Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that people comply with their child maintenance responsibilities.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Department has wide-ranging powers to collect and enforce child maintenance liabilities where parents will not meet their obligations voluntarily. As of September 2017 11,100 civil enforcement actions were in progress, around 4000 more than the previous year. A public consultation on a new Compliance and Arrears Strategy containing measures aimed at increasing compliance, closed on 8th February 2018. A Government response to this consultation will be published in due course.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, What support the Government provides to entrepreneurs who have disabilities.
Answered by Sarah Newton
An individual whose health condition or disability affects the way they work and who is employed - including self-employed entrepreneurs - or about to enter employment, can apply to Access to Work for a discretionary support grant of up to £42,100 per year. The scheme can provide a range of practical advice and financial support, including support workers, travel to work, supportive technologies and access to a specialist Mental Health Support Service.
The Government also provides a range of business support for entrepreneurs, including those with disabilities, such as:
In addition, people who are claiming certain benefits, including people with disabilities, may be eligible for DWP’s New Enterprise Allowance (NEA) scheme; which may help them to start their own businesses and become entrepreneurs. 23,920 (22%) of NEA trading starts were made by people who had a declared disability.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has plans to (a) advertise and (b) offer bike loan schemes to people using job centres.
Answered by Damian Hinds
There are no plans to provide a specific bike loan scheme for job seekers.
The Flexible Support Fund may be available for one-off purchases such as a bicycle to remove a barrier for claimants to get to work.
The Department for Transport leads on the Cycle to Work Scheme, which is available to employees, and was introduced to promote healthier journeys to work and to reduce environmental pollution.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans he has to encourage desk-based workers to take time away from computer screens during the working day.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) website already provides practical guidance for employers on working safely with screen based equipment, which can be found at http://www.hse.gov.uk/msd/dse/index.htm.
It is widely recognised that frequent short breaks from desk-based work can help reduce health issues such as fatigue, eye strain, upper limb problems, backache and mental stress.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people who currently claim attendance allowance have been diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease in (a) England and (b) Wales.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
Statistical information on people currently receiving Attendance Allowance (AA), including the numbers with a main disabling condition of inflammatory bowel disease, and their location, is available from the DWP Tabulation Tool: http://tabulation-tool.dwp.gov.uk/100pc/tabtool.html.
These data relate to the claimant’s main disabling condition at the time their claim is awarded. Claimants may often have multiple disabling conditions, but these cannot be identified from the data the department holds. Therefore there may be other claimants in receipt of AA who have been diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease who are not captured in the above data.
Information on disabling conditions is not collected at the initial claim application stage.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people applied for attendance allowance and were diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease in (a) England and (b) Wales in the last five years.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
Statistical information on people currently receiving Attendance Allowance (AA), including the numbers with a main disabling condition of inflammatory bowel disease, and their location, is available from the DWP Tabulation Tool: http://tabulation-tool.dwp.gov.uk/100pc/tabtool.html.
These data relate to the claimant’s main disabling condition at the time their claim is awarded. Claimants may often have multiple disabling conditions, but these cannot be identified from the data the department holds. Therefore there may be other claimants in receipt of AA who have been diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease who are not captured in the above data.
Information on disabling conditions is not collected at the initial claim application stage.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people who currently claim personal independence payments have been diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease in (a) England and (b) Wales.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The requested information for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) applications is not available as information on PIP claimants’ disabling conditions is not collected at the initial claim application stage.
The latest available data on PIP claims in payment, including by main disabling condition and geography (e.g. region), are published on Stat-Xplore: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk. Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here: https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/index.html.
These data relate to the claimant’s main disabling condition. Claimants may often have multiple disabling conditions, but these cannot be identified from the data the department holds. Therefore there may be other claimants in receipt of PIP who have been diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease who are not captured in the above data.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people applied for personal independence payments and were diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease in (a) England and (b) Wales in the last five years.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The requested information for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) applications is not available as information on PIP claimants’ disabling conditions is not collected at the initial claim application stage.
The latest available data on PIP claims in payment, including by main disabling condition and geography (e.g. region), are published on Stat-Xplore: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk. Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here: https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/index.html.
These data relate to the claimant’s main disabling condition. Claimants may often have multiple disabling conditions, but these cannot be identified from the data the department holds. Therefore there may be other claimants in receipt of PIP who have been diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease who are not captured in the above data.