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752810

registered interest
date	17/07/2017
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: Children
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 effect of the benefit cap on the health and well-being of children.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow Central
tabling member printed	Alison Thewliss
uin	5296
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/07/2017 answer text <p>We do not hold any data on the effect of the benefit cap on the health and well-being of children.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The Government believes that encouraging households to move into work through the benefit cap will help to increase the household’s income and help to improve their wellbeing:</p><p> </p><p>Research shows that for adults without work, re-employment leads to improvement in health and wellbeing, whereas further unemployment leads to deterioration. Research also shows that it is not in the best interests of children to live in workless households. For example, children in households where neither parent is in work are much more likely to have challenging behaviour at age 5 than children in households where both parents are in paid employment.</p> answering member constituency Gosport answering member printed Caroline Dinenage question first answered 20/07/2017 08:00:04 answering member 4008 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Dinenage
tabling member	4430 label Biography information for Alison Thewliss

752103

registered interest
date	14/07/2017
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	Lone Parents: Scotland
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many families in Scotland are lone parent families with one or more children under the age of two and subject to the benefit cap.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow Central
tabling member printed	Alison Thewliss
uin	5068
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/07/2017 answer text <p>The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency Gosport answering member printed Caroline Dinenage question first answered 19/07/2017 09:35:40 answering member 4008 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Dinenage
tabling member	4430 label Biography information for Alison Thewliss

752104

registered interest
date	14/07/2017
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	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 effect of the benefit cap on food insecurity.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow Central
tabling member printed	Alison Thewliss
uin	5069
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/07/2017 answer text <p>We do not hold any data on the effect of the benefit cap on food insecurity.</p><p> </p><p>The lower cap is still the equivalent of gross family earnings of £25k, and £29k in London. Where claimants need further financial support, Local Authorities can provide additional support through the use of Discretionary Housing Payments.</p> answering member constituency Gosport answering member printed Caroline Dinenage question first answered 19/07/2017 09:37:20 answering member 4008 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Dinenage
tabling member	4430 label Biography information for Alison Thewliss

752105

registered interest
date	14/07/2017
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	Department for Work and Pensions: Legal Costs
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 his Department has spent on legal fees in the last 12 months.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow Central
tabling member printed	Alison Thewliss
uin	5070
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/07/2017 answer text <p>The information requested is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 19/07/2017 16:19:28 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	4430 label Biography information for Alison Thewliss

752106

registered interest
date	14/07/2017
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: Public Sector
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 an estimate of the number of benefit claimants subject to the household benefit cap who are public sector workers subject to the one per cent pay cap.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow Central
tabling member printed	Alison Thewliss
uin	5071
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/07/2017 answer text <p>We do not hold any data on the number of public sector workers subject to the benefit cap. Households are exempt if entitled to Working Tax Credit, (essentially, lone parents working 16 hours per week and couples working 24 hours per week between them where one partner works at least 16 hours per week) or in Universal Credit if earning £520 per month.</p><p> </p><p>Households can be exempt from the cap if they are claiming WTC and the most recent official statistics show that</p><p> </p><ul><li><strong>134,000</strong> households in Great Britain have been capped since April 2013</li><li><strong>68,000</strong> households are no longer subject to cap and<strong> 29,000 of these (43%) </strong>are exempt due to working tax credit indicating they <strong>have found work.</strong></li></ul> answering member constituency Gosport answering member printed Caroline Dinenage question first answered 19/07/2017 09:28:03 answering member 4008 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Dinenage
tabling member	4430 label Biography information for Alison Thewliss

731385

registered interest
date	21/06/2017
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: Children
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what evidence a claimant will have to provide to secure an exemption in relation to support for a child conceived without your consent.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow Central
tabling member printed	Alison Thewliss
uin	10
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/06/2017 answer text <p>We recognise that this is a difficult and sensitive issue, and have set up procedures that are mindful of the sensitivities involved. To claim the exception the claimant will need to provide a completed pro-forma from an approved third party or evidence relating to either a relevant criminal conviction or relevant award of criminal injuries compensation. DWP staff will not question the claimant about the incident, they will only take the claim and receive the supporting documents. Claimants will be asked to confirm that they are not living with the other biological parent of the child during the process of providing evidence. They will not be asked to identify the alleged perpetrator.</p><p>Where a pro-forma is provided from a third party, DWP staff will check that the form is complete and verified by an approved third party. Where other evidence is provided this will be checked and returned to the claimant.</p><p>The decision regarding entitlement to the exception will be subject to the normal mandatory reconsideration and appeal process.</p><p>DWP will hold exception information for the duration of an open claim and then for 14 months after a claim is closed. This is in accordance with standard procedures and to ensure that the 14 month maximum appeal period for decisions is observed.</p><p>Where a claimant moves between Child Tax Credit and Universal Credit, the information with regard to the exception will be shared between DWP and HMRC to prevent the claimant from having to provide evidence for the exception a second time. A secure data transfer method has been set up to manage this process. In the case of an appeal, information will be shared with HMCTS to facilitate the appeal. This will be managed in line with data protection requirements.</p><p>Any disclosure request for information in relation to the exception would be considered in liaison with the prosecuting authority as appropriate, in accordance with procedures and practice applicable in the jurisdiction concerned and taking account of particular circumstances, including the relevance of the documents requested to the case and all applicable legal considerations including those relating to data protection.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds grouped question UIN 11 12 15 17 22 question first answered 29/06/2017 11:06:20 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	4430 label Biography information for Alison Thewliss

731386

registered interest
date	21/06/2017
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: Children
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which (a) public and (b) other agencies under which circumstances will have access to information recorded in relation to support for a child conceived without your consent.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow Central
tabling member printed	Alison Thewliss
uin	11
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/06/2017 answer text <p>We recognise that this is a difficult and sensitive issue, and have set up procedures that are mindful of the sensitivities involved. To claim the exception the claimant will need to provide a completed pro-forma from an approved third party or evidence relating to either a relevant criminal conviction or relevant award of criminal injuries compensation. DWP staff will not question the claimant about the incident, they will only take the claim and receive the supporting documents. Claimants will be asked to confirm that they are not living with the other biological parent of the child during the process of providing evidence. They will not be asked to identify the alleged perpetrator.</p><p>Where a pro-forma is provided from a third party, DWP staff will check that the form is complete and verified by an approved third party. Where other evidence is provided this will be checked and returned to the claimant.</p><p>The decision regarding entitlement to the exception will be subject to the normal mandatory reconsideration and appeal process.</p><p>DWP will hold exception information for the duration of an open claim and then for 14 months after a claim is closed. This is in accordance with standard procedures and to ensure that the 14 month maximum appeal period for decisions is observed.</p><p>Where a claimant moves between Child Tax Credit and Universal Credit, the information with regard to the exception will be shared between DWP and HMRC to prevent the claimant from having to provide evidence for the exception a second time. A secure data transfer method has been set up to manage this process. In the case of an appeal, information will be shared with HMCTS to facilitate the appeal. This will be managed in line with data protection requirements.</p><p>Any disclosure request for information in relation to the exception would be considered in liaison with the prosecuting authority as appropriate, in accordance with procedures and practice applicable in the jurisdiction concerned and taking account of particular circumstances, including the relevance of the documents requested to the case and all applicable legal considerations including those relating to data protection.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds grouped question UIN 10 12 15 17 22 question first answered 29/06/2017 11:06:20 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	4430 label Biography information for Alison Thewliss

731387

registered interest
date	21/06/2017
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: Children
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the effect on the number of terminations in families which already have at least two children of the introduction of Support for a child conceived without your consent.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow Central
tabling member printed	Alison Thewliss
uin	21
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/06/2017 answer text <p>The Government assessed the equality and human rights impacts of this policy fully, throughout policy development and in preparation for its implementation, thus meeting its obligations under the Public Sector Equality Duty, and ensuring compliance with the Human Rights Act 1998. Ministers have also taken account of that duty during the formulation of the exceptions to the policy. Consequently, it is the Government’s position that this policy is compliant with its obligations under the Equality Act 2010, the European Convention on Human Rights and the UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women.</p><p> </p><p>We have not estimated the number of pregnancies that will occur in the next 12 months as a result of non consensual sex. Information about terminations is not available.</p><p> </p><p>We recognise that this is a difficult and sensitive issue. We believe that this strikes the right balance between ensuring mothers get the support they need in a not overly intrusive manner whilst at the same time providing the right assurance to Government that the additional support is going to those for whom it is intended.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds grouped question UIN 19 20 question first answered 30/06/2017 13:27:18 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	4430 label Biography information for Alison Thewliss

731388

registered interest
date	21/06/2017
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: Children
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the appeals process is for applications for Support for a child conceived without your consent which have been declined by his Department.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow Central
tabling member printed	Alison Thewliss
uin	22
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/06/2017 answer text <p>We recognise that this is a difficult and sensitive issue, and have set up procedures that are mindful of the sensitivities involved. To claim the exception the claimant will need to provide a completed pro-forma from an approved third party or evidence relating to either a relevant criminal conviction or relevant award of criminal injuries compensation. DWP staff will not question the claimant about the incident, they will only take the claim and receive the supporting documents. Claimants will be asked to confirm that they are not living with the other biological parent of the child during the process of providing evidence. They will not be asked to identify the alleged perpetrator.</p><p>Where a pro-forma is provided from a third party, DWP staff will check that the form is complete and verified by an approved third party. Where other evidence is provided this will be checked and returned to the claimant.</p><p>The decision regarding entitlement to the exception will be subject to the normal mandatory reconsideration and appeal process.</p><p>DWP will hold exception information for the duration of an open claim and then for 14 months after a claim is closed. This is in accordance with standard procedures and to ensure that the 14 month maximum appeal period for decisions is observed.</p><p>Where a claimant moves between Child Tax Credit and Universal Credit, the information with regard to the exception will be shared between DWP and HMRC to prevent the claimant from having to provide evidence for the exception a second time. A secure data transfer method has been set up to manage this process. In the case of an appeal, information will be shared with HMCTS to facilitate the appeal. This will be managed in line with data protection requirements.</p><p>Any disclosure request for information in relation to the exception would be considered in liaison with the prosecuting authority as appropriate, in accordance with procedures and practice applicable in the jurisdiction concerned and taking account of particular circumstances, including the relevance of the documents requested to the case and all applicable legal considerations including those relating to data protection.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds grouped question UIN 10 11 12 15 17 question first answered 29/06/2017 11:06:21 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	4430 label Biography information for Alison Thewliss

731389

registered interest
date	21/06/2017
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: Children
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what budget has been allocated from the public purse for training third party professional referrers in relation to the process for application for Support for a child conceived without your consent.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow Central
tabling member printed	Alison Thewliss
uin	23
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/06/2017 answer text <p>The list of third party professionals for the non-consensual conception exception is published on gov.uk and the legislation enables these professionals in Scotland to provide evidence.</p><p>Approved third party professionals are those who in the course of their duties already deal with people in difficult circumstances, and are people with whom we believe it would be beneficial for the claimant to engage in order to obtain further guidance and support.</p><p>No new legal duties are placed on the third party professionals. They will not be asked to form a judgement as to whether or not the conception was non-consensual. The third party professionals are confirming only that the claimant’s circumstances are consistent with those of a person who has conceived a child in such a way. Under the legislation, this confirmation alone suffices as evidence of entitlement to the exception.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds grouped question UIN 13 18 24 25 29 question first answered 29/06/2017 11:22:52 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	4430 label Biography information for Alison Thewliss