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100533

	registered interest
	date	22/10/2014
	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	Asbestos
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many premises inspectors of the Health and Safety Executive visited as part of inspections of the licensed removal of asbestos in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012 and (d) 2013.
	tabling member constituency	East Ham
	tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
	uin	211627
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/10/2014 answer text <p /> <p>The information asked for is not held.</p><p> </p><p>Below is a table of the number of Asbestos visits by Health and Safety Executive Inspectors. These numbers may include more than one visit to the same premises.</p><p> </p><p>The number of inspections has reduced over the past five years due to a reduction in the number of licence holders from 559 in 2010 to 458 in 2014.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Year (April – March)</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Number of Asbestos visits</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010 – 2011</p></td><td><p>1,872</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011 – 2012</p></td><td><p>1,755</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012 – 2013</p></td><td><p>1,522</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013 – 2014</p></td><td><p>1,318</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p> answering member constituency Forest of Dean answering member printed Mr Mark Harper question first answered 28/10/2014 17:58:04 answering member 1520 label Biography information for Mr Mark Harper previous answer version 24587 answering member constituency Forest of Dean answering member printed Mr Mark Harper answering member 1520 label Biography information for Mr Mark Harper
	tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

78114

	registered interest
	date	15/07/2014
	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: Brighton
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, where people from Brighton and Hove are being asked to travel to in order to have face-to-face personal independence payment (PIP) interviews; what assessment he has made of the range of challenges faced by people going for assessment for PIP payments who are asked to travel to another town for a face-to-face interview; if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of taxis for people from Brighton and Hove who cannot use public transport to get to PIP assessments up to 90 minutes away from their homes; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Brighton, Pavilion
	tabling member printed	Caroline Lucas
	uin	205786
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>There are currently two assessment centres situated in the BN21 and BN41 postcode area. A third assessment centre based in the BN3 postcode will be opening shortly.</p><p> </p><p>PIP assessment providers must ensure that claimants do not have to travel for more than 90 minutes by public transport (single journey) for a consultation. This limit is an absolute maximum and we expect that only a small minority of claimants will have to make a journey approaching this duration. In the exceptional circumstance where a claimant is unable to make a journey within 90 minutes via public transport the assessment provider will offer either a home visit or the ability to use a taxi.</p><p> </p><p>We are encouraging assessment providers to identify consultation venues that are as local and convenient as possible.</p><p> </p><p>Payment of claimant expenses including taxi fares is the responsibility of the PIP assessment provider, the Department does not meet these costs.</p><p> </p><p>This information is therefore not available within the Department.</p> answering member constituency Forest of Dean answering member printed Mr Mark Harper question first answered 22/07/2014 11:09:12 answering member 1520 label Biography information for Mr Mark Harper previous answer version 11773 answering member constituency Forest of Dean answering member printed Mr Mark Harper answering member 1520 label Biography information for Mr Mark Harper
	tabling member	3930 label Biography information for Caroline Lucas

78119

	registered interest
	date	15/07/2014
	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, if he will make it his policy to publish the personal independence payment application form on his Department's website in an interactive form; what assessment he made of the difficulties claimants have in completing those forms in long hand; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Brighton, Pavilion
	tabling member printed	Caroline Lucas
	uin	205815
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2014 answer text <p> </p><p> </p><p>The Personal Independence Payment application form is normally completed by telephone although we are committed to providing an on-line PIP claim and the Department is working with disability representative organisations to develop a secure and accessible on-line service. More information about the Department's Digital Strategy launched in December 2012 is available at <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-digital-strategy" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-digital-strategy</a></p><p> </p><p>Once we have established the claimant has met basic entitlement conditions relating to age and residence, a form called ‘How your disability affects you’ and an information booklet will be issued by post. The claimant can use this form to describe in their own words how their health condition or disability affects their daily life using a combination of free text and tick boxes, and has one calendar month to return it. The 'How your disability affects you' questionnaire was tested with claimants who have a range of health conditions and impairments, to ensure it was easier to complete than the DLA claim form.</p><p> </p><p>These forms can be filled in with the support of friends, carers and family members. Claimants can approach support organisations to help them. Additional support is available through the DWP Visiting Service for claimants who are in vulnerable situations and do not have anyone to help them.</p> answering member constituency Forest of Dean answering member printed Mr Mark Harper question first answered 22/07/2014 11:02:04 answering member 1520 label Biography information for Mr Mark Harper previous answer version 11776 answering member constituency Forest of Dean answering member printed Mr Mark Harper answering member 1520 label Biography information for Mr Mark Harper
	tabling member	3930 label Biography information for Caroline Lucas

78610

	registered interest
	date	16/07/2014
	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, what assessment he has made of the main reasons for the time taken to process personal independence payment claims.
	tabling member constituency	West Lancashire
	tabling member printed	Rosie Cooper
	uin	206123
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>Claimants to employment and support allowance (ESA) are not being asked to claim personal independence payment (PIP). PIP was introduced in April 2013 to replace disability living allowance (DLA) for working age people (between 16 and 64 years old) and operates an entirely separate assessment from the work capability assessment used for ESA claims. From October 2013 we have begun inviting some existing claimants of DLA to claim PIP. The current arrangements for this can be found on the gov.uk website:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-personal-independence-payment-toolkit-for-partners/the-personal-independence-payment-pip-toolkit-for-partners" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-personal-independence-payment-toolkit-for-partners/the-personal-independence-payment-pip-toolkit-for-partners</a> .</p><p>We are continuously looking at ways to increase the number of decisions made on PIP claims and to improve the claims process.</p><p>Internal DWP processes and the assessment part of the process are taking longer than expected and some claimants are taking longer than anticipated to return their claim forms but we are working closely with both PIP assessment providers as part of our plans to speed up the end to end claimant journey. We have introduced improvements in communications to claimants about the type of evidence they can supply to speed up their claim and we are taking action to support the assessment providers in clearing backlogs of work.</p> answering member constituency Forest of Dean answering member printed Mr Mark Harper grouped question UIN 206121 206132 question first answered 22/07/2014 11:18:28 answering member 1520 label Biography information for Mr Mark Harper previous answer version 11771 answering member constituency Forest of Dean answering member printed Mr Mark Harper answering member 1520 label Biography information for Mr Mark Harper
	tabling member	1538 label Biography information for Rosie Cooper

78612

	registered interest
	date	16/07/2014
	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, what assessment his Department made of the staffing levels required to efficiently process the transfer of employment and support allowance claimants to the personal independence payments claims.
	tabling member constituency	West Lancashire
	tabling member printed	Rosie Cooper
	uin	206121
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>Claimants to employment and support allowance (ESA) are not being asked to claim personal independence payment (PIP). PIP was introduced in April 2013 to replace disability living allowance (DLA) for working age people (between 16 and 64 years old) and operates an entirely separate assessment from the work capability assessment used for ESA claims. From October 2013 we have begun inviting some existing claimants of DLA to claim PIP. The current arrangements for this can be found on the gov.uk website:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-personal-independence-payment-toolkit-for-partners/the-personal-independence-payment-pip-toolkit-for-partners" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-personal-independence-payment-toolkit-for-partners/the-personal-independence-payment-pip-toolkit-for-partners</a> .</p><p>We are continuously looking at ways to increase the number of decisions made on PIP claims and to improve the claims process.</p><p>Internal DWP processes and the assessment part of the process are taking longer than expected and some claimants are taking longer than anticipated to return their claim forms but we are working closely with both PIP assessment providers as part of our plans to speed up the end to end claimant journey. We have introduced improvements in communications to claimants about the type of evidence they can supply to speed up their claim and we are taking action to support the assessment providers in clearing backlogs of work.</p> answering member constituency Forest of Dean answering member printed Mr Mark Harper grouped question UIN 206123 206132 question first answered 22/07/2014 11:18:27 answering member 1520 label Biography information for Mr Mark Harper previous answer version 11789 answering member constituency Forest of Dean answering member printed Mr Mark Harper answering member 1520 label Biography information for Mr Mark Harper
	tabling member	1538 label Biography information for Rosie Cooper

78620

	registered interest
	date	16/07/2014
	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, pursuant to the Answer of 7 July 2014, Official Report, column 110W, on personal independence payment, if he will estimate the number of people who do not currently claim disability living allowance who go into debt while their claims for personal independence payment are pending.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Hall Green
	tabling member printed	Mr Roger Godsiff
	uin	206201
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2014 answer text <p /> <p>We have no plans to carry out such an estimate. As referenced in the earlier answer from the former Minister of State for Disabled People, the Rt. Hon. Member for Hemel Hempstead (Mike Penning), most people claiming Personal Independence Payment (PIP) will already be receiving some element of financial support to meet day-to-day living expenses. If entitlement to PIP is established, payment will be backdated.</p> answering member constituency Forest of Dean answering member printed Mr Mark Harper question first answered 22/07/2014 11:21:58 answering member 1520 label Biography information for Mr Mark Harper previous answer version 11775 answering member constituency Forest of Dean answering member printed Mr Mark Harper answering member 1520 label Biography information for Mr Mark Harper
	tabling member	304 label Biography information for Mr Roger Godsiff

78623

	registered interest
	date	16/07/2014
	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 officials are currently working on the universal credit programme.
	tabling member constituency	Rhondda
	tabling member printed	Chris Bryant
	uin	206235
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>Current resource data shows a full time equivalent of 465 staff currently working on the Universal Credit Programme.</p> answering member constituency Forest of Dean answering member printed Mr Mark Harper question first answered 22/07/2014 11:24:39 answering member 1520 label Biography information for Mr Mark Harper previous answer version 11777 answering member constituency Forest of Dean answering member printed Mr Mark Harper answering member 1520 label Biography information for Mr Mark Harper
	tabling member	1446 label Biography information for Sir Chris Bryant

78625

	registered interest
	date	16/07/2014
	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, pursuant to the Answer of 8 July 2014, Official Report, column 278W, on personal independence payments, what his Department's definition is of a mature system; and how he proposes that the maturity of the system will be measured.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	206342
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>The publication of any new statistics series needs to ensure that it is based on robust data and the measures reflect the system that is being delivered and latest performance. The Department’s statisticians are currently looking at developing measures around clearance times and will pre-announce future publication in line with the UK Statistics Authority protocols.</p> answering member constituency Forest of Dean answering member printed Mr Mark Harper question first answered 22/07/2014 11:12:35 answering member 1520 label Biography information for Mr Mark Harper previous answer version 11785 answering member constituency Forest of Dean answering member printed Mr Mark Harper answering member 1520 label Biography information for Mr Mark Harper
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

90364

	registered interest
	date	02/09/2014
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Social Security Benefits: Fraud
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much money fraudulently claimed by Ms Janet Curtis has been recovered.
	tabling member constituency	Monmouth
	tabling member printed	David T. C. Davies
	uin	207901
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/10/2014 answer text <p /> <p>Recovering overpaid benefit is a high priority for DWP and we take all reasonable and lawful steps to achieve this. We are unable to supply the information requested because of our duties under data protection legislation.</p> answering member constituency Forest of Dean answering member printed Mr Mark Harper question first answered 13/10/2014 09:14:53 answering member 1520 label Biography information for Mr Mark Harper previous answer version 18502 answering member constituency Forest of Dean answering member printed Mr Mark Harper answering member 1520 label Biography information for Mr Mark Harper
	tabling member	1545 label Biography information for David T C Davies

90567

	registered interest
	date	03/09/2014
	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	New Enterprise Allowance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many businesses have been created with help from the New Enterprise Allowance; and how many of those businesses have sustained operations for more than 52 weeks.
	tabling member constituency	East Ham
	tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
	uin	208044
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>Latest statistics show that since the launch of New Enterprise Allowance (NEA) in 2011 to the end of March 2014, there were 46,000 NEA weekly allowance claims. The weekly allowance is payable when the participant closes their claim to benefits and commences trading which is a proxy measure for business starts created by the scheme.</p><p>We do not have data on the numbers of NEA businesses trading for 52 weeks. However, an analysis of the benefit status of NEA participants, published in 2013, highlighted that of 3,000 people who took part in the scheme in the first year, 78% had remained off benefit continuously for 52 weeks after claiming the NEA weekly allowance.</p> answering member constituency Forest of Dean answering member printed Mr Mark Harper question first answered 09/09/2014 11:55:11 answering member 1520 label Biography information for Mr Mark Harper previous answer version 18988 answering member constituency Forest of Dean answering member printed Mr Mark Harper answering member 1520 label Biography information for Mr Mark Harper
	tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms