Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of year-on-year trends in the level of average weekly earnings in each year since 2010.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Statistics on average weekly earnings growth are published by the independent Office for National Statistics.
In August 2010, real (total) pay fell by 0.5%. In August 2019 the real (total) pay growth was 1.9% - an increase in the rate of real wage growth of 2.4 percentage points.
The highest real (total) pay growth, between Aug 10 – Aug 19, was in Aug 15 (2.6%).
Under the Triple Lock the basic State Pension and the full rate of the new State Pension will be raised the highest of: the rise in prices, the rise in earnings or 2.5%. The relevant measure for earnings is the year-on-year change in Average Weekly Earnings (AWE) from May to July published by the ONS in October, standing at 3.9%
Date | Growth in nominal average weekly total pay |
August 2010 | 1.8 % |
August 2011 | 2.6% |
August 2012 | 1.6% |
August 2013 | 0.7% |
August 2014 | 0.6% |
August 2015 | 3.0% |
August 2016 | 2.4% |
August 2017 | 2.3% |
August 2018 | 2.8% |
August 2019 | 3.8% |
Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of hardship payments made by her Department which have been directly attributed to the imposition of benefit sanctions in (a) Vale of Clwyd parliamentary constituency, (b) Wales and (c) the UK in each of the last four years.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Hardship payments provide financial protection for claimants whose benefit is reduced by a Fraud Loss of Benefit penalty or a Benefit Sanction.
For a) and b), the information requested is not readily available at a country or constituency level and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
For c) the requested data is provided for Great Britain in the following two tables for Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) and Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) respectively. Please note, figures supplied are derived from data which has not been quality assured to Official Statistics publication standard. These results can change retrospectively as further information is received. They should therefore be treated with caution. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 1,000.
JSA - Number of hardship payments awarded as a result of a sanction | ||||
2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 (year to Aug 19) |
120,000 | 58,000 | 29,000 | 10,000 | Fewer than 1,000 |
ESA - Number of hardship payments awarded as a result of a sanction | ||||
2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 (year to Aug 19) |
4,000 | 2,000 | 1,000 | Fewer than 1,000 | Fewer than 1,000 |
For Universal Credit, the data cannot be disaggregated to identify the hardship payments that have been directly attributed to the application of a benefit sanction from those resulting from a fraud penalty.
Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of people employed on zero-hour contracts in each (a) nation and (b) region of the UK in each year since 2010.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The independent Office for National Statistics (ONS) use the Labour Force Survey (LFS) to provide estimates for the number of people in employment on contracts that do not guarantee minimum hours (known as ‘zero hours’ contracts’). This data is available for the Oct-Dec quarter only for each year from 2010 to 2018 and is set out in the table below.
Table: Level and rate of people aged 16 and over on zero-hours contracts October to December each year
UK, not seasonally adjusted | |
Percentage of people in employment on a zero-hours contract | |
2010 | 0.6 |
2011 | 0.6 |
2012 | 0.8 |
2013 | 1.9 |
2014 | 2.3 |
2015 | 2.5 |
2016 | 2.8 |
2017 | 2.8 |
2018 | 2.6 |
Source: ONS Labour Force Survey | |
The estimates for 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 are considered precise | |
ONS advise that the increased media coverage of zero-hours’ contracts arrangements in the latter half of 2013 may have affected the response to this question by raising awareness of this existing type of contractual arrangement. The ONS therefore advise not to compare pre- and post-2013 data.
Data for England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales and the English regions has been published every six months by ONS for since 2016. However, because the data is drawn from a survey, many of these sub-UK breakdowns are considered too unreliable for practical purposes. Regional data and guidance on its reliability can be found in tab 4 of table EMP17 published here:
Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of people working less than 16 hours who wanted to work more in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer given to PQ 4936 in which I give details, published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), of the number of people whose usual weekly hours are less than six hours, and between 6 and 15 hours. Details are not available for the number of people working less than 16 hours who wanted to work more in each of the last 10 years.
ONS does publish some related data: 1) the number of people in employment who want to work more hours, are available for work and are currently working below the hours threshold (40 hours a week for those under 18, 48 hours a week for those aged 18 or over), and 2) people working part-time who gave the reason as “could not find full-time job” as reason for working part-time. The tables below give extracts from the ONS published data, however, both these data series will include both those working less than, and more than, 16 hours a week.
Table 1: The number of people in employment who want to work more hours, are available for work and are currently working below the hours threshold
Date | Level |
Apr-Jun 2010 | 2,754 |
Apr-Jun 2011 | 2,841 |
Apr-Jun 2012 | 3,061 |
Apr-Jun 2013 | 3,090 |
Apr-Jun 2014 | 2,977 |
Apr-Jun 2015 | 2,786 |
Apr-Jun 2016 | 2,601 |
Apr-Jun 2017 | 2,460 |
Apr-Jun 2018 | 2,390 |
Apr-Jun 2019 | 2,479 |
Source: Table EMP16, ONS, Labour Force Survey
Table 2: Part-time workers who gave the reason as “could not find full-time job” as reason for working part-time
Date | Level | % of all Part Time Employed |
Apr-Jun 2010 | 1,084 | 14.0 |
Apr-Jun 2011 | 1,275 | 16.2 |
Apr-Jun 2012 | 1,438 | 17.9 |
Apr-Jun 2013 | 1,467 | 18.3 |
Apr-Jun 2014 | 1,347 | 16.5 |
Apr-Jun 2015 | 1,285 | 15.7 |
Apr-Jun 2016 | 1,149 | 13.6 |
Apr-Jun 2017 | 1,019 | 12.1 |
Apr-Jun 2018 | 968 | 11.5 |
Apr-Jun 2019 | 907 | 10.6 |
Source: Table EMP01NSA, ONS, Labour Force Survey
At UK level people in full-time work have made up over three quarters of the overall increase in employment since 2010.
Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of people that worked less than 15 hours a week in each (a) country and (b) region of the UK in each year since 2010.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The independent Office for National Statistics (ONS) uses the Labour Force Survey (LFS) to provide estimates for the usual weekly hours of work for people. The table below sets out data ONS publishes on those working fewer than 6 hours, and between 6 and 15 hours. Breakdowns for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and regional breakdowns, are not provided because of small sample sizes. Estimates are based on the number of people who report the numbers of hours worked.
Table: People working fewer than 6 hours, and 6 to 15 hours for April to June each year
| fewer than 6 Hours | 6 up to 15 hours | ||
| level (thousands) | % of total people in employment | level (thousands) | % of total people in employment |
Apr-Jun 2010 | 417 | 1.5 | 2,011 | 7.1 |
Apr-Jun 2011 | 473 | 1.7 | 1,959 | 6.9 |
Apr-Jun 2012 | 469 | 1.6 | 2,034 | 7.1 |
Apr-Jun 2013 | 445 | 1.5 | 2,033 | 7.0 |
Apr-Jun 2014 | 463 | 1.6 | 2,034 | 6.9 |
Apr-Jun 2015 | 487 | 1.6 | 1,899 | 6.3 |
Apr-Jun 2016 | 474 | 1.5 | 2,058 | 6.7 |
Apr-Jun 2017 | 424 | 1.4 | 2,048 | 6.6 |
Apr-Jun 2018 | 426 | 1.4 | 2,043 | 6.5 |
Apr-Jun 2019 | 471 | 1.5 | 2,066 | 6.5 |
Source: Table HOUR02NSA, ONS, Labour Force Survey
At UK level people in full-time work have made up over three quarters of the overall increase in employment since 2010.
Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people were economically inactive in the UK in (a) 2010 and (b) the most recent year for which figures are available.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In February-April 2010 there were 9.5 million economically inactive people in the UK. This number has dropped to 8.7 million people for the period June-August 2019. These statistics are for the 16-64 age group, which is the Office for National Statistic’s headline rate for economic inactivity.
Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people in Vale of Clwyd constituency have (a) opted out after being auto-enrolled into a workplace pension and (b) saved more than the auto-enrolment minimum contribution.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Automatic enrolment has achieved a quiet revolution through getting employees into the habit of pension saving, and reversing the decline in workplace pension participation in the decade prior to these reforms. Since automatic enrolment started in 2012 participation rates have been transformed with 87% of eligible employees saving into a workplace pension in 2018, up from 55% in 2012.
The Department does not hold data for individual constituencies in relation to opt outs or the number of individuals who have saved above the automatic enrolment minimum contribution level. However, we do know that overall around 9% of automatically enrolled workers have chosen to opt out which is significantly below original estimates; and our latest evaluation report shows that, in April 2017, approximately 5.9 million eligible employees were already meeting the April 2019 minimum contribution rates1.
I am providing the following information about the impact of automatic enrolment in your constituency, as at end of September 20192:
In the Vale of Clwyd constituency since 2012, approximately 6,000 eligible jobholders have been automatically enrolled and 1,410 employers have met their duties.
1Automatic Enrolment Evaluation Report 2018, available via the following weblink: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/764964/Automatic_Enrolment_Evaluation_Report_2018.pdf.
2The Pensions Regulator’s data on Automatic enrolment declaration of compliance by constituency, available via the following weblink:
https://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/en/document-library/research-and-analysis/data-requests
Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 22 October 2019 to Question 903 on 22 October 2019 on Department for Work and Pensions: Health, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of recording well-being measures for each claimant of a benefit delivered by her Department.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
No assessment has been made.
DWP has over 100m transactions with customers each year. We do not record well-being measures against each of these transactions, however our case managers are trained to take action in the case of customers discussing suicide or self-harm, alongside being able to signpost customers to additional support such as bereavement assistance where appropriate.
Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of claimants of personal independence payment who made journeys by public transport to be assessed for those payments of (a) 15 minutes or less, (b) 16-30 minutes, (c) 31-45 minutes, (d) 46-60 minutes, (e) 61-75 minutes and (f) 76-90 minutes in each year for which figures are available.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The information requested is not held.
DWP has set clear requirements in terms of geography and travel time to a PIP assessment and continues to ensure assessment providers adhere to this requirement. This limit of 90 minutes is an absolute maximum and DWP expects that only a small minority of claimants will have to make a journey of this duration.
Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 22 October 2019 to Question 903 on Department for Work and Pensions: Health, on how many occasions her Department's staff have flagged claimants as being suicidal; and what estimate she has made of the number of claimants who have died by suicide in each of the last six years.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department does not hold centralised records that will enable it to answer these questions.
The Department takes the issue of suicide extremely seriously. Guidance is available to staff that helps them work with customers who are vulnerable and indicate they may harm themselves.