Show Search Form

Search Results

registered interest	true false
date	exactly: or between: and
answering body
answering dept id
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
hansard heading
house id
legislature	pref label
question text
tabling member constituency
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member constituency answering member printed grouped question UIN question first answered answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

1329966

registered interest
date	07/06/2021
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 Support Allowance: Telephone Services
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 call waiting times were for the employment support allowance (a) enquiry and (b) service telephone lines in each of the last twelve quarters.
tabling member constituency	East Renfrewshire
tabling member printed	Kirsten Oswald
uin	11576
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/06/2021 answer text <p>a) The average call waiting time (Average Speed of Answer) for calls to the Employment Support Allowance helpline in each quarter from April 2018 to March 2021 is shown in the table below in the format of hours:minutes:seconds.</p><p> </p><p>b) It has not been possible to present data to answer the question posed as there are upward of 100 service lines operated by DWP. If the Member of Parliament was to indicate which service line(s) the ASA was required for, this information could be provided.</p><p /><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Quarter</strong></p></td><td><p><strong> </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Average Speed of Answer</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018 -2019</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>April - June</p></td><td><p>00:20:01</p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>July - September</p></td><td><p>00:19:23</p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>October - December</p></td><td><p>00:14:31</p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>4</p></td><td><p>January - March</p></td><td><p>00:19:50</p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2019 - 2020</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>April - June</p></td><td><p>00:23:36</p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>July - September</p></td><td><p>00:25:59</p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>October - December</p></td><td><p>00:25:11</p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>4</p></td><td><p>January - March</p></td><td><p>00:19:04</p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2020 - 2121</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>April - June</p></td><td><p>00:22:25</p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>July - September</p></td><td><p>00:30:46</p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>October - December</p></td><td><p>00:20:12</p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>4</p></td><td><p>January - March</p></td><td><p>00:20:24</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Data Source: BT - Historical Management Information (GI2 – HMI)</p><p> </p><p>The data supplied is derived from unpublished management information which was collected for internal Departmental use only and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. The data should therefore be treated with caution.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 15/06/2021 15:28:19 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4413 label Biography information for Kirsten Oswald

1330017

registered interest
date	07/06/2021
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	Poverty: Children
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the level of child poverty in (a) England and (b) Enfield North constituency.
tabling member constituency	Enfield North
tabling member printed	Feryal Clark
uin	11694
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2021 answer text <p>This Government is wholly committed to tackling poverty. Throughout the pandemic, our priority has been to support the most vulnerable including through spending an additional £7.4billion to strengthen the welfare system, taking our total expenditure on welfare support for people of working age to an estimated £112 billion in 2020/21. Additionally, in December 2020 we introduced our Covid Winter Grant Scheme, providing funding to Local Authorities in England to enable them to support people with food and essential utility bills during the coldest months, now the Covid Local Support Grant, with a total investment of £269m.</p><p> </p><p>National Statistics on the number and percentage of children in low income are published annually in the “Households Below Average Income” publication. Data for Kingston upon Hull North is unavailable due to insufficient sample size.</p><p> </p><p>Latest statistics for the levels of children who are in low income in England, covering 2019/20, can be found at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/households-below-average-income-for-financial-years-ending-1995-to-2020" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/households-below-average-income-for-financial-years-ending-1995-to-2020</a>,“children-hbai-timeseries-1994-95-2019-20-tables” in table 4.16ts (relative low income, before and after housing costs) and in table 4.22ts (absolute low income, before and after housing costs).</p><p> </p><p>In the three years to 2019/20, the absolute child poverty rate, before housing costs, in England was 18%, down 3 percentage points since the three years to 2009/10.</p><p> </p><p>The Department now publishes supplementary official statistics on the number of children in low income families at constituency level. Children in Low Income Families data is published annually. The latest figures on the number of children who are in low income in Enfield North constituency and in England, covering 2019/20, can be found at:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-in-low-income-families-local-area-statistics-2014-to-2020/children-in-low-income-families-local-area-statistics-fye-2015-to-fye-2020" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-in-low-income-families-local-area-statistics-2014-to-2020/children-in-low-income-families-local-area-statistics-fye-2015-to-fye-2020</a>.</p><p> </p><p>Due to methodological differences, the figures in these two publications are not comparable.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 10/06/2021 13:50:00 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4822 label Biography information for Feryal Clark

1330018

registered interest
date	07/06/2021
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	Poverty: Children
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the effect of the £20 uplift in universal credit on levels of child poverty in (a) England and (b) Enfield North.
tabling member constituency	Enfield North
tabling member printed	Feryal Clark
uin	11695
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2021 answer text <p>No assessment has been made.</p><p> </p><p>This Government is wholly committed to supporting those on low incomes, including by increasing the living wage, and by spending an estimated £112 billion on welfare support for people of working age in 2020/21. This included around £7.4 billion of Covid-related welfare policy measures.</p><p> </p><p>We introduced our Covid Winter Grant Scheme providing funding to Local Authorities in England to help the most vulnerable children and families stay warm and well fed during the coldest months, now the Covid Local Support Grant, with a total investment of £269m.</p><p> </p><p>As the economy recovers, our ambition is to help people move into and progress in work as quickly as possible based on clear evidence around the importance of employment, particularly where it is full-time, in substantially reducing the risks of poverty. We are investing over £30 billion in our ambitious Plan for Jobs which is already delivering for people of all ages right across the country.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 10/06/2021 13:55:41 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4822 label Biography information for Feryal Clark

1330024

registered interest
date	07/06/2021
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: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which principal factors her Department has identified as causing the shortage of (a) UK and (b) EU workers for reopening UK businesses, with particular reference to the impact of (i) the furlough scheme and (ii) travel restrictions; what steps she is taking to (A) vary or (B) bring to an end arrangements which are restricting the availability of workers for reopening businesses; and if she will publish a timetable for taking those steps.
tabling member constituency	New Forest East
tabling member printed	Dr Julian Lewis
uin	11457
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2021 answer text <p>Official data from the independent Office for National Statistics shows that the number of advertised vacancies across the UK economy was 657,000 in February to April 2021 – 154,000 (19%) below their pre-COVID-19 level.</p><p> </p><p>Our Plan for Jobs is an ambitious programme of job creation and support to help people of all ages move into work or gain the skills that will open up job opportunities.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 10/06/2021 16:14:59 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	54 label Biography information for Sir Julian Lewis

1330077

registered interest
date	07/06/2021
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, pursuant to the Answer of 27 May 2021 to Question 3996 on Social Security Benefits, what steps the Government has taken to ensure that maintaining the benefit cap policy represents value for money to the public purse; and if she will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Slough
tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
uin	11622
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/06/2021 answer text <p>The benefit cap restores fairness between those receiving working age benefits and taxpayers in employment. Households can still receive benefits up to the equivalent salary of £24,000, or £28,000 in London. Outside London, around 4 in 10 households have net earnings from employment of less than £20,000. In London, around 4 in 10 households earn less than £23,000.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 11/06/2021 13:31:55 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

1330078

registered interest
date	07/06/2021
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, pursuant to the Answer of 27 May 2021 to Question 3996 on Social Security Benefits, whether her Department has undertaken a cost/benefit analysis of the benefit cap (a) in general and (b) which has included (i) police costs in responding to domestic abuse reports, (ii) local authority costs for temporary housing, (iii) the administration costs of Discretionary Housing Payments and (iv) additional costs to other public services; and whether there are any other policies and programmes which are delivered by her Department where the associated annual costs to the public purse are unknown.
tabling member constituency	Slough
tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
uin	11623
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/06/2021 answer text <p>(a) DWP has published four impact assessments of the benefit cap, each one including a cost/benefit analysis. The first two relate to the introduction of the benefit cap. The second two relate to the introduction of a lower, tiered cap. They can all be found here:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.parliament.uk/globalassets/documents/impact-assessments/IA12-003.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.parliament.uk/globalassets/documents/impact-assessments/IA12-003.pdf</a></p><p> </p><p><a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/220178/benefit-cap-wr2011-ia.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/220178/benefit-cap-wr2011-ia.pdf</a></p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.parliament.uk/globalassets/documents/impact-assessments/IA15-006.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.parliament.uk/globalassets/documents/impact-assessments/IA15-006.pdf</a></p><p> </p><p><a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/548741/welfare-reform-and-work-act-impact-assessment-for-the-benefit-cap.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/548741/welfare-reform-and-work-act-impact-assessment-for-the-benefit-cap.pdf</a></p><p> </p><p>(b) These cost benefit analyses do not include the specific costs listed in (i) to (iv). The funding of all DWP policies is set out at the time they are introduced and, where relevant, updated at subsequent fiscal events. Documentation on all past fiscal events is set out at Gov.uk, and by the Office for Budget Responsibility where relevant. The most recent documentation can be found at <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/965777/Budget_2021_policy_costings_.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/965777/Budget_2021_policy_costings_.pdf</a> and <a href="https://obr.uk/efo/economic-and-fiscal-outlook-march-2021/" target="_blank">https://obr.uk/efo/economic-and-fiscal-outlook-march-2021/</a> respectively.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 11/06/2021 13:21:09 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

1330080

registered interest
date	07/06/2021
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, pursuant to the Answer of 2 June 2021 to Question 6423, if she will publish (a) the conclusions of the two internal process reviews following receipt of a Prevention of Future Death Report, and (b) the steps her Department has taken in response to those reviews.
tabling member constituency	Slough
tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
uin	11624
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/06/2021 answer text <p>Internal Process Reviews are internal retrospective investigations, focussed on organisational learning. They are internal reviews that check if process was followed, in order to encourage learning and to drive change through the Department. We have no plans to publish any Internal Process Reviews or their conclusions, but will continue to follow our duties under the Freedom of Information Act, in line with the 2016 First Tier Tribunal ruling on what information can lawfully be disclosed.</p><p> </p><p>The steps the Department has taken following the cases in question is outlined in our responses to the relevant Prevention of Future Deaths reports. The reports and responses can be found at the links below:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.judiciary.uk/publications/michael-osullivan/" target="_blank">https://www.judiciary.uk/publications/michael-osullivan/</a></p><p><a href="https://www.judiciary.uk/publications/alexander-boamah/" target="_blank">https://www.judiciary.uk/publications/alexander-boamah/</a></p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson grouped question UIN 12254 question first answered 15/06/2021 13:26:10 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

1330151

registered interest
date	07/06/2021
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, pursuant to the Answer of 17 May 2021 to Question 812 on Social Security Benefits: Disability and with reference to her predecessor's speech to Scope on 5 March 2019, whether her Department plans to include proposals on reforming the assessment processes for employment support allowance and personal independence payment in its forthcoming Green Paper on Disability Benefits.
tabling member constituency	Lewisham, Deptford
tabling member printed	Vicky Foxcroft
uin	11596
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2021 answer text <p>The upcoming Green Paper on health and disability will explore how the welfare system can better meet the needs of disabled people and people with health conditions now and in the future. As part of this, we plan to seek views on how to improve assessments both in the short and longer term. This will cover the Work Capability Assessment for Employment Support Allowance and Universal Credit as well as the Personal Independence Payment assessment.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 10/06/2021 15:40:06 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4491 label Biography information for Vicky Foxcroft

1330152

registered interest
date	07/06/2021
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, with reference to her predecessor's Written Statement of 5 March 2019, Health and Disability Announcement, HCWS1376, if she will publish the independent research commissioned by her Department to understand the needs of disabled people to live independent lives and how health and disability benefits can better support them.
tabling member constituency	Lewisham, Deptford
tabling member printed	Vicky Foxcroft
uin	11597
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/06/2021 answer text <p>The Department commissions independent research with disability benefit claimants on an ongoing basis. The forthcoming Health and Disability Support Green Paper, will explore proposals to improve the health and disability benefit system in the short and long-term, which are grounded in research evidence, data analysis and consultation.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 15/06/2021 13:36:56 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4491 label Biography information for Vicky Foxcroft

1330153

registered interest
date	07/06/2021
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	Disability: Public Consultation
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the (a) Answer of 26 March 2021 on Disability: Public Consultation and (b) Social Security Advisory Committee’s Occasional Paper 25 of December 2020 entitled How DWP involves disabled people when developing or evaluating programmes that affect them, if she will implement the primary recommendation of that Paper which recommends that her Department should develop a clear protocol for engagement with disabled people, which should be co-produced and applied consistently and comprehensively and cover both national and local engagement, and policy design and operational development and evaluation.
tabling member constituency	Lewisham, Deptford
tabling member printed	Vicky Foxcroft
uin	11598
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/06/2021 answer text <p>I am grateful to the Committee for their report and pleased to see that our sustained efforts to engage with disabled people have been recognised. We are planning to respond to the Committee in the coming weeks.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson grouped question UIN 11599 question first answered 15/06/2021 13:43:11 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4491 label Biography information for Vicky Foxcroft