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518451

registered interest
date	10/05/2016
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	Carer's Allowance
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 number of people who have decreased their working hours in order to remain eligible for the carers allowance since the introduction of the National Living Wage.
tabling member constituency	Sheffield, Heeley
tabling member printed	Louise Haigh
uin	36994
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/05/2016 answer text <p>I have made no such estimate and I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to her on the 25 April 2016 to Question <a href="http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2016-04-20/34752/" target="_blank">UIN34752</a></p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 12/05/2016 07:25:10 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4473 label Biography information for Louise Haigh

518245

registered interest
date	09/05/2016
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	Industrial Health and Safety
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 support workplace incentives to promote employee health and reduce sickness-related unemployment.
tabling member constituency	Southend West
tabling member printed	Sir David Amess
uin	36846
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/05/2016 answer text <p>We plan to publish a Green Paper later this year, which will set out reforms to improve support for people with health conditions and disabilities, including exploring the roles of employers.</p><p> </p><p>Employers are key partners in our ambition to halve the disability employment gap, reduce sick absence and promote employee health.</p><p> </p><p>Support is offered to employers through initiatives such as Access to Work and Disability Confident which help employers to recruit and retain people with a disability.</p><p> </p><p>Public Health England supports local authorities in the provision of a range of resources and services for employers in the area of preventing ill health, including the Workplace Wellbeing Charter.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 11/05/2016 15:53:35 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	44 label Biography information for Sir David Amess

518334

registered interest
date	09/05/2016
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	Jobcentres: Lytham St Annes
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans his Department has to close or relocate Jobcentre Plus at Westmorland House, Lytham St. Annes.
tabling member constituency	Fylde
tabling member printed	Mark Menzies
uin	36891
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/05/2016 answer text <p>The Department is in the process of reviewing all of its estates requirements as the current contract for most of the estate comes to an end in March 2018.</p><p> </p><p>Commercial negotiations are underway at this time and consequently it is not appropriate to comment on any sites.</p> answering member constituency Witham answering member printed Priti Patel question first answered 12/05/2016 07:19:17 answering member 4066 label Biography information for Priti Patel
tabling member	3998 label Biography information for Mark Menzies

517956

registered interest
date	06/05/2016
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	Employment and Support Allowance: Brighton
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of employment and support allowance (ESA) applicants from Brighton and Hove are being sent to (a) Lewes and (b) Vauxhall for assessment; for what reasons such ESA applicants are being sent to those locations; what impact assessment has been made of sending ESA applicants to centres out of their home city; when and how applicants are remunerated for transport costs; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Brighton, Pavilion
tabling member printed	Caroline Lucas
uin	36713
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/05/2016 answer text <p>All Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) customers within the Brighton and Hove postcode areas are being asked to attend for an assessment at Lewes Assessment Centre as Lewes is the nearest Assessment Centre to Brighton and Hove.</p><p> </p><p>DWP policy ensures that claimants do not have to travel for more than 90 minutes by public transport (single journey) for a consultation. However, this limit is an absolute maximum and for the majority of claimants their journey will be less than this. For example, it would take applicants from Brighton and Hove approximately 20-30 minutes by bus to reach Lewes Assessment centre.</p><p> </p><p>All claimants who are asked to travel to an assessment are reimbursed either by cheque or directly into a bank account via BACS.</p><p> </p><p>If an ESA customer is unable to attend an appointment, they are asked to contact the provider to discuss their individual circumstances. A home visit can be arranged if there is supportive medical evidence about the claimant’s inability to travel due to their medical condition.</p><p> </p><p>ESA claimants are not asked to travel to the Assessment Centre at Vauxhall which is specifically for claimants of Personal Independence Payment and not ESA.</p> answering member constituency Witham answering member printed Priti Patel question first answered 11/05/2016 13:49:55 answering member 4066 label Biography information for Priti Patel
tabling member	3930 label Biography information for Caroline Lucas

517572

registered interest
date	04/05/2016
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	Local Housing Allowance: Supported Housing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of capping housing benefit to the same level as local housing allowance on the number of specialist homes in (a) Sunderland, (b) the North East, and (c) England.
tabling member constituency	Houghton and Sunderland South
tabling member printed	Bridget Phillipson
uin	36530
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/05/2016 answer text <p>We recognise the importance of assessing the potential impact on specialist homes. However, as the policy is not yet fully developed we are unable to provide any Information relating to this at this time.</p><p> </p><p>For this reason on 1 March 2016 we announced, via a Written Ministerial Statement, that the effect of the LHA cap for those living in social sector supported housing would be deferred by a year, pending the outcome of a review, This means that the measure will only effect those who have taken on or renewed a tenancy from April 2017 rather than April 2016.</p><p> </p><p>We have done this because we understand the importance of ensuring that both those living in supported housing and those who provide this type of accommodation receive appropriate protections. This is why we are awaiting the outcome of a “Supported Accommodation” research project and subsequent policy review, to ensure support is focused on the most vulnerable and appropriate groups are safeguarded.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 11/05/2016 09:05:22 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4046 label Biography information for Bridget Phillipson

517573

registered interest
date	04/05/2016
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	Personal Independence Payment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what criteria his Department has set to ensure that people who carry out personal independence payment assessments for Capita are fully qualified medically.
tabling member constituency	Caerphilly
tabling member printed	Wayne David
uin	36632
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/05/2016 answer text <p>All Health Professionals (HPs) undertaking assessments on behalf of DWP must be registered practitioners who have also met requirements around training, experience and competence.</p><p> </p><p>Approval to work as an HP must be conferred by the DWP Chief Medical Adviser on behalf of the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.</p><p> </p><p>For the delivery of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessments, they must be an occupational therapist, level 1 nurse, physiotherapist, paramedic or doctor. They must also be fully registered and have at least two years’ post full-registration experience.</p><p> </p><p>In addition to their profession, the Department recognises the importance of ensuring that individuals also have sufficient experience, skills and training to carry out their duties and PIP providers are required to ensure that the HPs carrying out assessments have knowledge of the clinical aspects and likely functional effects of a wide range of health conditions and impairments. This means that all HPs receive comprehensive training in disability analysis which includes a functional evaluation as to how medical conditions and the long-term medical treatment of those conditions affect an individual’s ability to perform day-to-day activities. Prior to carrying out an assessment the HP routinely refreshes their knowledge of any condition with which they are not fully familiar.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 09/05/2016 15:44:28 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	1398 label Biography information for Wayne David

517576

registered interest
date	04/05/2016
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	Universal Credit
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 4 May 2016 to Question 35960, on universal credit, who the independent decision makers will be; and how those people will be appointed.
tabling member constituency	Liverpool, Wavertree
tabling member printed	Luciana Berger
uin	36595
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/05/2016 answer text <p>Decision Makers considering the imposition of a sanction are DWP employees. When a sanctionable failure is identified by a work coach, a referral is made which is randomly assigned to a centralised decision maker to review the circumstances of the case, including any representations from the claimant regarding good reason for non-compliance, and arrive at a decision independently of the work coach.</p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Witham answering member printed Priti Patel question first answered 09/05/2016 10:31:09 answering member 4066 label Biography information for Priti Patel
tabling member	4036 label Biography information for Luciana Berger

517577

registered interest
date	04/05/2016
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	Universal Credit
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 4 May 2016 to Question 35960, on universal credit, what the exclusion criteria are.
tabling member constituency	Liverpool, Wavertree
tabling member printed	Luciana Berger
uin	36596
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/05/2016 answer text <p>In some cases, where a claimant would be excluded from work related requirements they will be excluded from the pool of “qualifying claimants”. They will also cease to be part of the scheme if the same circumstances apply after they have been selected. These are:</p><p> </p><ul><li>recent victims of domestic violence;</li><li>claimants who provide medical evidence of unfitness for work pending a work capability assessment;</li><li>prisoners;</li><li>claimants absent from GB for medical treatment etc;</li><li>claimants suffering a bereavement;</li><li>claimants undergoing treatment for drug or alcohol addiction.</li></ul> answering member constituency Witham answering member printed Priti Patel question first answered 09/05/2016 10:35:49 answering member 4066 label Biography information for Priti Patel
tabling member	4036 label Biography information for Luciana Berger

516984

registered interest
date	03/05/2016
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	British Home Stores: Pensions
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will review, or charge others to review, the performance of the trustees of the BHS pension schemes, and whether the current trustees are fit and proper to continue performing that role at BHS and other pension schemes.
tabling member printed	Lord Myners
uin	HL8139
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/05/2016 answer text <p>The investigation into the BHS pension schemes, including the role of the trustees, is a matter for the independent Pensions Regulator.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The actions of the trustees and competence of the trustees are among the issues that we would expect the Regulator to be considering as part of its investigations.</p> answering member printed Baroness Altmann question first answered 12/05/2016 10:03:40 answering member 4533 label Biography information for Baroness Altmann
tabling member	3869 label Biography information for Lord Myners

517114

registered interest
date	03/05/2016
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	National Insurance Contributions
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 took to raise public awareness of changes to national insurance contributions that will take effect from 2016-17.
tabling member constituency	East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow
tabling member printed	Dr Lisa Cameron
uin	36234
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/05/2016 answer text <p>The introduction of the new State Pension means that contracting-out of the additional State Pension ended on 5 April 2016. This changed National Insurance contributions for people in Defined Benefit pension schemes who were previously contracted-out, as these employees paid a lower rate of National Insurance in exchange for contributing towards a workplace pension. These changes have been a part of our significant communications effort around the new State Pension.</p><p> </p><p>Proposals to end contracting-out were first published in a 2011 Green Paper “A State Pension for the 21<sup>st</sup> century” and then in a January 2013 White Paper “The single-tier pension: a simple foundation for saving”. Proposals went through consultation with employers, pension schemes and their representatives before the Pensions Act was passed in 2014.</p><p><em> </em></p><p>In November 2014, we launched a public information campaign “Know the Facts” which included specific contracting-out press advertorials, blogs, fact sheets and digital communications. Our new State Pension resource pack has been issued to over 350 organisations and many more employers, to help support them explain the changes to their members and staff, including the change in contracting-out status for their workplace pensions.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 11/05/2016 14:55:28 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4412 label Biography information for Dr Lisa Cameron