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424382

registered interest
date	27/10/2015
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	Pension Credit
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to increase the uptake of pension credit by people who are eligible.
tabling member constituency	Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey
tabling member printed	Drew Hendry
uin	13630
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/10/2015 answer text <p>We are committed to ensuring that older people receive the support they are entitled to and the Department targets activity on engaging with people who may be eligible at pivotal stages such as when they claim State Pension or report a change in their circumstances.</p><br /><p>We use a wide range of channels to communicate information about Pension Credit to potential customers, including information on gov.uk, in leaflets and by telephone.</p><br /><p>We believe that one of the best ways to reach those eligible customers who may be reluctant to claim is through trusted messengers working in the community and DWP provides a web-based Pension Credit toolkit at <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pension-credit-toolkit" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pension-credit-toolkit</a> containing a range of resources for anyone working with pensioners. It contains guides to Pension Credit, examples of the reasons why eligible customers might not claim, ideas for encouraging take-up, and makes available a range of publicity material.</p><br /><p>To increase take-up we are currently engaging with community partners through the Age Action Alliance and have recently begun a series of workshops designed to publicise the toolkit resources and to allow partners to share best practice of what works to encourage take-up.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 30/10/2015 13:18:03 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4467 label Biography information for Drew Hendry

424387

registered interest
date	27/10/2015
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 steps he is taking to increase the uptake of (a) income support and (b) employment and support allowance by people who are eligible.
tabling member constituency	Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey
tabling member printed	Drew Hendry
uin	13636
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/11/2015 answer text <p>The Department does all it can to ensure that people are aware of the benefits to which they may be entitled and how to claim them, through its information providing services.</p><br /><p>Advice is available in different languages and formats, and across multiple locations. In addition to Jobcentre Plus offices, these include local authorities, law centres, Citizens Advice, post offices, doctors’ surgeries, libraries, the internet, community groups, welfare rights groups, advice centres, and various voluntary organisations.</p> answering member constituency Witham answering member printed Priti Patel question first answered 02/11/2015 13:28:30 answering member 4066 label Biography information for Priti Patel
tabling member	4467 label Biography information for Drew Hendry

424388

registered interest
date	27/10/2015
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 steps he is taking to monitor regional variations in benefit uptake.
tabling member constituency	Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey
tabling member printed	Drew Hendry
uin	13637
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/11/2015 answer text <p>Estimates of take-up are not available at geographies below Great Britain. This is due to the size of the survey sample they are based on and methods used to generate robust national figures.</p><br /><p>However, on 25<sup>th</sup> June 2015 the Department for Work and Pensions published the report “Income-related benefits: Estimates of take-up in 2013/14 (experimental)”. The full report can be found at:</p><br /><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/income-related-benefits-estimates-of-take-up-financial-year-201314" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/income-related-benefits-estimates-of-take-up-financial-year-201314</a></p><br /> answering member constituency Witham answering member printed Priti Patel question first answered 02/11/2015 11:17:34 answering member 4066 label Biography information for Priti Patel
tabling member	4467 label Biography information for Drew Hendry

424398

registered interest
date	27/10/2015
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: Housing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that landlords receive the expected rent payments for tenants in properties in areas where universal credit is rolled out.
tabling member constituency	Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey
tabling member printed	Drew Hendry
uin	13631
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/10/2015 answer text <p>Universal Credit is usually paid directly to claimants as a single monthly sum.</p><br /><p>In certain circumstances, such as where a claimant is identified as vulnerable, the Department may make alternative payment arrangements for rent to be paid directly to landlords.</p><br /><p>The Department is also conducting a pilot with a selection of landlords from the social housing sector where the landlord can identify claimants with a need for alternative payments arrangements and make recommendations to DWP for rapid implementation of direct payments.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 30/10/2015 13:10:32 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4467 label Biography information for Drew Hendry

420377

registered interest
date	09/10/2015
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: Take-up
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in the UK are not claiming benefits they are entitled to; and what estimate he has made of the annual value of such unclaimed benefits.
tabling member constituency	Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey
tabling member printed	Drew Hendry
uin	11085
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/10/2015 answer text <p>On 25<sup>th</sup> June 2015 the Department for Work and Pensions published the report “Income-related benefits: Estimates of take-up in 2013/14 (experimental)”. The full report can be found at:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/income-related-benefits-estimates-of-take-up-financial-year-201314" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/income-related-benefits-estimates-of-take-up-financial-year-201314</a></p><p>For Great Britain, the following estimates are available for 2013/14:</p><ul><li>Income Support, and Employment and Support Allowance: between 510,000 and 650,000 benefit units are estimated as not claiming Income Support, and Employment and Support Allowance, an unclaimed caseload proportion of 19% to 23%, and estimated to be valued between £2.43 billion and £3.25 billion unclaimed;</li><li>Pension Credit: between 1.24 million and 1.43 million benefit units are estimated as not claiming Pension Credit to which they are entitled, an unclaimed caseload proportion of 36% to 39%, and estimated to be valued between £2.48 billion and £3.26 billion unclaimed;</li><li>Housing Benefit: between 1.11 million and 1.3 million benefit units are estimated as not claiming Housing Benefit, an unclaimed proportion of 18% to 21%, and estimated to be valued between £3.16 billion and £4.1 billion unclaimed; and</li><li>Jobseeker's Allowance: between 650,000 and 820,000 are estimated as not claiming Jobseeker’s, an unclaimed proportion of 39% to 45%, and estimated to be valued between £1.99 billion and £2.62 billion unclaimed.</li></ul> answering member constituency Witham answering member printed Priti Patel question first answered 14/10/2015 15:07:01 answering member 4066 label Biography information for Priti Patel
tabling member	4467 label Biography information for Drew Hendry

418666

registered interest
date	14/09/2015
answering body	Department for Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Digital Broadcasting: Radio
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of DAB radio reception in Scotland; and what steps his Department has taken to improve poor reception in areas receiving low-quality coverage.
tabling member constituency	Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey
tabling member printed	Drew Hendry
uin	10122
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/10/2015 answer text <p>The Government is working with the radio industry to improve digital radio coverage for listeners across the UK. DCMS, the BBC and commercial radio are jointly funding the long term expansion of the local DAB network with the building of 182 new digital transmitters across Scotland, Wales, England and Northern Ireland and technical/frequency changes at a further 49 existing local DAB sites by the end of September 2016. As a result of this new investment, according to the independent communications regulator Ofcom, it is expected that local DAB coverage in Scotland will increase from 65% to 86% of households.</p><p>Ofcom has published detailed maps outlining the improvements to local DAB coverage for the local digital radio multiplex areas in Scotland and these are available at:<a href="http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/broadcasting/radio/coverage/dab-coverage-plans/" target="_blank">http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/broadcasting/radio/coverage/dab-coverage-plans/</a></p><p>Separately the BBC is rolling out its national DAB network to a further 163 transmitter sites across the UK, scheduled for completion by the end of 2015. This programme will increase the coverage of its DAB network in Scotland from 91% to 95% of homes.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed Mr Edward Vaizey question first answered 12/10/2015 12:38:03 answering member 1580 label Biography information for Lord Vaizey of Didcot
tabling member	4467 label Biography information for Drew Hendry