Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent discussions he has had with the devolved administrations on the roll-out of universal credit.
Answered by Lord Harper
We remain committed to a cross-Government approach to undertaking the most significant reform of the benefits system for a generation. The Devolved Administrations in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales are integral to this approach and there is regular contact between both Ministerial and official counterparts. Further, at a working level, officials from the Devolved Administrations are represented on a number of Universal Credit boards, taskforces and advisory groups.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what change there has been in the level of unemployment in South Antrim constituency since 2010.
Answered by Lord Harper
The Department for Work and Pensions is not responsible for such matters in Northern Ireland and the question should be referred to the Northern Ireland Executive.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support his Department offers to young people seeking employment across the UK; and what discussions he has had with the devolved administrations on that matter.
Answered by Esther McVey
Over the last year the number of young people in work in the UK has risen by more than in the rest of the European Union put together. Youth unemployment has fallen by nearly 200,000 since 2010 and the youth claimant count is at its lowest level since the 1970s.
Across Britain, all claimants are offered tailored support from day one of their claim. Through the Youth Contract, additional support is provided by Jobcentre Plus advisers to all 18-24 year olds. The Youth Contract has made available an extra 250,000 work experience and sector based work academy places. Those who require more focused or specialised training are supported through traineeships and apprenticeships.
Ministers and officials at the Department for Work and Pensions have regular contact with their counterparts in the devolved administrations to discuss a range of issues.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent discussions he has had with the devolved administrations on the benefit cap.
Answered by Esther McVey
Ministers and officials at the Department for Work and Pensions have regular contact with their counterparts in the devolved administrations to discuss a range of issues.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in Northern Ireland have moved from benefits into work in each of the last three years.
Answered by Esther McVey
The Department for Work and Pensions is not responsible for such matters in Northern Ireland and the question should be referred to the Northern Ireland Executive.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect of the abolition of the Independent Living Fund on previous claimants of that fund in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Lord Harper
The potential implications of closing the Independent Living Fund on 30 June 2015 are set out clearly in the Equality Analysis published on 6 March 2014.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/closure-of-the-independent-living-fund-equality-analysis
The Northern Ireland Executive is consulting on future arrangements for supporting Independent Living Fund users in Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of each transaction for benefit payments paid into a Post Office card account in Northern Ireland; and what that cost is in other regions of the UK.
Answered by Steve Webb
The cost to Government for making benefit payments into a Post Office Card Account is around £0.50 for each transaction. The cost is the same for Northern Ireland and UK payments.
The contract is volume banded so this cost will vary according to the number of transactions.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what date he has set for full implementation of universal credit across the UK.
Answered by Lord Harper
In the WMS (link below) of 13 October 2014 the Secretary of State confirmed plans for the next stage of implementing universal credit to all remaining jobcentres and local authorities as we progress national expansion through 2015-16 and secure delivery of universal credit across Great Britain.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of children living in poverty in each constituent part of the UK; and how many children were living in poverty in each such region in each of the last three years.
Answered by Esther McVey
Estimates of the number and proportion of children in relative low income are published in the National Statistics Households Below Average Income (HBAI) series. This information is captured using the Family Resources Survey (FRS) and has been reported since 1998/99 in the DWP’s Households Below Average Income (HBAI) publication. These estimates are available for each financial year up to 2012/13, the latest period for which estimates are available.
Comparable estimates are available for each of the constituent countries of the UK and for English regions. The survey sample sizes for these regions are not sufficiently large to support robust single-year figures, so estimates are provided using three-year averages. The latest estimates are for 2010/11-2012/13.
These estimates can be found at the link below:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/households-below-average-income-hbai-199495-to-201213
Relevant estimates can be found in the "Supporting Data tables (Microsoft Excel files) WINZIP link. The Excel document is titled "chapter_4ts_risk_hbai14.xls".