part-time workers who gave the reason as “could not find full-time job” as reason for working part-time</strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Date</p></td><td><p>Level</p></td><td><p>% of all Part Time Employed</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Apr-Jun 2010</p></td><td><p>1,084</p></td><td><p>14.0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Apr-Jun 2011</p></td><td><p>1,275</p></td><td><p>16.2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Apr-Jun 2012</p></td><td><p>1,438</p></td><td><p>17.9</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Apr-Jun 2013</p></td><td><p>1,467</p></td><td><p>18.3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Apr-Jun 2014</p></td><td><p>1,347</p></td><td><p>16.5</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Apr-Jun 2015</p></td><td><p>1,285</p></td><td><p>15.7</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Apr-Jun 2016</p></td><td><p>1,149</p></td><td><p>13.6</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Apr-Jun 2017</p></td><td><p>1,019</p></td><td><p>12.1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Apr-Jun 2018</p></td><td><p>968</p></td><td><p>11.5</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Apr-Jun 2019</p></td><td><p>907</p></td><td><p>10.6</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Source: Table EMP01NSA, ONS, Labour Force Survey</p><p> </p><p>At UK level people in full-time work have made up over three quarters of the overall increase in employment since 2010.</p> answering member constituency Eastleigh answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 04/11/2019 18:07:40 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	534 label Biography information for Chris Ruane

1167508

	registered interest
	date	30/10/2019
	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 Care Services: Health and Safety
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions she has had with representatives from the Local Government Association on the adequacy of health and safety registration procedures in relation to hair salons.
	tabling member constituency	Blackpool South
	tabling member printed	Gordon Marsden
	uin	7651
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2019 answer text <p>We have not had any discussions with representatives from the Local Government Association on the adequacy of health and safety registration procedures in relation to hair salons.</p> answering member constituency Eastleigh answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 04/11/2019 16:25:06 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	465 label Biography information for Gordon Marsden

1167020

	registered interest
	date	29/10/2019
	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	Department for Work and Pensions: International Men's Day
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans her Department has to mark International Men's Day on 19 November 2019.
	tabling member constituency	Shipley
	tabling member printed	Philip Davies
	uin	7099
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2019 answer text <p>No one should suffer unfair treatment because of their gender. Every year International Men’s Day offers an opportunity to highlight how outcomes for men and boys can be improved and to talk about some of the important work going on every day across Government to do this.</p><p> </p><p>The work ranges from the introduction of shared parental leave, which allows men to take time away from the workplace and bond with their new children, benefitting that crucial long-term relationship for both parent and child, to our programme tackling LGBT bullying in schools which seeks to protect those who may be victimised by outdated and stereotypical ideas of what it means to be a ‘real man’.</p><p> </p><p>Government is also working with local authorities to ensure their suicide prevention plans support more men, and in the Domestic Abuse Bill we propose to create a statutory definition of domestic abuse that makes clear men also can be victims of this abhorrent crime.</p><p /><p>In DWP we have a series of national events taking place over the coming weeks to mark International Men’s Day. DWP have partnered with external organisations (The Good Lad initiative and Springboard Consultancy) to give a platform to raise awareness of the challenges that men face in life and raising awareness of men’s wellbeing. We have also invited DWP senior positive role models to talk about their journey, DWP User Researchers to talk about the issues that impact on men at work and the DWP Women’s Network to lead a session on allies and how allies benefit us all.</p> answering member constituency Eastleigh answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 05/11/2019 16:37:40 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	1565 label Biography information for Sir Philip Davies

1167098

	registered interest
	date	29/10/2019
	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	Social Security Benefits: Disqualifications
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of hardship payments made by her Department which have been directly attributed to the imposition of benefit sanctions in (a) Vale of Clwyd parliamentary constituency, (b) Wales and (c) the UK in each of the last four years.
	tabling member constituency	Vale of Clwyd
	tabling member printed	Chris Ruane
	uin	7077
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2019 answer text <p>Hardship payments provide financial protection for claimants whose benefit is reduced by a Fraud Loss of Benefit penalty or a Benefit Sanction.</p><p> </p><p>For a) and b), the information requested is not readily available at a country or constituency level and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p>For c) the requested data is provided for Great Britain in the following two tables for Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) and Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) respectively. Please note, figures supplied are derived from data which has not been quality assured to Official Statistics publication standard. These results can change retrospectively as further information is received. They should therefore be treated with caution. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 1,000.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="5"><p>JSA - Number of hardship payments awarded as a result of a sanction</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015</p></td><td><p>2016</p></td><td><p>2017</p></td><td><p>2018</p></td><td><p>2019 (year to Aug 19)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>120,000</p></td><td><p>58,000</p></td><td><p>29,000</p></td><td><p>10,000</p></td><td><p>Fewer than 1,000</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="5"><p>ESA - Number of hardship payments awarded as a result of a sanction</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015</p></td><td><p>2016</p></td><td><p>2017</p></td><td><p>2018</p></td><td><p>2019 (year to Aug 19)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>4,000</p></td><td><p>2,000</p></td><td><p>1,000</p></td><td><p>Fewer than 1,000</p></td><td><p>Fewer than 1,000</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>For Universal Credit, the data cannot be disaggregated to identify the hardship payments that have been directly attributed to the application of a benefit sanction from those resulting from a fraud penalty.</p> answering member constituency Eastleigh answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 04/11/2019 18:04:16 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	534 label Biography information for Chris Ruane

1166631

	registered interest
	date	28/10/2019
	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	Employment Schemes
	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 are participating in (a) the Work Programme and (b) Work Choice; and on what date the final participants will complete those programmes.
	tabling member constituency	Wirral West
	tabling member printed	Margaret Greenwood
	uin	6405
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/10/2019 answer text <p>Statistics on the Work Programme, including information on starts, referrals and job outcomes is published and available here:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/work-programme-statistics--2" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/work-programme-statistics--2</a></p><p> </p><p>Statistics on the Work Choice programme, including information on starts, referrals and job outcomes is published and available here:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/work-choice-statistics-number-of-starts-and-referrals--2" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/work-choice-statistics-number-of-starts-and-referrals--2</a></p> answering member constituency Eastleigh answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 31/10/2019 17:46:47 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	4400 label Biography information for Margaret Greenwood

1166712

	registered interest
	date	28/10/2019
	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	Universal Credit
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support is available to parents who are returning to work from parental leave who have to pay childcare costs upfront and get reimbursed in arrears under universal credit.
	tabling member constituency	Scunthorpe
	tabling member printed	Nic Dakin
	uin	6354
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/10/2019 answer text <p>The Government is committed to supporting parents with moving into work and, as part of this, we increased the level of support for childcare costs from 70 per cent in legacy benefits to up to 85 per cent in Universal Credit (UC). The UC childcare policy aligns with the wider government childcare offer, which includes free childcare hours and tax free childcare and UC claimants can utilise both the free childcare entitlement and UC childcare costs in conjunction with each other for relevant hours. This offer means that reasonable childcare costs should not form a barrier to work.</p><p> </p><p>The UC childcare policy aligns with the wider government childcare offer, which includes free childcare hours and tax free childcare and UC claimants can utilise both the free childcare entitlement and UC childcare costs in conjunction with each other for relevant hours. This offer means that reasonable childcare costs should not form a barrier to work.</p><p> </p><p>Beyond the UC childcare element, claimants can be considered for two additional methods of funding childcare costs: the Flexible Support Fund (FSF) and Budgeting Advances.</p><p> </p><p>Work Coaches can support individual claimants with barriers that may prevent them from moving into employment. Each case is considered carefully on its own merits with financial help available to eligible claimants in advance for childcare. Where agreed, FSF will pay 100% of the upfront childcare costs up to the payment limits set that the claimant incurs between starting work and receiving their first wage.</p><p> </p><p>A budgeting advance is available for one-off urgent financial events for eligible UC claimants, such as upfront childcare, and is repayable over a period of up to 12 monthly instalments. Only one Budgeting Advance will be paid at a time and further advances will be unavailable until the balance of the previous Budgeting Advance is cleared.</p> answering member constituency Eastleigh answering member printed Mims Davies grouped question UIN 6355 question first answered 31/10/2019 17:41:48 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	4056 label Biography information for Nic Dakin

1166713

	registered interest
	date	28/10/2019
	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	Universal Credit
	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 take steps to provide the childcare element of universal credit to eligible parents before they pay high childcare costs without any support; and if she will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Scunthorpe
	tabling member printed	Nic Dakin
	uin	6355
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/10/2019 answer text <p>The Government is committed to supporting parents with moving into work and, as part of this, we increased the level of support for childcare costs from 70 per cent in legacy benefits to up to 85 per cent in Universal Credit (UC). The UC childcare policy aligns with the wider government childcare offer, which includes free childcare hours and tax free childcare and UC claimants can utilise both the free childcare entitlement and UC childcare costs in conjunction with each other for relevant hours. This offer means that reasonable childcare costs should not form a barrier to work.</p><p> </p><p>The UC childcare policy aligns with the wider government childcare offer, which includes free childcare hours and tax free childcare and UC claimants can utilise both the free childcare entitlement and UC childcare costs in conjunction with each other for relevant hours. This offer means that reasonable childcare costs should not form a barrier to work.</p><p> </p><p>Beyond the UC childcare element, claimants can be considered for two additional methods of funding childcare costs: the Flexible Support Fund (FSF) and Budgeting Advances.</p><p> </p><p>Work Coaches can support individual claimants with barriers that may prevent them from moving into employment. Each case is considered carefully on its own merits with financial help available to eligible claimants in advance for childcare. Where agreed, FSF will pay 100% of the upfront childcare costs up to the payment limits set that the claimant incurs between starting work and receiving their first wage.</p><p> </p><p>A budgeting advance is available for one-off urgent financial events for eligible UC claimants, such as upfront childcare, and is repayable over a period of up to 12 monthly instalments. Only one Budgeting Advance will be paid at a time and further advances will be unavailable until the balance of the previous Budgeting Advance is cleared.</p> answering member constituency Eastleigh answering member printed Mims Davies grouped question UIN 6354 question first answered 31/10/2019 17:41:48 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	4056 label Biography information for Nic Dakin

1166746

	registered interest
	date	28/10/2019
	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	Offshore Industry: North Sea
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions she has had with (a) Cabinet colleagues and (b) representatives of the duty holders of the Thistle oil platform on the evacuation of all workers from the Thistle oil platform to the Dunlin Alpha platform in the North Sea on 21 October 2019.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	6368
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2019 answer text <p>The Secretary of State has not had any recent discussions on this matter. The Health and Safety Executive is currently investigating the reasons for the evacuation of the Thistle oil platform. While the investigation is on-going it would be inappropriate to comment further.</p> answering member constituency Eastleigh answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 04/11/2019 18:43:24 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

1166748

	registered interest
	date	28/10/2019
	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	Oil Rigs: North Sea
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has discussed with the Health and Safety Executive the evacuation of all workers from the Thistle oil platform to the Dunlin Alpha platform in the North Sea on 21 October 2019; and if she will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	6370
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2019 answer text <p>The Health and Safety Executive is currently investigating the reasons for the evacuation of the Thistle oil platform. While the investigation is on-going it would be inappropriate to comment further.</p> answering member constituency Eastleigh answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 04/11/2019 16:30:22 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

1166749

	registered interest
	date	28/10/2019
	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	Oil Rigs: North Sea
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the evacuation of all workers from the Thistle oil platform to the Dunlin Alpha platform in the North Sea on 21 October 2019, when the subsea structure of the Thistle oil platform was due the next mandatory safety inspection by the Health and Safety Executive.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	6371
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2019 answer text <p>The offshore regulatory regime does not place duties on the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to carry out mandatory inspections. HSE inspects duty holders’ arrangements for managing major accident risks. HSE carried out an inspection of EnQuest’s management of the structural integrity of its Thistle installation in December 2018. Based on the results of the inspection, HSE had planned a follow-up inspection for November 2019. This follow up has been postponed because of the need to investigate the structural integrity issues that led to the evacuation of the workers on 21 October 2019.</p> answering member constituency Eastleigh answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 04/11/2019 16:30:45 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

1166750

	registered interest
	date	28/10/2019
	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	Oil Rigs: North Sea
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Health and Safety Executive has provided guidance or advice to EnQuest on conducting preliminary safety inspection of subsea structures of their North Sea assets in the last six months.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	6372
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2019 answer text <p>The Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) last planned inspection of EnQuest’s management of the safety of its subsea structures was in December 2018. Following that inspection, HSE had planned an inspection in November 2019 to evaluate the progress EnQuest had made with its subsea structural analyses and monitoring arrangements. However, this has been postponed as HSE is currently investigating the reasons for the evacuation of EnQuest’s Thistle installation. The investigation findings will inform HSE’s future inspections with EnQuest.</p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Eastleigh answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 04/11/2019 16:45:14 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

1166751

	registered interest
	date	28/10/2019
	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	Oil Rigs: North Sea
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when the Health and Safety Executive plans to complete its investigations into the causes of the recent fires on the (a) Heather Alpha and (b) Tern Alpha North Sea platforms.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	6373
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2019 answer text <p>The Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) investigations into both incidents are on-going and have included mobilisation of multi-discipline investigation teams to each installation. The investigations have already required HSE to serve enforcement notices on each of the installations’ respective duty holders. Enforcement notices are published on HSE’s website nine weeks after they are served, unless the duty holder appeals the notices at an Employment Tribunal.</p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Eastleigh answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 04/11/2019 16:29:07 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

1166752

	registered interest
	date	28/10/2019
	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	Offshore Industry: Safety
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when she last discussed the safety of workers in the offshore oil and gas industry with representatives of (a) trades unions and (b) the oil and gas industry.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	6374
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2019 answer text <p>The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and trade unions are members of Step Change in Safety (SCiS) which meets regularly to discuss the safety of the workforce in the offshore sector. In September 2019, an event was organised by SCiS to recognise the influence of the elected safety representatives on offshore safety in the 30 years since legislation was enacted mandating their appointment at all installations in the UKCS. HSE provided speakers and logistical support for this event. The event was attended by over 300 people. It was also live broadcasted worldwide, enabling workers on offshore installations and regulators from other countries to participate.</p><p> </p><p>HSE officials engage with industry leaders through its membership of Oil and Gas UK (OGUK). At OGUK’s annual safety conference in November 2019, industry leaders will be making a formal commitment to improve their Process Safety Leadership. HSE’s Chair will be speaking at that conference, setting out his expectations for industry leaders, including the need to improve their Process Safety Leadership for the management of major hazard risks.</p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Eastleigh answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 04/11/2019 16:38:15 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

1166882

	registered interest
	date	28/10/2019
	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	Universal Credit
	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 universal credit claimants with children are not eligible for a budgeting advance to pay for upfront childcare costs due to (a) an existing budgeting advance, (b) not having made a debt repayment and (b) not claiming universal credit for a sufficient amount of time in the most recent period for which data is available.
	tabling member constituency	High Peak
	tabling member printed	Ruth George
	uin	6505
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/10/2019 answer text <p>The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency Eastleigh answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 31/10/2019 17:45:17 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	4662 label Biography information for Ruth George

1166913

	registered interest
	date	28/10/2019
	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	Maternity Allowance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, where maternity allowance was administered prior to April 2018.
	tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
	tabling member printed	Frank Field
	uin	6240
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2019 answer text <p>Prior to April 2018 Maternity Allowance was processed at Wrexham Benefit Centre and Chesterfield Benefit Centre.</p> answering member constituency Eastleigh answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 04/11/2019 18:32:21 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

1166914

	registered interest
	date	28/10/2019
	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	Maternity Allowance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will list (a) all of the sites where maternity allowance has been administered and (b) the period of time they were administered at those sites.
	tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
	tabling member printed	Frank Field
	uin	6241
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2019 answer text <p>Known sites for processing MA and the period that MA was processed at them is as follows:</p><p> </p><p>Chesterfield – February 2016 to February 2019</p><p>Wrexham – 2005 (exact date unknown) to August 2019</p><p>Birkenhead – From April 2018</p><p>Walsall – From July 2019</p><p>St Helens – From August 2019</p> answering member constituency Eastleigh answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 04/11/2019 18:37:29 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

1166924

	registered interest
	date	28/10/2019
	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	Department for Work and Pensions: Living Wage
	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 28 October 2019 to Question 3824, what roles are being performed by the 13 departmental staff who are paid below the London Living Wage.
	tabling member constituency	Greenwich and Woolwich
	tabling member printed	Matthew Pennycook
	uin	6470
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2019 answer text <p>DWP has 13 individuals paid below the London Living Wage out of a total of 11293 employed within the London pay zones. However, these 13 individuals are paid the National Living Wage. They are all employed in administrative grades; 11 are Administrative Assistants and 2 are Administrative Officers. These grades carry out administrative functions in various job roles across the department.</p> answering member constituency Eastleigh answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 04/11/2019 16:25:57 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	4520 label Biography information for Matthew Pennycook

1166925

	registered interest
	date	28/10/2019
	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	Department for Work and Pensions: Catering and Cleaning Services
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with what companies does his Department hold contracts for (a) catering and (b) cleaning within its London-based estate.
	tabling member constituency	Greenwich and Woolwich
	tabling member printed	Matthew Pennycook
	uin	6471
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/11/2019 answer text <p>Catering and cleaning on the whole DWP estate (including London) are delivered as part of a Total Facilities Management contract with Interserve Facilities Management. Catering is delivered by Compass as a sub-contractor to Interserve.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Eastleigh answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 01/11/2019 11:02:29 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	4520 label Biography information for Matthew Pennycook

1156380

	registered interest
	date	25/10/2019
	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	Maternity Allowance
	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 24 October to Question 2694 on Maternity Allowance, on what date her Department's messaging changed; and what the estimated number of days was in relation to that change.
	tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
	tabling member printed	Frank Field
	uin	5404
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/10/2019 answer text <p>From 15 October 19 all Enquiry Line greeting messages, Gov.uk and SMS messages were aligned to notify customers that the working day turn around for MA claims was 70 days. This estimate reflected potential concerns that processing times could increase still further – which did not ultimately prove to be the case. In light of this we are reviewing our messaging to ensure our actual processing times are correctly reflected.</p><p>SMS texts only go to those customers that provide mobile contact numbers and are automated from the mail opening unit on receipt of the claim form.</p> answering member constituency Eastleigh answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 31/10/2019 17:41:06 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies previous answer version 2850 answering member constituency Eastleigh answering member printed Mims Davies answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead