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225940

registered interest
date	09/03/2015
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 maintenance arrears (a) is designated technically uncollectable and (b) his Department has already written-off as uncollectable since the write-off powers were introduced in November 2012; and what the reasons are for any difference between the two such figures.
tabling member constituency	Bishop Auckland
tabling member printed	Helen Goodman
uin	226650
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/03/2015 answer text <p /> <p>(a) Information on uncollectable arrears can be found on page 41 of the latest Child Support Agency Quarterly Summary of Statistics, available at the following link:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/404296/csa-qtr-summ-stats-dec-2014.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/404296/csa-qtr-summ-stats-dec-2014.pdf</a></p><p> </p><p>(b) Under the Write Off and Part Payment Powers introduced on 10 December 2012 the Department has written off £1.2 million in the financial year 2012/13 and £16.0 million in the financial year 2013/14 giving a total written off of £17.2 million.</p><p> </p><p>The two figures are not directly comparable. The data is based on different sources, uncollectable arrears is based on the entire caseload whereas the amount written off relates to specific cases where agreement to write off has been reached.</p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Steve Webb question first answered 12/03/2015 14:08:17 answering member 220 label Biography information for Steve Webb
tabling member	1484 label Biography information for Helen Goodman

225268

registered interest
date	04/03/2015
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 estimate his Department has made of the amount of Child Support Agency arrears owing in cases with a current liability that will be (a) written off in full, (b) written off in part, (c) re-valued to take account of a previous interim maintenance assessment and (d) transferred to the Child Maintenance Service for collection as a result of the 2015 to 2018 phased closure of such cases.
tabling member constituency	Bishop Auckland
tabling member printed	Helen Goodman
uin	226432
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/03/2015 answer text <p>We cannot predict how many parents with care will agree to have their child maintenance arrears written off during the case closure process; however all will be given the opportunity to do so. No estimates have been published for the amount of Child Support Agency arrears that will be (a) written off in full, (b) written off in part, (c) re-valued to take account of a previous interim maintenance assessment, or (d) transferred to the Child Maintenance Service for collection.</p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Steve Webb grouped question UIN 226386 question first answered 10/03/2015 12:21:53 answering member 220 label Biography information for Steve Webb
tabling member	1484 label Biography information for Helen Goodman

225273

registered interest
date	04/03/2015
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 estimate his Department has made of the likely proportion of parents with care with child maintenance arrears whose CSA cases will be closed as part of the scheduled case closure process who will opt to have their child maintenance arrears (a) written off as part of the shutdown and (b) transferred to the child maintenance service for future collection.
tabling member constituency	Bishop Auckland
tabling member printed	Helen Goodman
uin	226386
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/03/2015 answer text <p /> <p>We cannot predict how many parents with care will agree to have their child maintenance arrears written off during the case closure process; however all will be given the opportunity to do so. No estimates have been published for the amount of Child Support Agency arrears that will be (a) written off in full, (b) written off in part, (c) re-valued to take account of a previous interim maintenance assessment, or (d) transferred to the Child Maintenance Service for collection.</p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Steve Webb grouped question UIN 226432 question first answered 10/03/2015 12:21:53 answering member 220 label Biography information for Steve Webb
tabling member	1484 label Biography information for Helen Goodman

224528

registered interest
date	02/03/2015
answering body	Department for Communities and Local Government
answering dept id	7
answering dept short name	Communities and Local Government
answering dept sort name	Communities and Local Government
hansard heading	Social Rented Housing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many people have been fined for non-payment of rent and services in social housing in each year since 2011.
tabling member constituency	Bishop Auckland
tabling member printed	Helen Goodman
uin	225835
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/03/2015 answer text <p>We do not hold this information.<br><br> Office of Fair Trading guidance on unfair terms in tenancy agreements explains that they regard the imposition of a fixed daily or monthly charge for overdue rent as being penal rather than compensatory in nature and unfair (paragraph 3.46). Annex A of the guidance explains that the regulations apply to social housing tenancies (https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/284440/oft356.pdf).</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Great Yarmouth answering member printed Brandon Lewis question first answered 05/03/2015 15:43:38 answering member 4009 label Biography information for Sir Brandon Lewis
tabling member	1484 label Biography information for Helen Goodman

224222

registered interest
date	27/02/2015
answering body	HM Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Child Benefit
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many families were paid child benefit for (a) one child, (b) two, (c) three and (d) four children or more in the last year for which figures are available.
tabling member constituency	Bishop Auckland
tabling member printed	Helen Goodman
uin	225783
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/03/2015 answer text <p>The information can be found on Table 3 of the publication ‘Child Benefit Geographical Analysis Aug 2014’ are available here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/407549/Child_Benefit_Geographical_Statistics_Aug_2014_formatted.xls" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/407549/Child_Benefit_Geographical_Statistics_Aug_2014_formatted.xls</a>. This publication provides figures accurate as at August 2014 and are the most recent available.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Weekly rates have been stated as the average rate of Child Benefit as, as this is a fixed rate award, all recipient families with the same number of children will receive the same rate.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The amount of Child Benefit received is therefore determined by the number of children in a family. Currently, families will receive £20.50 per week for the eldest child and £13.55 for each subsequent child. These rates are fixed until April 2015.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South West Hertfordshire answering member printed Mr David Gauke grouped question UIN 225784 question first answered 04/03/2015 13:10:55 answering member 1529 label Biography information for Mr David Gauke
tabling member	1484 label Biography information for Helen Goodman

223069

registered interest
date	23/02/2015
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 proportion of the child maintenance arrears owed in respect of Child Support Agency cases where a child could still benefit is owed by a parent who is self-employed or a director of a private company.
tabling member constituency	Bishop Auckland
tabling member printed	Helen Goodman
uin	224863
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/03/2015 answer text <p /> <p>As at December 2014, 12.4%<sup>1</sup> of the amount of arrears where there is a qualifying child remaining on the case is owed by non resident parents who are self-employed.</p><p> </p><p>Information on the job title of non-resident parents is not routinely recorded for management information purposes and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p>Note:</p><p>1. Data sourced from CSCS and CS2 computer systems. Employment status is not available for cases managed off system.</p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Steve Webb question first answered 02/03/2015 13:07:29 answering member 220 label Biography information for Steve Webb
tabling member	1484 label Biography information for Helen Goodman

223071

registered interest
date	23/02/2015
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, in how many and what proportion of Child Support Agency arrears cases where there is a child who could still benefit was a contribution made to arrears in the last (a) quarter, (b) year and (c) two years.
tabling member constituency	Bishop Auckland
tabling member printed	Helen Goodman
uin	224865
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/03/2015 answer text <p /> <p>The table below shows the numbers and proportions of arrears cases where a qualifying child is remaining on the case, where a contribution towards arrears has been made within the last two years.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Last paid:</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Number </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Proportion</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Latest quarter (Dec 14)</strong></p></td><td><p>183,200</p></td><td><p>25.3%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Latest year</strong></p></td><td><p>345,200</p></td><td><p>47.8%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Latest 2 years</strong></p></td><td><p>410,700</p></td><td><p>56.8%</p></td></tr></tbody></table> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Steve Webb question first answered 02/03/2015 13:15:48 answering member 220 label Biography information for Steve Webb
tabling member	1484 label Biography information for Helen Goodman

179057

registered interest
date	10/02/2015
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Fuels
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will place in the Library all information his Department holds comparing the (a) miles per gallon, (b) cost and (c) emissions of (i) premium and (ii) non-premium (A) diesel and (B) petrol.
tabling member constituency	Bishop Auckland
tabling member printed	Helen Goodman
uin	224124
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/02/2015 answer text <p>The Government publishes a broad range of information on their performance and emissions. To help consumers to make an informed choice when buying a new car, on fuel costs and environmental impact, the Vehicle Certification Agency produces guide lists. These estimate the fuel consumption, carbon dioxide (CO2), and other emissions performance figures of new cars, currently on the market in the UK. An electronic version of the latest edition has been provided to the House Library.</p><p> </p><p>The Department for Transport produces a range of statistics on air quality and other emissions by mode and vehicle as part of the energy and environment datasets (TSGB03) on the gov.uk website. We do not publish comparative data on the air quality emissions associated with different fuel types. Information on all sources of air pollution can be found in the National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory at <a href="http://naei.defra.gov.uk/" target="_blank">http://naei.defra.gov.uk/</a>. Progressively tighter emission standards are reducing pollutant emissions from all vehicles.</p><p> </p><p>The Department of Energy and Climate Change also publishes weekly, monthly and annual typical prices of road fuels and petroleum products on the gov.uk website. This data includes super unleaded and non-premium unleaded petrol, and diesel.</p><p> </p><p>The greenhouse gas emissions associated with diesel and petrol will vary depending upon the source of the materials and process used to produce both the fossil and renewable content of the fuel. The Department does not hold information on the carbon dioxide emissions associated with fossil diesel and petrol, and premium and non-premium grades. However, the Renewable Energy Directive sets a default energy content of 32 megajoules per litre for petrol and 36 for diesel, and a greenhouse gas emission of 83.8 grams of CO2 equivalent per megajoule - this equates to atypical emission per litre for petrol of 2681.6 grams of CO2 equivalent and 3016.8 grams of CO2 equivalent per litre for diesel.</p><p> </p><p>Through the administration of the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation the Department collects information on the carbon and sustainability characteristics of the renewable content of fuel reported under the scheme. This data is published quarterly on the gov.uk website. The latest published data covering the period 15 April 2014 to 14 April 2015, shows that bioethanol, blended with petrol, delivered greenhouse gas savings of 62% compared to fossil fuels and biodiesel, blended with diesel, achieved 75% greenhouse gas savings. The figures exclude emissions from indirect land-use change.</p><p> </p><p>Super unleaded petrol, the premium grade, has a separate specification to regular unleaded petrol. This limits the oxygen content and a higher minimum for octane number. Some vehicles could be more fuel efficient when using this petrol if they have been designed to respond to using such a fuel as they will be able to develop more power from the fuel. While diesel may be marketed as premium on the basis of additives to the base fuel, all diesel is supplied to one standard EN590.</p><p> </p><p>The Department does not have any information regarding the comparative fuel efficiency between super and regular unleaded petrol. However, the influence of fuel upon mileage, is much smaller, in general, than is the influence of other factors such as the vehicle itself (for example, its size, weight, power) , the way that the vehicle is driven, and the road conditions (for example motorway or urban driving).</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Scarborough and Whitby answering member printed Mr Robert Goodwill question first answered 23/02/2015 17:29:09 answering member 1562 label Biography information for Sir Robert Goodwill
tabling member	1484 label Biography information for Helen Goodman

178091

registered interest
date	05/02/2015
answering body	Department for Communities and Local Government
answering dept id	7
answering dept short name	Communities and Local Government
answering dept sort name	Communities and Local Government
hansard heading	Private Rented Housing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will estimate the number of properties in the private rented sector which (a) reach and (b) do not reach the Decent Homes standard.
tabling member constituency	Bishop Auckland
tabling member printed	Helen Goodman
uin	223554
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/02/2015 answer text <p>The table below shows the number and proportion of dwellings in the private rented sector which reach the Decent Homes standard over the last five years.</p><p> </p><p>The private rented sector has expanded in size in this period (with almost one million more homes), yet both the absolute and relative number of non-Decent Homes have fallen.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td> </td><td colspan="2"><p><em>Reaching standard</em></p></td><td colspan="2"><p><em>Not reaching standard</em></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2008</p></td><td><p>1,847,000</p></td><td><p>56%</p></td><td><p>1,449,000</p></td><td><p>44%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2009</p></td><td><p>2,123,000</p></td><td><p>59%</p></td><td><p>1,465,000</p></td><td><p>41%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010</p></td><td><p>2,325,000</p></td><td><p>63%</p></td><td><p>1,381,000</p></td><td><p>37%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011</p></td><td><p>2,610,000</p></td><td><p>65%</p></td><td><p>1,407,000</p></td><td><p>35%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012</p></td><td><p>2,754,000</p></td><td><p>67%</p></td><td><p>1,365,000</p></td><td><p>33%</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>This Government has taken a series of actions to help improve standards in the private rented sector.</p><p> </p><p>To encourage improved conditions, we have increased consumer awareness and supported longer tenancies with a ‘How to Rent’ guide, a model tenancy agreement, and an industry-led Code of Practice for letting and managing agents. We have introduced regulations to require the remaining 3,000 letting and property management agents to join one of three approved redress schemes from 1 October; made over £4 million available to 23 local authorities to help them tackle localised problems with the small minority in rogue landlords in their area – building on £2.6 million given to 9 local authorities to support enforcement against ‘Beds in Sheds’; and supported measures to tackle retaliatory evictions in private rented sector.</p><p> </p><p>However, we also need to avoid disproportionate red tape which would reduce supply, cut investment and ultimately force up rents. As an illustration, my written answer of 9 February 2015 to Question 222996, noted how rent controls would actually worsen property conditions for tenants by discouraging investment in new and existing rented accommodation.</p><p> </p><p>I would also add that, in the social sector, the number of non-Decent local authority dwellings across England has fallen from 291,600 in 1 April 2010 to 145,900 in April 2014, with a forecast of a further fall to 113,000 by April 2015.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Great Yarmouth answering member printed Brandon Lewis question first answered 23/02/2015 17:44:36 answering member 4009 label Biography information for Sir Brandon Lewis previous answer version 44033 answering member constituency Great Yarmouth answering member printed Brandon Lewis answering member 4009 label Biography information for Sir Brandon Lewis
tabling member	1484 label Biography information for Helen Goodman

175164

registered interest
date	21/01/2015
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, with reference to the statement in his Department's strategy for the publication of information about the 2012 scheme administered by the Child Maintenence Service (CMS) that the strategic management information reporting capability of a new Data Warehouse would be available from 2014, what the latest timetable is for the managed process of the release of fully assured statistics on the performance of the CMS.
tabling member constituency	Bishop Auckland
tabling member printed	Helen Goodman
uin	221675
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/01/2015 answer text <p>Development of a data warehouse capability is being implemented in stages, the first stage of this for CMS 2012 management information is expected for delivery later in 2015 with subsequent stages thereafter. In the meantime management information developed from relevant interim statistics have been released as Experimental Official Statistics and these will continue to be built on and assured.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Steve Webb question first answered 26/01/2015 15:10:01 answering member 220 label Biography information for Steve Webb
tabling member	1484 label Biography information for Helen Goodman