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1024719

registered interest
date	13/12/2018
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 effect of the £20 referral fee and four per cent collect and pay charge levied on people using the collect and pay service for Child Maintenance Service payments.
tabling member constituency	Ipswich
tabling member printed	Sandy Martin
uin	202154
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/12/2018 answer text <p>Fees and charges are intended to encourage separated parents to collaborate where possible to achieve the best outcome for their children. The application fee is a one-off payment of £20 and is waived for clients aged 18 or under, or those who have reported domestic abuse. The Direct Pay service does not incur any on-going collection charges. Collection charges only apply when a case is being managed in the Collect and Pay service. The four per cent charge for receiving parents is deducted only when maintenance is paid.</p><p> </p><p>On 03 August 2017, we published the outcome of a review of the impact of fees and charges. The evidence available did not indicate that charges were preventing parents from making an application, and the majority of parents found the fee affordable. Roughly half of parents stated that charges influenced their decision to try a direct pay arrangement first.</p><p> </p><p>We have no plans to abolish the application fee or charges, both of which remain central to our aim of encouraging collaboration and incentivising use of the Direct Pay service.</p><p /> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson grouped question UIN 202155 202156 202158 question first answered 17/12/2018 15:39:19 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4678 label Biography information for Sandy Martin

1024720

registered interest
date	13/12/2018
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 frequency with which receiving parents are required to pay the £20 referral fee or the four per cent collect and pay charge when Child Maintenance Payments have not been made.
tabling member constituency	Ipswich
tabling member printed	Sandy Martin
uin	202155
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/12/2018 answer text <p>Fees and charges are intended to encourage separated parents to collaborate where possible to achieve the best outcome for their children. The application fee is a one-off payment of £20 and is waived for clients aged 18 or under, or those who have reported domestic abuse. The Direct Pay service does not incur any on-going collection charges. Collection charges only apply when a case is being managed in the Collect and Pay service. The four per cent charge for receiving parents is deducted only when maintenance is paid.</p><p> </p><p>On 03 August 2017, we published the outcome of a review of the impact of fees and charges. The evidence available did not indicate that charges were preventing parents from making an application, and the majority of parents found the fee affordable. Roughly half of parents stated that charges influenced their decision to try a direct pay arrangement first.</p><p> </p><p>We have no plans to abolish the application fee or charges, both of which remain central to our aim of encouraging collaboration and incentivising use of the Direct Pay service.</p><p /> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson grouped question UIN 202154 202156 202158 question first answered 17/12/2018 15:39:19 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4678 label Biography information for Sandy Martin

1024722

registered interest
date	13/12/2018
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, whether she plans to abolish the (a) £20 referral fee and (b) 4 per cent collect and pay charge for Child Maintenance Service payments.
tabling member constituency	Ipswich
tabling member printed	Sandy Martin
uin	202156
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/12/2018 answer text <p>Fees and charges are intended to encourage separated parents to collaborate where possible to achieve the best outcome for their children. The application fee is a one-off payment of £20 and is waived for clients aged 18 or under, or those who have reported domestic abuse. The Direct Pay service does not incur any on-going collection charges. Collection charges only apply when a case is being managed in the Collect and Pay service. The four per cent charge for receiving parents is deducted only when maintenance is paid.</p><p> </p><p>On 03 August 2017, we published the outcome of a review of the impact of fees and charges. The evidence available did not indicate that charges were preventing parents from making an application, and the majority of parents found the fee affordable. Roughly half of parents stated that charges influenced their decision to try a direct pay arrangement first.</p><p> </p><p>We have no plans to abolish the application fee or charges, both of which remain central to our aim of encouraging collaboration and incentivising use of the Direct Pay service.</p><p /> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson grouped question UIN 202154 202155 202158 question first answered 17/12/2018 15:39:19 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4678 label Biography information for Sandy Martin

1024724

registered interest
date	13/12/2018
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, whether her Department plans to abolish (a) the £20 referral fee and (b) the 4 per cent collection fee charged to receiving parents who use the Child Maintenance Scheme collect and pay service.
tabling member constituency	Ipswich
tabling member printed	Sandy Martin
uin	202158
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/12/2018 answer text <p>Fees and charges are intended to encourage separated parents to collaborate where possible to achieve the best outcome for their children. The application fee is a one-off payment of £20 and is waived for clients aged 18 or under, or those who have reported domestic abuse. The Direct Pay service does not incur any on-going collection charges. Collection charges only apply when a case is being managed in the Collect and Pay service. The four per cent charge for receiving parents is deducted only when maintenance is paid.</p><p> </p><p>On 03 August 2017, we published the outcome of a review of the impact of fees and charges. The evidence available did not indicate that charges were preventing parents from making an application, and the majority of parents found the fee affordable. Roughly half of parents stated that charges influenced their decision to try a direct pay arrangement first.</p><p> </p><p>We have no plans to abolish the application fee or charges, both of which remain central to our aim of encouraging collaboration and incentivising use of the Direct Pay service.</p><p /> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson grouped question UIN 202154 202155 202156 question first answered 17/12/2018 15:39:20 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4678 label Biography information for Sandy Martin

1023913

registered interest
date	12/12/2018
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	Carer's Allowance: Young People
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has plans exempt young adult carers from the 21-hour study in relation to the carer’s allowance.
tabling member constituency	Bradford South
tabling member printed	Judith Cummins
uin	201692
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/12/2018 answer text <p>This Government recognises and values the vital contribution made by all carers, young or old in supporting some of the most vulnerable in society including pensioners and those with disabilities.</p><p> </p><p>The Government thinks it is important that carers can maintain links with the education system and so carers are able to undertake part-time education and still receive Carer’s Allowance. However, there are no plans to change the current 21 hour study rule as we think it is right that people in full-time education should be supported by the educational maintenance system, via its range of loans and grants, rather than the social security benefit system. That is why, as a general principle, full-time students are usually precluded from entitlement to income-related and income-maintenance benefits. Many college courses are provided on the basis of 16 hours a week supervised study so we have been working with the Learning and Work Institute and colleges to increase awareness of the Carer’s Allowance study rules.</p> answering member constituency Truro and Falmouth answering member printed Sarah Newton question first answered 17/12/2018 13:57:53 answering member 4071 label Biography information for Sarah Newton
tabling member	4391 label Biography information for Judith Cummins

1023921

registered interest
date	12/12/2018
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	State Retirement Pensions: Females
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many complaints of maladministration from women born in the 1950s relating to the change in their state pension age have been submitted to her Department’s Independent Case Examiner in each of the last five years.
tabling member constituency	Ceredigion
tabling member printed	Ben Lake
uin	201694
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/12/2018 answer text <p>Individual government departments have long established complaints procedures. That approach has not changed under Labour governments 1997-2010 or successive governments. The DWP has a two tier complaints process which considers formal complaints about our service<strong>. </strong>Once a complainant has exhausted the DWP complaint process they are signposted to the Independent Case Examiner’s Office if they are dissatisfied with the final response to their complaint. The Independent Case Examiner is independent.</p><p>The table below provides information on the method by which complaints submitted to the Independent Case Examiner’s (ICE) Office, concerning changes to women’s State Pension age, were closed.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman grouped question UIN 201695 question first answered 17/12/2018 15:27:52 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4630 label Biography information for Ben Lake

1023922

registered interest
date	12/12/2018
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	State Retirement Pensions: Females
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many complaints of maladministration from women born in the 1950s relating to the change in their state pension age submitted to her Department’s Independent Case Examiner have been (a) resolved, (b) rejected, (c) closed for other reasons.
tabling member constituency	Ceredigion
tabling member printed	Ben Lake
uin	201695
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/12/2018 answer text <p>Individual government departments have long established complaints procedures. That approach has not changed under Labour governments 1997-2010 or successive governments. The DWP has a two tier complaints process which considers formal complaints about our service<strong>. </strong>Once a complainant has exhausted the DWP complaint process they are signposted to the Independent Case Examiner’s Office if they are dissatisfied with the final response to their complaint. The Independent Case Examiner is independent.</p><p>The table below provides information on the method by which complaints submitted to the Independent Case Examiner’s (ICE) Office, concerning changes to women’s State Pension age, were closed.</p><p><ins class="ministerial"></ins></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">Reason for complaint closure</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">Number</ins> <ins class="ministerial"> </ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">(a) Resolved (we have interpreted this as meaning closed following issue of an ICE investigation report)</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">192</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">(b) Rejected (the complaint failed to meet the ICE acceptance criteria)</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">1,598</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">(c) Paused for other reasons (includes withdrawn complaints and those closed following a High Court decision to grant permission for a Judicial Review of the Departments handling of the change to women’s State Pension age – it is not within the ICE remit to consider issues which are, or have been, subject to legal proceedings.)</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">2,506</ins></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><ins class="ministerial"><strong> </strong></ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial">The Independent Case Examiner’s Office received the first complaints from women relating to changes in their state pension age in October 2016. The table below provides details of the numbers received in each of the past three reporting years.</ins></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">Year (April to March)</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">Number received</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">2016/2017</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">243</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">2017/2018</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">2981</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">2018/2019 (to 13 December 2018)</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">1072</ins></p></td></tr></tbody></table> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 17/12/2018 15:27:52 question first ministerially corrected 18/12/2018 17:16:19 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman previous answer version 92203 answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4630 label Biography information for Ben Lake

1023971

registered interest
date	12/12/2018
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	Universal Credit: Cancer
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Government is taking to make it easier for cancer patients undergoing treatment in hospital to claim universal credit.
tabling member constituency	Warrington South
tabling member printed	Faisal Rashid
uin	201708
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/12/2018 answer text <p>A claimant in hospital, regardless of their condition, has a range of options open to them to support them through their Universal Credit claim if they are unable to complete it themselves online.</p><p> </p><p>Those claimants who are unable to claim online are able to make their claim by telephone and in exceptional circumstances, a hospital visit may be considered. During this visit, the visiting officer will support the claimant to make a telephony claim. If the claimant requires a hospital visit, the date of the claim will be the date of first contact, even if the claimant is not actually able to complete the claim on that same day. In cases in which the claimant is unable to manage their own affairs due to mental incapability or severe physical disability an appointee can be agreed to act on behalf of the claimant in all interactions with the Department.</p><p> </p><p>All claimants receive continuous tailored support through their personal work coaches and all DWP staff in customer facing roles receive training on supporting claimants that report a health condition or disability, including those claimants who report a terminal illness. The Department are committed to ensuring that terminally ill patients are treated with sensitivity and care and receive the support they need to make a claim to Universal Credit.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, staff can use our District Provision Tool to signpost claimants to relevant information about local support services. This digital tool lists local and national provision and support delivered by Jobcentre Plus, Skills Funding Agency, Skills Development Scotland, Careers Wales, other providers, local authorities, and independent and volunteer organisations.</p><p /> answering member constituency Truro and Falmouth answering member printed Sarah Newton question first answered 19/12/2018 16:29:54 answering member 4071 label Biography information for Sarah Newton
tabling member	4670 label Biography information for Faisal Rashid

1023985

registered interest
date	12/12/2018
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	Unemployment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to increase job opportunities in communities with an unemployment rate higher than the national average.
tabling member constituency	Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill
tabling member printed	Hugh Gaffney
uin	201710
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/12/2018 answer text <p>Over 3 million more people are in work, and unemployment is lower in all regions and nations of the UK than in 2010. Youth unemployment has almost halved in this time, and there has been an increase in female and older worker employment. However, DWP, along with other departments and agencies continues to focus on the labour market and its challenges. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy published the ‘Industrial Strategy: building a Britain fit for the future’ white paper in November 2017. This sets out a plan for how local strategies can work together to increase local opportunities.</p><p> </p><p>Jobcentre staff play an important role by offering advice and support to help jobseekers gain the relevant skills required to be able to take up jobs that are available in their communities. Roll-out of Universal Credit Full Service was completed earlier this month and across the country and gives our work coaches the flexibility to offer tailored support to claimants.</p><p> </p><p>Government also provides The National Careers Service and works with local partners to provide opportunities for people. The range of support available may include:</p><p> </p><ul><li>Connecting people to jobs in the labour market</li><li>Help with job search, including CV writing, interview skills, where to find jobs and how to apply for them</li><li>Help to identify transferable skills and skills gaps (linked to the local labour market)</li><li>Training to update skills, learn new ones and gain industry recognised certification that will improve employability</li><li>Help to overcome barriers to attending training or securing a job</li><li>For large redundancies, DWP may also provide on-site services such as presentations to those affected</li><li>Jobs fairs and job clubs where appropriate</li></ul><p><strong></strong></p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 21/12/2018 11:50:54 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	4614 label Biography information for Hugh Gaffney

1024002

registered interest
date	12/12/2018
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	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 number of (a) universal credit claimants, (b) new universal credit claimants and (c) benefit suspensions in (i) Merthy Tydfil, (ii) South Wales and (iii) the UK in each month since 1 April 2018.
tabling member constituency	Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney
tabling member printed	Gerald Jones
uin	201718
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/12/2018 answer text <p>Monthly official experimental statistics on the number of people on Universal Credit, starts and claims, are published at:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/universal-credit-statistics" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/universal-credit-statistics</a></p><p> </p><p>Further breakdowns of claims by country, parliamentary constituency and local authority and also a breakdown of starts by postcode, since April 2018 are available on Stat Xplore at:</p><p><a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/" target="_blank">https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/</a>.</p><p>Quarterly official statistics Universal Credit decisions are published at:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/jobseekers-allowance-sanctions" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/jobseekers-allowance-sanctions</a></p><p> </p><p>Further breakdowns of sanction decisions by country, parliamentary constituency and local authority since April 2018 are available on Stat-Xplore at:</p><p><a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/" target="_blank">https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/</a>.</p><p>Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:</p><p><a href="https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html" target="_blank">https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html</a></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 17/12/2018 17:40:52 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	4501 label Biography information for Gerald Jones