Asked by: Carol Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what financial support he plans to make available for customers who have already incurred significant telephone charges through contacting his Department about their benefit claims.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The administrative process of identifying and compensating call charges retrospectively would present an unacceptable cost to the tax payer.
Asked by: Carol Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the criteria are for the equality analysis being carried out on the use of Anniesland Jobcentre.
Answered by Damian Hinds
The criteria for equality analysis requires us to pay due regard to the requirements of the Equality Act 2010 and enables us to consider equality as part of our decision making processes. We are legally required to consider the equality impacts of policies and processes on people who share protected characteristics and provide evidence that this has been taken into account. This helps us comply with our Public Sector Equality Duty as part of the Equality Act 2010, which covers the protected characteristics of:
We will be undertaking an equality analysis as part of the detailed planning for service reconfiguration. This will include feedback from public consultation in those locations where this applies.
Asked by: Carol Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people with disabilities use the Anniesland Jobcentre.
Answered by Damian Hinds
The information requested is not available. However, there were 54 new claims made to Employment and Support Allowance at Anniesland Jobcentre in December 2016.
It is worth noting that the extent to which people claiming Employment and Support Allowance and Incapacity Benefits are required to attend the Jobcentre will vary depending upon the specific requirements of the benefit they receive.
Asked by: Carol Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people use the Anniesland Jobcentre.
Answered by Damian Hinds
The information requested is not available. However, in the month of December 2016 there were 970 people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance and Universal Credit. This does not include people claiming Employment and Support Allowance and Incapacity Benefits as the extent to which these claimants are required to attend the Jobcentre will vary, depending upon the specific requirements of the benefit they receive.
Asked by: Carol Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people using the Anniesland Jobcentre have been informed in writing of the potential closure of that jobcentre.
Answered by Damian Hinds
It is important to remember that the announcements in Glasgow are just proposals at this stage and not final decisions. Posters are prominently displayed at Anniesland Jobcentre and customers are being made aware when attending the office.
Jobcentre staff will offer advice to customers on the options available in terms of alternative offices, should it be necessary to do so and after a decision has been made.