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

1005853

	registered interest
	date	12/11/2018
	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	Funeral Payments
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what her Department's policy is on supporting benefit claimants who must pay for the funeral of a family member; and if her Department will introduce an allowance for benefit claimants who must pay for the funeral of a family member to ensure that their benefit claims are not adversely affected.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	190493
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/11/2018 answer text <p>The Social Fund Funeral Expenses Payment scheme makes a contribution towards the cost of a funeral for people in receipt of certain income related benefits and tax credits. To qualify, the applicant must be accepted as responsible for arranging the funeral, they (or their partner) must receive one of the qualifying benefits and they must be the partner or a close relative or close friend of the deceased.</p><p> </p><p>The amount payable depends on whether there is any other money available, for example from the deceased’s estate. As the Payment is linked to the deceased’s assets, it does not adversely affect the applicant’s savings.</p><p> </p><p>The scheme offers support by meeting the ‘necessary costs’ of a cremation or burial, including acquiring a burial plot. An allowance of up to £700 is also available to meet other funeral costs such as a coffin, religious venue and funeral director fees.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 15/11/2018 09:55:33 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1005887

	registered interest
	date	12/11/2018
	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 assessment her Department has made of the effect on (a) the Post Office and (b) Postmaster pay of encouraging universal credit claimants to use a bank account to receive payments.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	190494
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/11/2018 answer text <p>The majority of claimants have their benefits paid into a bank account. As most bank accounts can be accessed at the Post Office, most claimants are able to withdraw cash, deposit cash and cheques, and make balance enquiries at a Post Office counter via its network of 11,600 branches. Sub-postmasters will continue to receive revenue from those transactions while maintaining footfall.</p><p> </p><p>In line with our wider policy on financial inclusion, we have always made it clear that payment into a bank, building society or credit union is the preferred way for Universal Credit to be paid. This reflects the vision for Universal Credit mirroring the world of work, where, for example, an employer requires a bank account for a salary to be paid into.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 15/11/2018 16:16:25 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1006040

	registered interest
	date	13/11/2018
	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: Medical Examinations
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many health assessments were carried out on claimants of (a) personal independence payments and (b) employment support allowance in each of the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	190915
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/11/2018 answer text <p>The number of health assessments that were carried out for Personal Independence Payments claimants in each of the last five years are shown in the table below. The increase in PIP assessments reflects the growth in new claims following the introduction of PIP in 2013 and the of reassessment of DLA to more areas.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>Jun 2013 - March 2014</p></td><td><p>April 2014 - March 2015</p></td><td><p>April 2015 - March 2016</p></td><td><p>April 2016 - March 2017</p></td><td><p>April 2017 - March 2018</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>PIP Health assessment reports received</p></td><td><p>81,000</p></td><td><p>555,000</p></td><td><p>708,000</p></td><td><p>1,003,000</p></td><td><p>1,021,000</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Source: chargeable outputs trend summary report</p><p>(Figures rounded to nearest 1k)</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The number of health assessments that were carried out for Employment Support Allowance claimants in each of the last five years are shown in the table below.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>April 2013 - March 2014</p></td><td><p>April 2014 - March 2015</p></td><td><p>April 2015 - March 2016</p></td><td><p>April 2016 - March 2017</p></td><td><p>April 2017 - March 2018</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>ESA Health assessment reports received</p></td><td><p>638,000</p></td><td><p>685,000</p></td><td><p>742,000</p></td><td><p>913,000</p></td><td><p>913,000</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Source: Monthly Work Capability Summary MI report</p><p>(Figures rounded to nearest 1k)</p> answering member constituency Truro and Falmouth answering member printed Sarah Newton question first answered 19/11/2018 17:08:06 answering member 4071 label Biography information for Sarah Newton
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1019329

	registered interest
	date	03/12/2018
	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 assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of enabling parents to pursue (a) child maintenance arrears and (b) arrears transferred from the Child Support Agency under through the legal system.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	198381
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/12/2018 answer text <p>The Child Maintenance Service has a wide range of strong enforcement powers, including applying to the court to remove a non-paying parent’s driving licence, order the sale of property, commit them to prison, or disqualify them from holding or obtaining a passport.</p><p> </p><p>There is a longstanding legal position that a permanent arrangement cannot be ordered by a court as part of any settlement action in respect of child maintenance payments. The statutory child maintenance system was established because court outcomes for families were frequently inconsistent. There is little merit in enabling parents to pursue arrears through the court system which is inevitably adversarial, costly and often a slow process which many clients may be unable to afford.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 06/12/2018 10:11:31 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1019902

	registered interest
	date	04/12/2018
	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: EU Nationals
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of widening the entitlement to UK welfare payments for EU citizens fleeing domestic violence in the UK.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	198882
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/12/2018 answer text <p>This Government is committed to tackling violence against all people, including domestic abuse which shatters the lives of victims and families.</p><p> </p><p>EU citizens are permitted to claim income-related benefits if they are legally and habitually resident in the UK and satisfy the eligibility conditions.</p><p> </p><p>The Government’s consultation, ‘Transforming the Response to Domestic Abuse’, which ended in May 2018, sought views on protection and support for victims of domestic abuse, including those with no recourse to public funds. The Home Office is currently analysing the consultation responses and will publish the Government’s response in due course.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 10/12/2018 13:47:41 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1020006

	registered interest
	date	04/12/2018
	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 much child support arrears are concerned in (a) Motherwell and Wishaw, (b) North Lanarkshire Westminster Parliamentary constituencies, and (c) Scotland, under the Child Support (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2018.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	198884
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/12/2018 answer text <p>As of June 2018 (most recent published regional data, rounded to nearest thousand), there were the following amounts of unpaid maintenance from Child Support Agency cases:</p><p> </p><p>(a) Motherwell and Wishaw parliamentary constituency - £4,034,000 of child support arrears</p><p> </p><p>(b) North Lanarkshire Local Authority - £17,366,000 of child support arrears</p><p> </p><p>(c) Scotland - £ 225,269,000 of child support arrears</p><p> </p><p>Figures for b and c are published in the regional tables of the Child Support Agency Quarterly Summary of Statistics <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-support-agency-quarterly-summary-of-statistics-june-2018" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-support-agency-quarterly-summary-of-statistics-june-2018</a></p><p> </p><p>These amounts include all Child Support Agency cases with arrears. This includes cases where recent payments have been made and those where there has been no payment made within the last 3 months. The vast majority of these cases have received no recent payment, and it is only these cases that will be addressed under the Child Support (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2018.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 10/12/2018 10:21:05 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1023269

	registered interest
	date	11/12/2018
	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 assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of enabling parents to pursue Child Support Agency arrears written off under the Child Support (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2018 through the legal system.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	201254
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/12/2018 answer text <p>I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 06 December 2018 to Question 198381.</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2018-12-03/198381/" target="_blank">https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2018-12-03/198381/</a></p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 17/12/2018 15:28:33 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

448444

	registered interest
	date	26/01/2016
	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: Females
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support his Department has made available to women born in the 1950s who are affected by recent changes in the age at which they become eligible for the state pension.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	903352
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/02/2016 answer text <p>Working age benefits are available for those who have not yet reached State Pension age. A concession of £1.1bn was made, and 81% of those affected will see a delay of one year or less; and for the rest, the delay will be no more than 18 months. There are no plans for further transitional arrangements.</p> answering member constituency North West Cambridgeshire answering member printed Mr Shailesh Vara question first answered 01/02/2016 17:04:18 answering member 1496 label Biography information for Shailesh Vara
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

515465

	registered interest
	date	25/04/2016
	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 mechanisms his Department has put in place for redress and backdated payments to the parent with care in the event that it is found that the non-resident parent (a) provided false information about their income and (b) failed to inform the relevant body of an increase in their income under (i) the Child Support Agency scheme and (ii) the Child Maintenance Service scheme; and what the timescales are for such redress or payments.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	35379
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/05/2016 answer text <p>All three statutory maintenance schemes allow the Secretary of State to revise any maintenance liability decision found to be incorrect as a result of misrepresentation by either parent. There is no timescale within which the misrepresentation must be discovered, before a revision may be completed.</p><p> </p><p>Under the 2012 scheme, in the first instance maintenance is assessed using historic income information from HMRC. Annual reviews are carried out using HMRC income data and liabilities are adjusted accordingly. Over the lifetime of a case changes to income should therefore be reflected appropriately.</p><p> </p><p>Where an individual is assessed on current income, they are obliged to inform the Child Maintenance Service of any increase to their income of 25% or over. If they fail to do so and the Child Maintenance Service subsequently becomes aware of an increase in their income, the Secretary of State may still calculate a new assessment, taking effect at the point the income increased.</p><p> </p><p>Any arrears that result from such “retrospective” action will nonetheless be due and CMS will take enforcement action if the Paying Parent does not arrange to pay them themselves. The CMS has a comprehensive range of enforcement actions at its disposal, to help ensure that parents fulfil their obligations.</p><p> </p><p>All maintenance liability decisions carry an underlying right of appeal to an independent Tribunal.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Witham answering member printed Priti Patel question first answered 04/05/2016 14:37:00 answering member 4066 label Biography information for Priti Patel
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

648900

	registered interest
	date	30/11/2016
	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 requests for the child maintenance service's collect and pay service came from (a) resident and (b) non-resident parents in (i) 2013-14, (ii) 2014-15, and (iii) 2015-16; and how many children such requests related to in each of those years.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	55590
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/12/2016 answer text <p>Information on the number of cases using the collect and pay service is only available from August 2014. As at the end of March 2015, 28,600 cases were using the collect and pay service and this figure increased to 51,800 cases as at the end of March 2016.</p><p> </p><p>More details can be found on page 8 of the Child Maintenance Scheme quarterly summary of statistics which can be accessed online at:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/564183/child-maintenance-service-2012-scheme-aug-16.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/564183/child-maintenance-service-2012-scheme-aug-16.pdf</a></p><p> </p><p>Information on whether the request was made by the resident or the non-resident parent is not routinely collected and can only be provided at a disproportionate cost. Similarly, information on the number of children involved for parents using the Collect and Pay service specifically is not routinely collected and may only be provided at a disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p>Please note that a case may have more than one child.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes question first answered 05/12/2016 11:13:07 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows