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681376

	registered interest
	date	30/01/2017
	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	Child Support Agency: Complaints
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the average time taken by the Independent Case Examiner to process a complaint relating to the Child Support Agency.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	62316
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/02/2017 answer text <p>Once a complaint has been accepted for investigation, the ICE Office will consider whether a solution to the complaint can be brokered with the relevant department or its supplier and the complainant – known as “resolution”. If it is not possible to resolve the complaint, the case papers will be requested and the case will be allocated to an Investigation Case Manager.</p><p> </p><p>Following a review of the evidence, it may be possible for the Investigation Case Manager to “settle” the complaint if the relevant department or its supplier agrees to action that satisfies the complainant. If the complaint cannot be settled, the ICE will issue a report detailing findings and any recommendations for redress.</p><p> </p><p>In the 2016 calendar year the average time taken to process complaints relating to the Child Support Agency, from the point the complaint was accepted for investigation to case closure, was 53 weeks.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="2"><p><strong>Time taken to process Child Support Agency complaints during the 2016 calendar year</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Less than six months</p></td><td><p>49</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>More than six months (but less than nine)</p></td><td><p>11</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>More than nine months (but less than 12)</p></td><td><p>76</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>More than 12 months</p></td><td><p>265</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Resources for the Independent Case Examiner’s Office are reviewed annually.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes grouped question UIN 62317 62433 question first answered 07/02/2017 16:04:44 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

681377

	registered interest
	date	30/01/2017
	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	Child Support Agency: Complaints
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many peopled waited more than (a) six months, (b) nine months and (c) 12 months for the Independent Care Examiner to process their complaint about the Child Support Agency.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	62317
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/02/2017 answer text <p>Once a complaint has been accepted for investigation, the ICE Office will consider whether a solution to the complaint can be brokered with the relevant department or its supplier and the complainant – known as “resolution”. If it is not possible to resolve the complaint, the case papers will be requested and the case will be allocated to an Investigation Case Manager.</p><p> </p><p>Following a review of the evidence, it may be possible for the Investigation Case Manager to “settle” the complaint if the relevant department or its supplier agrees to action that satisfies the complainant. If the complaint cannot be settled, the ICE will issue a report detailing findings and any recommendations for redress.</p><p> </p><p>In the 2016 calendar year the average time taken to process complaints relating to the Child Support Agency, from the point the complaint was accepted for investigation to case closure, was 53 weeks.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="2"><p><strong>Time taken to process Child Support Agency complaints during the 2016 calendar year</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Less than six months</p></td><td><p>49</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>More than six months (but less than nine)</p></td><td><p>11</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>More than nine months (but less than 12)</p></td><td><p>76</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>More than 12 months</p></td><td><p>265</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Resources for the Independent Case Examiner’s Office are reviewed annually.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes grouped question UIN 62316 62433 question first answered 07/02/2017 16:04:45 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

682426

	registered interest
	date	31/01/2017
	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	Child Support Agency: Appeals
	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 increase resources for the Independent Care Examiner to enable it to deal with Child Support Agency appeal cases in a timely manner.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	62433
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/02/2017 answer text <p>Once a complaint has been accepted for investigation, the ICE Office will consider whether a solution to the complaint can be brokered with the relevant department or its supplier and the complainant – known as “resolution”. If it is not possible to resolve the complaint, the case papers will be requested and the case will be allocated to an Investigation Case Manager.</p><p> </p><p>Following a review of the evidence, it may be possible for the Investigation Case Manager to “settle” the complaint if the relevant department or its supplier agrees to action that satisfies the complainant. If the complaint cannot be settled, the ICE will issue a report detailing findings and any recommendations for redress.</p><p> </p><p>In the 2016 calendar year the average time taken to process complaints relating to the Child Support Agency, from the point the complaint was accepted for investigation to case closure, was 53 weeks.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="2"><p><strong>Time taken to process Child Support Agency complaints during the 2016 calendar year</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Less than six months</p></td><td><p>49</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>More than six months (but less than nine)</p></td><td><p>11</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>More than nine months (but less than 12)</p></td><td><p>76</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>More than 12 months</p></td><td><p>265</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Resources for the Independent Case Examiner’s Office are reviewed annually.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes grouped question UIN 62316 62317 question first answered 07/02/2017 16:04:45 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

754934

	registered interest
	date	20/07/2017
	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 estimate he has made of the projected number of children under the age of five who live in households that will be affected by the freeze on tax credits and jobseeker's allowance in (a) 2016-17, (b) 2017-18, (c) 2018-19 and (d) 2019-20.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	6670
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/09/2017 answer text <p>HMRC publishes annual estimates of child and working tax credits.</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/613423/cwtc-main-Apr17.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/613423/cwtc-main-Apr17.pdf</a></p><p> </p><p>Provisional estimates for 2016/17 show approximately 1.84 million children under 5 living in families in receipt of tax credits.</p><p> </p><p>An Impact Assessment was also published alongside the Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016. This considers impacts of the freeze on households and on protected groups including children and lone parents.</p><p><a href="http://www.parliament.uk/documents/impact-assessments/IA15-006C.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.parliament.uk/documents/impact-assessments/IA15-006C.pdf</a></p><p> </p><p>However, information on the children of recipients of Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) is not collected, and projections beyond 2016 of children under the age of 5 living in households in receipt of either tax credits or JSA have not been estimated.</p> answering member constituency Gosport answering member printed Caroline Dinenage question first answered 07/09/2017 09:05:24 answering member 4008 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Dinenage
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

754935

	registered interest
	date	20/07/2017
	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 estimate he has made of the projected number of children under the age of five who live in households that will be affected by the benefits cap in each of the next five years.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	6669
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/09/2017 answer text <p>The Department does not hold any projections of the number of children under the age of 5 affected by the benefit cap.</p><p> </p><p>To collate and add on the additional data for all children under 5 and quality assure the figures to answer this PQ would incur disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p>The Department published ad-hoc statistics in July 2017 which estimated that 56,000 households fall into the scope of the lower benefit cap in 2016/17. (Source: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/benefit-cap-estimated-impact-on-parents-by-age-of-youngest-child" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/benefit-cap-estimated-impact-on-parents-by-age-of-youngest-child</a>, Table 1, Estimated number of households in scope for the lower benefit cap prior to its introduction, by family type and age of youngest child: 2016/17).</p><p> </p><p>This does not take account of behavioural changes where people make the choice to move into employment or increase their hours of work or taken other action to move out of scope for the cap.</p><p> </p><p>The Department published an Impact Assessment on the introduction of the lower benefit cap in August 2016. (Source: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/548741/welfare-reform-and-work-act-impact-assessment-for-the-benefit-cap.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/548741/welfare-reform-and-work-act-impact-assessment-for-the-benefit-cap.pdf</a></p> answering member constituency Gosport answering member printed Caroline Dinenage question first answered 07/09/2017 08:49:39 answering member 4008 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Dinenage
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

754937

	registered interest
	date	20/07/2017
	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, how many children under the age of five were living in households affected by the benefits cap in each of the last four years.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	6668
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/09/2017 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 07/09/2017 08:38:06 answering member 4008 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Dinenage
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

765467

	registered interest
	date	06/10/2017
	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	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 his policy is on charges by the Child Maintenance Service when claimants are required to transfer their cases from the Child Support Agency.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	106369
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/10/2017 answer text <p>The Child Maintenance Reforms are designed to support parents to make collaborative child maintenance arrangements where possible. This is why cases within the Child Support Agency are being closed rather than automatically moved to the Child Maintenance Service; at this point parents have the ability to choose the statutory service or make a family based arrangement. Applications to the Child Maintenance Service are subject to an application fee (except where domestic violence is reported) and on-going charges for collect and pay. The Child Maintenance Options service supports parents to make the right choice about child maintenance for their individual circumstances; this may be outside the statutory scheme through a family based arrangement. Our review of charging and its impact was published in August 2017.</p> answering member constituency Gosport answering member printed Caroline Dinenage question first answered 11/10/2017 15:31:31 answering member 4008 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Dinenage
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

622720

	registered interest
	date	27/10/2016
	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	Department for Work and Pensions: Apprentices
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many apprenticeships have been created in his Department in each region in each of the last five years; and how many participants in those apprenticeships subsequently secured a job within the Civil Service.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	50818
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2016 answer text <p>The following provides the numbers of apprenticeships created by region:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Region</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2012/13</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2013/14</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2014/15</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2015/16</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2016/17 (to date)</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Central</p></td><td><p>72</p></td><td><p>46</p></td><td><p>48</p></td><td><p>166</p></td><td><p>206</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>London</p></td><td><p>19</p></td><td><p>20</p></td><td><p>*</p></td><td><p>75</p></td><td><p>31</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>North East</p></td><td><p>51</p></td><td><p>65</p></td><td><p>101</p></td><td><p>249</p></td><td><p>199</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>North West</p></td><td><p>21</p></td><td><p>56</p></td><td><p>55</p></td><td><p>267</p></td><td><p>316</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Scotland</p></td><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>25</p></td><td><p>19</p></td><td><p>133</p></td><td><p>176</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>South East</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>32</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>South West</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>29</p></td><td><p>33</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Southern</p></td><td><p>34</p></td><td><p>8</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>226</p></td><td><p>212</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Wales</p></td><td><p>35</p></td><td><p>13</p></td><td><p>36</p></td><td><p>170</p></td><td><p>137</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Total</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>237</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>233</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>288</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>1351</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>1277</strong></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p>In line with standard departmental practice in statistics, we do not publish details of numbers less than 5 as this would breach our data protection obligations. Therefore all records of less than 5 have been annotated with an asterisk (*).</p><p> </p><p>We cannot obtain information on the number of apprenticeships who subsequently attained jobs within the civil service as we have not previously tracked this information. Our Fast Track apprentices are recruited on a permanent basis.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 04/11/2016 14:54:44 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

720829

	registered interest
	date	13/04/2017
	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	Older Workers: Manual Workers
	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 adequacy of the (a) financial and (b) other support manual workers aged over 50 years old will receive to help them to work until they reach the proposed increased state pension age.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	70654
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/04/2017 answer text <p>The Government is committed to supporting people aged 50 and over to remain in and or return to the labour market. Universal Credit is replacing six benefits with a single payment designed to incentivise working and earning more. With none of the cliff edges of the old system and a smooth taper that reduces income at a predictable rate as earnings increase, people can be confident that they will be better off in work and earning more. And as of April this year the taper has been made more generous so people can keep more of their earnings, benefitting three million working families.</p><p> </p><p>Everyone that claims Universal Credit will get targeted, personalised and work focussed support from a work coach The Department aims to support claimants with the same Work Coach throughout the duration of their Universal Credit claim, meaning claimants can build a relationship with their Work Coach.</p><p> </p><p>To tackle outdated perceptions about older workers the Government has announced the appointment of the Business In The Community (BITC) Age at Work leadership team led by Andy Briggs, CEO of Aviva UK Life and Chairman of Global Life as Business Champion for Older Workers, to spearhead the Government’s work to support employers to retain, retrain and recruitment older workers. The team will actively promote the benefits of older workers to employers across England – influencing them both strategically and in terms of practical advice.</p><p> </p><p>The Government also published a new strategy ‘Fuller Working Lives: A Partnership Approach’ on 2<sup>nd</sup> February. The Strategy is crucially led by employers, but also sets out the case for action by individuals, and the role of Government in supporting them in planning their careers and their approach to retirement. The Strategy and supporting evidence base are available at the attached web address: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fuller-working-lives-a-partnership-approach" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fuller-working-lives-a-partnership-approach</a></p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 20/04/2017 16:33:19 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

750339

	registered interest
	date	10/07/2017
	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	Pensions: Consumer Information
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the new single financial guidance body will host a pensions dashboard.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	4095
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/07/2017 answer text <p>Pensions Dashboards are an exciting idea and the Government worked with industry to deliver a working prototype of the dashboard in April 2017. However, the development of dashboards is still at a very early stage with many policy questions outstanding, The single financial guidance body is in the early stages of being passed through Parliament so it is too early to determine the entire role of the body.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 18/07/2017 16:03:31 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham