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1171008

	registered interest
	date	15/01/2020
	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	Employment and Support Allowance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what savings have accrued to the public purse under the £30 reduction for claimants of employment and support allowance in the work-related activity group in each month since that reduction was implemented.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	3794
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/01/2020 answer text <p><del class="ministerial">There are no savings from the removal of the Employment and Support Allowance Work Related Activity Component for new claims from April 2017.</del></p><p> </p><p><del class="ministerial">This change enabled the Department to recycle money into providing practical support that will make a significant difference to the life chances of those in the Work-Related Activity Group. We have invested £330m over 4 years with £100m available in 2020/21 and will support those with limited capability for work to move towards and into suitable employment.</del></p><p> </p><p><ins class="ministerial"><em>The information requested on the savings accrued from the removal of the Work Related Activity Component (WRAC) is not available. It would incur disproportionate cost to calculate any actual net savings from the removal of the WRAC. </em></ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial"><em> </em></ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial"><em>When the WRAC was removed we made a clear commitment to instead provide practical support that will make a significant difference to the life chances of those in the Work-Related Activity Group. We have been investing an additional £330m over 4 years to support those with limited capability for work to move towards and into suitable employment. </em></ins></p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 20/01/2020 15:00:20 question first ministerially corrected 24/01/2020 14:36:26 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson previous answer version 1615 answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1243057

	registered interest
	date	13/10/2020
	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: Disability
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when she plans to publish a Green Paper on disability benefits.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	102871
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/10/2020 answer text <p><del class="ministerial">We spend over £55 billion a year on benefits to support disabled people and people with health conditions – up nearly £10 billion since 2010 and more than ever before.</del></p><p> </p><p><del class="ministerial">The Department has announced it will be bringing forward a Green Paper on health and disability support, considering issues that disabled people have told us that they want to see addressed. This will explore a wide range of issues linked to health and disability benefits and the wider support that is provided.</del></p><p> </p><p><ins class="ministerial">The Department has announced it will be bringing forward a Green Paper on health and disability support, considering issues that disabled people have told us that they want to see addressed. We will update the house in due course.</ins></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 16/10/2020 11:45:29 question first ministerially corrected 16/10/2020 13:35:43 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson previous answer version 54798 answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

747512

	registered interest
	date	03/07/2017
	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	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 steps he is taking to collect child maintenance arrears, by category of collectability.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	2606
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/07/2017 answer text <p><del class="ministerial">The department publishes an annual estimate of child maintenance arrears in the Client Funds Account that sets out the three categories of collectability.</del></p><p> </p><p><del class="ministerial"><strong>1. Likely to be collected:</strong> Debt which meets criteria indicating that the Department has a good chance of collecting it. The criteria are:</del></p><ul><li><del class="ministerial">At least one payment made against the outstanding arrears in the six months prior to the reporting date.</del></li><li><del class="ministerial">At least one payment made in excess of the scheduled amount</del></li></ul><p> </p><p><del class="ministerial"><strong>2. Potentially collectable:</strong> Debt which meets criteria indicating that the Department has a reasonable chance of collecting it. The criteria are:</del></p><ul><li><del class="ministerial">The existence of a payment schedule at any point during the six months prior to the reporting date, even though no payments were received in the period.</del></li><li><del class="ministerial">For recent arrears, i.e. aged three months or less, the receipt of at least one payment against those arrears after the reporting date.</del></li><li><del class="ministerial">Debt on cases where enforcement action such as deduction directly from the non-resident parent’s bank account, or forcing the sale of their property is likely to be successful.</del></li></ul><p> </p><p><del class="ministerial"><strong>3. Uncollectable:</strong> All remaining debt which does not meet the criteria for either of the other categories.</del></p><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong><ins class="ministerial"> <p><ins class="ministerial">The Department aims to ensure parents fulfil their obligation to make financial provision for their children and that maintenance is paid accurately and on time. Our priority, as outlined in our published Arrears and Compliance Strategy is to collect on-going maintenance and arrears in cases where there is still a child who stands to benefit.</ins></p><p> </p><p><ins class="ministerial">Child maintenance arrears are categorised in the Client Fund Account according to the likelihood of them being collected. We consider action on all cases that fall into the collectable and potentially collectable categories of debt. Where we are unable to take enforcement action, for example where we cannot trace the non-resident parent, cases will fall into the uncollectable category and will be reviewed as resources allow.</ins></p></ins></strong></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Gosport answering member printed Caroline Dinenage question first answered 06/07/2017 09:26:53 question first ministerially corrected 06/07/2017 10:03:54 answering member 4008 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Dinenage previous answer version 2227 answering member constituency Gosport answering member printed Caroline Dinenage answering member 4008 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Dinenage
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

765617

	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, why the Child Maintenance Service allows non-resident parents £2,500 of unearned income that is not factored into payment plans; and whether he plans to review this policy.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	106137
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/10/2017 answer text <p>Calculation of a child maintenance liability is based on gross income information provided directly to the Child Maintenance Service by HMRC. <del class="ministerial">Individuals are required to declare unearned income not taxed at source which does not exceed £2500 a year to HMRC, which already enables HMRC to include it in the income information they provide.</del> Unearned income exceeding £2500 a year is dealt with by HMRC through tax self-assessment <del class="ministerial">and is picked up in a child maintenance calculation through an unearned income variation. We have no plans to review this.</del><ins class="ministerial">The treatment of unearned income for child maintenance purposes is aligned with this for administrative efficiency. We are inviting views on the future treatment of &quot;income&quot; within the recently published Compliance and Arrears Strategy consultation.</ins></p> answering member constituency North West Hampshire answering member printed Kit Malthouse question first answered 12/10/2017 13:56:00 question first ministerially corrected 01/02/2018 17:10:55 answering member 4495 label Biography information for Kit Malthouse previous answer version 14051 answering member constituency Gosport answering member printed Caroline Dinenage answering member 4008 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Dinenage
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

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

1006781

	registered interest
	date	14/11/2018
	answering body	Cabinet Office
	answering dept id	53
	answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
	answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
	hansard heading	Prison Officers: Age
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	What recent assessment he has made of the implications for his policy on public sector pensions of the ability of prison officers aged over 60 to meet the physical requirements of the job.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	907582
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/11/2018 answer text <p>The normal age of 65 for prison officer retirement was first introduced by the last Labour government in 2007. Lord Hutton’s pensions review in 2015 considered the issue and did not recommend any special exemptions for prison officers. We are satisfied that this continues to be the case.</p><p><strong><p><p></strong></p> answering member constituency Hertsmere answering member printed Oliver Dowden question first answered 14/11/2018 17:43:37 answering member 4441 label Biography information for Oliver Dowden
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1006992

	registered interest
	date	14/11/2018
	answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept id	201
	answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	hansard heading	Employment: Electronic Tagging
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will take steps to ban the microchipping of employees by employers.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	191454
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/11/2018 answer text <p>If an employer required or encouraged implantation of microchips among its employees, it would raise several legal issues. While I am not aware of any cases being brought to test the legal position, it seems unlikely that such an invasive approach to security or monitoring would be found to be justifiable. So, it is likely to be difficult for an employer to show that such a practice would be consistent with the requirements of data protection legislation, health and safety requirements, and other legal obligations to employees.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 26/11/2018 17:19:14 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1007769

	registered interest
	date	15/11/2018
	answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept id	201
	answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	hansard heading	Employment: Electronic Tagging
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the efficacy of proposals for employers to be able to microchip employees.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	191950
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/11/2018 answer text <p>We have not yet been asked to assess such proposals. However, it is not for Government to say what practices would be effective or beneficial for a particular employer. As long as their actions comply with all relevant legal requirements, an employer is free to decide what employment practices to follow.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 27/11/2018 14:57:33 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst previous answer version 86230 answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows