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 printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member printed grouped question UIN question first answered question first ministerially corrected answering member label previous answer version answering member printed answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

100930

registered interest
date	24/10/2014
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	Social Security Benefits
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the steps they are taking to reduce the cost of benefit fraud, what they propose to do, and how much they plan to spend, to reduce underpayments to claimants due to mistakes by officials or claimants.
tabling member printed	Lord Beecham
uin	HL2398
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/11/2014 answer text <p /> <p>The Department takes both under and overpayments seriously and has in place a number of initiatives to address the errors that cause them. These activities address fraud as well as error, and both under and overpayments. It is therefore not possible to separate out the cost of activities focused exclusively on underpayments as a result of error.</p><p> </p><p>Universal Credit will make the welfare system simpler by replacing six benefits and credits with a single monthly payment. This simplification is expected to lead to a reduction in fraud and error due to the fact that information about claimants will be held in one place and updated more frequently and easily.</p><p> </p><p>For claimants that have income taxed under PAYE, Universal Credit will be linked to HMRC’s Real Time Information system, which will provide an automatic monthly update of their income thus reducing the potential for both error and fraud.</p><p> </p><p>The Department has invested in compliance activity, so that case correctness is maintained and fraud and error entering the system are detected and resolved quickly. Across all delivery arms there is a focus on accuracy and quality, including a continuous quality checking regime to review claims and check processing accuracy.</p><p> </p><p>We constantly review claims by checking them against data coming into our systems, in order to highlight potential anomalies. We do this by using business rules which focus on potential error to identify both under and overpayments.</p><p> </p><p>The Department is taking steps to encourage claimants to ensure that the information provided to us is accurate and up-to-date. This includes a fraud and error communications campaign about driving behaviour change and emphasising that claimants must report any change of circumstances.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud question first answered 07/11/2014 13:39:35 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
tabling member	4181 label Biography information for Lord Beecham

100645

registered interest
date	23/10/2014
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	Housing Benefit
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government why housing benefit overpayments increased to £1.4 billion in 2013–14 and how they are addressing the issue.
tabling member printed	Baroness Manzoor
uin	HL2376
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2014 answer text <p /> <p>Housing Benefit is a complex benefit administered by 380 Local Authorities. It has a high proportion of in-work claimants and this caseload is more likely to undergo changes in circumstances than out-of-work claimants. If claimants fail to report changes in circumstances correctly and in a timely manner then overpayments will occur.</p><p>The rate of fraud in Housing Benefit has been stable for many years at 1.4% since 2008-09. Official error has also remained relatively stable over the last six years, currently standing at 0.6% which is the same level as in 2008-09. Claimant error has increased from 2.7% in 2008-09 to 3.8% in 2013-14.</p><p>The rise in HB claimant error is primarily earnings related and a consequence of failure to report these changes. DWP is taking action to deal with this issue through better data sharing with Local Authorities, such as the introduction of real time information (RTI) on earnings, so that local authorities are alerted to changes quickly and do not have to rely on the claimant informing them of changes.</p><p>Longer term, Housing Benefit for working age claimants will be replaced by the housing cost element of Universal Credit and will be paid as a single monthly payment with the other elements. This will reduce the opportunity for Fraud and Error and prevent overpayments from occurring.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Freud question first answered 04/11/2014 15:11:36 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
tabling member	4289 label Biography information for Baroness Manzoor

100567

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	Welfare Assistance Schemes
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of their decision not to contest the judicial review of the decision to cease funding for Local Welfare Assistance, whether they will reinstate that funding for 2015–16.
tabling member printed	Baroness King of Bow
uin	HL2304
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/10/2014 answer text <p>From April 2015 it was intended funding for local welfare provision would be funded from the general grant to Local Government. The general grant took this into account.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has agreed to look again at how funding is provided for in 2015/16. Any decisions will be taken after we have reviewed how the current funds have been used and the on-going consultation and equality analysis on 2015/16 funding being co-ordinated by the Department for Communities and Local Government.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud question first answered 29/10/2014 15:16:01 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
tabling member	143 label Biography information for Baroness King of Bow

100009

registered interest
date	20/10/2014
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	Unemployed People: Travel
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what financial assistance is given to help young people on benefits with the travel costs associated with attending job interviews.
tabling member printed	Lord Roberts of Llandudno
uin	HL2224
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2014 answer text <p /> <p>All Jobcentre Plus District Managers have access to the Flexible Support Fund, that they can use to supplement mainstream services and to tailor support to the needs of individuals and the local area. A proportion of this fund will be spent by their Work Services Teams on discretionary awards to individual claimants, which could include helping with travel costs to attend job interviews.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud question first answered 23/10/2014 15:06:09 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
tabling member	3691 label Biography information for Lord Roberts of Llandudno

93675

registered interest
date	15/10/2014
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	Mesothelioma: Compensation
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many claims for compensation have so far been generated under the terms of the Mesothelioma Act 2014; how that number compares with predicted numbers of claims; what, if any, underspend against budget has resulted; and whether they intend to allocate any underspend for research into finding cures for mesothelioma.
tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
uin	HL2104
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/10/2014 answer text <p /> <p>The Scheme began taking applications in April 2014, and began making payments on 1 July 2014. As of 30 September 2014 the Scheme had received 173 applications. During the first year of operation we had forecasted around 900 applications to the Scheme.</p><p> </p><p>The DMPS is funded by a levy on the insurance industry. The levy is intended to cover the cost of the Scheme in any one year, and we are not expecting to generate any under spend. Any under spend would be returned to HM Treasury.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Freud question first answered 22/10/2014 14:48:20 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool

93682

registered interest
date	15/10/2014
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	Social Security Benefits: Northern Ireland
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government for how long the information technology system used by the Department for Work and Pensions to calculate welfare benefits will be able to process claims from residents in Northern Ireland if different criteria continue to be used in Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
tabling member printed	Lord Empey
uin	HL2111
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/10/2014 answer text <p /> <p>Northern Ireland is responsible for its own social security, pensions and child support systems. The Northern Ireland and Great Britain systems have traditionally operated in tandem in what is effectively a United Kingdom wide system.</p><p> </p><p>Should Northern Ireland decide not to mirror the welfare reform measures in Great Britain, it would be a matter for the Northern Ireland Executive to determine and fund the IT systems needed as a result of their decision.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud grouped question UIN HL2112 question first answered 22/10/2014 14:50:54 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
tabling member	4216 label Biography information for Lord Empey

93683

registered interest
date	15/10/2014
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	Social Security Benefits: Northern Ireland
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what costs they estimate will be incurred by the Northern Ireland Executive were the Department for Work and Pensions information technology system to be unable to process claims from Northern Ireland residents.
tabling member printed	Lord Empey
uin	HL2112
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/10/2014 answer text <p>Northern Ireland is responsible for its own social security, pensions and child support systems. The Northern Ireland and Great Britain systems have traditionally operated in tandem in what is effectively a United Kingdom wide system.</p><p> </p><p>Should Northern Ireland decide not to mirror the welfare reform measures in Great Britain, it would be a matter for the Northern Ireland Executive to determine and fund the IT systems needed as a result of their decision.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud grouped question UIN HL2111 question first answered 22/10/2014 14:50:55 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
tabling member	4216 label Biography information for Lord Empey

93699

registered interest
date	15/10/2014
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	Social Security Benefits: EU Nationals
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many Romanians and Bulgarians have sought social security benefits that were inaccessible before 1 January 2014; and how many such nationals are currently in receipt of child benefit.
tabling member printed	Lord Laird
uin	HL2128
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/10/2014 answer text <p /> <p>The Government does not record the nationality of the claimant receiving social security benefits including child benefit.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud question first answered 20/10/2014 14:29:56 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
tabling member	2479 label Biography information for Lord Laird

93700

registered interest
date	15/10/2014
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	National Insurance: Foreign Nationals
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many foreign nationals have been given national insurance numbers in the last eight quarters; how many were given numbers in total in those two years; and what were the top 20 nationalities of those given national insurance numbers in the last two years.
tabling member printed	Lord Laird
uin	HL2129
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/10/2014 answer text <p>The information requested for the number of foreign nationals registered for national insurance numbers is published and available at:</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p><a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/" target="_blank">https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk</a></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Stat-Xplore_User_Guide.htm" target="_blank">https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Stat-Xplore_User_Guide.htm</a></p><p> </p><p><ins class="ministerial">The number National Insurance numbers registered to foreign nationals in the last 8 quarters and the total number registered in the two year period from July 2012 to June 2014 is shown in Table 1.</ins></p><p> </p><p><ins class="ministerial">The top 20 nationalities for those registered with a National Insurance number in the same two year period is in Table 2.</ins></p><p> </p><p><ins class="ministerial"><strong>Table 1:</strong> Number of NINo registrations to adult overseas nationals entering the UK, by quarter for the last two years.</ins></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">Jul-12 to Sep-12</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">123,590</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">Oct-12 to Dec-12</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">139,390</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">Jan-13 to Mar-13</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">178,372</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">Apr-13 to Jun-13</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">131,525</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">Jul-13 to Sep-13</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">148,389</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">Oct-13 to Dec-13</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">158,953</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">Jan-14 to Mar-14</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">164,432</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">Apr-14 to Jun-14</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">93,945</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial"><strong>Total</strong></ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial"><strong>1,138,593</strong></ins></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p><ins class="ministerial"><strong>Table 2:</strong> Total number of NINo registrations to adult overseas nationals entering the UK for the top 20 nationalities in the last 2 years.</ins></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">Poland (Joined EU in 2004)</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">188,046</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">Spain</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">88,388</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">Romania (Joined EU in 2007)</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">81,122</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">Italy</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">74,374</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">India</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">56,694</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">Portugal</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">50,257</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">Rep of Lithuania (Joined EU in 2004)</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">45,950</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">Hungary (Joined EU in 2004)</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">45,450</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">France</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">41,920</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">Bulgaria (Joined EU in 2007)</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">31,580</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">Rep of Ireland</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">30,604</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">Pakistan</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">25,979</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">Rep of Latvia (Joined EU in 2004)</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">22,845</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">Slovak Rep (Joined EU in 2004)</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">22,361</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">China Peoples Rep</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">21,910</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">Australia</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">20,788</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">Germany</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">20,423</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">Nigeria</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">19,965</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">Greece</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">17,260</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">USA</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">16,767</ins></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p><ins class="ministerial">Source: Stat-Xplore, Department for Work and Pensions</ins></p><p> </p><p><ins class="ministerial">Notes:</ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial">1. Statistical disclosure control has been applied to this table to avoid the release of confidential data.</ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial">2. A change to the process of recording NINos during the quarter April-June 2014, means that the volume of NINo registrations recorded are lower in this quarter than would otherwise be the case (estimated to be around 15% - 25% lower in the quarter April - June 2014 and 2% - 5% lower for the year to June 2014). Therefore, comparisons of NINo registrations over time for the latest periods (quarterly and annually) should be viewed with caution. The process issues impact all nationalities i.e. the impact is not skewed to migrants from specific countries.</ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial">3. Registration date is derived from the date at which a NINo is maintained on the National Insurance Recording and Pay as you Earn System (NPS).</ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial">4. Data is available up to June 2014, which is the latest information available.</ins></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Freud question first answered 22/10/2014 14:51:46 question first ministerially corrected 06/11/2014 16:58:14 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud previous answer version 23638 answering member printed Lord Freud answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
tabling member	2479 label Biography information for Lord Laird

93711

registered interest
date	15/10/2014
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	Work Programme: Bristol
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people in Bristol have enrolled in their Work Programme; and how many of those, after six months, were not in employment, education or training.
tabling member printed	Baroness Royall of Blaisdon
uin	HL2140
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/11/2014 answer text <p>The number of people in Bristol City Local Authority who have been referred to the Work Programme up to and including June 2014 is 13,060.</p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p><p>This information is published and can be found at:</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p><a href="http://tabulation-tool.dwp.gov.uk/WorkProg/tabtool.html" target="_blank">http://tabulation-tool.dwp.gov.uk/WorkProg/tabtool.html</a></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Guidance for users is available at:</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-tabulation-tool-guidance" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-tabulation-tool-guidance</a></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Information on those not in employment, education or training after six months on the Work Programme, is not available.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Freud question first answered 06/11/2014 14:01:58 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
tabling member	3703 label Biography information for Baroness Royall of Blaisdon