Oral Answers to Questions

Laurence Robertson Excerpts

Monday 24th February 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mike Penning]

Although I respect what the Scottish Government do, our own Treasury and our own independent forecasts are saying that it is not possible to do that accurately. What I can say to the hon. Lady is that in every year of this coalition Government funding for disabled benefits has gone up, and it will continue to go up through 2015-16—more than was left by the previous Administration.

[Mr Laurence Robertson (Tewkesbury) (Con)]

2. What recent progress his Department has made on reducing youth unemployment.

[The Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Esther McVey)]

The Government’s approach is working. For the 20th consecutive month, we have seen the youth claimant count reduce, so it is down on the month, down on the year and down since the election.

[Mr Robertson]

It is very good news that young people are finding work, but there are still far too many out of work. None the less, engineering and manufacturing companies in my constituency cannot find young people to employ. What discussions is the Minister’s Department having with Jobcentre Plus and with its colleagues in the Department for Education about giving young people the right kind of career advice?

[Esther McVey]

My hon. Friend does a lot in his constituency of Tewkesbury with engineering and manufacturing companies. I know that he regards it as vital that more people are involved in manufacturing and science, and that is a view that we all share, which is why we are doing more on apprenticeships—half a million this year—and on advanced apprenticeships. We have also brought together the youth action groups, so the Minister for Civil Society can now lead the way for all Departments and the voluntary and charity sector to work together.

Children Maintenance

Laurence Robertson Excerpts

Monday 13th December 2010 Ministerial Corrections

[Mr Laurence Robertson]

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much the Child Support Agency has (a) assessed as being due and (b) collected in each of the last five years for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

[Official Report, 8 November 2010, Vol. 518, c. 170-172W.]

Letter of correction from Maria Miller:

An error has been identified in Table 1 of the written answer given to the hon. Member for Tewkesbury (Mr Robertson) on 8 November. The figure for the September 2006 annual assessed amount was incorrectly given as £1,146 million and should have been £1,446 million.

The full answer was given as follows:

[Maria Miller]

The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission is responsible for the child maintenance system. I have asked the Child Maintenance Commissioner to write to my hon. Friend with the information requested and I have seen the response.

Letter from Stephen Geraghty:

In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Child Maintenance Commissioner.

You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much the Child Support Agency has (a) assessed as being due and (b) collected in each of the last five years for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [22664]

The attached table provides an estimate of the value of money assessed as being due and the value of money collected or arranged.

The value of money assessed as being due has been calculated by taking the average weekly assessment at September each year (excluding nil liability), and multiplying it by the caseload as at September.

Figures on average weekly assessment and caseload are available within the Child Support Agency Quarterly Summary of Statistics available in the House of Commons library or online at

http://www.childmaintenance.org/en/publications/statistics.html