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178909

registered interest
date	10/02/2015
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	Post Office Card Account
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by the Minister of State for Pensions, Steve Webb MP, on 21 May 2012 (HC Deb, col 506W), how many of the targeted 700,000 Post Office card accounts have been migrated to mainstream bank accounts and how many Post Office account users have refused to give up their Post Office account.
tabling member printed	Baroness Byford
uin	HL4907
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/02/2015 answer text <p /> <p>For reasons of financial inclusion the Post Office Ltd (POL) were financially incentivised to migrate 700,000 users of Post Office card accounts to mainstream bank accounts over the life of the current contract. As part of this contract Government is not responsible to pay for the upkeep of these 700,000 accounts. Through the life of the contract to date, customer volumes have reduced by approximately 1.1m, achieving a saving for the Government on these accounts. The extent to which POL has achieved this reduction through attrition or migration is a matter for POL.</p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member printed Lord Freud question first answered 23/02/2015 16:58:13 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
tabling member	3343 label Biography information for Baroness Byford

178623

registered interest
date	09/02/2015
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	State Retirement Pensions: British Nationals Abroad
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 impact on families of their policy to freeze rather than uprate the state pensions of those living abroad.
tabling member printed	Baroness Benjamin
uin	HL4773
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/02/2015 answer text <p /> <p>The bulk of individuals receiving UK state pensions overseas voluntarily moved abroad whilst in their twenties and thirties. This means they will have spent the majority of their working lives outside the UK and contributing to the economy of their country of residence. For the small minority of pensioners who decide to move overseas at retirement it is advisable that they check the implications for their state pension before moving. There is no evidence of a proven behavioural link between the up-rating policy for the state pension and pensioner migration. Furthermore, it is not the role of the Government to encourage (or discourage) pensioner migration. The decision to move abroad is voluntary and remains a personal choice dependent on the circumstances of the individual, which will differ from person to person, and of which implications for their state pension is just one factor.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud grouped question UIN HL4774 question first answered 23/02/2015 15:02:46 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
tabling member	4167 label Biography information for Baroness Benjamin

178624

registered interest
date	09/02/2015
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	State Retirement Pensions: British Nationals Abroad
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to alleviate loneliness among British pensioners who would prefer to migrate to join their younger families overseas but who are reluctant to do so as a result of the prospect of the freezing of their state pension.
tabling member printed	Baroness Benjamin
uin	HL4774
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/02/2015 answer text <p>The bulk of individuals receiving UK state pensions overseas voluntarily moved abroad whilst in their twenties and thirties. This means they will have spent the majority of their working lives outside the UK and contributing to the economy of their country of residence. For the small minority of pensioners who decide to move overseas at retirement it is advisable that they check the implications for their state pension before moving. There is no evidence of a proven behavioural link between the up-rating policy for the state pension and pensioner migration. Furthermore, it is not the role of the Government to encourage (or discourage) pensioner migration. The decision to move abroad is voluntary and remains a personal choice dependent on the circumstances of the individual, which will differ from person to person, and of which implications for their state pension is just one factor.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud grouped question UIN HL4773 question first answered 23/02/2015 15:02:46 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
tabling member	4167 label Biography information for Baroness Benjamin

178654

registered interest
date	09/02/2015
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	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government why no target or key performance indicators have been set for the collection of child maintenance arrears.
tabling member printed	Lord Kirkwood of Kirkhope
uin	HL4804
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/02/2015 answer text <p>Performance indicators have been set for those aspects of child maintenance activity that are most critical to the objectives set out in the Government’s strategy on arrears published in January 2013, namely to prevent the build up of arrears in the first place and prioritise the recovery of arrears where this will benefit children today. We therefore have indicators, for example, on the clearance of cases, collections, the number of cases contributing towards current liability and the number of children benefiting. A simple indicator for the collection of arrears would not reflect the objectives of the strategy. Since 2010 we have collected almost £600 million in arrears.</p><p> </p><p>The recommendations are set out on pages 20 to 34 of the Advisory Panels 2011 Report “<em>Advisory Panel on Arrears of Child Maintenance”</em> which can be found at: <a href="http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20120716161734/http:/www.childmaintenance.org/en/pdf/advisory-panel-arrears-sep-11.pdf" target="_blank">http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20120716161734/http:/www.childmaintenance.org/en/pdf/advisory-panel-arrears-sep-11.pdf</a></p><p> </p><p>In response to the report the Department published its Arrears and Compliance Strategy 2012 – 2017 – “Preparing for the future, tackling the past.” which can be found at <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/214338/cm-arrears-and-compliance-strategy-2012-2017.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/214338/cm-arrears-and-compliance-strategy-2012-2017.pdf</a></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In December 2012, the Department introduced two sections of the Child Maintenance and Other Payments Act 2008; the ability to write off debt in prescribed scenarios and to accept part payment in full and final satisfaction.</p><p> </p><p>We have also trialled the use of the Australian Model of arrears classification, and are considering the results to inform future action.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud grouped question UIN HL4805 HL4806 HL4807 question first answered 23/02/2015 16:37:53 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
tabling member	635 label Biography information for Lord Kirkwood of Kirkhope

178655

registered interest
date	09/02/2015
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	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what factors have changed since they announced in June 2010 that a target would be set for the collection of child maintenance arrears.
tabling member printed	Lord Kirkwood of Kirkhope
uin	HL4805
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/02/2015 answer text <p>Performance indicators have been set for those aspects of child maintenance activity that are most critical to the objectives set out in the Government’s strategy on arrears published in January 2013, namely to prevent the build up of arrears in the first place and prioritise the recovery of arrears where this will benefit children today. We therefore have indicators, for example, on the clearance of cases, collections, the number of cases contributing towards current liability and the number of children benefiting. A simple indicator for the collection of arrears would not reflect the objectives of the strategy. Since 2010 we have collected almost £600 million in arrears.</p><p> </p><p>The recommendations are set out on pages 20 to 34 of the Advisory Panels 2011 Report “<em>Advisory Panel on Arrears of Child Maintenance”</em> which can be found at: <a href="http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20120716161734/http:/www.childmaintenance.org/en/pdf/advisory-panel-arrears-sep-11.pdf" target="_blank">http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20120716161734/http:/www.childmaintenance.org/en/pdf/advisory-panel-arrears-sep-11.pdf</a></p><p> </p><p>In response to the report the Department published its Arrears and Compliance Strategy 2012 – 2017 – “Preparing for the future, tackling the past.” which can be found at <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/214338/cm-arrears-and-compliance-strategy-2012-2017.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/214338/cm-arrears-and-compliance-strategy-2012-2017.pdf</a></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In December 2012, the Department introduced two sections of the Child Maintenance and Other Payments Act 2008; the ability to write off debt in prescribed scenarios and to accept part payment in full and final satisfaction.</p><p> </p><p>We have also trialled the use of the Australian Model of arrears classification, and are considering the results to inform future action.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud grouped question UIN HL4804 HL4806 HL4807 question first answered 23/02/2015 16:37:59 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
tabling member	635 label Biography information for Lord Kirkwood of Kirkhope

178656

registered interest
date	09/02/2015
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	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what recommendations were made by the Advisory Panel on the Arrears of Child Maintenance; and what action they took as a result of the panel’s recommendations put forward in 2011.
tabling member printed	Lord Kirkwood of Kirkhope
uin	HL4806
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/02/2015 answer text <p>Performance indicators have been set for those aspects of child maintenance activity that are most critical to the objectives set out in the Government’s strategy on arrears published in January 2013, namely to prevent the build up of arrears in the first place and prioritise the recovery of arrears where this will benefit children today. We therefore have indicators, for example, on the clearance of cases, collections, the number of cases contributing towards current liability and the number of children benefiting. A simple indicator for the collection of arrears would not reflect the objectives of the strategy. Since 2010 we have collected almost £600 million in arrears.</p><p> </p><p>The recommendations are set out on pages 20 to 34 of the Advisory Panels 2011 Report “<em>Advisory Panel on Arrears of Child Maintenance”</em> which can be found at: <a href="http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20120716161734/http:/www.childmaintenance.org/en/pdf/advisory-panel-arrears-sep-11.pdf" target="_blank">http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20120716161734/http:/www.childmaintenance.org/en/pdf/advisory-panel-arrears-sep-11.pdf</a></p><p> </p><p>In response to the report the Department published its Arrears and Compliance Strategy 2012 – 2017 – “Preparing for the future, tackling the past.” which can be found at <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/214338/cm-arrears-and-compliance-strategy-2012-2017.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/214338/cm-arrears-and-compliance-strategy-2012-2017.pdf</a></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In December 2012, the Department introduced two sections of the Child Maintenance and Other Payments Act 2008; the ability to write off debt in prescribed scenarios and to accept part payment in full and final satisfaction.</p><p> </p><p>We have also trialled the use of the Australian Model of arrears classification, and are considering the results to inform future action.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud grouped question UIN HL4804 HL4805 HL4807 question first answered 23/02/2015 16:37:59 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
tabling member	635 label Biography information for Lord Kirkwood of Kirkhope

178657

registered interest
date	09/02/2015
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	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government why they did not adopt an appropriate indicator for the collection of child maintenance arrears as recommended by the Advisory Panel on the Arrears of Child Maintenance.
tabling member printed	Lord Kirkwood of Kirkhope
uin	HL4807
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/02/2015 answer text <p>Performance indicators have been set for those aspects of child maintenance activity that are most critical to the objectives set out in the Government’s strategy on arrears published in January 2013, namely to prevent the build up of arrears in the first place and prioritise the recovery of arrears where this will benefit children today. We therefore have indicators, for example, on the clearance of cases, collections, the number of cases contributing towards current liability and the number of children benefiting. A simple indicator for the collection of arrears would not reflect the objectives of the strategy. Since 2010 we have collected almost £600 million in arrears.</p><p> </p><p>The recommendations are set out on pages 20 to 34 of the Advisory Panels 2011 Report “<em>Advisory Panel on Arrears of Child Maintenance”</em> which can be found at: <a href="http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20120716161734/http:/www.childmaintenance.org/en/pdf/advisory-panel-arrears-sep-11.pdf" target="_blank">http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20120716161734/http:/www.childmaintenance.org/en/pdf/advisory-panel-arrears-sep-11.pdf</a></p><p> </p><p>In response to the report the Department published its Arrears and Compliance Strategy 2012 – 2017 – “Preparing for the future, tackling the past.” which can be found at <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/214338/cm-arrears-and-compliance-strategy-2012-2017.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/214338/cm-arrears-and-compliance-strategy-2012-2017.pdf</a></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In December 2012, the Department introduced two sections of the Child Maintenance and Other Payments Act 2008; the ability to write off debt in prescribed scenarios and to accept part payment in full and final satisfaction.</p><p> </p><p>We have also trialled the use of the Australian Model of arrears classification, and are considering the results to inform future action.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud grouped question UIN HL4804 HL4805 HL4806 question first answered 23/02/2015 16:37:59 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
tabling member	635 label Biography information for Lord Kirkwood of Kirkhope

178688

registered interest
date	09/02/2015
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	European Union
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the total cost of the Review of the Balance of Competences between the United Kingdom and the European Union to the Department for Work and Pensions and its associated agencies, broken down by (1) staff time, (2) printing costs, (3) running of engagement events, (4) witness expenses, (5) publicity of the reports, and (6) any and all other associated costs.
tabling member printed	Baroness Prashar
uin	HL4837
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/02/2015 answer text <p /> <p>As you will be aware, the Balance of Competences Review concluded in December. It was the most comprehensive analysis of the UK’s relationship with the EU ever undertaken. The Review involved a large number of Departments across Whitehall to produce the 32 reports. The Review was based on the evidence and views received through widespread consultation with interested parties from across society. Across the whole review, departments received close to 2,300 evidence submissions. Departments held over 250 events, attended by around 2,100 stakeholders.</p><p> </p><p>It was important that what is an unprecedented examination of EU membership was done with appropriate time and care. But the government is also very conscious of the need to ensure value for money in everything that it does.</p><p> </p><p>Work on the Review was allocated according to need to existing staff within the Department. Providing a full breakdown of staff time and costs would exceed the disproportionate cost threshold.</p><p> </p><p>The Department for Work and Pensions contributed to two reports, the Social and Employment Report, led by the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, and the Single Market: Free Movement of Persons Report, led by the Home Office. As such, the Department for Work and Pensions did not directly incur any costs. The Department did make a financial contribution to the Home Office in respect of their printing costs.</p><p> </p><p>Across the whole of the Balance of Competences Review witness expenses amounted to approximately £2,255.00</p> answering member printed Lord Freud question first answered 23/02/2015 16:06:05 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
tabling member	2476 label Biography information for Baroness Prashar

175901

registered interest
date	27/01/2015
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	Unpaid Work
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to promote equal access to intern opportunities for all; and how many disabled people have received help from the Access to Work Fund in order to participate fully in internship programmes.
tabling member printed	Lord Allen of Kensington
uin	HL4481
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/02/2015 answer text <p /> <p>Her Majesty’s Government promote equal access to intern opportunities through a series of communications strands such as:</p><p> </p><p>· The rising awareness of Disability Confident Britain and it’s media profile will help increase awareness of the Access to Work (AtW) support available;</p><p>· Continually improving and developing Advisory knowledge and skills in supporting Disabled People into work and remaining in work, and;</p><p>· Marketing the Jobcentre Plus offer directly to employers and other organisations and institutions.</p><p> </p><p>Moreover, Access to Work gives practical support and help to meet additional costs to overcome barriers. AtW can usually support people only in paid internships, however we have extended Access to Work to cover the Supported internships scheme for young people with special educational needs and for young people undertaking Traineeships. DWP does not have a robust means of reporting programme volumes for internships.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud question first answered 10/02/2015 17:36:41 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
tabling member	4304 label Biography information for Lord Allen of Kensington