Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department is monitoring content that is publicly available on social networking sites using overt monitoring techniques.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
DWP does monitor content that is publicly available on social networking sites using overt monitoring techniques. We do not, however, take on false identities in order to monitor publicly available content available on social networking sites online.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many ex-offenders have been helped into employment in each year since January 2010.
Answered by Priti Patel - Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs
My department is committed to supporting ex-offenders into employment as a key part of individual rehabilitation and the Government’s prison reform and rehabilitation programme.
Information on the total number of ex-offenders helped into employment is not readily available.
Prison-leavers who claim Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) in advance or within 13 weeks of release are mandated onto the Government’s Work Programme. The latest available data shows that between March 2012 when mandation was introduced and the end of December 2015, 8,270 JSA prison-leavers on the Work Programme have achieved a job outcome. The latest data is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/work-programme-data-to-december-2015
Administrative data shared between the Ministry of Justice, Department for Work & Pensions and Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs is available at:
These statistics include information on the benefit and employment status of offenders prior to and after their conviction/caution or release from prison.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the answer of 14 January 2016 to Question 21498, on social security benefits: personal injury, whether the estimated effect of the proposed changes on social security recoupment from injuries other than whiplash are likely to be caught by the changes.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
DWP officials are continuing to work with the Ministry of Justice to assess the potential impact of the proposed changes. The government will consult on these measures which will be accompanied by an impact assessment that will cover claims for compensation which are recoverable under the Social Security (Recovery of Benefits) Act 1997.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to proposed changes in personal injury law and procedure announced in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, what assessment he has made of the level of potential reduction in recoupment of social security benefits paid to personal injury victims following such changes; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
DWP officials have been working with the Ministry of Justice to assess the potential impact of the proposed changes to personal injury legislation on the level of recoupment of social security benefits paid by the compensator to DWP. The early analysis indicates that the vast majority of personal injury victims who claim compensation for whiplash do not claim DWP benefits which are recoverable under the Social Security (Recovery of Benefits) Act 1997. Therefore, if this trend continues, the potential changes to the personal injury legislation will have a minimal impact on the level of recoupment of social security benefits. DWP officials will continue to work with the Ministry of Justice as the proposed changes to personal injury legislation are developed and progressed.