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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

1019329

	registered interest
	date	03/12/2018
	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	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 assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of enabling parents to pursue (a) child maintenance arrears and (b) arrears transferred from the Child Support Agency under through the legal system.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	198381
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/12/2018 answer text <p>The Child Maintenance Service has a wide range of strong enforcement powers, including applying to the court to remove a non-paying parent’s driving licence, order the sale of property, commit them to prison, or disqualify them from holding or obtaining a passport.</p><p> </p><p>There is a longstanding legal position that a permanent arrangement cannot be ordered by a court as part of any settlement action in respect of child maintenance payments. The statutory child maintenance system was established because court outcomes for families were frequently inconsistent. There is little merit in enabling parents to pursue arrears through the court system which is inevitably adversarial, costly and often a slow process which many clients may be unable to afford.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 06/12/2018 10:11:31 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1020006

	registered interest
	date	04/12/2018
	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	Children: Maintenance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much child support arrears are concerned in (a) Motherwell and Wishaw, (b) North Lanarkshire Westminster Parliamentary constituencies, and (c) Scotland, under the Child Support (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2018.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	198884
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/12/2018 answer text <p>As of June 2018 (most recent published regional data, rounded to nearest thousand), there were the following amounts of unpaid maintenance from Child Support Agency cases:</p><p> </p><p>(a) Motherwell and Wishaw parliamentary constituency - £4,034,000 of child support arrears</p><p> </p><p>(b) North Lanarkshire Local Authority - £17,366,000 of child support arrears</p><p> </p><p>(c) Scotland - £ 225,269,000 of child support arrears</p><p> </p><p>Figures for b and c are published in the regional tables of the Child Support Agency Quarterly Summary of Statistics <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-support-agency-quarterly-summary-of-statistics-june-2018" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-support-agency-quarterly-summary-of-statistics-june-2018</a></p><p> </p><p>These amounts include all Child Support Agency cases with arrears. This includes cases where recent payments have been made and those where there has been no payment made within the last 3 months. The vast majority of these cases have received no recent payment, and it is only these cases that will be addressed under the Child Support (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2018.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 10/12/2018 10:21:05 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1023269

	registered interest
	date	11/12/2018
	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	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 assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of enabling parents to pursue Child Support Agency arrears written off under the Child Support (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2018 through the legal system.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	201254
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/12/2018 answer text <p>I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 06 December 2018 to Question 198381.</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2018-12-03/198381/" target="_blank">https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2018-12-03/198381/</a></p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 17/12/2018 15:28:33 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1043721

	registered interest
	date	18/01/2019
	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	Independent Case Examiner
	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 has been spent from the public purse on the running of the office of the Independent Case Examiner for each available year; and what her Department's plans are for the future funding on that office.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	210055
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/01/2019 answer text <p>Funding for the Independent Case Examiner’s Office is reviewed on an annual basis. The table below provides details of the budget allocated to the Office in the last four financial years.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Financial Year (April to March)</p></td><td><p>Amount</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015/16</p></td><td><p>£2,563,702</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016/17</p></td><td><p>£2,733,114</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017/18</p></td><td><p>£2,534,005</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018/19</p></td><td><p>£3,008,587</p></td></tr></tbody></table> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 23/01/2019 14:58:53 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1043722

	registered interest
	date	18/01/2019
	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	Independent Case Examiner
	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 Independent Case Examiner's ability to process complaints in a timely manner.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	210056
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/01/2019 answer text <p>The Independent Case Examiner (ICE) is appointed under contract to adjudicate on escalated complaints about DWP and its contracted service providers, in cases where the complainant has exhausted the relevant internal complaints process and remains dissatisfied. If a complainant is dissatisfied with the outcome of an ICE investigation, or the service provided by the Office (including processing times) they can ask their Member of Parliament to escalate their complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. The Permanent Secretary is apprised of the Ombudsman’s findings each year.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 23/01/2019 14:50:19 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1043723

	registered interest
	date	18/01/2019
	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	Independent Case Examiner
	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 target timetable is for complaints to the Independent Case Examiner to be concluded; and what (a) proportion and (b) number of complaints met that target in each year for which information.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	210057
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/01/2019 answer text <p>The table below provides details of the clearance time targets for the Independent Case Examiner’s Office and its performance against those targets since they were introduced in their current form.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>Resolution: Aim to resolve the complaint, to the complainants satisfaction, within 8 weeks of it being accepted for investigation</p></td><td><p>Settlement: Aim to settle the complaint, to the complainants satisfaction, with 15 weeks of the investigation commencing</p></td><td><p>ICE Report: Aim to issue the ICE Report within 20 weeks of the investigation commencing</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2015/16</strong></p></td><td><p>80 complaints resolved 79% within target</p></td><td><p>91 complaints settled 74% within target</p></td><td><p>586 ICE Reports 56% within target</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2016/17</strong></p></td><td><p>84 complaints resolved 86% within target</p></td><td><p>127 complaints settled 87% within target</p></td><td><p>660 ICE Reports 41% within target</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2017/18</strong></p></td><td><p>83 complaints resolved 74% within target</p></td><td><p>141 complaints settled 84% within target</p></td><td><p>698 ICE Reports 40% within target</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2018/19</strong> <strong>(April to December 2018)</strong></p></td><td><p>131 complaints resolved 68% within target</p></td><td><p>139 complaints settled 81% within target</p></td><td><p>628 ICE Reports 45% within target</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 23/01/2019 14:42:35 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

943066

	registered interest
	date	17/07/2018
	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	Children: Maintenance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons her Department uses shared care bands when calculating reductions to child maintenance payments; and what her Department's rationale was in deciding what those bands should be.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	165064
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2018 answer text <p>Where there is shared care an adjustment may be made to the maintenance calculation to take account of the overnight care a paying parent is expected to have over a twelve month period.</p><p> </p><p>Bands are used to allow for simpler calculations and to reduce the need to consider small changes. Child maintenance is calculated at a weekly rate so the reduction is applied in ratios of sevenths to reflect how the number of nights per year relates to a weekly amount.</p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 23/07/2018 11:18:13 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

943068

	registered interest
	date	17/07/2018
	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	Children: Maintenance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons her Department is mandating paying parents to continue paying maintenance under the Child Maintenance Service when they have shared care for their child for more than 50 per cent of the year.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	165065
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2018 answer text <p>In most cases where care of a child is shared by parents, one parent tends to take a greater share of responsibility for that child. In such cases, it is right that the other parent remains financially liable for supporting their child, although the care they are providing will often result in a low maintenance liability.</p><p><em> </em></p><p>Where there is equal day to day care, there will be no requirement to pay maintenance. This reflects the fact that, in these circumstances, both parents are meeting their obligations to their children equally, so there is no need for one to make additional payments of child maintenance.</p><p> </p><p>Parents may choose to make a family based arrangement that works for their individual circumstances without any Child Maintenance Service involvement.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 23/07/2018 11:20:45 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

944830

	registered interest
	date	19/07/2018
	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: Domestic Abuse
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support her Department provides to people fleeing abuse from their home where they have a financial interest such as a mortgage and are therefore unable to claim the housing benefit element of universal credit.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	166214
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/07/2018 answer text <p>DWP has a range of measures designed to support people who flee abusive or violent households. These include easements to benefit conditionality to give claimants the space and time needed to stabilise their lives, special provisions in both Housing Benefit and Universal Credit housing support when a claimant is temporarily absent from their home through fear of violence, and exemptions from Child Maintenance fees. Work Coaches may also signpost and refer domestic violence victims to organisations that can provide further support.</p><p> </p><p>In particular, a claimant who leaves a mortgaged home due to domestic abuse or violence can continue to receive a support for mortgage interest (SMI) loan in respect of that property for up to 52 weeks, where they intend to return to the property, and were receiving an SMI loan at the time they fled the property.</p><p> </p><p>If the claimant has fled to a refuge, support for the rental costs is available from Housing Benefit, or if the claimant has fled and rented a general needs home, support for the housing costs is available from Universal Credit.</p><p> </p><p>In Universal Credit, support for housing costs is available for victims who take a new rent liability for up to 52 weeks, as the capital value of the home they have fled from is disregarded; or in Housing Benefit for those who have fled to a refuge, if the former home is occupied by a partner from whom the claimant is estranged, the capital value from the home is disregarded for up to 26 weeks.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 24/07/2018 16:09:46 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows