Show Search Form

Search Results

registered interest	true false
date	exactly: or between: and
answering body
answering dept id
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
hansard heading
house id
legislature	pref label
question text
tabling member constituency
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member constituency answering member printed question first answered answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

1713127

registered interest
date	23/04/2024
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	Carer's Allowance: Students
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of removing the 21 hour study rule from the eligibility criteria for Carer’s Allowance.
tabling member constituency	Linlithgow and East Falkirk
tabling member printed	Martyn Day
uin	23254
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/05/2024 answer text <p>This Government recognises and appreciates the vital contribution made by informal carers. With respect to full-time education, the Government believes that this should be supported by the educational maintenance system. That is why, as a general principle, full-time students are precluded from entitlement to income-related and income-maintenance benefits, including Carer’s Allowance.</p><p>Educational institutions decide which young people receive bursaries or other support and determine the level of financial support they receive. They develop their own eligibility criteria for access to the discretionary bursary fund, including setting a household income threshold appropriate to their area, and must publish this information for their students. Arrangements may differ across the United Kingdom.</p><p>In England, for example, over £160 million of bursary funding has been allocated in the 2023/24 academic year to institutions to help disadvantaged 16- to 19-year-olds with the costs of taking part in education. This is nearly 12% higher than published allocations for last year. The Department for Education has also made available £20 million each year in England specifically to support students in defined vulnerable groups.</p><p>Carer’s Allowance is a devolved benefit in Scotland.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 01/05/2024 16:44:16 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4488 label Biography information for Martyn Day

1701551

registered interest
date	16/04/2024
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: Disability
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of waiting times to speak to the Disability Service Centre.
tabling member constituency	Linlithgow and East Falkirk
tabling member printed	Martyn Day
uin	22084
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/04/2024 answer text <p>Telephony is our customers’ primary channel to contact us. We continually assess the number of calls we are receiving and the associated waiting times, deploying resources accordingly to support service levels wherever this is possible.</p><p>However, due to recent higher volumes of calls than forecast, from the 24th of April and throughout May, we are deploying dedicated telephony specific resource to the Personal Independent Payment telephony lines which will give better support when dealing with sudden increases in traffic.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 23/04/2024 13:23:14 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4488 label Biography information for Martyn Day

1657344

registered interest
date	01/09/2023
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 12 December 2022 to Question 101751 on Children: Maintenance, whether his Department (a) has launched and (b) plans to launch a review into using gross income to calculate child maintenance.
tabling member constituency	Linlithgow and East Falkirk
tabling member printed	Martyn Day
uin	196964
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/09/2023 answer text <p>The Government’s response to the Independent Review of CMS’s handling of domestic abuse cases announced our intentions to look again at the child maintenance calculation to ensure it is fit for purpose and fair for both parents in light of societal changes since it was last looked at. The review is ongoing, and any changes would require changes to primary legislation and will be brought forward in the usual way. Any changes will always be made according to the best interests of children.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 08/09/2023 11:21:01 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4488 label Biography information for Martyn Day

1602837

registered interest
date	09/03/2023
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	Cost of Living Payments
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 make it his policy to extend the eligibility for the 2023-24 Cost of Living Payments to people in receipt of contributions-based Employer Support Allowance.
tabling member constituency	Linlithgow and East Falkirk
tabling member printed	Martyn Day
uin	162246
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/03/2023 answer text <p>The government has targeted the means-tested Cost of Living Payments to those on means tested benefits as those with the lowest incomes are most vulnerable to increases in the cost of living.</p><p> </p><p>Contributory and new style benefits such as contributory Employment and Support Allowance are not means-tested benefits, and people claiming them may have other financial resources available to them.</p><p> </p><p>Low-income claimants of these benefits may also be able to claim a means-tested benefit. For example, they may be eligible for Universal Credit and, if their claim is successful, they may qualify for future cost of living support. They may also be eligible for a disability benefit and the Disability Cost of Living Payment.</p><p> </p><p>Contributory and new style benefits will also be up-rated by 10.1% from April. And for those who need further support, we are extending the Household Support Fund in England throughout 2023/24 to help households with the cost of essentials including those in need who may not be eligible for the other support we have recently made available. The Devolved Administrations will receive Barnett funding to spend at their discretion with their local knowledge.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 16/03/2023 11:30:15 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4488 label Biography information for Martyn Day

1547641

registered interest
date	02/12/2022
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, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of calculating child maintenance payments using income net of tax.
tabling member constituency	Linlithgow and East Falkirk
tabling member printed	Martyn Day
uin	101751
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/12/2022 answer text <p>To calculate child maintenance, the Child Maintenance Service uses the paying parent’s gross income before tax and national insurance but after pension contributions.</p><p> </p><p>While the method of assessment is kept under review to assure fairness for both parents, at this stage, using gross income allows calculations to be made quickly and accurately as income information can be obtained easily from HM Revenue and Customs. This avoids uncertainty for both parents and potential administrative problems.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 12/12/2022 17:36:13 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4488 label Biography information for Martyn Day

1545642

registered interest
date	25/11/2022
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 Pay: Charities
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 assessment of the potential merits of improving the current Statutory Maternity Pay arrangements for people who work in the Charity Sector.
tabling member constituency	Linlithgow and East Falkirk
tabling member printed	Martyn Day
uin	96627
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/12/2022 answer text <p>Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) exists to provide a measure of financial security to help women take time off work in the later stages of their pregnancy and in the months following childbirth, in the interests of their own and their baby's health and wellbeing.</p><p> </p><p>It is available to all women who meet the earnings and employment test, regardless of which sector they work in. On that basis, there are currently no plans to make an assessment of the potential merits of improving the current SMP arrangements for people who work in the Charity Sector.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 01/12/2022 16:51:15 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4488 label Biography information for Martyn Day

1243046

registered interest
date	13/10/2020
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, if she will increase support for separated families who use the Child Maintenance Service during the covid-19 outbreak.
tabling member constituency	Linlithgow and East Falkirk
tabling member printed	Martyn Day
uin	102874
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/10/2020 answer text <p>The Government has been clear in its commitment to support both paying and receiving parents in this difficult time.</p><p> </p><p>To help reduce the short-term financial pressure that will be experienced by many paying parents, the time period for reconsidering a maintenance liability on the basis of a change in income was reduced from 12 weeks to 2 weeks and in response to a drop in income, the CMS had advised the paying parent to reduce their payments and then retrospectively amended the calculation for the period of low income.</p><p> </p><p>In order to ensure that receiving parents do not lose out in the long run, we are updating cases with notified changes. Where payments have been missed the Service is taking action to re-establish compliance and collect any unpaid amounts that may have accrued.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 15/10/2020 16:33:14 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4488 label Biography information for Martyn Day

1200782

registered interest
date	05/06/2020
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: Linlithgow and East Falkirk
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate the Government has made of the number of workless households in Linlithgow and East Falkirk constituency.
tabling member constituency	Linlithgow and East Falkirk
tabling member printed	Martyn Day
uin	55091
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/06/2020 answer text <p>Sub-regional estimates of workless households* are produced annually by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) using the Annual Population Survey (APS). The latest available statistics were published on 31 July 2019 and cover the period January to December 2018.</p><p> </p><p>ONS do not publish Parliamentary constituency figures on workless households but they do produce local authority figures. Linlithgow and East Falkirk constituency covers the eastern portion of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falkirk_(district)" target="_blank">Falkirk</a> local authority and the western portion of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Lothian" target="_blank">West Lothian</a> local authority area.</p><p> </p><p>ONS estimate that between January to December 2018 there were approximately:</p><p> </p><ul><li>8,000 (or 15.7%) workless households in Falkirk local authority; and</li><li>8,000 (or 14.3%) workless households in West Lothian local authority.</li></ul><p> </p><p>These estimates are based on a sample of cases and therefore subject to sampling uncertainty.</p><p> </p><p>ONS will publish updated figures for January-December 2019 on 29 July 2020 and will pre-date the COVID-19 pandemic which began in March 2020.</p><p> </p><p>* A workless household is a household that contains at least one person aged 16 to 64, where no-one aged 16 or over is in employment.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 23/06/2020 16:48:39 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4488 label Biography information for Martyn Day

1200454

registered interest
date	04/06/2020
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	Long Term Unemployed People: Linlithgow and East Falkirk
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support her Department is providing to people aged 18 to 25 who are classified as long-term unemployed in Linlithgow and East Falkirk constituency.
tabling member constituency	Linlithgow and East Falkirk
tabling member printed	Martyn Day
uin	54960
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/06/2020 answer text <p>We acknowledge that it is important that Jobcentres continue to support young people through the economic recovery post-COVID-19. They have already started to re-engage with new and existing claimants and are signposting them to appropriate support.</p><p> </p><p>Anyone over the age of 18 can claim New Style Employment and Support Allowance and Jobseeker’s Allowance if they have sufficient paid National Insurance contributions. Neither of those benefits is means-tested. Those on low incomes and with limited capital can claim Universal Credit or legacy Jobseeker’s Allowance.</p><p> </p><p>For Universal Credit, New Claims Advances of up to 100% of potential entitlement are available within a few days if a claimant needs support during their first assessment period. Face-to-face checks for Universal Credit advances have been scrapped due to Covid-19, so people get the support they need despite COVID-19 restrictions. We have also increased the Standard Allowance for everyone by over £80 a month on top of the existing 1.7% (CPI) increase already announced. This additional increase means all claimants will be up to £1040 better off.</p><p> </p><p>DWP is also engaging with a number of external stakeholders including the Youth Employment Group (set up by the Prince’s Trust, Youth Employment UK, the Institute for Employment Studies, the Youth Futures Foundation and Impetus) as well as continuing to work across Whitehall to develop appropriate support aimed at young people.</p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 23/06/2020 16:19:00 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4488 label Biography information for Martyn Day

1200455

registered interest
date	04/06/2020
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: Linlithgow and East Falkirk
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many benefit claimants have been sanctioned in Linlithgow and East Falkirk constituency in each of the last five years.
tabling member constituency	Linlithgow and East Falkirk
tabling member printed	Martyn Day
uin	54961
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/06/2020 answer text <p>The number of Universal Credit claimants who have been sanctioned is published quarterly. The latest figures for Universal Credit sanction rates are up to February 2020 and can be found at:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-work-pensions/about/statistics" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-work-pensions/about/statistics</a></p><p> </p><p>Geographical breakdowns of the figures can be found at:</p><p><a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/" target="_blank">https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/</a></p><p> </p><p>Guidance for users is available at:</p><p><a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html" target="_blank">https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html</a></p><p> </p><p>The number of Universal Credit claimants who have been sanctioned since 1 March 2020 will not be available until the next publication of these statistics in August 2020.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 23/06/2020 16:20:08 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4488 label Biography information for Martyn Day