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100277

	registered interest
	date	21/10/2014
	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	Winter Fuel Payment
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many in-work working-age households received winter fuel payments in 2013-14; what estimate he has made of how many such households will be claiming winter fuel payments in each of the next four financial years; and what assessment he has made of the effect of equalising the state pension age for men and women on the take-up of winter fuel payments.
	tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
	tabling member printed	Mr Frank Field
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	211255
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/10/2014 answer text <p /> <p>Information about how many in-work working-age households received Winter Fuel Payments in 2013-14 is not available.</p><p> </p><p>The table below shows the number of people aged under 65 receiving a Winter Fuel Payment and the associated expenditure in years 2009-10 to 2018-19 inclusive:</p><p><strong> </strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p><strong>Expenditure (£m)</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Caseload (000s)</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2009/10</p></td><td><p>640.8</p></td><td><p>3,358</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010/11</p></td><td><p>624.1</p></td><td><p>3,265</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011/12</p></td><td><p>451.5</p></td><td><p>2,927</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012/13</p></td><td><p>385.4</p></td><td><p>2,484</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013/14</p></td><td><p>324.1</p></td><td><p>2,056</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014/15</p></td><td><p>268.2</p></td><td><p>1,714</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015/16</p></td><td><p>215.8</p></td><td><p>1,389</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016/17</p></td><td><p>157.1</p></td><td><p>1,019</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017/18</p></td><td><p>85.8</p></td><td><p>563</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018/19</p></td><td><p>14.8</p></td><td><p>95</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p /> <p> </p><p><strong>Notes</strong></p><p>Numbers are for Winter Fuel Payments made to those eligible in Great Britain, European Economic Area and Switzerland aged 60-64: outturn to 2013-14; forecast 2014/15 onwards.</p><p>Winter Fuel Payments in 2009-10 and 2010-11 included one-off £50 payments for the under 80s.</p><p>One of the Winter Fuel Payment eligibility criteria is a person’s age in the qualifying week (the third full week in September). This age has been rising in line with the increase to the female State Pension age.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Steve Webb question first answered 24/10/2014 13:51:22 answering member 220 label Biography information for Steve Webb
	tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

99915

	registered interest
	date	20/10/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Domestic Abuse: Sentencing
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will review UK domestic violence sentencing guidelines.
	tabling member constituency	Mid Dorset and North Poole
	tabling member printed	Annette Brooke
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	211159
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/10/2014 answer text <p /> <p>Sentencing guidelines are produced independently of Government, by the Sentencing Council. The guidelines are available on the Sentencing Council website. Any decision to review the overarching sentencing guideline on domestic violence is a matter for the Sentencing Council.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The overarching sentencing guideline on domestic violence makes clear that because an offence has been committed in a domestic context there are likely to be aggravating factors present which make it more serious. The guideline sets out in some detail certain aggravating, and mitigating factors, which are of particular relevance to offences committed in a domestic context. All courts must take this guideline into account, and they must also follow sentencing guidelines for individual offences. This makes sure that the courts have a consistent approach to the task of determining the appropriate sentence in each case.</p> answering member constituency Hemel Hempstead answering member printed Mike Penning question first answered 27/10/2014 16:51:48 answering member 1528 label Biography information for Sir Mike Penning
	tabling member	1431 label Biography information for Annette Brooke

100275

	registered interest
	date	21/10/2014
	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: Payment Methods
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the cost is to the Government for each transaction for (a) pension payments and (b) benefit payments paid into a (i) Post Office card account, (ii) bank account and (iii) simple payment scheme.
	tabling member constituency	East Lothian
	tabling member printed	Fiona O'Donnell
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	211235
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/10/2014 answer text <p /> <p>The cost to Government for making payments into a Post Office Card Account are £0.50, into a bank account £0.04497 and by Simple Payment £3.60. These costs are applicable to both pension and benefit payments.</p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Steve Webb question first answered 27/10/2014 14:05:05 answering member 220 label Biography information for Steve Webb
	tabling member	3964 label Biography information for Fiona O'Donnell

100269

	registered interest
	date	21/10/2014
	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: Disability
	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 improve the support available to disabled people in the workplace.
	tabling member constituency	Barnsley Central
	tabling member printed	Dan Jarvis
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	211336
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/10/2014 answer text <p /> <p>Access to Work provides practical and financial support with the additional costs faced by individuals whose health or disability affects the way they do their job.</p><p> </p><p>In response to the Sayce review, the government committed to spending an extra £15m on Access to Work by the end of this Spending Review period. Access to Work has been extended to support some pre-employment activity such as Supported Internships, Traineeships and certain work experience. We no longer apply mandatory cost share for small employers and we have removed the list of standard equipment Access to Work will not fund; instead Access to Work advisers are working constructively with employers and employees to identify where Access to Work can assist.</p><p> </p><p>We have also introduced the Access to Work Mental Health Support Service. This can offer support to individuals with a mental health condition who are absent from work or finding work difficult. The service supports those experiencing depression, anxiety, stress or other mental health issues that are affecting their work.</p><p> </p><p>Additionally, Fit for Work will be launched in late 2014 with a phased roll-out coming to a close by the end of May 2015. Fit for Work will deliver both a supportive occupational health assessment and general health and work advice to employees, employers and GPs, to help individuals stay in or return to work.</p><p> </p><p>Finally, Work Choice provides disabled people with complex barriers to employment with a seamless service covering all stages of the journey into work. Short to longer-term in-work support is provided and progression into open unsupported employment is encouraged, where it is appropriate for the individual.</p><p> </p><p>Work Choice can provide an indefinite period of support once the customer is in work in recognition of the fact that some Work Choice participants may need ongoing support to overcome barriers in work that cannot be met through normal workplace adjustments.</p> answering member constituency Forest of Dean answering member printed Mr Mark Harper question first answered 24/10/2014 13:54:32 answering member 1520 label Biography information for Mr Mark Harper
	tabling member	4243 label Biography information for Dan Jarvis

99954

	registered interest
	date	20/10/2014
	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: Disqualification
	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 review sanctions for employment and support allowance.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Yardley
	tabling member printed	John Hemming
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	211164
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/10/2014 answer text <p /> <p>As with all our policies, we will continue to keep the operation of the sanctions system under review to ensure that it continues to operate effectively and as fairly as possible. We also continue to make improvements as committed to in the Oakley Review.</p> answering member constituency Wirral West answering member printed Esther McVey question first answered 27/10/2014 11:32:18 answering member 4084 label Biography information for Esther McVey
	tabling member	1483 label Biography information for John Hemming

100539

	registered interest
	date	22/10/2014
	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, how many applications were made to the Social Fund to cover the cost of funerals in each year since 2010; and how many of those applications were rejected.
	tabling member constituency	Liverpool, Walton
	tabling member printed	Steve Rotheram
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	211468
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/10/2014 answer text <p /> <p>From the latest data available, 305,840 applications have been made for Funeral Payments in Great Britain between January 2010 and September 2014, the latest data available. In the same period there have been 151,620 refusals.</p><p> </p><p>Table 1 below shows the number of applications and refusals for each year. Note that 2014 data only extends to September thus far.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>2010</p></td><td><p>2011</p></td><td><p>2012</p></td><td><p>2013</p></td><td><p>2014 (Jan-Sep)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Applications</p></td><td><p>66,780</p></td><td><p>70,990</p></td><td><p>66,390</p></td><td><p>62,200</p></td><td><p>39,470</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Refusals</p></td><td><p>33,350</p></td><td><p>36,330</p></td><td><p>34,540</p></td><td><p>29,200</p></td><td><p>18,190</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong>Notes</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>1. These figures do not include applications which were processed clerically and have not yet been entered on to the Social Fund Computer System.</p><p> </p><p>2. The figures given are the number of applications and initial refusals in the given time period and not the number of people who made applications or received awards. An individual may make more than one application in a year. Information on the number of people who made applications and received awards is not available.</p><p>.</p><p>3. The refusal figures given are based on the initial decisions made on each case and may include cases where an award was later made on review.</p><p> </p><p>4. All figures are rounded to the nearest 10.</p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Steve Webb question first answered 27/10/2014 13:57:49 answering member 220 label Biography information for Steve Webb
	tabling member	4035 label Biography information for Steve Rotheram

92777

	registered interest
	date	13/10/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Wills
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have made representations to the Law Society about its practice note on Sharia-compliant wills.
	tabling member printed	Lord Maginnis of Drumglass
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	HL2013
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/10/2014 answer text <p /> <p>Her Majesty’s Government has not made any representations to the Law Society about its practice note on Sharia-compliant wills.</p><p> </p><p>The legal profession is independent of government, and is regulated by Approved Regulators, for which the Legal Services Board (LSB) has oversight responsibility. The Approved Regulators and LSB are also independent of government, as are the bodies which deal with complaints about those in the legal profession.</p> answering member printed Lord Faulks question first answered 27/10/2014 15:10:00 answering member 4183 label Biography information for Lord Faulks
	tabling member	648 label Biography information for Lord Maginnis of Drumglass

99947

	registered interest
	date	20/10/2014
	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	Blood: Contamination
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether any savings an individual has accrued as a result of saving and investing lump-sum payments they have received from the Macfarlane and Eileen Trust, Macfarlane Trust, Eileen Trust or Skipton Fund are taken into account when deciding their eligibility for employment and support allowance and other welfare benefits; and whether the transfer of such savings to a dependant or partner, affects that dependant or partner's entitlement to benefits.
	tabling member constituency	Kingston upon Hull North
	tabling member printed	Diana Johnson
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	211082
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/10/2014 answer text <p /> <p>Payments received from Government funded Trusts and Funds may be disregarded for benefit purposes. This includes payments from the following Trusts/Funds: Macfarlane, Eileen Trust and Skipton Fund.</p><p> </p><p>Any capital resource which derives from a payment from these Trusts/Funds, such as interest, is also disregarded indefinitely.</p><p> </p><p>Money which derives from the Trusts/Funds which is transferred to a partner is disregarded indefinitely in any benefit claim made by the couple. It is also disregarded indefinitely in any claim made by the partner after the sufferer’s death providing that the couple were not estranged or divorced at the time of the death. However, money derived from the Trusts/Funds which is transferred to a dependent child or young person is not disregarded in any subsequent claim made in later life by that person.</p> answering member constituency Forest of Dean answering member printed Mr Mark Harper question first answered 27/10/2014 17:55:45 answering member 1520 label Biography information for Mr Mark Harper
	tabling member	1533 label Biography information for Dame Diana Johnson

100538

	registered interest
	date	22/10/2014
	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 Fund
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average wait for a decision on a social fund application was in each year since 2003.
	tabling member constituency	Liverpool, Walton
	tabling member printed	Steve Rotheram
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	211466
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/10/2014 answer text <p /> <p>Table 1 below shows the average wait (in days) for decisions on a Social Fund application for each year from 2003 and a breakdown by application type.</p><p> </p><p>No data is provided for 2014. This is because the number of applications and waiting times vary seasonally, meaning that an average only covering part of the year is not comparable with whole year averages shown from 2003-2013.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Average wait (days)</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Funeral Payments</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Community Care Grants</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Crisis Loans</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Budgeting Loans</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Sure Start Maternity Grants</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2003</strong></p></td><td><p>13.1</p></td><td><p>8.3</p></td><td><p>1.2</p></td><td><p>2.7</p></td><td><p>4.7</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2004</strong></p></td><td><p>13.5</p></td><td><p>8.2</p></td><td><p>1.3</p></td><td><p>3.0</p></td><td><p>4.0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2005</strong></p></td><td><p>12.1</p></td><td><p>7.5</p></td><td><p>1.4</p></td><td><p>2.9</p></td><td><p>4.0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2006</strong></p></td><td><p>12.5</p></td><td><p>9.1</p></td><td><p>1.5</p></td><td><p>3.2</p></td><td><p>3.9</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2007</strong></p></td><td><p>13.4</p></td><td><p>10.9</p></td><td><p>1.6</p></td><td><p>4.5</p></td><td><p>4.8</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2008</strong></p></td><td><p>14.3</p></td><td><p>11.3</p></td><td><p>1.8</p></td><td><p>5.1</p></td><td><p>5.3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2009</strong></p></td><td><p>14.8</p></td><td><p>13.3</p></td><td><p>2.0</p></td><td><p>5.3</p></td><td><p>5.0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2010</strong></p></td><td><p>15.3</p></td><td><p>8.9</p></td><td><p>2.1</p></td><td><p>5.4</p></td><td><p>4.7</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2011</strong></p></td><td><p>13.1</p></td><td><p>7.5</p></td><td><p>2.1</p></td><td><p>5.0</p></td><td><p>4.3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2012</strong></p></td><td><p>14.6</p></td><td><p>7.5</p></td><td><p>3.0</p></td><td><p>4.9</p></td><td><p>3.6</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2013</strong></p></td><td><p>17.1</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>5.5</p></td><td><p>4.0</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong>Notes</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>1. These figures do not include applications which were processed clerically and have not yet been entered on to the Social Fund Computer System.</p><p> </p><p>2. No average wait time is reported for Community Care Grants or Crisis Loans in 2013. This is because these payments were replaced by Local Welfare Provision in March 2013.</p><p> </p><p>3. The clearance time for an individual Social Fund loan or grant is measured in whole working days from the date the application is received until the date the decision is taken. The minimum clearance time recorded for an individual case is one working day, even if the application is cleared immediately.</p><p> </p><p>4. Cold Weather Payments are not included in Table 1. These are made automatically if the claimant is eligible at the time of the cold weather trigger, so there is no decision to be made.</p><p> </p><p>5. All figures are provided to 1 decimal place.</p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Steve Webb question first answered 27/10/2014 13:51:34 answering member 220 label Biography information for Steve Webb
	tabling member	4035 label Biography information for Steve Rotheram

100495

	registered interest
	date	22/10/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Young Offenders: Counselling
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps the Government is taking to provide emotional support for inmates of young offenders institutions.
	tabling member constituency	Coventry South
	tabling member printed	Mr Jim Cunningham
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	211571
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/10/2014 answer text <p /> <p>The Government is committed to providing emotional support to young people and young adults in Young Offender Institutions (YOIs). All young offender institutions and prisons are required to have procedures in place to identify, manage and support offenders in need of emotional support or at risk of harming themselves.</p><p> </p><p>These procedures include the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) process which is an offender-centred, flexible care planning system designed to ensure that offenders at risk are managed in a way that is responsive to individual needs, including those related to age. A recent review of the ACCT process for young people made a number of recommendations that are being taken forward by the National Offender Management Service.</p><p> </p><p>NHS England provide a commissioned healthcare service to all YOIs which includes GPs, nurses and mental health professionals to support those with an identified physical or mental health need in custody. Support services provided under contract are equitable with those provided in the community.</p><p> </p><p>Healthcare services are supported by the chaplaincy team which offers a range of pastoral support services and by the Samaritans who provide free helpline access and train young offenders aged 18 and over to act as ‘Listeners’, that is, peer supporters for other young offenders who are in crisis.</p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous question first answered 27/10/2014 16:11:26 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous
	tabling member	308 label Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham